County presses for free childcare funding

Denbighshire County Council has welcomed the “positive soundings” from Welsh Government Minister for Children, Older People and Social Care, Huw Irranca Davies to work with the county council to aim to introduce the free childcare scheme county-wide from April 2019.

The Council had written to the Minister, expressing disappointment that the county had not been included in the next tranche of areas which will receive the funding

Following positive and constructive discussions, the Minister has pledged, in principle and subjects to a number of factors,  to provide funding to all areas of Denbighshire at the same time, rather than a phased community by community approach.

Councillor Huw Hilditch-Roberts, Cabinet Lead Member for Children, Young People, Education and the Welsh Language, said: “This subject has been making headlines over recent weeks and we want to ensure that we do all we can in Denbighshire to bring funding to the county, to allow the free childcare scheme to progress.

“We want to make sure that the families who need this kind of support can actually receive it sooner, rather than later and at the same time.

“We wrote to the Minister following concerns raised locally about the roll-out of the scheme and the response from the Minister has been positive.  He’s engaged  with us and there have been very positive discussions between the Minister and the Council to work to try and make this happen.

“We will continue to press for the funding until it has been approved and, subject to approval, look forward to letting communities know how they can access the free childcare scheme in April of next year”.

The scheme would be delivered in partnership with Flintshire County Council and the capital funding available for the scheme would be administered through Denbighshire County Council, not individual nurseries.

Couple to spend part of honeymoon at LlanBikeFest

* Celebrating their marriage at LlanBikeFest will be Ian Davies and Debbie Roberts.

Bike mad Ian Davies and Debbie Roberts are celebrating their marriage in style by spending part of their honeymoon at the Llangollen Motorcycle Festival - LlanBikeFest.

The couple, from Penycae, tied the knot yesterday (Monday) at Castle Rushen, Castletown, Isle of Man.

But after dashing back to Wales for a party then returning to the island for a few days they will be at LlanBikeFest to do their bit promoting Blood Bikes Wales.

Part of a nationwide network, Blood Bikes will be at LlanBikeFest, which runs at the Royal International Pavilion on August 4 and 5, to raise awareness of their work and sign up even more volunteers.

The couple are part of a team of volunteers who ride all hours and in all weathers to transport everything from blood plasma to vital documents between NHS facilities.

Debbie said: “Ian proposed to me in the Isle of Man because he’s bike mad – and we are both passionate about supporting Blood Bikes, so we have to be back for the festival.”

LlanBikeFest director John Hutchinson said: “There has been at least one marriage proposal at LlanBikeFest but this could be our first time as a honeymoon destination.

"All good wishes to the happy couple. We are delighted to support Blood Bikes Wales for another year, as well as raising more money for our official charity, Wales Air Ambulance.”

Starring Isle of Man TT legend John McGuinness, LlanBikeFest is a great weekend for families as well as bike enthusiasts, with free entry for accompanied children aged 16 and under, and lots to see and do -  hundreds of motorcycles of every type on show, spectacular riding displays, birds of prey, rides and children’s’ entertainments, plus a great line-up of bands both days.

Entertainments will include jaw-dropping stunts by champion trails rider Steve Colley and Savage Skills, the UK’s leading freestyle mountain bike team, plus beautiful birds from the Talonted Feathers falconry.

* Follow the event on Facebook at Llangollen Motorcycle Festival.

Day tickets are £10 online at www.llanbikefest.co.uk , or £12 on the gate, with accompanied children 16 and under free. Club stands and exhibitor bookings are free. Contact the Festival office at 07960 693398, office@llanbikefest.co.uk

Clean-up company Kingdom pulls out of county contract

Kingdom Services Group have informed Denbighshire County Council of their intention to withdraw services in the county from August 17 in line with their 28 days contractual notice.

Councillor Tony Thomas, Cabinet Lead Member for Housing, Regulatory Services and the Environment, said: “The Group have partnered the Council in dealing with environmental issues such as littering and dog fouling over the last five years, in response to the Council’s efforts to make its streets cleaner and creating a pleasant environment for people to live in and visit.

“The joint work has made an impact in terms of awareness and there has been a marked reduction in the number of littering and dog fouling incidents.

“Whilst disappointed, we must respect Kingdom’s decision and would like to thank them for their co-operation over the past five years.

The Council says it will now consider how the environmental education and enforcement work will continue in the future, as having clean and tidy streets remains a key priority.

Llan car used in Chirk ram-raid, says paper

* The Co-op store in Chirk. Picture from Oswestry Advertizer.

The Oswestry Advertizer is reporting this afternoon that a car stolen in Llangollen was used in a ram-raid on the Co-op store in Chirk.

For the full story, see: http://www.bordercountiesadvertizer.co.uk/news/16371156.chirk-burglars-ram-raid-co-op-store-using-stolen-car/

 

Network Rail boss sees progress on Corwen station

* Andy Thomas with members of the project team at line side at Corwen Central station.   
Picture: George Jones. 

Andy Thomas, Network Rail managing director England and Wales, has visited the Corwen Central station site to see progress on the volunteer-led project. 

He was given a guided tour of the station works site by project leader, Richard Dixon-Gough.

He was shown the current progress with the building of the platform 1 wall and the recently installed new-build water tank.

The building of the base wall for the soon-to-be-installed signal box was also inspected and the need for redundant materials to complete the heritage signalling facility was noted. 

In the course of discussions with the volunteers, Mr Thomas noted the similarities of issues the project faced with station projects being undertaken by Network Rail and the need for more resources to complete the task.  

Mr Thomas said: “I was delighted to visit the Corwen site, and see the tremendous work of volunteers first hand, especially the recently installed water tower.

“The Llangollen Railway provides the local community and visitors to the area the chance to journey back in time, and I am pleased to see the heritage railway able to expand through generous donations, including from Welsh Government.  

“This is an exciting time as the new station platform is completed at Corwen Central, and I would encourage staff from Network Rail to use their volunteer leave to support the Llangollen Railway volunteers in these final stages of the project.” 

Richard Dixon-Gough said: “We were very pleased to be able to show Andy how the Corwen project is progressing and contrast our efforts with those of Network Rail on developments elsewhere. Help from all sources is essential if the station is to be completed to receive trains in 2019 and the prospect of Network Rail employees volunteering to help would be most valuable.”

Terry Waite tells business leaders about his captivity

* Host Gill Kreft along with Gareth Parry, Gwyn Edwards, Paul Ffoulkes, Ian Edwards, guest speaker Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas AM, Rob Williams and guest speaker David Pountney.

Former hostage Terry Waite told how the Islamic jihadists holding him captive unwittingly gave him a book called Great Escapes.

The revelation about the irony of reading material presented to the president of Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod by his guards who were unable to speak English came during a speech to the Wrexham Business Professionals Group at the town’s Ramada hotel.

The group is made up of successful businesses and highly skilled professional firms of solicitors, accountants and other business professionals working together to raise the profile of enterprise and expertise that exists in the region and beyond.

The other keynote speakers at the event were Welsh National Opera’s Artistic Director David Pountney and Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas, Welsh Government Minister for Culture, Tourism and Sport.

The theme of the meeting Powering Regional Prosperity … The Art of Business and Mr Waite was there in his capacity as President of Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.

The ex-Church of England envoy described what life was life being held in an underground prison in Beirut for five years and how he was chained to the wall for 23 hours and 50 minutes every day, with just a 10 minute toilet break.

“I’d been negotiating for the release of hostages on behalf of the Church of England for many years,” he said.

“Today I’m responsible for Hostage UK, which operates worldwide.

“When you are attempting to deal with this particular problem you have to run the risk of being captured yourself and it was inevitable that one day I’d be held hostage.”

“People ask me all the time what I missed most,” he said. “Family and friends of course, but I also missed books and music.

“I pleaded with the guards to bring me books. They asked why – we’ve never read a book in our lives, they said.

“Eventually a guard said he would get me a book and a day or so later he provided one. Would you believe it was called Great Escapes and was the story of successful escapes from prison camps in the Second World War.

“The next book he got was a manual on breastfeeding and when the third was Dr Spock I decided something had to be done.

“I asked for a pencil and paper and drew a penguin. Two weeks later I got my first Penguin book. It showed a symbol is able to cut across cultural and language barriers.”

Mr Waite said he was then taken as a hostage somewhere else in Beirut and heard someone singing.

“I heard the man for a couple of days as he kept passing the building where I was held,” he said.

“It turned out it was the time of Ramadan and it was the man who walked around the town to wake people up and the way he used to do it was by singing.

“Music and language have the capacity to breed harmony into the soul.

“When today we are engaged in business and trade we have difficulty dealing with ill health or stress. We need inner calmness and the arts are a vital component.”

The meeting at the Ramada Plaza Hotel in Wrexham opened with a performance by members of the academy of the Only Boys Aloud choir. They sang three songs, finishing with a rousing rendition of Calon Lȃn.

* For more information about Wrexham Business Professionals contact Kate Edwards on 01978 752500 or at admin@wrexhambusinessprofessionals.com or go to the website www.wrexhambusinessprofessionals.com   

Fringe stars give new twist to WW1 marching song

* Brothers Jonathan and Robert Guy.

The founder of an orchestra which will play at the closing concert of this year's Llangollen Fringe Festival has given a new twist to the famous First World War marching song, Pack up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag.

The words of the song were written by George Henry Powell while the music was composed by his older brother Felix Lloyd Powell, who was an organist at the cathedral in St Asaph where they lived.

And while George was a choir boy Felix was certainly no angel because he etched his name on the back of one of the cathedral’s stalls.

The song won first prize in a World War One competition for the best morale-building song and it’s claimed to be the most optimistic song ever written.

Now, the enduring favourite has provided the inspiration for the overall theme and an education project at this year’s North Wales International Music Festival which is held annually at the cathedral.

The festival, which runs from Saturday, September 15, to Sunday, September 30, is being supported by the Arts Council of Wales and Tŷ Cerdd.

Composer and professional clarinettist Jonathan Guy is writing a new musical piece, Smile, Smile, Smile, based on Pack up Your Troubles, which will be premiered by young musicians of all abilities during a festival workshop.

They will be performing it at the festival on Saturday, September 29, alongside the event’s resident orchestra, NEW Sinfonia, which Jonathan established with his brother, Robert, the conductor and artistic director.

NEW Sinfonia will play the finale concert of Llangollen Fringe Festival at Valle Crucis Abbey on Sunday July 29.

Jonathan was asked by the International Music Festival to write a piece of new music to go along with the theme of this year’s festival, Reflections, reflecting upon the centenary of the end of the Great War.  

He said: “The fact Felix Powell etched his name into the back of a choir stall at St Asaph Cathedral is amazing and there is a blue plaque commemorating the brothers in the High Street which is attached to the building where they were born.  

   

“It will be an amazing concert and I can’t wait to hear my composition played in front of the cathedral audience, it will be something special especially as we will be giving young string and wind musicians, of all abilities, an opportunity to join in and play with an orchestra.” 

Proud brother Robert added: “I’m thrilled Jonathan has been commissioned by the festival, with the support of The Thomas Howell’s Education Fund for North Wales, to write this piece based on Pack up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag which will have different parts for different abilities so everyone can take part.

“We will have young performers of all ages and abilities joining the workshop and learning the piece which is called Smile, Smile, Smile. It’s going to make it a truly memorable final concert.”

Artistic director Ann Atkinson believes Smile, Smile, Smile will be the perfect way to reflect. She said: “The theme this year is Reflections as we want to look back on the centenary of the end of the Great War, as well as reflecting on life and love.

“The story behind Pack up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag is intriguing and as George and Felix Powell were from St Asaph it’s the perfect way to commemorate their work.

“George, who sang in the cathedral choir, wrote the lyrics under the pseudonym George Asaf, a name he used to reflect his St Asaph birthplace. His brother, Felix, who played the organ in the cathedral aged 11, wrote the music.

“George, who was born in April 1880, was a pacifist and conscientious objector when conscription was introduced in 1916. He died after a long illness in December 1951.

“Felix who was a staff sergeant in the British Army was in the Peacehaven Home Guard in Sussex in World War Two. He committed suicide in 1942 using his own rifle to shoot himself through the heart. He was aged 63. Their history is incredibly sad.”

She added: “I’m delighted with the line-up for this year’s festival and the first concert will feature a world premiere.

“We have a concert called Hymn to the Fallen, a programme of remembrance to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the Armistice featuring the popular Voces8.

“International pianist Freddy Kempf will perform a concert of music by Chopin and will also perform Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin, which was written in 1917 and is dedicated to friends that perished in the Great War.

“Our festival community choir will perform with Welsh National Opera and we have another world premiere, Materna Requiem, by composer Rebecca Dale.

“We also have a concert called Reflections of Love which will see classical guitarist Craig Ogden and jazz singer Jacqui Dankworth come together to perform a diverse mixture of songs by everyone from Paul Simon and James Taylor to Henry Mancini and Michel Legrand.

“Reflections is a concert featuring soprano Elin Manahan Thomas, pianist Jocelyn Freeman and Family Affair, and on the Saturday evening we will have the Smile, Smile, Smile concert with NEW Sinfonia and the workshop students as well as a performance of the Elgar cello concerto by celebrated cellist Raphael Wallfisch.

“The festival will close on the Sunday with a concert reflecting on the centenary of the end of the Great War and will include performances by, Trelawnyd and Bro Glyndŵr Male Voice Choirs, Côr Cytgan Clwyd and A5 Brass Quintet.

“The programme will include a selection of wartime songs and poetry along with works by Barber, Kamen and Karl Jenkins.”

Ann added: “It’s going to be a very special festival this year and there really will be something for everyone. I’d encourage anyone who likes classical and contemporary music to get their tickets as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.”

* Tickets are available online, from Theatr Clwyd, Mold – 01352 701521 or Cathedral Frames, 28 High Street, St Asaph - 01745 582929. To find out more about the North Wales International Music Festival please visit www.nwimf.com.