Legion foursome's sentimental journey to France

* Phil Stroud, David Thomas, Graham Patton and Phil Silverton at the Tyn Cot Commonwealth War Cemetery.

When Llangollen’s Royal British Legion chairman Philip Stroud visited a bar in the famous First World War town of Ypres in Belgium he left behind a very special memento of his visit.

It was a glass of beer which the ex-soldier asked the barman to put in pride of place on the top shelf behind him.

Quite simply, he says, it was so that the lads who never made it there themselves from 1914-18 could have a drink on him.

Phil and three fellow members of the town’s Legion branch recently joined their comrades from across Britain at a special ceremony in northern France honouring the fallen of the First World War.  

A decade after the end of the war in 1918 the British Legion, as it was then known, organised an expedition for veterans and widows to visit the battlefields of the Somme and Ypres before marching to the Menin Gate in Ypres on August 8th 1928.

* On parade through the streets of Ypres,
with Philip Stroud marching behind
the Royal Marine on the left.  

Exactly 90 years later, thousands of Legion representatives crossed the Channel to recreate the 1928 Battlefields Pilgrimage and visit the same battlefields.

They also paraded their branch standards and a wreath along the same route to the Menin Gate for the One Hundred Days ceremony commemorating the last 100 days of the war and representing an entire generation that served while defending their country.

Proudly taking their place in the pilgrimage were Philip Stroud along with branch standard bearer Phil Silverston, secretary David Thomas and parade commander Graham Patton.

They took with them the official good wishes of the Town Council and people of Llangollen expressed to them at a gathering in the town’s new Centenary Square before they left for France.

Philip Stroud, who himself served with the King’s Regiment, said: “We first spent some time visiting some of the war’s most famous battlefields and went on to join the parade in Ypres for the special commemorative day of August 8.

“Staying at Valenciennes, we first paid our respects at the Memorial Museum at Passchendaele and later visited Tyne Cot, near Zonnebeke in Belgium. The largest cemetery for Commonwealth forces in the world, it contains almost 12,000 graves of which over 8,000 are un-named, and is very moving.

“We also called in at a church nearby which was razed to rubble during the war but totally rebuilt afterwards bearing the badges of the British regiments who fought in that area in its stained glass windows. These include those of the Manchester and Salford regiments which interest me as I served with the Manchesters during my time in the army.

“Next stop for us was at Hill 60 where the Canadians fought and then it was on to Ypres, which was in the middle of a bitterly contested salient throughout the war.

“Next day we drove over to the Somme battlefield where it was very emotional to visit the huge red dragon memorial to the 38^th (Welsh) Division at Mametz Wood.

“Our group joined in with the singing of the Welsh National Anthem, which brought tears to more than one pair of eyes.

“Still on the Somme we stopped at the enormous Thiepval Memorial, which bears 74,000 names, and later it was on to see the impressive Canadian memorial at Vimy Ridge.”

Philip added: “We returned from France to neighbouring Belgium to revisit Ypres for the parade the next day and, along with the other Legion contingents, laid wreaths on the Menin Gate.

“That evening we called in for a drink at a small bar opposite the town’s famous Cloth Hall, which would have been there at the time of the war, and ended up with one more glass of beer than we needed for the group who were there.

“I decided to do something which I hope was a little special with it and asked the man behind the bar to put it up on the high shelf.

“My intention was to leave it there for the lads who died in the war and never made it in there for a drink themselves.

“Joining the pilgrimage was a very poignant experience. I’ve never been to the First World War battlefields before but I’d certainly like to go back there again.

“It was also good to carry with us the official greetings of the Mayor and people of Llangollen.”

* A huge crater blown by a mine on the Ypres Salient. 

* The 38th (Welsh) Division's Welsh Dragon Memorial at Mametz Wood.  

* The Llangollen group at Thiepval Memorial on the Somme battlefield.

'Fantastic' GCSE results at Ysgol Dinas Bran

* Celebratory GCSE students jump for joy.

Year 11 students at Ysgol Dinas Bran celebrated their GCSE results at the school today. 

There were good grades across all subjects with particularly strong performances in Art, Drama, Music, Biology, Chemistry and Physics where the pass-rate was high and a large number of A*/A grades. 

Over 70% of grades awarded in Physics and Biology were A* or A.

More than 70% of students passed Mathematics/Numeracy and the new Double Science qualification.

There were some fantastic individual performances including a host of students who achieved the very top grades. 

Highest achiever was Emily Hudson (Corwen) who gained an incredible ten A* grades, 1 A grade and a Distinction in Additional Maths. 

Georgia Roberts (Trevor) also performed extremely well achieving 6 A* grades, 1 A grade and a Distinction in Additional Mathematics. 

There was also a fantastic performance for Amelia Orton-Jones (Llangollen) who achieved 6 A* grades, 6 A grades, 1 B grade and a Merit in Additional Maths.

There were tremendous results, too, for Aled Bates (Glyn Ceiriog) who achieved 6 A* grades, 4 A grades, 4 B grades and a Distinction in Additional Maths and Gareth McAndrew (Corwen) who achieved 7 A* grades, 2 A grades, 5 B grades and a Distinction in Additional Maths.

The following students achieved grades including six grades at A* /A or higher:

Emily Hudson (Llangollen) 10 A* grades, 1 A grade and a Distinction in Additional Mathematics
Georgia Roberts (Trevor) 6 A* grades, 6 A grades, 1 B grade and a Distinction in Additional Mathematics.

Amelia Orton-Jones (Llangollen) 6 A* grades, 5 A grades, 2 B grades and a Merit in Additional Mathematics.

Aled Bates (Glyn Ceiriog) 6 A* grades, 4 A grades, 4 B grades and a Distinction in Additional Mathematics.

Gareth McAndrew (Corwen) 7 A* grades, 2 A grades, 5 B grades and a Distinction in Additional Mathematics.

Daisy Carol (Llangollen) 3 A* grades, 8 A grades, 2 B grades and a Merit in Additional Mathematics
Chloe Leech (Chirk) 4 A* grades, 7 A grades, 2 B grades, 1 C grade and a Distinction in Additional Mathematics.

Eimear Lidd,y (Corwen) 2 A* grades, 9 A grades, 3 B grades and a Distinction in Additional Mathematics.

Christopher Harrison (Chirk) 4 A* grades, Distinction in Engineering, 4 A grades, 4 B grades and a Distinction in Additional Mathematics.

Tesni Edwards (Glyn Ceiriog) 1 A* grade, 7 A grades, 3 B grades and a Merit in Additional Mathematics.

Louis Decourt (Llangollen) 11 A grades, 3B grades and a Merit in Additional Mathematics
Sophie Smith (Llangollen) 1 A* grade, 6 A grades and 5 B grades.

Mark Hatch, headteacher, said: ‘We are really pleased for all our students.   They have worked really hard and deserve their success.

"We are looking forward to seeing many of the students back in our Sixth Form in September. 

"Great praise and thanks to the staff who have supported them and helped them achieve these excellent results."

More celebration pictures ...

Mountain fire operation is challenged

* llanblogger's picture of the fire visible from Llangollen town centre.

Former Llangollen councillor Stuart Davies (pictured below) has expressed further views about the Llantysilio mountain fire.

These come as a result of his attending the meeting in Llandegla on Monday night organised by the area's county councillor.

They are also directly in response to comments made to the Denbighshire Free Press by Dawn Beech, acting operations manager for North East Wales at National Resources Wales.

First quoting sections of her comments he then responds to them point by point:

Dawn Beech: “Mynydd Llantysilio is really important to both people and wildlife. It is home to rare birds like the black grouse, provides grazing areas for local farmers and is popular with walkers.

“We have worked with Denbighshire countryside service, RSPB and farmers over recent years to cut heather for the grouse, to improve grazing areas for sheep and to help reduce fire risk."

Stuart Davies: "It’s obvious that the action plan didn’t work. It’s a pity that they don’t do proper controlled burning, which is the time honoured way of controlling the vegetation on the moors and mountains.

"More needs to be done and quickly. One of the points brought up at the meeting is for agencies to learn from this disaster. As myself and Rhys Hughes drove home from that meeting we could see that the heather and gorse to the east of the Horseshoe Pass is overgrown, much as Llantysilio Mountain was. It is a disaster waiting to happen.

"We still haven’t had a downpour, the weather is still conducive to more fires. If it catches on that side of the road then there is 6-8 miles of mountain towards Penycae, Rhos and Wrexham that could go up.

"Fire breaks need to be put in place now! Also the vegetation needs flailing on ALL of the Horseshoe Pass verges where they meet the road. Again coming home that night, it can be seen on the south side of the downward pass right up to the road side."

Dawn Beech: “During the fire, our staff worked with North Wales Fire and Rescue Service (NWFRS) and Denbighshire Countryside Services to cut back vegetation and create fire breaks to try and stop the fire spreading."

Stuart Davies: "The question here is when? That question needs to be answered.

"The farming community offered help on day two and ten, according to my sources. Why wasn't that taken up?"

Dawn Beech: “Approximately half the mountain was burnt and the peatland areas have been particularly badly affected. NWFRS remain on site monitoring the area."

Stuart Davies: "If they had taken up the offers of help early on I would argue that half the mountain would not have been burned. Proper fire breaks as advocated by the farming community and the offer to do it would have stopped it in its tracks. Regular yearly controlled burning as advocated by conservation groups and farmers would have stopped the build-up of brash which allowed the fire to go deep."

Dawn Beech: “When we have confirmation the fires are out we will carry out a full survey of the mountain to see how we can help the area recover."

Stuart Davies: "Is that going to include putting in permanent fire breaks and making it easier to do yearly controlled burning so that we don’t have the situation of build-up of brash to allow deep seated fires to remain under the vegetation?"

Dawn Beech: “We’ll be working with the other organisations involved to carry out a review of our response.”

Stuart Davies: "Will that include listening to the farming community and taking on board their views and facilitating their actions?

"My conclusion:

"IMHO political correctness as in “we must save the black grouse and its habitat” appears to have in fact been counterproductive, the grouse “have been cooked” and the habitat destroyed.

"The farming community has lots to offer and has lots of expertise in managing hillsides and moorland. Listen to them and act QUICKLY on their advice.

"Make it easier and less bureaucratic to manage the hillside. Let the farming community do what they do best, let them husband the land.

"And finally, get in there now, cut the verges so that the fire doesn’t encroach on the roads and jump them. They had to do it anyway.

"Cut firebreaks and make the area to the east safe so that if a fire breaks out on that side it can’t reach the major conurbations of Penycae, Rhos or even Wrexham."

Stuart Millington, senior operations manager for North Wales Fire and Rescue Service is quoted in the Free Press saying: “At large scale grass and gorse fires NWFRS work in partnership with our colleagues in NRW and consider a variety of short, medium and longterm implications before implementing a tactical plan that seeks to resolve these incidents.

“This did include some work to cut fire breaks in strategic locations. Whilst we are grateful for the offer of help from local farmers, resources provided to implement this tactical plan and cut any firebreaks were provided by our partners and were considered to be sufficient." 

Photography exhibition opens in town

* Craig Colville with his exhibition material.

A photography exhibition showcasing the region’s outstanding coastline has opened in Llangollen.

The exhibition at Llangollen Tourist Information Centre, Y Capel, celebrates Visit Wales’ themed years, 2018 being Year of the Sea.

The exhibition, called Routes to the Sea, was commissioned by Denbighshire County Council and funded by the North East Wales Partnership. 

Local photographer Craig Colville has captured the area’s routes to the sea from a different perspective to create interesting and thought provoking images.

The saleable exhibition will run until the end of September and Llangollen Tourist Information Centre is open every day from 9.30am to 4pm, expect Thursdays.

Llan councillors call for mountain fire probes

Llangollen’s two county councillors have called for three separate probes into the huge mountain fire which burned on the mountainsides above the area for over four weeks.

Cllr Graham Timms and Melvyn Miles have written to Denbighshire’s chief executive, Judith Greenhalgh, calling for two enquires involving a number of agencies plus an investigation as part of the council’s own scrutiny process during which councillors can raise questions about the issue.

In their letter to the chief executive, the two councillors say:

“The devastation of wildlife left in its wake spreads over a huge area of our ward and also includes the neighbouring wards of Llandegla and Bryneglwys. The work that the AONB, Highways, streetscene etc. have done alongside the North Wales Fire Service is to be commended, with many officers in all the services working very long and unsociable hours. 

However, now that the fire is nearly out, it is time to begin reviewing the response to ensure that we can learn from what has happened. It is the most serious and long-lasting moor fire in Wales for many years. The actions taken by the services dealing with the fire need to be reviewed to ensure that the correct response was instigated and that we can learn how to deal with future incidents to ensure that the best response possible happens. 

We would like to ask for two separate enquiries.

1. A Denbighshire County Council inquiry that considers our response to the events. This would cover a range of issues in both the response made to the events as the incident unfolded and actions that could be taken to prevent future fires taking place.

2. An inquiry possibly led by the fire service involving AONB, NRW and DCC to discuss the timeline of the response, the factors behind decisions over the four weeks of the fire, representations made by the groups involved and whether different decisions could have enabled the fire to be controlled more quickly leading to less damage to the environment and the economy. 

We believe that there should be councillor involvement in both enquiries and that the local community and stakeholders should also be asked to contribute. It is only by having an open and transparent process that we can be certain that we can learn the lessons from this fire and hope that another similar fire can be prevented from occurring again.”

Cllrs Timms and Mile also want the process to include a third examination at one of DCC's scrutiny committees to “give everyone a chance to ask questions about the procedure and hopefully learn what can be done to prevent such an incident in the future”.

Information sought on stolen tanker

Local Neighbourhood Watch members have been alerted to the theft of tanker (pictured) from the Llangollen area yesterday (Sunday). 

* If anyone has information that could help, they are asked to call 101 quoting OWL Cymru/W117991.

Council survey seeks views of carers

There is still time for carers in Denbighshire to have their say on what support would help them.

Denbighshire County Council is asking the county’s 11,600 carers to tell them how support can be improved in the survey which is part of its work to build independence and resilience in communities.

Cllr Bobby Feeley, the council’s lead member for Well-being and Independence, said: “Carers provide a lifeline through unpaid care and support to family members or friends who have a disability, illness or mental health condition.

“Caring can be a hugely rewarding experience but sometimes carers find it challenging to take care of their own well-being whilst caring.

“Supporting carers is a priority for the council and we want them to tell us how support can be improved - not just from social services but from other areas in the Council such as leisure services, libraries, housing and education.  

“I would encourage adult carers in Denbighshire to take part in this survey.”

* The survey for carers aged over 18 closes on August 31 and you can take part via https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/AdultCarers