Views sought on town's future at special event

People are being invited to a special two-day event today and tomorrow at which they can share their views on Llangollen's future.

The Story Studio is a welcoming creative space where the community can tell, listen to and exchange stories – a place to have conversations and generate ideas about the future of the community and the town.

Being staged on Friday and Saturday, Love Llangollen is based in the former CiCi clothing shop in Castle Street and is part of the Rural Futures programme funded by the Big Lottery.

The programme is:

10am-4pm both days

Story Studio open for drop in activities including a range of maps and activities for you to add your ideas, thoughts and memories. Photo space – bring your photos of Llangollen along. Postcards from Llangollen - “If Llangollen could speak what would it say? ”

Friday September 14

10am: Shape My Town Workshop. Bringing together the community, local groups and businesses to discuss the challenges facing the town and ideas and initiatives to create a positive future for the town and its surroundings. Hosted by the newly-formed Shape My Llangollen.

2pm: Traffic & travel. Drop-in session hosted by Arcadis. You can contribute to future thinking about traffic and travel in and around the town.

Saturday September 15

Walk-shops. A series of guided walks exploring Llangollen in the past, present and future. Approximately one hour maximum. Ten people. Meet at the story studio.

10am: History & Heritage. Explore the fascinating heritage of the town and how it can be seen in the town today.

12pm: Working walk. How people work in the town in the past, present and future and its impact on the town.

2pm: From town to around. Explore the connections between town and landscape.

4pm: Ideas walk-shop. Discussing ideas from the story studio sessions.

Major cycling event on the Horseshoe this weekend

The last event in the season-long Lapierre Road Series, which this year is combined with the TLI Cycling 2018 National Time Trial Championships, takes place this Sunday on a sporting course based on the Horseshoe Pass.

A full field of 120 riders has entered the event which has faced a last-minute course change due to road works, which has reduced the distance to be raced by five miles to 30 miles.

The finish is at the Ponderosa Café at the top of the pass.

The event is open to TLI Cycling members only and as it is part of the Lapierre Series of road races, riders will have to ride normal road bikes.

The first rider off is at 9am, with the start at the base of the Horseshoe Pass.

New Dot to screen towering adventure film tomorrow

* A scene from the film Mountain to be shown by New Dot tomorrow evening.

This Friday's screening at New Dot Cinema features a breath-taking documentary called Mountain which so far has only had a limited release across the UK.

The evening is sponsored by Llangollen-based outdoor equipment specialists, ProAdventure and also features some  atmospheric short films to whet the appetite.

New Dot volunteer Jen Sandiford says: 'We're hoping this film will really resonate with people around the Llangollen area. There's a lot of  interest in outdoor adventure locally and of course some superb hills  and mountains to explore.

"We're really excited that ProAdventure is sponsoring us this month. They're a great independent store that are really involved in the community.

'Mountain was initially suggested by a member of the public and we love being able to include community requests in our monthly programme.'

The film takes its audience to some of the world's most spectacular scenery from Tibet to Australia and Alaska to Norway.

Using drones, Go-Pros and helicopters, director Jennifer Peedom follows mountaineers, ice
climbers, free soloists, heliskiers, snowboarders, wingsuiters and parachuting mountain bikers.

The narration, by Willem Dafoe, is based on the mountaineer Robert Macfarlane's lyrical memoir 'Mountains of the Mind'.

This, combined with a sweeping score from the Australia Chamber Orchestra makes for one majestic movie experience.

If you're interested in climbing and outdoor exploration, don't miss the chance to see this stunning film on the big screen.

The event takes place tomorrow (Friday) at Llangollen Town Hall on Castle Street LL20 8NU.

Mountain is rated PG. More information can be found on Facebook, Twitter and at www.newdotcinema.org

* Tickets are available online, in advance at a discounted rate of £5/£6 plus 75p booking fee. They can also be bought at The Llangollen Oggie Shop (formerly Baileys Deli) and on the door, priced £6/£8. Doors open at 7:30pm with the show starting at 8pm.

More information on ProAdventure's extensive range of quality outdoor equipment can be found at www.proadventure.co.uk and in person at 41 Castle St, Llangollen LL20 8RU 01978 860605.

Two new food schemes to be served up in county

* Fern Evans and her mum Gaynor who are looking for premises in

Llangollen for their two businesses.

Two major schemes aimed at getting local food and drink businesses to step up to the plate have been launched across three counties of North Wales.

Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham have teamed up with the organisations Llangollen & Dee Valley Good Grub Club, Clwydian Range Food & Drink, Cadwyn Clwyd and the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to launch the initiatives Light Up Local Food and Open Kitchen.

Light Up Local Food is a series of pop-up markets promoting local food and drink which will appear at Christmas-themed markets across the region this November and December.

Open Kitchens is a month-long programme of events promoting local food and drink across North East Wales set to be kick off in October next year.

Both schemes were outlined to a large audience of food and drink producers from the target area held at Loggerheads Country Park on Monday evening.

* Marina Midolo of Marina's Italian Cookery.

Robyn Lovelock, secretary of Llangollen & Dee Valley Good Grub Club, told them that Open Kitchens was aimed at exciting interest in food businesses in their own towns and as a celebration of good food.
She said it was being launched in October 2019 to tie in with food festivals staged around the region at that time of the year.

“The aim is for the events to be fun, engaging and interactive,” she explained, adding that organisers were looking for “fun and engaging” ideas.

The other initiative, Light Up Local Food, will see pop-up markets across North East Wales prior to Christmas, each featuring local food and drink producers and stalls run by businesses from the local areas. There would also be support from organisers with marketing and public relations.

The first Light Up events were held last year and some lessons had been learnt from these, said Ms Lovelock.

These included the need for more hot food options to be available at the markets, more engagement with local food businesses and more creativity from food businesses.

An example of this, she said, was a wood fired pizza kitchen being made available for hire.

Next steps would be confirm the five towns in the region which would be hosting the events and the confirmation of which producers would be involved in each event.

* Janet Monshin Dallolio of Afonwen Craft & Antique Centre.

Support for both schemes came from Fern Evans who runs Up on the Roof, a business based on freshly prepared vegan street food.

Operating from Set the Bar in Lord Street, Wrexham, she is currently on the look-out for a new café base in Llangollen.

She said: “I started the business about four years ago and while I’ve been doing well in Wrexham I’d like to move to Llangollen where I think there would be good demand for what I do, which is eat in or takeaway vegan food.

“I haven’t yet managed to locate the right premises but I’m still hopeful of finding it.

“Just as I do in Wrexham at the moment, I aim to share the premises with my mum, Gaynor Evans, who has a craft emporium in the same building.”

She added: “I certainly support the two food and drink initiatives launched today.”


Backing for the schemes also came from Marina Midolo, originally from Sicily, who specialises in traditional Italian food and has recently pop-up dining evenings at the Pontcysyllte Chapel Tearoom.

Another supporter was Janet Monshin Dallolio who runs the Craft & Antique Centre at Afonwen near Caerwys.

Gas pipe work starts on bridge next month

* Gas pipe upgrade work starts on the bridge next month.

Wales & West Utilities is to carry out gas pipe upgrade work on the bridge in Castle Street, Llangollen next month.

According to the company, this will start on Monday October 8 and take three weeks to complete with three-way traffic lights in operation for the duration of the work.   

In a letter to local county councillors and the area’s Assembly Member, the company’s operations controller Paul Astley says the work is essential to “keep the gas flowing to homes and businesses in the area and to make sure people in the area are safe and warm for generations to come”.

The letter adds: “We’ll start on 8 October and our work will take three weeks to complete.

“To keep the local community, road users and our colleagues safe while we work we will have three way traffic lights in place while we are working. The existing pedestrian lights on Abbey Road will be turned off during this period and temporary pedestrian crossings will be in place.

“This essential gas pipe investment work is part of our multi-million-pound 30 year gas pipe investment programme across Wales and the south west of England.

“Old metal gas pipes within 30 metres of buildings are being upgraded to new, long lasting plastic ones. We are spending £1.4 million on this programme every week to keep the gas flowing and make sure your gas network is fit for the future.”

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.”