Sion Corn tries hairy river ride to Christmas festival

* Sion Corn embarks on his trip with fellow adventurers aboard the Safe

and Sound Outdoors raft from Horseshoe Falls.

Sion Corn has been looking for the fastest way he can reach Llangollen to star in the town’s famous Christmas Festival at the end of November.

The Denbighshire tourist town is famed for celebrating various modes of transport like river, road, canal and steam train.

So the grand old man – he’s known as Santa Claus in English – has been giving them all a try to see which will get him there as quickly as possible so he can spend more time joining in the fun with the thousands of seasonal merrymakers who are expected to come flocking in to the big event on the afternoon of Saturday November 24.  

Latest to be given the Sion Corn transport test was a raft used for shooting the rapids on the River Dee from the Horseshoe Falls to the centre of town and operated by locally-based SAS – Safe and Sound Outdoors.

Sion Corn jumped aboard for his hair-raising trip along the fast flowing river and after arriving in town just a little while later said: “That was the most exhilarating ride I’ve had since one of my reindeers got at the Christmas sherry!

“It’s a definite possibility for speeding my arrival at the fete but the only trouble was my beard and green cloak ended up soaked.”

Thousands of seasonal revellers are expected to come flocking to Llangollen for the Christmas Festival on Saturday November 24.

Kicking off at 1pm with the famous parade which sees Sion Corn being escorted into town over the historic bridge by a colourful cavalcade of entertainers and local groups, the event features children’s fairground rides and games, circus acts, a magician, dancing and face painting.

There will also be a chance for youngsters to visit Sion Corn in his glorious grotto and put in their early requests for what they’d like to see him bring them on Christmas morning. 

During the afternoon visitors can look forward to an eclectic mix of musical entertainment from local groups on two outdoor stages and other on-street entertainment.

The fun-packed day rounds off at 5pm with the ceremonial switching on of Llangollen’s legendary Christmas lights and a firework extravaganza. 

Llangollen Christmas Festival is organised by a group of dedicated community volunteers. It costs over £4,000 to stage each year and is self-funding.

The festival aims to provide a free family-orientated event in the safety of the town centre with surplus funds being donated to Wales Air Ambulance and local community groups.

Over the last couple of years the police have estimated that the spectacular event draws over 2,000 people into town during the course of the afternoon.

For the second year the festival has teamed up with Light Up Local Food, a project aimed at promoting Llangollen-based food and drink producers.

Chairman of the festival committee Austin ‘Chem’ Cheminais, who is also the local town crier and a member of the town council, said: “With the help of the community we manage, each year, to raise just about enough to fund the event and give a little to charity.

“Last year’s festival was particularly successful, in spite of the weather, and the feedback from those attending was very positive.

“The ‘market’ feel to the event provided by Light UP Local Food was particularly commented upon and helped to attract visitors from much further afield.

“Once again we’re expecting a bumper crowd to come along and help us to give a great early start to Christmas.” 

Battle to preserve WW1 soldiers' graffiti at Berwyn

Llangollen Railway volunteer Peter Dickinson gives a fascinating insight into the on-going efforts to preserve the graffiti of young soldiers heading off to fight in World War One found on the subway near  Berwyn Station

* The underpass near Berwyn Station.

Berwyn railway station stands prominently alongside the A5 road just over a mile east of Llangollen in North East Wales.

It was built to primarily serve the needs of the landed gentry who had established large estates in the vicinity.

The station opened in 1865 as an intermediate stop on the Llangollen & Corwen Railway, which ultimately became part of the Great Western Railway’s cross-country route linking Ruabon and Barmouth.

As space was at such a premium in the area, the station was built on a rock ledge cut into the southern side of a narrow gorge, overlooking the tumbling waters of the River Dee.

Whilst the station itself has a fascinating history in its own right and has since been preserved as part of the Llangollen Railway, it is not the main focus of this article.

For just metres away from the station’s platform can be found a series of poignant messages written by soldiers from the First World War. This is the story behind just some of these men, the structure they are on and the efforts being made now to conserve them.

From its opening until at least the mid-1890s, the station was connected by an access path to the Chain Bridge over the River Dee. This path crossed over the railway line at the eastern end of the platform and this became the scene for a fatal accident just a few days before Christmas in 1896.

On Tuesday 22^nd December Charles Roberts, a blacksmith, and his wife Jane had been visiting friends near the station. Shortly after 9pm they were on their way home and as they approached the ungated crossing heard a train approaching them.

Assuming this was the mail train that was due to stop at Berwyn they continued across the track.  Unfortunately it was a ‘special’ put on to cope with the increased amounts of mail being carried in the run up to the festive period.

The crank of the steam locomotive caught the side of Jane Robert’s head and her body was found about fifteen yards from the crossing. Charles Roberts sued the Great Western Railway and received substantial damages.

The fatality and the increasing popularity of the walking route led to the Great Western Railway deciding to remove the crossing completely and replace it with a pedestrian underpass.

A steep pathway was excavated adjacent to the railway, almost as a continuation of the platform ramp, leading to a short 6-foot wide tunnel under the one railway track. The structure in itself may have been fairly unremarkable, but for the fact that it was finished in white glazed bricks.

The bricks seemed to have taken pencil markings readily, especially from the indelible type issued to soldiers during the First World War.

Teenage conscripts used their pencils to write notes on the subway's walls and many of these still survive today, albeit becoming increasingly at risk from water ingress and deterioration.

One entry on the walls shows that E. M. Morris and R. Roberts shared a cigarette together there on 6th July 1913.

By the time they returned on Christmas Day the following year, they had both enlisted in the Army and had quickly been promoted. Indeed R. Roberts signed his festive message with the ranking of a Lance Corporal. Some of the other scribblings indicated soldiers in light-hearted mood, including 'Balls from Belgium', 'Berlin Last Stop' and 'Hoof Hearted'.

Over subsequent years, the walls of the subway continued to attract more notes and messages in pencil up until at least the 1960s when the railway closed.

In our modern society, graffiti is often seen as defacement and vandalism in most situations. Yet after the passage of a century, the written WW1 messages on the subway walls have become poignant and important historical artefacts in their own right.

Despite the closure of the railway through Berwyn in 1965 and the subsequent removal of the railway track by 1968, the structure of the subway was retained.

However, this resulted in neglect and structural failures led to water ingress and deterioration of the pencil messages commencing.

The rebuilding of the line as part of the preserved Llangollen Railway and the subsequent piecemeal maintenance being afforded to the subway has reduced this deterioration somewhat.

However, in the 1990s the increasingly dilapidated condition of the nearby Chain Bridge resulted in its closure to the public. The connecting footpath from the station and associated subway were no longer part of a thoroughfare and began to deteriorate further.

During the mid-2000s the pencil messages were first spotted by David Gepp, a lecturer in photography at the Herefordshire College of Art. He recalled that ‘a friend said that there was a tunnel where soldiers used to hang around and have a fag. My wife and I went there and came across the name Alfred James Candy written on the wall of the tunnel. As we were going home I noticed a war memorial and pulled over to have a look. On the second line, there he was, Alfred James Candy’.

David Gepp’s discovery led to him arranging a temporary exhibition on the signatures in Llangollen’s Museum in 2007. This attracted considerable interest from the local media and the public, but unfortunately did not lead to any conservation work on the subway itself.

It was in their deteriorating and forlorn condition that I first came across the signatures whilst undertaking geology fieldwork in the area in 2011.

The following year I became a volunteer at Berwyn station and commenced a programme of regular vegetation clearance around the subway.

The nearby Chain Bridge reopened to the public amid much celebration in 2015 due to the sterling efforts of the local councils and the Heritage Lottery Fund. The restoration work on what is thought to be the oldest chain bridge in the world, also included resurfacing and restoration of the connecting path up to Berwyn station.  

The increased footfall from visitors once again put the subway and pencil messages back into the public limelight. Efforts were made to increase public awareness through free information packs and temporary displays at the station, including the display of commemorative wreaths and even a GWR WW1 stretcher.   

A major boost came over this past summer, when BBC Wales ran an article online about their significance and fears that they were being lost to the damp. Indeed water ingress has continued to deteriorate and engulf the pencil messages; with the central parts of the walls now almost entirely covered by algae.

Given the wider commemorations taking place and the increasing numbers of visitors passing through the subway, the media coverage has this time led to a concerted effort to ensure it is conserved and restored as sympathetically as possible.

With the blessing of the Llangollen Railway, I have been leading the conservation project and have been working closely with the Llangollen Museum, Denbighshire County Council and many other local stakeholders. Yet it is not as simple as just cleaning off the brick faces with soapy water – far from it!

One of the first stages is to tackle the problem of the water ingress in and around the structure. Groundwater confined within the natural mudstone bedrock in the area naturally seeps out of the retaining walls on the approach to the subway, whilst further east it passes at depth under the railway trackbed.

Rainwater also passes down through the stone ballast that supports the railway track over the subway. Over time, small-scale deterioration of the brickwork and metalwork has led to this water working its way through the structure and running down the white glazed bricks, leading to the build-up of algae over the pencil messages.

Drainage improvements will be required to capture the water from around the subway and deflect it away; either along the sides of the track or through pipe under the railway itself.

A new waterproof membrane is likely to be required over the subway to stop rainwater passing through the ballast and getting into the structure. This will require the lifting of the railway track and ballast from above the structure, which can only be carried out at a time when the Llangollen Railway’s heritage steam and diesel trains are not running, i.e. in either November, January and/or early February.

Once improvements to the drainage and structure are carried out, the then work can start in earnest in recording and conserving the signatures on the subway walls.

Methods of cleaning off the algae are currently being explored with specialist conservators and a number of Welsh universities. This will hopefully uncover many more signatures and poignant messages hidden on currently obscured parts of the glazed walls.

Volunteers at the Llangollen Museum have already begun researching some of the messages that are still visible on the subway’s walls. One of these is the message by AJ Candy spotted by David Gepp over a decade ago, which reads "I really want --is baby".

Research into Candy’s life and military career has revealed that he is incorrectly listed on the Llangollen war memorial and was actually named Albert rather than Alfred.

It transpires that Albert James Candy was born in Cardiff in July 1887. His father died when Albert was only three and tragically his mother died in May 1895. Albert and his older brother Frederick were soon admitted into an orphanage in Somerset, where the trail temporarily goes cold. However by 1911, he had found work at a bakers and confectioners’ shop in Llangollen.

There is currently no record of when he joined up, but from the Commonwealth War Graves we have found that on 17th April 1917 James Candy 675653, Royal Field Artillery, “D” Battery, 285 Brigade was killed. He was buried at plot 4, Row D, Grave 14 in Le Grand Hasard Military Cemetery, in Morbecque, Northern France.

Further research is ongoing into the other names presently uncovered on the subway walls including E M Morris and R Roberts.

It is hoped that as the project progresses we can discover more about the soldiers and locals who used the walls of the structure to record their messages and stories.

Any further information or assistance in researching the messages would be gratefully appreciated by myself and the other volunteers actively involved this project.

* The approach to the subway.

* The cheeky message "HOOF HEARTED".

* R.Roberts & E. Morris 1913 and 1914.

* Unknown 1904 and 1907.

About the Author

Peter Dickinson is an active volunteer on the Llangollen Railway and his first book on the line, ‘Steam in the Dee Valley – From Ruabon to Corwen via Llangollen’ was published in 2015 to coincide with the 150^th anniversary of the railway opening. His latest book ‘The Ruabon to Barmouth Line’ is due for release by Fonthill Media before the end of the year (ISBN: 978-1-78155-214-8) .

* Peter will be giving a talk at the Llangollen Museum entitled ‘Rails to the British Tyrol’ on Wednesday 27^th February 2019, focussing on the history of the Llangollen & Corwen Railway and featuring the graffiti. 

Discounted bus travel scheme is extended

The MyTravelPass discounted bus travel scheme for younger people is being extended to include everyone aged 16 to 21 resident in Wales.

North Wales South East Wales South West Wales Previously only open to 16 to 18 year-olds, Transport Secretary Ken Skates has announced today that the scheme is not only secured until March 2020, but will be available to many more people.

The one-third discounted offer began in 2015 when Welsh Government launched a pilot discounted bus travel scheme to provide all 16, 17 and 18 year-olds with discounted bus fares for any journey within Wales. The extension should take effect from early December 2018.

Existing MyTravelPass holders who have a 16 to 18 years pass, and who wish to take-up this exciting offer, need not do anything now, but should reapply shortly before their existing pass expiries.

Ken Skates said: “I’m pleased to announce that following the consultation exercise I undertook last year and talks with the bus industry we have been able to increase the upper age for discounted bus travel from 18 to 21 years.

“I would like to thank the bus industry for agreeing to this improvement. We appreciate their co-operation, as although the Welsh Government pays, their participation is voluntary.

“We will continue negotiations with our bus industry partners during 2019 to identify any further enhancements, potentially involving some of the key issues raised during the consultation we might jointly achieve.

“Today’s enhancement of the MyTravelPass scheme will not only help young people in training or apprenticeships, and during the transition into work, but will hopefully also encourage more to use the bus for more of their journeys. This way, they will be helping to tackle congestion and air quality in our towns and cities."

The MyTravelPass scheme was originally established as part of a budget deal between the Welsh Government and the Welsh Liberal Democrats during the last assembly term.

* To keep in touch with the date from which applications may be made, visit www.mytravelpass.gov.wales or call 0300 200 22 33.

Police chief's Brexit fallout warning

* North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones.

Brexit will help blow a £5 million black hole in the pension pot of North Wales Police over the next two years – and could mean 133 fewer officers or a massive increase in council tax.

That's the warning from North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones.

And he says there is even worse to come because of proposed changes to the police pension scheme which would see a 10 per cent hike in employer contributions.

The £1.9 million shortfall next year would rise to nearly £5.3 million a year in subsequent years, putting an even greater strain on the thin blue line.

This latest blow comes on top of cuts of over £30 million that have already been implemented by North Wales Police since 2010.

As it stands, retired officers are paid their pensions through the contributions of currently serving officers, employers’ contributions from the force and then topped up by a grant from the Home Office.

However, the Home Office is proposing to increase the employer contributions by forces – without increasing the funding to match it.

One of the main reasons for the pensions bombshell, said Mr Jones, was the uncertainty caused by Brexit and whether or not a deal could be struck.

The proposed changes are based on the pre-Brexit economic forecasts of the Office of Budget Responsibility and reflect the uncertainty prior to the Brexit vote which continues to blight the forecasts.

Across the UK the police pensions cost is set to increase by £165 million in 2019/20, before rising to £417 million, which could mean 4,000 fewer officers next year and ultimately 10,000 fewer from 2020/21.

According to Mr Jones, the proposals flew in the face of an official review of police pensions  by John Hutton, the chair of the independent Public Service Pensions Commission, which had sought to ensure employer contributions to public sector pensions were affordable.

As a result, the stark choice is to massively increase police precept by £16.92 or to drastically reduce the number officers policing North Wales.

The commissioner has now written to all North Wales MPs and AMs to flag up his concerns about the “unaffordable and unnecessary cost pressures for policing in North Wales”.

He has invited the elected representatives to a briefing by him and the new chief constable, Carl Foulkes, in January.

In the meantime, he is calling on the Government to reconsider the "potentially disastrous" pension changes.

Mr Jones said: “The current proposals are for a 9.7 per cent increase in the employers’ contribution rate, potentially increasing that rate from 24.2 per cent to 33.9 per cent.

“Police and Crime Commissioners cannot, by law, set an unbalanced budget.  This means that this money must be found from increasing council tax, drawing from reserves, or by reducing expenditure.

“In North Wales, we estimate that the cost in 2019/20 will be £1.982 million, and £5.286 million in each subsequent year.

“Reserves are a one-off resource, and while they may be used to help in the short term, to rely on these is unsustainable. Therefore, the money must come from a combination of cuts and council tax.

“We’ve already suffered years of cutbacks because of austerity and the budget for 2018/19 is £31 million lower than it would have been had funding kept pace with inflation. 

“This means that in the last eight years, £162 million less has been spent on policing North Wales than would otherwise have been the case. 

“Whilst we continue to strive to deliver further efficiencies, unexpected and unnecessary cost pressures such as this put a major strain on our limited budgets.

“Reducing the budget a further £1.982 million would be approximately equivalent to 50 police officers while £5.286 million is approximately 133 officers. 

“To reduce the workforce by such a high number would inevitably impact on workload and morale, but would also impact upon the safety of our communities across North Wales. 

“Whilst other savings are in the process of being identified, staffing costs form 80 per cent of our budget, therefore a reduction in the establishment must be considered.”

Legion group meet old soldier George on Remembrance Day

* The Royal British Legion group visit George Humphreys at the Old Vicarage. 

Royal British Legion members in Llangollen had a special Remembrance Day meeting with a veteran of the Second World War this morning (Sunday).

As the country marked the 100^th anniversary of the World War One Armistice Bethan Masceranhas, who runs the Old Vicarage nursing home, thought it would be nice to have someone from the Legion come in to meet 97-year-old resident George Humphreys who served in the army during World War Two.

And her invitation was quickly accepted by Llangollen branch chairman Phil Stroud who arranged to go along to the home before taking part in the annual Remembrance Parade in the town centre later in the morning.

He and colleagues Phil Silverton and David Thomas, who visited the First World War cemeteries back in the summer, brought along their branch standard and spent some time chatting to George before performing the Act of Remembrance for him at his bedside.

His son Phil, who lives in Llangollen, recalled that George, who is originally from Bangor of Dee, was called up for duty in 1941, joining the Royal Army Service Corps with which he served as driver/mechanic.

He took part in the Allied invasion of North Africa and Italy and fought through with the British Army’s 5 Corps all the way to Austria.

Leaving the army in 1946 he ran a coal merchants business in Bangor on Dee for over 60 years.

George was married to his wife Helen, whom he met while stationed during the war in Glasgow, in 1947 and the couple had two children, Phil and Alison, four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Helen died four years ago.

For a number of years George, who moved into the Old Vicarage three years ago, was an active member of the Legion’s Bangor on Dee branch, of which he was a co-founder, and took a keen interest in the annual Poppy Appeal.

He also represented the branch on a number of occasions at the national Remembrance Service at the Cenotaph in London.  

“When contacted by Bethan at the Old Vicarage to see if someone from the branch could go along to meet George on Remembrance Day I was delighted to help and it was a pleasure to meet an old soldier such as him particularly on this very special day,” said Llangollen RBL chairman Phil Stroud.

Llangollen remembers for the first time in the new square

* Standards are lowered during the service.

Hundreds turned up to see the first Service of Remembrance being held in Llangollen's New Centenary Square this morning (Sunday).

Ex-service oganisations and a wide range of local groups assembled before the Venerable Chris Potter led the worship which this year marked 100 years since the Armistice in World War One.

The event was held against the backdrop of over 3,000 poppies, hand-made by local volunteers, which have been fixed to the rear wall of the square and will remain until the end of the year. 

Wreaths were laid, bugle calls were sounded and the traditional minute's silence was observed leading up to the chiming of 11 o'clock on the Town Hall clock.

The names of the local people who fell were read out by David Thomas of Llangollen Royal British Legion.

For the first time, poppy petals were released at the climax of the service to drift down onto the heads of those in the square.

Llangollen Silver Band then led the parade on a circuit around Castle Street and Bridge Street to end the ceremony.

* Mia Thomas of Llangollen Silver Band sounds Last Post on the bugle.

* Poppy petals flutter down over the war memorial. 

* Mayor Jon Haddy lays a wreath on behalf of the Town Council.

* Wreaths are laid on behalf of service organisations at the war memorial.

* Youth organisations honour the fallen whose names are recorded on the memorial.

* The Silver Band leads the parade away from Centenary Square.

  * Standards are paraded along Bridge Street.

* The Brownies take part in the parade.

* The Guides march down Castle Street.

Moving Festival of Remembrance staged at Town Hall

* Flags are lowered during the Act of Remembrance.

* Actress Eleri Jones comperes the event.

* Sam Jones reads the words of poet Hedd Wyn.

* A reading comes from Deputy Mayor, Cllr Issy Murray Richards.

* Llangollen Silver Band plays during the evening.

A moving Festival of Remembrance was held at the Town Hall last night (Saturday).

Llangollen Remembers, hosted by the Town Council and featuring performances by professional actors and the Silver Band, was even more poignant than usual as it marked 100 years since the end of World War One.

Opened by the Mayor, Cllr Jon Haddy, the event was compered by Eleri Jones, the actress daughter of Deputy Mayor, Cllr Issy Murray Richards.

First on the programme was a sing-along session, accompanied on the keyboard by Chris Simms, which saw the audience joining in with popular songs from the First and Second World Wars, such as It's a Long Way to Tipperary and Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag.

Eleri Jones along with her colleague Sam Jones from Theatr Equapoise then presented a tribute to the Welsh poet known as Hedd Wyn who was killed in 1917 while fighting on the Western Front only weeks before winning a bardic chair.

A reading was presented by Deputy Mayor, Cllr Murray Richards, from the stage before the Silver Band, conducted by Mia Thomas, ended the first half of the programme with rousing World War One numbers such as Hello, Hello Whose Your Lady Friend and Blighty.

The second half revolved around a drumhead service, conducted by the Venerable Chris Potter, of the type often attended by troops before they went into battle.

Prayers were interspersed with hymns, including Abide With Me and Calon Lan.

The Act of Remembrance, including bugle calls and the parading of standards by members from the local branches of the Royal British Legion and Royal Naval Association, was brought to  a moving close by the symbolic release of scores blood-red poppy petals from the balcony.

Later this morning, from 10.30am, the annual Service of Remembrance will be held - against a backdrop of over 3,000 locally hand-made poppies, at the town's new Centenary Square.