£2 million countryside project unveiled at Plas Newydd fair

* Visitors had the chance to meet a newborn lamb.

* An expert gives a demonstration of traditional spinning.

* A castle-shaped cake is cut to mark the launch of the OPL project. 

* Visitors to the fair are shown around the Dell. 

A £2 million five-year campaign to engage local communities with the stunning locations on their doorsteps was officially launched during a spring fair at Plas Newydd yesterday (Saturday) afternoon.

Since the 1700s people have been on inspirational journeys through the Dee Valley, across the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal, along Telford’s A5, the Llangollen Railway and the River Dee. 

They came to enjoy and engage with the unique landscape and many felt compelled to recall this stunning landscape in art. 

Through a wide range of events and community activities, the Our Picturesque Landscape (OPL) project aims to engage local people to follow in the footsteps of the artists of the past and to  celebrate the beautiful and unique landscape around them. 

The team also hopes to encourage people to discover and learn about their heritage and habitats, the modern day pressures these face and how we can protect and manage them for the future.

The spring fair featured an afternoon of activities, including have-a-go at wool felting, discovering the story of wool and meeting a young lamb. 

There was also be an opportunity to try the new self-guided discovery trails round the grounds and join a guided walk and talk about the future plans to restore the Dell back to its former glory as it was in the romantic period when the Ladies of Llangollen lived at Plas Newydd. 

David Shiel, Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty officer for Denbighshire Countryside Service, explained to visitors plans to put in a viewing platform over a small section of the river which runs through the Dell, remove some of the trees from the end nearest to Brook Street to open up the view across the Castell Dinas Bran and to create a pond in another corner of the area.

During the afternoon a cake made in the shape of the castle was cut to mark the OPL project's launch.

* For more details about the OPL project or if you are part of a community group based along the Dee Valley between Corwen and Chirk and would be interested in participating in the project through art or outdoor activities, then contact our.picturesque.landscape@denbighshire.gov.uk or by phone on 01824 706163.

Myths and legends talk at the museum

Railway heads back to the 1940s

* Winston Churchill gives a victory sign.  

Llangollen Railway is turning back the clock to the World War Two era as it stages its Home Front Weekend this Saturday and Sunday.

The Home Front side of the period is represented with civilian vehicles parked at various locations together with displays of life in the 1940s.

Look-alikes of Winston Churchill, General Montgomery and Air Vice Marshall Harris are mingling with the crowds throughout the weekend to undertake inspections and make patriotic speeches. 

Earlier this afternoon there was a mock air raid and demonstration of military firepower, which will be repeated tomorrow. 

Entertainment is being provided at each station along the line by live performers singing songs of the era including the Bluebird Belles, George Formby, the Airborne Angel and Jayne Darling.

Tonight (Saturday) Llangollen Station will offer live acts for the evening dance with a real ale bar from 7-1p.m.  

A drum head church service will be held on Sunday morning at Llangollen Station.

* Further information on departure time so of trains and events can be obtained by contacting the Station Office at Llangollen on telephone number 01978-860979, or the website at www.llangollen-railway.co.uk   

* The Bluebird Belles serenade travellers in 1940s style.

* Military vehicles parked in the station approach.

* Period memorabilia on sale on the platform. 

* Military policemen on patrol.

* A serviceman feeds his ferret before boarding the train.

Cittaslow hosts series of networking events

* Discussions between groups at the Cittaslow meeting.

Over 25 town clubs and organisations attended a recent series of networking meetings organised by the Cittaslow Committee of the Town Council. 

The three meetings were based around Cittaslow principles and brought together groups involved in environment, food & farming, tourism, culture and heritage; and community and social inclusion.

The purpose of the meetings was to bring like-minded groups together to explore the potential for strengthening links and communication between them, and to test interest in Cittaslow Llangollen providing a role as an “umbrella organisation” for groups in the town and valley.

Councillor Austin Cheminais, Deputy Chair of the Cittaslow Committee, said: “I am delighted to have heard so much support for the Cittaslow principles and for the idea of the Cittaslow Committee continuing to support town groups in their work, as well as helping them working more closely together and with the Town Council.  

"It was fantastic to hear the buzz in the room as the various groups got talking with each other.

“We are still in the early stages of working out what might be feasible and sustainable ways of working together, but it is great to have got the conversations started.”

Councillor Melvyn Mile, a member of the Cittaslow Committee and also a county councillor, said: "I was impressed by the turnout across all three sessions. The process of inviting all the different groups, societies, charities and other interested parties together and getting them talking to each other has been a major achievement. Let's look to build on this momentum and look at what can be achieved by working together."

The Cittaslow Committee says it will look at the ideas discussed in the sessions over the coming weeks and propose some ideas to the groups on how greater collaboration might work in practice. 

Llangollen became a designated Cittaslow town in 2013 after a substantial effort from a large group of councillors and local volunteers to secure the designation, and has remained a member of the international network. 

Cittaslow promotes a way of life for market towns that is environmentally sustainable and supportive of local community groups and businesses. 

The Cittaslow Committee currently consists of nominated town councillors - Sheena Grindley, Tony Baker, Austin Cheminais, Robyn Lovelock and Melvyn Mile - plus co-opted members Mair Davies and Lesley Richards.

* Organisations that sent representatives included Ysgol Dinas Bran, Friends of the Earth Llangollen, Matt’s Food Bank, the Llangollen & Dee Valley Good Grub Club, the Llangollen Community Garden, the Llangollen Tidy Town team, the Llangollen Civic Society, Llangollen Museum, Llangollen Railway, Llangollen International Eisteddfod, Dee Valley Active, Rural Futures, Plastic Free Llangollen, the Clwydian Range & Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), Llangollen Citizens Advice Bureau, Vale of Clwyd MIND, Ymestyn Befriending Service, Llangollen Refugee Support, City Church Llangollen, St Collen’s Church, Ysgol y Gwernant, South Denbighshire Community Partnership and the Llangollen Health Centre.

Jobs safe at Moreton Park, reports Star

The Shropshire Star is reporting that 53 jobs at Moreton Park garden centre in Chirk are safe after its owners, Wyevale, were taken over by another company.

* For the full story, see: https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/local-hubs/oswestry/chirk/2019/04/11/100-jobs-safe-after-garden-centre-takeovers/

Stunning images feature in Pavilion art exhibition

* Punk Notes by Des Jones.

Over 60 striking images feature in the latest exhibition at the Pavilion by Llangollen Artists.

A total of seven artists with a hugely varied range of styles are taking part in the free-to-view show which lasts until June 14.

Amongst the exhibits by Des Jones are a couple of pictures executed in printers ink of musicians, the most notable of which to some will be the one entitled Punk Notes which depicts a guitarist in an all-action pose.

An appropriately haunting image of an Old Ghost House is part of the eclectic display by Carys Haf  Roberts. There’s a definite otherworldliness to this atmospheric mixed media offering which leaves one wondering exactly where the house is located.

Raising the mood significantly is the adjacent work of  Philip Charles Parker, all are brilliantly observed and vividly coloured, none more so than the jocular oil on canvas creation entitled Won’t You Pour Me a Cuban Breeze, Gretchan?   

Outstanding colours coupled with draughtsman-like precision also abound in the pictures of Jenny Saltmarsh. A good example of her style and a real eye-catcher is the study of motorbike race ace Joey Dunlop scorching around the track.

Landscapes but far from traditional ones feature in the thoughtful work of Richard Buxton, including the acrylic on canvas piece Landscape With Ravens. Its presentation is simple but extremely effective.

Tellingly evocative of the subject is the oil rendering Ready, one of the collection displayed by Louise Edwards, which shows a First World War soldier posing with his mates for a picture presumably ready to go “over the top”. On his face is a gritty smile perhaps because he’s aware what his fate might be.

A particularly stunning landscape of Dinas Bran Castle and the hills surrounding it is one of the memorable offerings from photographic artist Simon Collinge.             

* Old Ghost House by Carys Haf Roberts. 

* Won't You Pour Me a Cuban Breeze, Gretchen by Philip Charles Parker.

* Joey Dunlop by Jenny Saltmarsh. 

* Landscape With Ravens by Richard Buxton.

* Ready by Louise Edwards.

* A photographic study of Castell Dinas Bran area by Simon Collinge.

Convoy heads through Glyndyfrdwy

llanblogger reader George Jones took this picture of the latest windmill farm load leaving the Tollgate lay-by on Tuesday.

He says two base units formed the police-escorted convoy through to Llidiart y Parc lay-by with eastbound A5 traffic being held back to allow movement through Glyndyfrdwy.

This is an on-going operation until July 31.

Meantime, he says the Ruabon roundabout four-way traffic lights and A539 is a route to avoid as work proceeds in connection with a new superstore on land near the junction.