Another whiteout for Llan

See updates at foot of story ... 

* The wintry scene in Regent Street at around 8.15am.

* BBC reporter Matt Richards broadcasts a snow report from Llangollen.

Llangollen has seen its second significant fall of snow in a few days.

It began snowing at around 4.30am and forecasters say it will continue for a few hours yet.

The BBC chose Llangollen as the spot from which to broadcast a report on the extreme weather conditions at 8am.

North Wales Police tweeted ...

#Snow is now affecting eastern areas of the region. Please do not travel unless it is absolutely necessary. If you have to venture out allow plenty of time for your journey and drive according to the conditions #StaySafe

The Met office tweeted ...

Snow in Denbighshire – Update at 10am on Sunday

The heavy snow predicted for Denbighshire has arrived in earnest and gritting teams have been out throughout the night and are out in force across the county.

They are focussing mainly on the trunk routes and principal county roads.  The weather position is at its worst in south Denbighshire and  teams are doing all they can to keep the main routes open.

The Horseshoe Pass near Llangollen remains closed, but all other routes are passable with extreme care. However, we are re-iterating the advice by police for people to only travel if absolutely necessary.

Leisure facilities:

Llangollen Leisure Centre - Closed

Corwen Leisure Centre – Closed

Ruthin Leisure Centre – Closed

Ruthin Craft Centre – Closed

Denbigh Leisure Centre – Open, Astro Turf Pitch Closed

St Asaph Leisure Centre – Closed,

Rhyl Leisure Centre – Open, Astro Turf Pitch Closed

Nova Prestatyn – Open

Prestatyn Leisure Centre – Open, Astro Turf Pitch Closed

North Wales Bowls Centre – Open

Rhyl Harbour - Open

Bus services:

Other than Wrexham to Barmouth,  all Denbighshire  Sunday services currently operating including to Denbigh, Llandyrnog and Llangwyfan with the exception of Well Hill Holywell and through Mancot (both on the Rhyl - Chester service); No details from Arriva regarding their Wrexham - Llangollen service.

 

Council snow update issued

Gritting teams have been working overnight and are continuing to work this morning to treat the county’s roads, with the priority given to main A and B routes. Agricultural contractors are also being used to assist the Council.

Roads: The Horseshoe Pass near Llangollen remains closed – but most other major routes across the county are open.  Drivers being warned to take care and to allow extra time for any journeys today.

Buses: Buses in the Ruthin area are running broadly to time. All Arriva routes are operating from Ruthin towards the coast today. The service between Ruthin and Wrexham is being assessed.  The service between Ruthin and Mold is also operating.

Libraries:  All libraries are open this morning (except Corwen which does not open normally on Saturdays)

Leisure:

Llangollen Leisure Centre - Closed

Corwen Leisure Centre – Open, Swimming Lessons Cancelled

Ruthin Leisure Centre – Closed

Ruthin Craft Centre – Open until 4pm

Denbigh Leisure Centre – Open, Astro Turf Pitch Closed

St Asaph Leisure Centre – Closed

Rhyl Leisure Centre – Open

Nova Prestatyn – Open

Prestatyn Leisure Centre – Open, Astro Turf Pitch Closed

North Wales Bowls Centre – Open

Rhyl Harbour - Open

The forecast is for a band of heavy snow to affect North Wales on Sunday and we are continuing to monitor the forecast and will have teams of staff ready to deal with any snow issues.

We are advising people to continue to monitor the weather forecasts on television, radio, online and in the press. Information can also be found on the Met Office’s website: www.metoffice.gov.uk  Any updates will also be placed on the Council’s website and social media accounts.

Railway's Santa Special gets underway

Llangollen Railway's Santa Special season has begun and on Sunday 3 December one of the Santa trains was seen passing Berwyn with engine No.5199 working hard on the climb past the Dee Gorge.

Trains operate at weekends through to Christmas Eve and from Boxing Day the Mince Pie Specials will run.

Live weather updates from Llan area

 ... see live updates below

* Regent Street at 10.20am. 

* The snowy scene this morning looking towards Castell Dinas Bran. 

11.04 UPDATE: Llan Leisure Centre closed for the day due to snow.

More from Wrexham.com ...

So to get all technical but there is some thick stuff on the way http://www.wrexham.com/news/snow-falling-in-wrexham-area-updates-141456.html …pic.twitter.com/WxIu1OJ0it

10.55 UPDATE: Tweet from Arriva Bus Wales ... SERVICE UPDATE: Due to bad weather in the Wrexham Area (Snow) the following services are currently affected: Service 3/4 – 7/8 - 10/11/11A - 12/12A - 26/27 - 5 - For further details click on the following link... https://goo.gl/d1j7Wb 

10.50 UPDATE: From Wrexham.com ...

* Just had official note from @colegcambria "We are closing our Yale, Bersham Road and Llysfasi sites at 11am today because of the weather”

There are now over 40 schools closed or partially closed in Wrexham due to the snow.

10.40 UPDATE: 23 of the county schools are closed for the day. • 3 of the county libraries – Denbigh, Llangollen and Corwen are closed for the day. •The Horseshoe Pass is closed but most other routes are passable with extreme care. #denbighshiresnow

* Horseshoe Pass.

Posted on Facebook by Ponderosa Café about 9.50am Friday.

10.30am UPDATE: Ysgol Bryn Collen now closed.

10.10am UPDATE:

Ysgol Gymraeg y Gwernant

and Ysgol Dinas VBran are both now closed.

Llangollen awoke to a thin covering of snow this morning (Friday).

Further showers are forecast throughout the day and perhaps into tomorrow.

Traffic through town appears to be flowing freely and no local school closures are being reported so far on the county council website, although schools are shut for the day due to the weather in other parts of the county including Llandegla.

We're ready for the snow, says council

Denbighshire County Council is reassuring residents that it is prepared for the wintry weather predicted for later this week.

A yellow warning for snow and ice is in place from 12.05am on Friday through until 6pm on Saturday. The Met Office is warning that heavy snow showers may cause some disruption to some services.

The council says its highways team is geared up and will be gritting the county’s roads when freezing temperatures are predicted. 

The council has salt stocks at its three depots and teams will be working around the clock to keep the main A and B roads open, as well as roads connecting villages.  

The team is also receiving regular, detailed weather forecasts and will respond if there are any unexpected changes to weather forecasts or any significant snowfall.

In the event of any school closures, the latest information can be found on the council’s website: www.denbighshire.gov.uk

The council is advising people to continue monitoring weather forecasts on television, radio and online, as well as in the local press and social media. 

Any specific information relating to Denbighshire will be placed on the council’s website and through its social media channels.

Our community cinema in the frame

A volunteer from New Dot Cinema Llangollen shares some insights into the role of programmer with the popular community organisation ...

* New Dot volunteers Keiron Preston or James Rush in the frame.

Programming is one of the most critical roles at New Dot Cinema Llangollen.

Any of the volunteers who want to can pitch a film for screening.

Much as we'd love to just put forward our favourites, we have to think about what our customers might want to see.

It's all trial and error - as we've found out from month to month - and in 2018 we're developing a programme of the best new independent films and some old classics.

Our programming committee of seven meets twice a year to plan the next season.

Everyone brings three or four suggestions that can be films that are British, independent, archive, foreign language, classic, documentary or fine art.

Then we go through each one, look at trailers, listen to the pitches (which can be quite impassioned) and try and draw up a shortlist.

Everyone is then encouraged to go watch the shortlisted films in the hope that we can whittle down the list!

We'd love to show more Welsh films so if anyone has any suggestions, please let us know via our Facebook page.

Although we're a not-for-profit run solely by volunteers, it's important for us to stay in the black.

To give some idea of costs, licences for most feature length films have a minimum cost of around £100 per screening with a maximum of 35% of ticket sales.

Our programmers also need to consider if licences are available and if they're affordable. This can lead to some serious detective work.

For new films, we have a lot of help from the Independent Cinema Office (ICO), an organisation that hosts Screening Days a couple of times a year.

They offer film societies and community cinemas, previews of a curated selection of unreleased films.

New Dot tries to send at least one representative to each event. It's an intensive experience, but we've found it important to never programme a film we've not watched.

We have to remember not to shout about all the great new films before the release date though, as there's a press embargo on them.

New Dot Cinema Llangollen's next programme is out soon, covering January - July 2018. We screen films once a month at Llangollen Town Hall on Castle Street LL20 8NE (next to the library / tourist information centre.) New volunteers are always welcome. More information at www.newdotcinema.org or Facebook/Twitter @newdotcinema

* New Dot's next screening comes tomorrow (Friday) night with Tangerine (15)

The Christmas film is a riotous, huge-hearted tale of a working girl who tears through Tinseltown on Christmas Eve searching for the pimp who broke her heart. It shatters casting conventions and its filmmaking techniques are up-to-the-minute, but it’s an old-fashioned comedy at heart — and a pretty wonderful one at that.

Doors open at 7.30pm, film starts at 8pm. Tickets: £8, £6 conc. Buy them from Baileys, online (with no booking fee) or via the Facebook page or on the door.

Operatic present cracker of a Christmas show

* A scene from Christmas Eve in the Parlour from the second half of the show.

* A duet from Simon Orton-Jones and Helen Belton.

* Members of the chorus belt out a seasonal number.

* A powerful solo performance from the Young 'Uns' Cassius Hackforth.

* The Young 'Uns on stage together in the first half of the show. 

Llangollen Operatic Society delivered an early Christmas present at the Town Hall last night, lovingly wrapped in enthusiasm and talent.

First on stage for their seasonal show, Mistletoe and Merriment, were over 30 members of  the society’s junior section, the Young ‘Uns, who served up a delicious taster for their forthcoming show, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which runs from February 8-10 next year.

They set the perfect pace and style for the whole evening with a selection of songs from the production, including Any Dream Will Do, Jacob and Sons and Close Every Door.

Star atop the Christmas tree was young Cassius Hackworth as Joseph but, as always with this group, there was strength in depth as strong and thoughtful backing came from the entire ensemble.

Cassius stayed on stage – and did a quick change of character and pace – to present the World’s Greatest Dad from another hit show, Elf. He was followed by another Young’Uns gem, Shea Ferron, with a moving delivery of Walking in the Air from The Snowman.

It was then time for the society’s very useful chorus to let loose with songs from Home Alone 2, White Christmas, Polar Express and Meet Me in St Louis.

There were some strong duet and solo numbers, such as O Holy Night (Cantique de Noel),  Prayer from Quest for Camelot and When a Child is Born, by Helen Belton – also the show’s musical director – Jo Lloyd, Simon Orton-Jones and Daniel May.  

As last year, links between the pieces were hilariously provided by Louise Cielecki and Nathan Lloyd – both former Young ‘Uns members – who doubled up with their own interpretation of Baby It’s Cold Outside.

Spotlight next fell on keyboard wizards David Evans and Jayne Belton who set toes tapping within the large and appreciative audience with Jingle Bells and Sleigh Ride.

The chorus was back to end the first half with a poignant Happy Christmas (War is Over) and rousing Jingle Bell Rock.

Second half of the show was given over to a play written and directed by Lyn Aston entitled Christmas Eve in the Parlour, a seamless selection of comedy sketches on a seasonal theme.

At various points this featured the Cielecki/Lloyd double-act, Marcus Ansloos, Clare Wall, Sue Griffiths, Lizzie and John Clifford, James Reardon, Katie Clark, Joanne Lloyd, Tony Jones, Jan Bellis plus other society members who had already appeared in the first half – all neatly accompanied on electric keyboard by Chris Sims.

The evening was suitably rounded off with the audience joining in enthusiastically with A Partridge in a Pear Tree and a selection of carols. 

If this colourful and brilliantly performed show didn’t get you in the Christmas spirit it’s hard to know what will.