Moreton Hall School's Christmas gala concert

Moreton Hall School, just off the A5 towards Oswestry, is staging a special gala concert this Saturday evening, details of which are on the poster below:

Campaign for safer parking near schools is a success

A clampdown on anti-social parking outside schools has taken place in Denbighshire.

As part of Road Safety Week (November 18 to 24), Council officers carried out spot checks at schools and spoke to a number of motorists about road safety.

Police Community Support Officers and Civil Enforcement Officers also attended 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: “I’d like to thank all the pupils, teachers and parents who engaged with Road Safety Week in Denbighshire.  The campaign to raise awareness was a success and helped spread the message that anti-social driving and parking around the county’s schools puts children’s lives in danger.

“We will continue to work with schools and urge parents to observe the Highway Code and facilitate the safeguarding of children. The message is simple, parking on pavements and zig zags forces children to walk on roads which are busy and congested during these hours.”

The Council held its Park Safe Walk Safe competition to promote safe parking and driving around schools in the county with Ifan Micallef from Ysgol Bro Dyfrdwy, Cynwyd, winning a 50 Halfords voucher for his design.

Civic team judges Christmas windows competition

* Deputy mayor Issie Richards and mayor Jon Haddy 

are now deliberating on the competition winners.

Llangollen's mayor and deputy mayor have been out and about in town this morning (Monday) judging this year's competition to find the most attractive window displays in the run-up to Christmas.

The contest was organised as part of the annual Christmas festival, which was successfully held last Saturday.

Prizes and certificates are up for grabs for the most attractive displays and mayor Cllr Jon Haddy along with deputy mayor Cllr Issie Richards braved the freezing weather to closely scrutinise the frontages of shops and other businesses. 

They were joined by Jane Cheminais representing her husband Austin 'Chem', the town crier,  

Chem, who chairs the Christmas Festival committee, said: “Our family orientated festival attracts over 2,000 people into Llangollen town centre and the Christmas shopping experience offered by local traders is an important element of our success.

“In the busy Christmas period, there is nothing more important than the shop front or business window display to attract customers through the door and create a colourful and festive experience for shoppers.”

Deliberations on the displays are now going ahead ready for the announcement of the winners later this week on llanblogger.

Judging goes ahead at some the entrants' premises ...

* Cllrs Richards and Haddy along with Jane Cheminais, centre, at Lily Rose Interiors.

* Jade's Hair and Beauty ...

* Tenovus charity shop ...

* Wingetts estate agents ...

* Ty Nook ...

* and Riverbanc.

Operatic's big Christmas show is tomorrow

Llangollen Operatic Society will stage its Christmas show tomorrow (Tuesday) evening from 7.30pm in the Town Hall.

The first act of the special production, which has been jointly produced by Dan May and Grace Goff, opens with the society’s junior section, the Young ‘Uns, presenting a selection of songs from their latest show, Wizard of Oz, which runs at the Town Hall from February 13-15.

With Shea Ferron as compere, it continues with songs from performers who have appeared with the Operatic and other local groups.

They include Simon Orton-Jones, Sophie Preston, Josie Meredith, Jill Handley, Rachel Dobson, Aled Morris, Alison Ravenscroft, Heather Wolfson, Leigh Mason, Helen Belton and Shea Ferron.

Running through the second act is a special seasonal parody of hit TV comedy the Royle Family.

More songs will come from Sophie Roberts, Dean Richards, Riah Andrews, Celyn Orton-Jones, Dan May and those who have already been on stage in the first half.

The Operatic Chorus takes the stage to provide a selection of Christmas songs before the finale when the audience will be encouraged to join in with carols and other numbers.

* Tickets details are on the poster above.

Fab four belt it out to raise cash for church

* Shea Ferron.

Four talented young singers took us to the West End and Broadway and a few places in between when they staged a pre-Christmas concert in aid of a small community church yesterday (Saturday) evening.

The picturesque 150-year-old All Saints’ in the hamlet of Pen y Lan, near Ruabon, needs all the help it can get with the heavy cost of maintenance.

So 17-year-old Shea, who is quickly making a name for himself as an actor and singer in the area, stepped in to organise the musical evening to boost funds for the church which is also the regular place of worship for himself and his family. Half of the proceeds of the concert is going to the Tanzanian Water project which All Saints' supports.

He teamed up with three friends – all equally accomplished performers – to stage the musical event there which drew a large and appreciative audience, some of whom had travelled over from Llangollen to see them.

The previous evening Shea had been in Llangollen as a cast member of the well-received old time music hall put on by the newly-formed Collen Players in the town’s community centre.

But he still had plenty of his impressive voice left to belt out favourite numbers such as The Prayer from Les Miserables, Believe from the musical Polar Express, What I Did for Love and the seasonal O Holy Night.

Shea also gave a second airing to the very moving Christmas in the Trenches which had deeply moved the audience when he sang it during his music hall performance on Friday.

* Daniel May.

Last night’s concert was opened by Daniel May, another young man with strong performance connections in Llangollen who is jointly producing this Tuesday evening’s seasonal production by the town’s Operatic Society, A Right Royle Christmas.

He confidently performed numbers from the musicals Beauty and the Beast, Les Miserables, The Sound of Music and Cilla adding The Lord’s Prayer and When a Child is Born.

* Niamh Ferron.

Next up to please the audience came Shea’s sister Niamh who sang pieces as diverse as I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables and Yellow, the 2019 Children in Need Song for which she was accompanied on the keyboard by Shea.

* Brett Jones.

Final performer of the night was another of Shea’s friends, Brett Jones, possessor of an extremely versatile voice which he used to best effect to present numbers such as Waving Through a Window from the new musical Dear Evan Hansen, Only the Good Die Young made famous by Queen, Forever Autumn from War of the Worlds and You & Me (But Mostly Me) from The Book of Mormon for which he teamed up for a memorable duet with Shea. 

Nominate those who serve the community for an award

The 2020 High Sheriff of Clwyd's Awards nomination process is now underway. 

Organisers say that if you haven't nominated someone special who does great things in Denbighshire there is still time to do so.

The High Sheriff Awards, launched in 2013, recognise outstanding contributions made by individuals or voluntary/community organisations or groups (with a charitable aim) to their respective communities.

The winners will be presented with their awards at an event to be held at Theatre Clwyd in Mold on Friday March 20 next year.

The closing date for the submission of completed nominations is noon on December 13.

You can find nomination forms here and return the completed forms for the attention of Helen Wilkinson, engagement@dvsc.co.uk.

Hundreds pack the town for Christmas Festival

Hundreds came flocking to enjoy Llangollen's annual Christmas Festival which is raising funds for the Wales Air Ambulance and local good causes.

The day began with the traditional big parade from the Pavilion to town and ended with the switching on of the Christmas lights and a fireworks display from the hillside below the castle.

llanblogger was on hand to record some of the day's memorable scenes.

* Sion Corn arrives outside the Town Hall to be greeted by town crier Chem and the Town Mayor, Cllr Jon Haddy.

 * A fireworks display rounded off the festival.

* All the fun of the fair in Market Street.

* A balloon man fascinates youngsters.

* The busy craft fair inside the Town Hall.

* Guitar man Chris Burton sings in Centenary Square.

* A horse rider at the head of the big parade.

* Town crier Chem and friends in the parade.

* Llangollen Silver Band sets the pace for the parade.

* The Mayor joins the parade in a classic car for Llangollen Motor Museum. 

* Santa's little helpers arrive by veteran car.

* Novelty riders in the cavalcade.

* More little helpers. 

* The Cogwarts contingent.

* The huskies trot into town.

* Sion Corn is greeted by the Mayor. 

* Llangollen Operatic's Young 'Uns sing a selection from their new show, The Wizard of Oz, in Centenary Square.

* Children from Ysgol Y Gwernant sing in the square.

* Youngsters from Ysgol Bryn Collen entertain.

* Graham Paton, managing director of Linguassist Ltd, switches on the lights with the Town Mayor, Cllr Jon Haddy (left).

 * The lights go on in Castle Street.
  

* Part of the colourful fireworks display.