Vicar blesses the beer aboard real ale train

* Father Lee performs the beer blessing as real ale train travellers watch.

* The vicar says cheers to the train as it pulls out of the station.

Llangollen's new vicar gave a blessing to the beer aboard a real ale train just before it steamed out of the town’s heritage railway station yesterday (Saturday) evening.

Father Lee Taylor, who took over at St Collen’s and three other churches in the Valle Crucis Mission Area last Christmas, believes that reviving the ancient ceremony which goes back to medieval times is a good way of taking the church out into the community.

So as the steam train prepared to leave the platform Father Lee was on hand in his full regalia to say some specially chosen words over the local brews that were about to be downed by a trainload of real ale lovers.

He said: “Back in medieval times it wasn’t unusual for priests to be called upon to bless all sorts of things, such as cheese, workmen’s tools or crops planted for harvest.

“It’s a way of the church responding to various activities in the community and a fun way of celebrating something that’s very good.”

Father Lee, whose mother was landlady at a couple of pubs back in his native Lancashire, added: “The beer blessing itself goes back to 1614 and inaugurated in the time of Pope Pius V.

"There also a link with St Collen's because on the church roof is a depiction of a men with barrels.

“I performed the ritual in English and used holy water and incense in the ceremony.

“Saint Arnold of Soissons, whose feast day is on August 14, and Saint Arnulf of Metz, whose day is on July 18, are both patron saints of beer and hop-pickers, so if any pubs or hotels in Llangollen would like their beer blessed on those days then let me know."

Earlier in the day he had been on BBC Radio Wales to explain what he was going to do and a TV camera crew were at the station to record the blessing.

This wasn't be the first time that Father Lee, who later joined travellers in a couple of pints himself, had carried out his beer blessing ceremony.

Back in 2016 he hit the national headlines when he blessed the casks at his local pub when he was part of the clergy team at Croydon Minster in London.

And soon after he arrived in Llangollen a gathering of parishioners and friends watched him bless his new vicarage in Abbey Road.

Llangollen heritage railway’s business manager, the aptly-named Liz McGuinness, also raised a glass to Father Lee’s ceremony.

She said: “This is a great idea. We are so pleased that Lee took out to re-enact an age old tradition. Everyone on the train enjoyed it very much.”

Eisteddfod inclusion project gets £5,000 boost

* St Christopher's, Wrexham in a previous inclusion project performance at the eisteddfod.

Wrexham-based Grosvenor Insurance Services has donated £5,000 to ensure a community inclusion initiative can be performed at this summer’s Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod. 

The festival’s Inclusion Project has been running for 10 years, helping promote unity and diversity throughout North Wales, Shropshire and Cheshire. 

A diverse mix of local disability and community groups whose members would not usually have the opportunity to perform at international events will practice together over the coming months culminating in a unique performance on the main stage at the festival in July. 

Theatretrain Regional Choir from Mold and Derwen on Tour, a performance group from Oswestry’s Derwen College that uses Makaton signs to help children who have no speech, will be returning this year. 

New groups joining them will be Wrexham One Love Choir, whose members have experienced homelessness, addiction and mental health issues, Wrexham Singing Hands from Wrexham Deaf Club and Rhyl-based mental health ukulele group, Mind Tones.

The festival recently reached out to the local business community to secure funding to ensure it can continue delivering the Inclusion Project. 

The donation from Grosvenor Insurance Services will help fund the costs of the project.

Sandra Humphreys, Wrexham branch chairman of Grosvenor Insurance Services, said: “We were blown away by the incredibly talented groups and the inspiring work involved in  Llangollen Eisteddfod’s Inclusion Project last year, as they celebrated 10 years of the initiative.

“We’re very proud to support this great cause that unites local community groups, builds people’s confidence and helps them achieve amazing things.”

Tapestry will be the project's theme for 2019, an idea inspired by a quote from Maya Angelou – “We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color”.

Eisteddfod music director Dr Edward-Rhys Harry said: “Providing equal opportunities for all to contribute to world peace and unity is what the Llangollen Eisteddfod works tirelessly to promote.

“Thanks to the generous support of Grosvenor Insurance Services with their donation towards the cost of the Inclusion Project, it has been able to continue its life-changing work and enables people from all walks of life to perform on the eisteddfod stage."

The eisteddfod will run from Monday 1st-Sunday 7th July with competitions and performances running every day and evening, including Jools Holland, Rolando Villazón and Gipsy Kings.
  

* To discover more about the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod visit: www.llangollen.net

Announcement on Royal at Three Eagles official opening

The town mayor, Cllr Jon Haddy, cut a red ribbon to officially declare open the Three Eagles restaurant bar in Bridge Street Llangollen earlier today (Friday). Clwyd South Assembly Member Ken Skates, standing on his left, was among the invited guests. 

During the the event Three Eagles owner Matt Jones announced that, along with a business partner, his group had acquired the Royal Hotel. He said they intend to fully renovate and upgrade the building and service, offering facilities such as a fine dining restaurant and luxury spa.

Mayor hosts annual town meeting

* The mayor, Cllr Jon Haddy, addresses the town meeting.

Llangollen Town Council has had a busy year during which it opened the new Centenary Square and embarked on a major project to properly repair the Town Hall.

That was the message from the Mayor, Cllr Jon Haddy, to members of the public who turned up to hear his annual progress report at the town hall last night (Thursday).

Cllr Haddy described the opening of the new square at the junction of Bridge Street and Castle Street during eisteddod week last July as a “grand success” and said that within an hour of the contractors moving out the new facility was already in use as a performance area for a group of visiting dancers from the eisteddfod.

He explained that the original plan for the square had included more seating along the back wall but this had been temporarily shelved when the council ran out of cash to complete it.

However, he said that with enough money now available the planned extra seating was expected to be added in the near future.

One of the outstanding uses of the square, he said, had been the poppy wall produced and erected by a dedicated band of volunteers led by Cllr Sheena Grindley to mark the centenary of the end of World War One last November.

This, said Cllr Haddy, had been a “sensation” and had brought people into the town specifically to see it.

Another milestone during the year, he explained, had been the formation by the Town Council of the Shape My Llangollen whose group of volunteers and town councillors was gathering the views of the community on what Llangollen people wanted to see in Denbighshire County Council’s next Local Development Plan.

The mayor also noted the achievement of Llangollen of officially becoming a plastic-free town and adopting a single-use plastic policy under the auspices of the council’s Cittaslow Committee.

During the year the council had assumed full ownership of the facelifted Chain Bridge after Llantysilio Community Council had relinquished its 50 per cent share of the tourist attraction on the River Dee.

The Town Council had also resumed its community grants scheme, which during the year had seen a dozen community groups each benefit from £500 cash awards.

The major project now being undertaken by the council, he said, was the restoration of the town hall to a proper state of repair.

The council took over ownership of the building from the county six years ago, paying just a £1 for it. However, a number of urgent maintenance issues were now presenting themselves.

Leaks from the roof and subsequent water ingress had recently cost many thousands of pounds to repair but further structural problems were now cropping up which needed attention, said Cllr Haddy.

That was why the council had budgeted to spend a further £35,000 on repairs over the next three years to cover repairs to the roof, the electrics and fire alarm.

To raise the necessary cash the mayor said it had been decided to raise the town council’s share of the council tax bill – known as the precept – by £15.71 for the forthcoming financial year.

“We all thought this way the best way forward,” he explained.

“We also did this to raise money to do Centenary Square. If we had borrowed the money for the town hall we’d have been playing financial chase-up.”

He added: “Here in Llangollen we do raise money, we do spend it and spend it wisely and so far the results have been quite good.”

When he threw open the floor to questions, it was pointed out by an audience member that Llangollen was set to introduce the highest council tax rise in Denbighshire at 26.6 per cent and asked why the town council couldn’t be “more honest” about how much people were having to pay in its announcements about the precept.

Cllr Haddy admitted the town was now the most expensive in the county but explained that other areas had a comparatively larger population from which to raise tax revenue.

He said: “We need the extra money to pay for the repairs to the town hall and we are not raising money for the fun of it. Once that job is complete the precept will fall back.”

He added that the town hall had been taken over from the county to preserve a major local asset which was heavily used by the local community and would therefore be a “massive loss” if it was not available.

The mayor dealt with further questions about:

* Who was responsible for cleaning Centenary Square – it is the town council.

* The empty shop which the council owns at the front of the town hall – it is due to be leased in the next few weeks

* The state of repair of Llangollen Bridge – replying a “it is a county council responsibility but as far as we know it is fit for purpose.”

llanblogger's Phil honoured for community service

* llanblogger's Phil Robinson receives his award from Mayor Jon Haddy.

The man who runs llanblogger, Phil Robinson, was among five individuals and groups who were presented with Mayor's Civic Awards for their service to the community at the start of last night's annual Llangollen town meeting.

Journalist Phil, who started the online free-to-use news blog almost seven years ago, was honoured along with David "Dai" Thomas, who was recognised for his long service as local Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal co-ordinator and the voice behind the intonation of names of the fallen at the annual Remembrance Service, and Lesley Richards of Courtyard Books who helps out with a large number of voluntary groups and organisations.

Also receiving awards were the Tidy Town Team, whose band of dedicated volunteers keep the town looking clean and well presented, and the Christmas Festival Committee whose members organise and run the annual event which brings thousands flocking to the town.   

* Dai Thomas is presented with his award.

 * Lesley Richards is honoured.

* Nick Dilley receives the award on behalf of the Tidy Town Team

* Ian Parry accepts the award on behalf the Christmas Festival Committee.

* All the award recipients line up with the mayor.

Willow weaving demonstrated at Pengwern by AONB

Clwydian Range Area of Outstanding Beauty (AONB) staged a successful willow weaving morning at Pengwern Community Centre yesterday (Wednesday).

As part of the AONB's Nature for Health programme the ancient technique was demonstrated to an appreciative audience of around 20 people by expert Mandy Coates (pictured below) who then had a chance to try it out for themselves.

Police boss concerned over "lenient" paedophile sentences

* Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones. 

A police boss has written to the Attorney General expressing concern about “unduly lenient” sentences given to paedophiles after a man who hoarded 300,000 child abuse videos and pictures escaped jail.

North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones says it was “particularly alarming” that only a quarter of the people sentenced for making, distributing or publishing child sex abuse images in 2017 were sent to prison.

In the letter, Mr Jones referred to the case of James Moran, from Prestatyn, who stored the vile images on his computer hard drive.

They included children aged from six months to 17 years, and were kept in hidden files with names such as "more work".

He had used specialist software to conduct internet searches for terms like "jail bait gallery".

He had made 18,186 images and 99 movies - 220 of them of the most serious type, Category A.

A further 293,800 images and films had been found but because of the sheer number of them they had not been categorised.

After pleading guilty at Mold Crown Court last November, Mr Moran was given a 14-month suspended sentence, 60 days’ rehabilitation and 200 hours of community service.

Mr Jones wrote: “This was the latest case in a series of cases whereby defendants who’ve committed offences in contravention of the Protection of Children Act 1978 are given what’s perceived by members of the public to be unduly lenient sentences. 

“Given the seriousness of such offending behaviour, I agree that such sentences do appear lenient and I have real concerns about some of the sentences given to paedophiles.

“The fact that only a quarter of the 2,528 people sentenced for making, distributing or publishing child sex abuse images in 2017 were jailed is particularly alarming.

“Such offences are an abhorrence to our society and should be treated as so. The sentencing needs to be a deterrent. People need to realise that when they commit certain offences, the penalty will fit the crime.

“I fully understand that sentencing in respect of offences in contravention of the Protection of Children Act 1978 cannot currently be reviewed for being ‘unduly lenient’ since such offences aren’t included in the list of offences which can be reviewed.

“However, since sentencing for direct sexual assault can be challenged for being unduly lenient, and downloading and sharing images of child abuse is as damaging and insidious a crime as direct sexual assault, I believe that such offences should be on the list.    

“I further understand that you are considering adding further offences, including indecent images of children offences to the list of offences which can be reviewed under the unduly lenient process. I write this letter to express my support and would urge you, in the strongest possible terms, to include these offences in any such revised list.    

“Anyone who has been found guilty has the right to appeal against the severity of their sentence. In a civilised society, that is right and there is a procedure for it.

“However, the procedure for victims to appeal against the undue leniency of a sentence is incredibly perverse. The guidance is extremely ambiguous: “Only certain types of case can be reviewed, including…murder…rape…robbery…some child sex crimes and child cruelty…some serious fraud…some serious drug crimes…some terror-related offences”.

This ambiguity makes it hugely testing for the public which I represent to comprehend what can and cannot be appealed against.

“It is fundamentally unfair that victims do not have the same rights as the perpetrators.

“I understand that it is impossible to hand out custodial sentences for every crime and indeed it would be unjust to do so.

“However, I also understand that the punishment must fit the crime and there are an increasing number of indecent images offences that are not punished accordingly.”