Sion Corn tries a husky team to reach festival

* Natalie Hallmark Jones, right, and daughter 

Holly help Sion Corn try out the team of Siberian Huskies.

Sion Corn – the Welsh Santa Claus – has been checking out the quickest way to reach Llangollen when the town stages its annual Christmas Festival on Saturday November 30.

Thousands of seasonal revellers are expected to come flocking to the Denbighshire tourist spot for the big event.

As Sion Corn will be starring in the traditional parade and wants to make sure he’s there in good time on the day he’s been trying out various modes of travel.

And he reckons he had the most fun so far when he put a pack of Siberian Huskies to the test.

The magnificent dogs are part of the Wrexham-based Wolf Pack which races regularly across the UK and will be making a special guest appearance alongside him in the big parade on festival day.

Wolf Pack owns 11 huskies, nine of which are Siberian, one an Alaskan and another a Northern Inute Kelip. 

All the huskies are looked after by Rob and Natalie Hallmark Jones and their daughter Holly who helped Sion Corn get the feel of the reins as he settled in behind the team during his practice session.

Later he said: “That was very exciting and you wouldn’t believe how fast these fantastic dogs can travel. I should be able to make it from Lapland to Llangollen in no time on festival day.”  

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, food stalls, choirs, craft stalls, circus acts 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 from 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 third 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 thanks to the good 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.” 

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

llanblogger's guide to the 2019 election in Clwyd South

llanblogger has produced this guide to the General Election battle in the local Clwyd South constituency.

The seat has been held for Labour by Susan Elan Jones since 2010.

In the 2017 General Election she held on to it with a majority of 4,356. The Welsh Conservatives’ Simon Baynes, who is once again contesting the seat, came in second place.    

According to analysis by electionpolling.co.uk, Clwyd South is at number 72 in the Conservatives’ list of target seats.

2017 General Election result

Susan Elan Jones LAB 19,002 share of vote 50.7% swing +13.5

Simon Baynes CON     14,646                        39.1%           +8.7 

Chris Allen PLAID            2,293                            6.1%          -4.2 

Jeanette Stefani Bassford-Barton UKIP  802      2.1%           -13.5 

Bruce Roberts LIB                                731       2.0%           -1.9 

In the 2016 EU referendum the constituency voted Leave by 59.88%, according to estimates from the House of Commons Library.

Five candidates will contest the seat on December 12, including incumbent Susan Elan Jones for Labour and challengers Simon Baynes for the Welsh Conservatives and Christopher Allen for Plaid Cymru. Also fighting are Jay (Jamie) Adams for the Brexit Party and Calum Davies for the Welsh Liberal Democrats.

Here is a brief guide to each of the candidates:

Jay (Jamie) Adams

Welsh Brexit Party

Mr Adams is a 31-year-old area sales manager in the construction industry.

He has worked for three major PLC companies in senior sales positions which he says has taught him the importance of good negotiation skills, determination and hard work. He is married and is the father to a four-year-old girl.

He says he is standing to protect democracy for his family and future generations and does not feel like any of the current parties represent him, his friends or family. He feels like Westminster has turned their back on him and everything he cares about.

Christopher Allen

Plaid Cymru

Aged 52 and living in Trevor he was born in Warwickshire and has lived in Clwyd South for 20 years.

He works as a production engineer in Llangollen. His wife is a teacher in Llangollen and they have two children.

He says that after becoming increasingly frustrated with politics at UK level and the inability of the system to adequately represent Wales, he joined Plaid Cymru in 2015. He stood for election in 2017.

Mr Allen said: “My challenge is to represent everyone here, and not prioritise one community over another. I’m standing again because I want to stand up for everyone and make Clwyd South, and wider Wales, healthier and happier for all our citizens.”

Simon Baynes

Welsh Conservatives

Simon Baynes from Chirk is a former businessman, founder of the charity Concertina – Music for the Elderly and author of the recently published book “Lake Vyrnwy – The Story of a Sporting Hotel”.  

He stood in Clwyd South in 2017, increasing the Conservative vote by almost 4,000.

Mr Baynes said: “I am extremely pleased to have been selected, and I will be campaigning hard on the issues that matter most to the people of Clwyd South.”

He says his number one priority is Brexit. 

Calum Davies

Welsh Liberal Democrats

Mr Davies is a 23-year-old and from Gwynedd. He is a first language Welsh speaker. Currently, he works in retail, he has always had a passion for politics and wanting to help the people of the local area and contribute to Clwyd South having a brighter future. 

He says he will put the interests of Clwyd South first by fighting to stop the Conservatives’ “extreme” Brexit that will likely to hit Wales hard, with its key industries of tourism and agriculture.  

Susan Elan Jones

Welsh Labour

Ms Jones has represented Clwyd South since 2010.

She went to Ponciau, Grango and Ruabon schools, and Bristol and Cardiff universities. After university, Susan taught English in Japan.

She won cross-party support to introduce a bill to Parliament that sought to review sentencing for unlicensed or uninsured drivers who kill or seriously injure people.

After serving as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Harriet Harman she was a member of Labour’s frontbench team between 2011 and 2016. She is currently a member of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee and the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments. 

Message of thanks from Oak Street Gallery

Oak Street Gallery in Llangollen has sent through a message of thanks to all those who attended the opening of the Jon Young Art winter exhibition the weekend before last. 

It says: "Thank you to everyone who has visited this vibrant, colourful exhibition of people and places already and to all the hardy souls who braved the snow to make our opening event such a success.

"We are now into our final week at this amazing gallery and the paintings will be coming down on Monday 25th November so please come along to enjoy Jon's work before then. We are open every day 10am-5pm (4pm on Sunday), but not open until lunchtime on Monday 18th.

"We look forward to seeing you."

Lunchtime recital features songs from Shea

Cash available for open spaces and play areas

Funding totalling £209,000 is available to improve open spaces and play areas in Denbighshire.

The county council’s Open Spaces Commuted Sums is now open to communities across the county.

A commuted sum is a payment from developers to a local authority when it is not appropriate to provide the required outdoor open space during a development.

The funds are held specifically for the enhancement of open spaces and play areas, and are used in the same area as the development.

The fund is open to town or community councils, community or voluntary groups.

* Closing date for funding applications is Friday, January 31, 2020 and for details visit www.denbighshire.gov.uk/commuted-sums

Road safety spot checks outside schools

A clampdown on anti-social parking outside schools will take place in Denbighshire next week.

As part of Road Safety Week, which runs from November 18 and 24, council officers will be carrying out spot checks at schools and informing motorists about road safety.

Police Community Support Officers and Civil Enforcement Officers will also be attending schools to deter parents from parking on zig-zags and double yellow lines.

Emlyn Jones, Denbighshire County Council’s Head of Planning and Public Protection Services, said: “Anti-social driving and parking around the county’s schools puts children’s lives in danger. 

"We are urging parents to observe the highway code and facilitate the safeguarding of our children. Parking on pavements and zig zags forces children to walk on roads which are busy and congested during these hours.

“Congestion around schools also makes it difficult for children to be seen when crossing the road. Anti-social parking is selfish and dangerous and it is endangering the lives of our children.

“We are urging parents to consider their options and think about walking or cycling to school with their children.”

The council has also launched the Park Safe Walk Safe competition. 

The competition was rolled out to all the primary schools in Denbighshire through their Junior Road Safety Officers, the winning design will be made into a poster and distributed to all the schools in Denbighshire, with the winner receiving a £50 Halfords voucher.

A number of banners have also been produced and will be displayed outside a number of Denbighshire schools to promote this initiative,  Project Zig  Zag.

A worthy contender in the prestige SUV arena

* The DS7 Crossback above and below.

DS7 Crossback road test by Steve Rogers

Goddess. What a wonderful name for a car, particularly one that lit up the motoring world.

That was the incomparable Citroen DS of 1955, the car that changed the face of motoring with its ground breaking design and technology. 

In French DS, or rather Déesse, means goddess, a nugget of information imparted by my wife who speaks the lingo.

Fitting then that Peugeot Citroen should choose DS to front its luxury marque and DS7 Crossback is its first completely new model, as opposed to DS3,4 and 5 which were rebadged Citroens before the brand was launched last year.

That is why there are not too many DS7s around ... yet. It takes a while to establish a new luxury brand, look how long it has taken Lexus to get a decent foothold, and DS7 is up against Audi, BMW, Mercedes, all of whom have established, prestige SUVs.

Yes, DS7 is an SUV when you might have thought a luxury saloon would be the way to go given the DS heritage. But this was a smart move by the brains at Peugeot Citroen who figured, correctly as it turned out, that SUVs were the future.

So how is DS7 Crossback fairing in this difficult old world? At just under 4.6m it sits between an Audi Q3 and Q5 and is a smidgen longer than Volkswagen's Tiguan.

The target market is the luxury end so a lot of time and money has gone into creating something special. Special enough to turn people's heads away from the mighty German trio.

And DS has the perfect setting to model its 'special' car. Paris. So the stylists homed in on the glass pyramid at the Louvre and the Rue de Rivoli, the most fashionable street in Paris for inspiration.

Let's move on from the car's body shape, which is a bit flat, and concentrate on the chic styling. The LED light clusters are just exquisite. Up front are three individual ice cube style modules while the diamond design strip at the rear is even more spectacular. That is the first introduction to the diamond theme (remember the Louvre's glass pyramid) which runs riot in the cabin.

There are four interior styles, or inspirations as they are called, and my test car was Rivoli. This is French chic in full flow with a variety of classy materials and attention to detail. Here diamonds are DS7's best friend, diamond shaped dials, screen graphics and grey diamond quilted leather upholstery.

Elsewhere crystal effect switches lodged between the front seats conclude the eye candy show. It sounds over the top but as a visual spectacle it works and more stunning than anything the German SUVs can offer.

A 12 inch touchscreen dominates the dashboard from where you can access just about every function. A row of touch sensitive switches give quick access but it is all a bit challenging for the driver. Voice control is available but didn't always respond to commands.

Ahead of the driver is a 12.3in digital instrument cluster, interchangeable of course, with a full width navigation map among the features.

This is a comfortable five seater and will easily accommodate three adults in the back where head and legroom is ample. It is also well off for storage space with good sized door bins and a huge box between the front seats.

As with most French cars ride comfort is key so don't expect DS7 to have the pure driving dynamics of a similar Audi or BMW. Yet there is a decent compromise here with three drive modes, and on the more expensive models a sensor in the windscreen which can spot poor road surfaces and adapt the suspension to give the smoothest ride.

My test car came with the turbocharged 1.6 litre petrol, a feisty number mated to an eight speed automatic box, but not the best option for big economy. Best I could manage was 33mpg overall so look to the diesel or even the hybrid for better results.

DS has made a pretty good fist of its first bespoke model although one thing that needs sorting is the poor definition of the rear camera, a problem that goes across the board with all Peugeot and Citroen models.

Make no mistake DS7 is a worthy contender in the prestige SUV arena and the interior styling is ahead of any of its German rivals. It is also very good value for money with a long spec list.

The elephant in the room for me is its cousin, the Peugeot 3008 which shares many components. It is better looking, has an equally impressive cabin although it falls below the level of quality, and is cheaper. So it is still my favourite SUV.

Key facts

DS7 Crossback Prestige

£41,085

1.6 litre turbo; 225bhp

0-62mph 8.3secs; 145mph

36.2-40.4mpg combined

125-130g/km. 1st road tax £170

Boot 618 litres

Insurance group 29