Rehearsals going well for Twenty club's Blackadder

* Miranda Richardson and Rowan Atkinson in TV's Blackadder.

Rehearsals are going well for Langollen Twenty Club's next production, a stage version of the smash-hit TV comedy series Blackadder.

Fresh from their most recent success with the gripping Dinner with Otto, the group are lightening the mood by staging three episodes of the iconic show written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton.

They've chosen to depict Blackadder's Elizabethan-era incarnation in the play which runs at Llangollen Town Hall from November 7-9, each performance starting at 7.30pm.

Director Chrissie Ashworth said: “We have chosen three episodes which we considered to be the best mix and most suited to perform at our home at the Town Hall.

"We've assembled a fantastic cast, of a number of them new to Twenty Club, and rehearsals are going extremely well. In fact, sometimes it's hard to get anything done because we're all laughing so much at the lines and the plot situations."

She added: "We're aiming for a close ‘copy’ of the original TV characters, as that is what people remember and the humour that goes with it. The three episodes are entitled respectively Head, Beer and Bells. 

“Blackadder is hilarious. It is farce, quick witted and when staged well is a gem." 

To book tickets, go to www.twentyclub.co.uk

Town Hall to host special music event

Brexit uncertainty damaging to social care, says boss

* Mario Kreft MBE, chair of Care Forum Wales. 

A social care champion is calling for certainty over Brexit.

Mario Kreft MBE, the chair of Care Forum Wales, says the current state of flux was hugely damaging.

He was speaking in the wake of the publication of the UK Government’s Operation contingency planning document, Operation Yellowhammer.

According to Mr Kreft, who is also the proprietor of the Pendine Park Care Organisation, the political paralysis surrounding Brexit was already driving up prices and had led to European workers returning home.

He said: “Operation Yellowhammer suggests the worst-case scenario would be very serious with some smaller care homes closing within a fortnight because of escalating prices and larger providers under threat within a month or two.

“The current uncertainty is already causing issues for social care because is ratcheting up prices while the issue of people not wanting to come and work in this country becoming a real problem.

“We’ve seen a lot of talented care practitioners and nurses leave Wales already and this is a major concern because we have an aging population and, planning ahead for the next 15 to 20 years, we are going to see a 100 per cent increase in the number of people aged over 85.

“Regardless of what happens with Brexit, the demographics are going to cause enormous issues but this uncertainty and this appearance that we no longer welcoming people who have talent and want to work here is causing even more problems because the NHS is already under tremendous pressure.

“We have been fortunate in recent years but if we have a bad winter, you would see pressures on the NHS that we have never seen before.

“Social care underpins the NHS and what business wants and what social care wants is an end to this uncertainty.

“While Westminster decides whether it’s a deal or a no deal Brexit, what the social care sector needs is certainty to be able to continue to provide services for the most vulnerable people in our society.”

Ian completes his marathon walking challenge

* Ian Parry is jubilant after completing his big walking challenge.

Llangollen's Ian Parry has completed his big September walking challenge to raise cash for the fight against prostate cancer.

Ian, who is secretary of Llangollen Prostate Cancer Support Group, decided to take up his personal walking marathon in aid of Prostate Cancer UK.

Each year, 11,000 men die from this form of cancer and therefore the charity felt that taking 11,000 steps - by walking, running, jogging or even dancing - every day during the month of September would be an appropriate fundraising challenge, with each step being in memory of a life lost this year. 

The money raised across the country will go towards research that will help spot prostate cancer sooner with more accurate tests, faster treatments with fewer side effects and emotional and practical support for everyone affected.

Ian has now completed the challenge after completing a total of 406,761 steps and approximately 178 miles during the month. 

And that means he has raised a healthy £635 of his target figure, although contributions are still very welcome, he says.

Ian began the challenge on September 1 by walking from his home to Trevor Basin along the canal and registering his 11,000 steps. 

He has been recording his daily steps mainly along the canal from the Horseshoe Falls to Trevor Basin, from there towards Chirk and from Chirk to Lion Quays. A couple of days were spent in Chester walking around the city walls and riverside.

* If you would like to support Ian in this challenge by making a donation and helping Prostate Cancer in its research you can do so by visiting the Just Giving website at:  https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Ian-Parry9

Town Council election is tomorrow

The election to fill the vacancy created by Karen Edwards on Llangollen Town Council will be held tomorrow (Thursday).

The three candidates are:

KEDDIE, Paul (Annibynnol/ Independent)

PALMER, John Christopher

ROBERTSON, Gillian (Independent)

Christmas Festival puts out the call for helpers

* Sion Corn arrives at an earlier Llan Christmas Festival.

Organisers of this year’s Llangollen Christmas Festival have put out an urgent call for able-bodied people to help run the big show.

Thousands of seasonal revellers are expected to come flocking to Llangollen for the town’s annual Christmas Festival on Saturday November 30.

Kicking off at 1pm with the famous parade which sees Sion Corn - the Welsh Santa – being escorted into town over the historic bridge by a colourful cavalcade of entertainers and local groups, the event features children’s fairground rides, food stalls, choirs, craft stalls, circus acts and face painting.

For the past few years there have been enough volunteers to help with the heavier work of putting up the wide range of stalls, sideshows and other equipment needed to make the festival a success.

But as the show grows in popularity more people are needed this year to lend a hand with this work.

Chairman of the festival committee Austin ‘Chem’ Cheminais, who is also the local town crier and a member of the town council, said: “We’ve usually had enough volunteers on hand to help with the heavier work but as the event gets ever more popular there’s more to do and we could do with a few extra willing hands.

“Three or four people would be enough but, due to the nature of the work, they’d need to be physically up to doing some of the heavier jobs.

“This is a key part of the behind-the-scenes festival organisation and we’d be delighted to hear from anyone interested in helping us out. They can contact us through our Facebook page, which is https://www.facebook.com/Llangollen-Christmas-Festival-311747955653208/

During the festival, which will once again benefit Wales Air Ambulance and local charities, there will also be a chance for youngsters to visit Sion Corn in his glorious grotto and 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 third year the festival has teamed up with Light Up Local Food, a project aimed at promoting Llangollen-based food and drink producers.

Festival organisers have also arranged for free parking throughout the day at local car parks.

Questions asked about Vicarage Road area

Former Llangollen county councillor Stuart Davies (pictured) has let llanblogger have a copy of the letter he has just sent to Denbighshire's development manager Paul Mead and current local county councillor Melvyn Mile.

The development below my house in Vicarage Rd has triggered a new water storage facility being built to the west of it in the green belt.

It is a couple of hundred yards away from me and immediately below my neighbours.

From my time on the planning committee I know that putting in an application triggers a process. If it could be controversial, neighbours are advised and if they respond then it goes to committee.

This is an enormous development in a sensitive area, and yet neither myself or neighbours were advised or given the chance to comment and so it looks like it was a delegated decision to grant.

I finally managed to find the papers on line, the website is useless by the way.

It was done in haste, the agent for Welsh Water has a recurring theme in that she wanted it done quickly.

We heard and saw a tree being pollarded the other day, it turned out to be a walnut, in the words of the tree expert from Flintshire, extremely rare in North Wales.

They cut down the easterly one, the nut bearing one. So no more rare walnuts in this area. The tree expert allowed it in the application.

So, question, why weren't the neighbours consulted about the application? Why was a rare tree allowed to be cut down without any public consultation?

Is it because Welsh Water were on a mission to do it quickly?

There is another issue arising, there were springs in the field, the earthworks appear to have opened them up, with this rain we are experiencing, the water and spoil is running down across the excavations across Vicarage Road and in to the new housing development. Special soak-aways have been constructed both there and under Hall St car park to deal. Houses in Hall St on the A5 have cellars which could be affected when those soak-aways get full.

Concerns have also been aired to me about the excavation and access road levels on the site. Could somebody check them please?

* Stuart Davies has received a response from a county planning officer which says the correct processes have been followed, adjacent residents notified and the responses of statutory consultees/technical informed.