Top chefs heading for Llangollen Food Festival

* Chefs Harri Williams, left, and Graham Tinsley are heading for Llangollen Food Festival next month. 

A former royal chef and another who worked at the iconic Sydney Opera House are joining forces to champion local produce at a food festival.

Graham Tinsley MBE, who has tickled the taste buds of world leaders, the Queen and Prince Charles on numerous occasions, will be showcasing local talent as well as the best of Welsh foodstuffs when he returns to Llangollen Food Festival with his young protégé Harri Williams.

Graham, currently executive head chef at the prestigious Carden Park in Cheshire, has recently appointed 26-year-old Harri as his new head chef, cementing a 13-year long mentorship which began when Harri took on an apprenticeship with the culinary maestro at the age of 15.

History has now gone full circle and Harri has returned to the hotel in which he learnt his craft with a wealth of exciting ideas inspired from his travels across Australia.

The former Ysgol Dyffryn Conwy School pupil who lives in Pandy Tudur, Conwy and formerly worked as a sous chef in the Sydney Opera House, can’t wait to show off his skills alongside Graham at this year’s food festival that’s being held on Saturday and Sunday, October 13 and 14.

The event is now recognised as one of the top 10 food festivals in the UK.

Harry, who has earned gold medals in world food competitions as part of the Welsh Culinary Team, said: “I absolutely love these kinds of events. When you’re in the kitchen of a restaurant you don’t get to see the customer’s reaction to your food, may be just a little feedback if you’re lucky.”

Graham, 58, from Abergele, will be leading a trio of culinary geniuses at a series of crowd-pulling cookery demonstrations at this year’s festival, which will be staged at Llangollen Pavilion.

Alongside Harri, Graham is hoping to bring another member of the North Wales Culinary Guild, which he heads up.

Graham has been involved in the festival for the past 10 years and is looking forward to stir up the excitement once again with a host of local food treasures.

“This year I’ll be bringing two young chefs along with me this year who between them have many, many years of international competitions behind them,” he said.

“It’s all about supporting the local producers too so If I come across a new oil, cider or gin I’ll make sure I communicate that back to the audience.”

In his roles as vice-captain, captain and manager of the Welsh Culinary Team over the years, Graham was invited to 10 Downing Street on many occasions to prepare memorable St David’s Day meals.

Nurturing the talents of young chefs and encouraging them to excel is very important to him but he says the learning takes place on both sides.

“We launched the guild about four or five years ago and it was just about local chefs meeting up and getting together in a kitchen,” said Graham, who was awarded the MBE by the Queen for his services to the food industry in 2006 and was once asked to bake popstar Celion Dion’s birthday cake.

Harri, who grew up on the family cattle farm in Pandy Tudur which overlooks Snowdonia, was previously head chef at the Lion & Pheasant Hotel in Shrewsbury where he earned two AA rosettes before landing his dream job at Carden Park.

“My ambition was to become a head chef by the time I was 28 and I did it at 24 so I get there faster than I expected,” he said.

“I’ve travelled a bit and I don’t really feel like my style can be condensed into one area. I like to cook modern British, French, Asian, you name it. I’m versatile and a menu needs to be too.

“My mum owns a baking company and so we’ve always gone to the Llangollen Food Festival. I come along every year but now I’ll be coming along in a professional capacity and showcasing the best of Wales produce which is exciting.

“I don’t usually get nervous about these things any more, I’m just looking forward to being back.”

Llangollen Food Festival committee member Phil Davies said: "We are so lucky that North Wales is a hotbed of culinary talent and I am sure that Graham and Harri will put on a great show at this year's festival.

"In addition to many favourites, we have lots of new food producers wanting to come this year.

"The location of the Pavilion is absolutely  spectacular - I can't imagine that any other food festival in the UK has a more beautiful setting.

"It's also brilliant news for the local economy. If you buy from a local producer, all that money is recycled through the local economy and that sustains employment in our rural areas."

For more information about Llangollen Food Festival go to www.llangollenfoodfestival.com

llanblogger's exlusive look at Vicarage Road development

llanblogger exclusive

* A site plan of the development, with Willow Street on the left and the cemetery

in the middle top.

llanblogger has been given an exclusive insight into the £25 million new homes development planned for land off Vicarage Road in Llangollen.

Earlier this year Wrexham-based family building firm SG Estates acquired the 10-acre site from the Castlemead Group which secured planning permission for the scheme in late 2016.

Castlemead completed a small number of houses on a section of the site but not before it had run into a storm of criticism from a well-organised campaign group whose members objected to the wider development for the extra traffic it would create and the additional burden it would place on local services, such as schools.

There was particular concern about the timing of the construction of a new access road to the development, which opponents demanded should be finished before building work on the houses began.

However, Steve Griffin, managing director of SG Estates which bought the undeveloped section of the site from Castlemead last February, has given a pledge that the road, which will bring traffic up from the town centre, will be completed ahead of construction of the homes.

Mr Griffin said what his company now planned was the main body of the development and would include 95 units.

* The development site as it looks at the moment.

The extensive site stretches from Vicarage Road in the north towards Fron Bache in the south and from the cemetery and allotments and fields in front of them in the west to open fields in the east.  

Nine of the properties will be affordable homes, in either two-bedroom mews style or semis, the occupation of which will be overseen by a housing association yet to be decided.

Sixty per cent of the rest of the homes will be either two or three bedrooms with the remainder four or five bedroom units.

Prices of the properties will range from £150,000 to half a million pounds.

Mr Griffin said that overall his company is pumping £25 million into the development – it’s yet to be given a d name – which includes a contribution of £47,000 towards the affordable homes and, as agreed within the original planning permission, a contribution of £173,000 to local education which schools can spend as they see fit.

Eighty-five per cent of the properties in the development will qualify for the Welsh Government’s Help to Buy scheme, which means they can be secured with a deposit of just five per cent.

This, explained Mr Griffin, would mean that, for example, a £200,000 property could be obtained with a deposit of £10,000.

He said: “I believe this will be particularly attractive to first-time buyers and young families.”   

The landscaped site will feature four public open spaces with children’s play equipment and the main frontage is to be planted with oak trees.

First job, according to Mr Griffin, is to start work on the new access road within the next eight to 10 weeks.

The road will begin by branching off from Hall Street and lead into Willow Street which will be widened to 9.5 metres from its present 3.5 metres.

SG Estates has purchased parcels of land along the left hand side of Willow Street heading up from the town from both private owners and the local authority to enable the widening operation to take place and no properties are affected.

The new road heads on past the youth centre where the company will upgrade the car park and put in four extra parking spaces.

The road then branches off left on a new section across the adjacent field. It follows the line of Vicarage Road into the housing development before joining up with the existing new section of road outside the homes built by Castlemead.

The original and narrower Vicarage Road will become a cycle path and pedestrian walkway.

Mr Griffin revealed that the new road and the diversion of services into the development site is costing £1.4 million.

He assured that construction work on the new homes would only start after the access road is finished which he estimates will take about 12 weeks.

He is therefore aiming for building work to start around next February with the first batch of new homes being ready for occupation in the late summer of 2019. The entire development will take just over four years, he added.  

Before the road project starts he has promised full consultation with affected residents and their local council representatives.

Mr Griffin, whose background is in building, said: “This is a very exciting time for the company, which we started in 2004.

“We have ongoing developments in Pont Adam, Ruabon and The Pavilions, Gresford, but this will become our biggest site and the overall cost of £25 million represents a very big investment for us.

“Our watchword is quality and we regularly win quality awards from local authorities.

“The Llangollen development will be beautiful when it is finished and I believe it will add vibrancy and bring a fresh outlook to the town, which I love to visit.

“Possibly, when we move onto the site and take a closer look at density the number of units in the development could be reduced at the southern end towards Fron Bache.”               

Special week will celebrate county's older people

A week-long series of events are being held across Denbighshire to celebrate older people, in the run-up to International Day of Older Persons (October 1).

Nearly 30 years ago the United National General Assembly voted to establish October 1 as the International Day of Older Persons.  In 2016 the United Nations took a stand against ageism by drawing attention to and challenging negative stereotypes and misconceptions about older people and ageing. 

Building on last year’s successful programme the council is Celebrating Age throughout county again this year with a series of events arranged through Denbighshire’s  Ageing – Well Multi-agency Group. 

This Partnership includes Denbighshire County Council, Age Connects, Alzheimers’ Society, British Red Cross, Care & Repair, Care Forum Wales, Citizens Advice Denbighshire, NEWCIS, the NHS and many more.

Events will include social events, arts and textiles, a ‘culture club’ for arts and dance, information and advice and so much more.

A social media campaign will also get underway to promote the projects underway and help raise the profile of issues relating to older people.

Councillor Bobby Feeley, Denbighshire County Council’s Lead Member for Well-being and Independence said:  “The increasing age profile is a fact we can't ignore.

“Throughout their lives older people have gained a wealth of knowledge, and as living longer becomes the norm, we need to recognise, value and harness their contribution.  We must encourage people to take responsibility for keeping well and fit and to stay independent for as long as possible” 

Councillor Ellie Chard, Denbighshire’s Older People’s Champion said “It is great that we are holding this event in Denbighshire highlighting all the good work that is going on as well as engaging with older people themselves “

Sue Wright, Chair of the Ageing Well In Denbighshire Multi-Agency group said “Celebrating Age Week is a clear demonstration of effective partnership working between the statutory and the third sectors.

“It should be recognised that many of these events could not go ahead without the enthusiasm and commitment of older people themselves.

“The third sector survives not just because of the generosity of funders but also because older people value the benefits of active volunteering."

Denbighshire has the second largest population of older people in Wales. Nearly a half of the population of Denbighshire are aged over 50 and a quarter are over 65.  More and more people are living past 100 than ever before.  

Inner Wheel Club backs international peace

On September 21 the Inner Wheel Club of Llangollen, in conjunction with its counterparts worldwide, will be celebrating the United Nations International Day of Peace. 

The event, entitled The Right to Peace, takes its name from the 2018 theme and will take the form of a short programme of words and music. 

A Llangollen club spokesperson said that everyone is welcome to join them at St John’s Church in Abbey Road at 2pm on that Friday. Light refreshments will be provided.     

Work disrupts Parade Street traffic

There was some disruption to traffic in Parade Street this morning (Sunday) due to gas supply work by Wales & West Utilities.

MP slams tax cut reversal for self-employed

Clwyd South MP Susan Elan Jones has slammed the Conservative UK Government for scrapping the planned tax cut for 2.7m self-employed workers.

The Government was originally due to scrap Class 2 National Insurance contributions in April but the move had been delayed by a year and has now been completely abandoned.

Ms Jones (pictured) said: “We should be supporting people who are setting up businesses not penalising them. What a dreadful way to treat our local entrepreneurs, who work hard, create jobs and produce the wealth we need locally and nationally.”

Federation of Small Businesses Chairman Mike Cherry commented: "The self-employed community has been let down today, missing out on a promise to reduce their tax burden. 

"This raises serious questions once again about the government's commitment to supporting the self-employed.”


* The next joint advice surgeries for Susan Elan Jones MP and Ken Skates, Assembly Member for Clwyd South, are:

Friday, September 21: Canolfan Ni, London Road, Corwen (LL21 0DP)

Friday, October 26: George Edwards Hall, Well Street, Cefn Mawr (LL14 3AE)

Friday, November 30: Marchwiel Parish Hall, Piercy Avenue, Marchwiel (LL13 0RH)

Surgeries run from 3.30pm-5.30pm on a first-come, first-served basis, so constituents don’t need to book an appointment in advance.

Llangollen Artists' work goes on show at museum

Llangollen Artists unveiled their latest exhibition at the town's museum last night (Thursday) and llanblogger went along to record the event.

The exhibition runs until September 30 and the museum in Parade Street is open from 10am-5pm daily.

Llangollen Artists are a group of established, professional artists with a diverse range of techniques and styles.

They are Edward Bell, Simon Collinge, Dory, Mike Flory, Andrew Gale and Sue Hall.

They use a range of media including drawing, installation, mixed media, painting, photography, print making, sculpture and textiles to create a diverse range of work.

Andrew Gale will be showing with the group including his photo book WILD 

http://andrew-gale.com/blog/2017/10/06/wild-limited-edition-photobook/

Simon Collinge is showcasing his photo book Pentrefoelas - A jubilee wood 

http://www.memorybox.org.uk/Book_pages_1_-_18.html

* For more information of Llangollen Artists, go to: www.llangollenartists.wales  

* Artist Dory with some of his work on show at the exhibition.

* Guests at the launch evening.

Examples of work in the exhibition ...