New safety course for landlords

Rent Smart Wales, the registration and licensing authority for all landlords and agents with property, has developed a new fire safety course for landlords.

Developed in conjunction with Wales’ three fire authorities, including North Wales, the online course aims to increase landlords fire safety knowledge and make them aware of their legal obligations to ensure their tenants and properties are protected from the potentially devastating effects of fire.

The course, available on the Rent Smart Wales website, is the first online Continuing Professional Development course to be offered by the scheme and provides more in depth information on fire safety than the basic responsibilities covered in the mandatory training course for all self-managing landlords in Wales.

Cllr Lynda Thorne, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities at Cardiff Council, the single licensing authority for Rent Smart Wales, said: “I’m really pleased to see Rent Smart Wales delivering added value for landlords through this new online course which is free to access.

“We all know that the effects of fire can be devastating. But most fires are preventable so it’s essential that landlords, agents and tenants are aware of their fire safety responsibilities.”

The online course takes around one hour to complete and covers nine topics including general landlord duties, fire safety, gas safety, electrical safety and furniture and furnishings safety. The course also includes information about fire safety in Houses of Multiple Occupation, fire safety equipment and risk assessments.

Landlords must complete a short assessment at the end of the course to pass and the result forms part of their training record with Rent Smart Wales.

Paul Scott, Head of Business Fire Safety for North Wales Fire and Rescue Service, said: “It’s so important that everyone is aware of their fire safety responsibilities – we all have a role to play in keeping our communities safe.

“By supporting the development of this free and easy to access course we hope that landlords will take the time to learn more about how to provide the safest level of accommodation possible, in turn helping to protect the residents of our region.”

Cllr Thorne added: “The purpose of Rent Smart Wales is to drive up standards in the private rented sector in Wales, helping landlords to be aware of their obligations and ensuring tenants are also aware of their rights and own responsibilities. This course provides the assistance that landlords and agents have been asking for, an easy access resource where straight forward, up-to-date information can be accessed.

“Rent Smart wales hopes to develop additional courses in the future to continue to meet the sector’s needs.”

New beer says cheers to sad Welsh lament

* Ynyr Evans, the head brewer at Llangollen Brewery, with food festival committee member Pip Gale, right.

Wales’ most famous and saddest love song has inspired a new beer.

The song Myfanwy tells the tragic story of the unrequited love of a penniless young poet called Hywel ab Einion for a beautiful young noblewoman who lived in Dinas Bran castle high above Llangollen in the 14^th century.

The new brew, appropriately a bitter, being unveiled at Llangollen Food Festival later this year is called Heartbreak Hill as a tribute to Hywel’s spurned passion.

It’s the brainchild of Ynyr Evans, the head brewer at Llangollen Brewery, who was moved by Hywel’s response to being rejected by the woman who had captured his heart.

The brewery is based at the Abbey Grange Hotel on the outskirts of the town and was set up by Ynyr and his uncle, the landlord, 10 years ago.

They currently make 1,000 gallons a week and sell their range of beers to around 50 pubs, mainly in North Wales and the North West.

Llangollen Brewery are regulars at the food festival which will be held on Saturday and Sunday, October 13 and 14.

It’s now officially recognised as one of the top 10 food festivals in the UK and pumps around £400,000 into the local economy every year.

According to Ynyr, he was entranced by the story of the lovelorn Hywel and Myfanwy, who was the daughter of the Norman Earl of Arundel, and described as the “the most beautiful woman in Powys”.

Ynyr said: “Myfanwy was exceedingly vain and loved nothing better than being told how beautiful she was.

“Young men came to Dinas Bran from far and wide to seek her affection but she rebuffed them, even if they were rich and handsome because they could not compose and sing poems that did justice to her beauty.

“One man who did have the talent to satisfy Myfanwy’s vanity was the poor but richly talented Hywel ab Einion who lived in the Dee Valley below.

“And one day Hywel plucked up the courage to climb up the hill to the castle with his harp, to sing and play to Myfanwy.

“Hywel believed she had fallen in love with him because while he was playing and complimenting her on her beauty she could neither listen nor look at any other man.

“Sadly, his hopes were dashed when a richer, more handsome and more eloquent lover came along. Hywel, who was discarded and quickly forgotten by Myfanwy, wanders through the forests of the Dee Valley composing a poem to his lost love.

“Hywel was a broken man. His love lay in ruins just like Dinas Bran castle today.

“The story that inspired the song Myfanwy is tragic and touching but not well known today so I thought Hywel’s ardour  and how his heart was broken on the hill above Llangollen should be remembered.

“Heartbreak Hill is perfect for those who want to cry in their beer. In terms of taste it’s quite hoppy and fruity and at 4.5% it’s not too strong.”

“As well as launching Heartbreak Hill on our stand at the food festival, we’ll also put  it into local pubs to see what people think of it.

“We’re really looking forward to being at Llangollen Food Festival because it is so important to us.

"Festival goers are always keen to try something new and different so hopefully Heartbreak Hill will go down well.”

It was a sentiment echoed by festival committee member Pip Gale, who knows a thing or two about alcoholic beverages, as he runs the family-owned Gale's Wine Bar in the town.

He said: "I have lived in Llangollen all my life but I must confess I had never heard about the story behind the song Myfanwy. I’m sure Hearbreak Hill is going to be very popular.”

Among those who can’t wait to give it a try is fellow committee member Phil Davies.

He said: "Heartbreak Hill is a proper craft beer made by a local brewery so it sums up what a lot of the festival is all about really, supporting indigenous producers.

"In addition to Llangollen Brewery, we have a wonderful array of fantastic food producers clustered in the area and this year the festival is promising to be great event once again with a fantastic choice of produce, along with demonstrations from the region's finest chefs so there will be plenty to tempt the taste buds.

"I'm glad to say we're also making a positive contribution the local economy with food lovers travelling from far and wide because the festival is now firmly and rightly established as a major highlight in the UK's culinary calendar."

The song Myfanwy was composed by Joseph Parry in 1875 and the lyrics were written by Richard Davies. 

* To find out more about the Llangollen Food Festival please visit www.llangollenfoodfestival.com

The Lyrics of Myfanwy with English translation below

Paham mae dicter, O Myfanwy,
Yn llenwi'th lygaid duon di?
A'th ruddiau tirion, O Myfanwy,
Heb wrido wrth fy ngweled i?
Pa le mae'r wên oedd ar dy wefus
Fu'n cynnau 'nghariad ffyddlon ffôl?
Pa le mae sain dy eiriau melys,
Fu'n denu'n nghalon ar dy ôl?

Pa beth a wneuthum, O Myfanwy
I haeddu gwg dy ddwyrudd hardd?
Ai chwarae oeddit, O Myfanwy
 thanau euraidd serch dy fardd?
Wyt eiddo im drwy gywir amod
Ai gormod cadw'th air i mi?
Ni cheisiaf fyth mo'th law, Myfanwy,
Heb gael dy galon gyda hi.

Myfanwy boed yr holl o'th fywyd
Dan heulwen ddisglair canol dydd.
A boed i rosyn gwridog iechyd
I ddawnsio ganmlwydd ar dy rudd.
Anghofia'r oll o'th addewidion
A wnest i rywun, 'ngeneth ddel,
A dyro'th law, Myfanwy dirion
I ddim ond dweud y gair "Ffarwél".

English translation

Why is it anger, O Myfanwy,
That fills your eyes so dark and clear?
Your gentle cheeks, O sweet Myfanwy,
Why blush they not when I draw near?
Where is the smile that once most tender
Kindled my love so fond, so true?
Where is the sound of your sweet words,
That drew my heart to follow you?

What have I done, O my Myfanwy,
To earn your frown? What is my blame?
Was it just play, my sweet Myfanwy,
To set your poet's love aflame?
You truly once to me were promised,
Is it too much to keep your part?
I wish no more your hand, Myfanwy,
If I no longer have your heart.

Myfanwy, may you spend your lifetime
Beneath the midday sunshine's glow,
And on your cheeks O may the roses
Dance for a hundred years or so.
Forget now all the words of promise
You made to one who loved you well,
Give me your hand, my sweet Myfanwy,
But one last time, to say "farewell".

Horseshoe Pass partially re-open

* A picture taken when the mountain fire was at its height.

Denbighshire Free Press is reporting this afternoon (Thursday) that the Horseshoe Pass is now partially re-open as crews deal with mountain fire hotspots.

For the full story, see: http://www.denbighshirefreepress.co.uk/news/16409062.horseshoe-pass-reopens-again-as-three-crews-remain-tackling-llantysilio-blaze-hotspots/ 

Bad Brexit could be crime-fighting catastrophe, say police bosses

* North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones with his deputy, Ann Griffith.

Crashing out of Europe with a hard Brexit or no deal at all will put North Wales people in jeopardy, the region’s police chief has warned.

According to North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones and his deputy, Ann Griffith, we are ticking down to a potential crime-fighting catastrophe unless a “sensible agreement” can be reached.

If that doesn’t happen the UK could be frozen out of up to 32 of the shared services currently used to target criminals across Europe after March 31 next year.

Among them are ECRIS, the European Criminal Record Information Service used 539 million times by British police last year, Europol, the European Union law enforcement agency, and the European Arrest Warrant.

It would also lead to chaos and confusion at the port of Holyhead as well as the additional security concerns.

Mr Jones, a former police inspector, said: “All these important tools we currently use for security and policing are now at risk and could soon be denied to our police forces.

“Brexit may risk putting UK and North Wales in jeopardy. After all this cooperation is used to help North Wales Police guard against terrorism, serious organised crime including modern slavery and human and drugs trafficking.

“A hard Brexit will mean starting from scratch, negotiating individually with each country and using instruments that we currently use for countries outside the EU and that will mean extradition will be slower and more difficult, and criminals will evade justice and will find it easier to operate in the UK.

“Already the Crown Prosecution Service are planning for a worst case scenario. The Home Office have received £350 million in transition funding and the Border Force will receive £60 million of that.

“I recently challenged the Assistant Director of the UK Border Force who was unable to answer my questions around how policing and security looks like for the Common Travel Area but she did say that the CTA will remain.

“But that requires a single market and a Customs Union and Mrs May says we will be leaving both.

“I was shocked that a senior member of the Border Force couldn’t answer questions around what the policing of the Common Travel Area would look like after Brexit especially as they are recruiting 1,300 new Border force officers.

“To say that the Common Travel Area would remain after a hard Brexit shows amazing ignorance of what should be ‘bread and butter’ issues for the Border Force.

“Unfortunately, we don’t seem to have moved on much since the referendum following which I asked the Security Minister, Ben Wallace about policing the Common Travel Area and his stock answer was that the Home Office were aware of the ‘vulnerabilities’ of the Common Travel Area but in the last two years they don’t seem to have done much about those vulnerabilities.

“However, it’s become increasingly clear that a hard Brexit will mean a hard border and that will not only be on the island of Ireland but also at Holyhead with the disruption to the flow of goods and services we have seen for 40 years and without the reassuring co-operation with European policing bodies.”

Life could also be made more difficult for other joint investigation teams from agencies like Eurojust which tackle a range of crimes from terror to child abuse and modern slavery.

The agreement was introduced 2002 in response to a growing threat from international terrorism and a recognition that extradition procedures were complex and time consuming.

Mr Jones and his deputy, Ann Griffith, voiced their concerns at a recent meeting between the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners and the main security agencies, the Police Chiefs Council, National Crime Agency, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Border Control Agency.

Ms Griffith added: “According to Lord Jay, Chair of the  Lords EU Home Affairs Sub-Committee, revealed they’d heard evidence that, by mid-May, the UK and EU negotiators had spent little more than an hour discussing the future internal security relationship, despite the obvious mutual interest in making rapid progress. As he put it, the current negotiations had not happened in the spirit of protecting the safety of millions of UK and EU citizens.

“If the negotiations run out of time without a deal there is a real risk of a crisis for policing across the UK and could leave North Wales increasingly vulnerable to serious crime.

“The Common Travel Area between Wales and the Republic of Ireland does not appear to have been given full consideration and nobody knows what the full implications will be.

“I am concerned that the fight against serious and violent crime will be frustrated if detailed arrangements are not put in place to meet current levels of UK-EU cooperation.

“Crime does not observe borders. Serious and organised crime, almost always has an international footprint.

“Therefore, it is essential for criminal justice agencies and policing to work in close partnership both across Europe and beyond in the post-Brexit era.

North Wales Police like other UK law enforcement agencies, makes wide ranging use of a number of Home Affairs and EU Justice measures to provide a dynamic, quick and efficient response to crime and criminality that effect our communities.

"The majority of crime doesn't happen on the streets anymore and our frontline is now online.

"Europol was established in 2009, and one of its main function is cyber-crime cooperation.

"If the cooperation with Europol an Eurojust is to continue, it will come at a price because it is likely we will have to pay a lot more to benefit from the work of these agencies.

"I am also particularly worried about the possible loss of the European Arrest Warrants which currently means that most wanted criminals can be returned promptly.

"Before the European Arrest Warrant, extradition arrangements could take up to 10 years whereas now we're talking about people being able to be transferred within a matter of weeks.

“It is a matter of great concern that insufficient attention is being given by the Government to the implications of Brexit and in particular the possibility of a No Deal Brexit on security and policing.

"Keeping people safe has got to be our priority," she added.

County seeks ideas on future development sites

As part of its work on a new Local Development Plan, Denbighshire County Council is inviting landowners, developers and any others with an interest in land in the county to submit suggested sites for future development.

The Local Development Plan (LDP) sets out where, and how much, future development will happen in the county, as well as the areas to be protected from development. 

To help inform these decisions, a ‘call for candidate sites’ is being held until November 26.

Submitting a site is not, however, a guarantee of inclusion in the LDP, says the county.

All sites submissions must provide sufficient background information and the council will assess each site before making a decision on its suitability. 

All sites selected for inclusion will be subject to public consultation as part of the Deposit LDP early in 2020.

Guidance and forms for submitting a candidate site are available on the Local Development Plan section of the Council’s website at www.denbighshire.gov.uk. 

All forms must be submitted in full, and accompanied by the necessary maps, before the deadline of November 26.  Incomplete or late submissions will not be accepted. 

* For further information, contact the Strategic Planning and Housing Team:

Email – planningpolicy@denbighshire.gov.uk, phone 01824 706916.

Eisteddfod prize misunderstanding has happy ending

* Eisteddfod chairman Dr Rhys Davies and his wife Anne on either side of choir musical director Jo Williamson to whom they presented the trophy named in their son Owen's memory.
Picture by Barrie Potter.

A children’s choir which accidentally left Llangollen International Musial Eisteddfod without realising they had won a prestigious competition prize now has its trophy at last.

A misunderstanding meant Cantabile Hereford Cathedral School packed up and left the eisteddfod without realising they had been victorious in the hotly-contested Children’s Choir of the World contest.

And it was only when they were on their way home that they received a frantic phone call from festival organisers to say they had been voted joint winners of the coveted Owen Davies Trophy.

However, by then it was too late to do anything about it.

But now, weeks after the 2018 eisteddfod ended, their leader has been back to Llangollen to pick up the prize that was rightfully theirs.

The choir was founded exactly 10 years ago by former professional opera singer Jo Williamson who is its musical director.

She said: “On the Wednesday of the eisteddfod we’d won the Children’s Folk Song Choirs.

“We competed again the day after in the Children’s Choir of the World contest but we obviously misunderstood things and didn’t think we’d scored sufficiently highly to win it.

“We left in various vehicles to go home to Hereford but whilst my husband Phil and I were driving along the A5 I received a phone call to say we had actually been voted joint winners with the British Columbia Girls’ Choir from Canada. We both had the scores of 89.7.

“This was great news, especially as we are the first English choir to win this competition since it was set up. However, by the time we found out we couldn’t go back to Llangollen as we were all heading for home in different vehicles.”

The trophy they belatedly picked up was donated by the eisteddfod chairman Dr Rhys Davies and his wife Anne in memory of their son Owen who died at the age of just 33 in 2016.

“The fact that it’s known as the Owen Davies Trophy makes it particularly poignant for us, so it’s unfortunate that there was this misunderstanding,” said Dr Davies.

“As there were joint winners this year we’ve had an extra trophy made, which I was delighted to hand over to Jo Williamson. It’s great that they have their rightful prize even though it’s just a few weeks late.”     

The choir includes 22 members, aged from 13-18, who are pupils at Hereford Cathedral School.

They have made regular Llangollen Eisteddfod appearances and previously won the Children’s Folk Choir Competition in 2015.

They went on to perform at the Royal Albert Hall in London as part of the BBC Songs of Praise event, The Big Sing.

Other glittering past performances included one before the Duke of Kent alongside Hereford Cathedral Junior School Chamber Choir. 

In 2013 Cantabile won their class at the Cheltenham Festival of Performing Arts and the previous year ended with rapturous applause at the Three Choirs Festival in Hereford.

They have also frequently taken part in the BBC Songs of Praise Senior School Choir completion and hold the distinction of winning the event in 2015.

MP slams 'shameful' decision to close primary school

Clwyd South MP Susan Elan Jones has slammed a decision by Wrexham Council to close Ysgol Pontfadog.

The move comes despite more than 1,000 objections received against proposals to shut the English-medium primary school.

Ms Jones (pictured) said: "Today Wrexham Council’s Executive Board chose to ignore the views of pretty much everyone who lives in the Ceiriog Valley.

"A huge number of people took part in the council’s consultation process and local campaigners are right to be furious. Ysgol Pontfadog should not be closed.

"Today’s appalling decision fails on two counts - it closes Ysgol Pontfadog and it fails to give Glyn Ceiriog the fully Welsh-medium school it needs.

"Ysgol Pontfadog should have been retained as an English-medium school, Ysgol Llanarmon DC as a Welsh-medium school with Ysgol Cynddelw, Glyn Ceiriog becoming a fully Welsh-medium school.

"The Executive Board of Wrexham County Borough Council has treated the communities of the Ceiriog Valley shamefully.

"If local residents now feel that their interests would be best served outside Wrexham County Borough Council area by becoming part of another Local Authority area I will back."

Clwyd South AM Ken Skates said

 "The council asked for people’s opinions on their proposals and the people of the Ceiriog Valley responded in their numbers and have made their feelings quite clear. I have made repeated representations to Wrexham Council on behalf of my constituents and completely understand their frustration.”