New businesses give Llan a pre-Christmas present

* At Oak Street Gallery are, from left, gallery owner Karl Young, Lilla Kieiwan of Occasions, Robert Davies of RUN Ragged and Roslynne Lumsden of Shop Around The Corner. Picture by Mandy Jones.

Llangollen has been given a big pre-Christmas boost with the opening of six new businesses.

Among the newly-arrived retailers is former weapons expert Robert Davies who worked on the fight scenes in blockbuster films like Gladiator and Braveheart.

While high streets in other parts of the UK are struggling, Llangollen is bucking the national trend with its combination of attractions and a vibrant and varied independent retail sector.

Between them the five new shops and an art gallery have created more than 20 new jobs.

The news has delighted the organisers of Denbighshire County Council’s #LoveLiveLocal campaign which  is encouraging people to do their Christmas shopping locally.

Even the quieter areas of the town like Oak Street now have their own communities of local independents – the Oak Street Gallery and Shop Around The Corner have opened in recent months to join greengrocer Dee Valley Produce with its array of fruit and veg and Gwalia Ceramics.

In nearby Castle Street ex-film man Robert Davies has launched his new shop, RUN Ragged – it stands for Retro, Used and New.

His stock ranges from 1920’s trousers to 1980s cufflinks with brand new top hats thrown in and he also gives space to a local leatherworker and an artisan maker of carved walking sticks.

Robert said: “Llangollen is lucky in not having major out-of-town retailers so it has plenty of small independents and there is a lot going on here, lots of things to do and all in easy walking distance.

“Because there are so many independents it’s not the same as other high streets where you see the same big names everywhere.

“I used to be in Wrexham and I have been pleasantly surprised at the difference. There are lots of people who visit who were brought here as children and now they bring their parents back and their own children as well and there’s something here for all of them.”

Karl Young opened the Oak Street Gallery this summer and he said: “I’d never done this before although I had done pop-ups but it’s been a lot of fun.

“We exhibit a number of artists and this month we are exclusively local, all from within ten miles of Llangollen.

“I’m an oil and landscape painter myself but we have other painters, a couple of wood-turners with beautiful hand-turned bowls, prints and hand-made cards.

“Coming here takes you a bit off the beaten track, it’s about exploring the town and finding something you like and I hope that entertains you even if you don’t buy anything but if you do you know it’s unique.”

Just up the street is Shop Around The Corner with its array of jewellery, locally-made items and gifts, an off-shoot of the hugely popular Shop In The Clouds at the top of the Horseshoe Pass and owner Roslynne Lumsden said: “We’ve been up there for over 30 years and I used to have a shop selling doll’s house furniture in Llangollen and I’ve always regretted not having it any more.

“This came up for lease and I just thought we had a great town around us and here we are up and running and once people know we’re here they find us easily – Oak Street is doing so well now that we have more people than cars down here.”

Elsewhere in Castle Street there have been more openings, with Occasions offering hand-made chocolates as well as soya wax candles, artisan bath soaps and lotions and Welsh cards, and Sweet Daisy with its sticky cakes and puddings.

As part of the Christmas #LoveLiveLocal campaign, Denbighshire County Council will be posting a video to highlight what the county has to offer and the campaign will encourage people to support local independent businesses by using the hashtag on Twitter and Facebook to share good experiences they’ve had as well as promote products and services locally they have ‘loved’.

The campaign is aimed at persuading people in Denbighshire to shop local this Christmas to give the county’s high street traders a boost in the run up to the festive season.

They reckon that if a third of the county’s 30,000 households spend half their Christmas cash with their local retailers instead of buying online or travelling to the bigger shopping centres it could boost the county’s economy by 2.5 million.

Llangollen is a template for how small towns can operate successfully and retain bustling high streets with such varied offers as SAS Outdoors which provides activities from foraging to river bugs and gorge walking as well as restaurants, cafes, delicatessens and pubs.

Retail guru Helen Hodgkinson, from Dyserth, a former fashion retailer and college lecturer who has worked closely with businesses in Denbighshire points to where the town is getting things right.

She said: “There’s a great offer here in Llangollen, lots of unusual, quirky, specialist independent shops offering great products and people do want to buy something that’s a bit different, something with a story behind it, but you can’t just expect them to turn up, you’ve got to get them interested.”

* For more information go to https://www.denbighshire.gov.uk/en/business/business-support-and-advice/love-live-local-caru-busnesau-lleol.aspx and businesses and customers can get involved by including #LoveLiveLocal in their tweets on Twitter and joining the #LoveLiveLocal group on Facebook.

Mazda CX-30 is ready to take on all contenders

* Mazda's new CX-30 SUV.

Mazda CX-30 launch by Steve Rogers

Meet the CX-30 a car that could be called Great Expectations.

If everything goes to plan this will be Mazda's biggest seller here and probably across Europe as well.

So a lot is riding on the new model but first let's sort out what it is and why it is called CX-30.

This is Mazda's third SUV and slots in between CX-3 and CX-5 so maybe CX-4? Logical, but that name is already used on a model selling just in China but in a perverse way CX-30 does make sense.

It sits on the Mazda3 platform and is more a pumped up hatchback than full blown SUV. Face on the cars all look the same but that is no bad thing because Mazda has the best looking range of cars on the market. The company's Kodo design philosophy of sleek and bold has come up trumps again and if anything the CX-30's profile is little softer than its SUV siblings.

The new model rounds off a busy year for Mazda which has found it tough like all around but product activity has kept its nose above water so there will be an increase in sales this year with the private sector showing the biggest rise.

Heading into the new year CX-30 will be leading the charge and is expected to take over from Mazda3 hatchback as the company's traditional best seller. And we would be fools to argue because the great British public has made it quite clear they prefer higher riding cars that drive like the popular hatchback of old.

Has Mazda muddied its own waters with yet another crossover style car? Not really, the 120mm shorter and three grand cheaper CX-3 is a full blown compact SUV and will suit those who don't have a big family and older folk with gammy hips and stiff joints who struggle to heave themselves out of a car that sits no more than a foot off the ground.

CX-30 does more of the same and will cater for a larger family because it has more rear legroom, good sized boot and extra width which is only a smidgen less than the big CX-5. It also has all bases covered with an all wheel drive option.

This is a petrol-only model but that should not be a surprise either because diesel sales are tumbling and Mazda has seen one of the biggest drop offs. The company thinks it has the answer to the economy conundrum with a clever petrol engine that has revolutionary spark controlled compression ignition.

Without drilling into the complicated technical details the upshot is economy and performance close to a diesel, they say, and commendably low emissions, and that is fact.

There are two petrol engines but unfortunately only one has the Skyactiv-X ignition technology. I drove both at the launch and while the 120bhp version is smooth and refined it is woefully lacking in punch so there is a lot of gear changing.

The 180bhp version is a completely different kettle of fish and has the X factor on performance with smooth, crisp response at low revs and a rather thrilling tendency to enjoy being taken to the rev limit without so much as a squeal for submission.

Just how good it is on economy will be revealed in a couple of weeks after I have road tested the engine properly in a Mazda3.

Like all Mazdas CX-30 is reaping the benefits in an upgrade in quality and while the company hasn't quite reached its goal of matching the premium teams it can fairly say it is leading the rest of the pack. There is a good feeling of quality and style as soon as you get into this car.

Equipment level is good, too, with some exceptional standard features. The driver's head-up display projects speed, speed limits and navigation instructions, radar cruise control applies apply full on braking in an emergency, and cross traffic alert could avoid reversing out of a blind parking space into a passing car. That is just a snapshot, there is plenty more.

Who is CX-30 up against? Uncle Tom Cobbley and all sums it up, the opposition is vast and some of it mighty - Seat Ateca, Volkswagen T Roc, Toyota C-HR, Vauxhall Grandland X, and the list goes on.

But CX-30 is good enough to take them all on.... and win.

Model range: 5. Price range: £22,895-£33,495.

Key facts

CX-30 SE-L Lux

£24,195

2.0 petrol; 120bhp

0-62mph 10.6secs; 116mph

45.6mpg combined

116g/km. 1st year tax £170

Insurance group 16

Boot 430 litres

Town stages annual carol concert

* Above and below: the silver band accompanies carol singing from the stage. 

* The Rev Phil Poole leads the carol service.

* Father Anthony also assists with the service.

* The deputy mayor, right, hands the winner's certificate to the Old Vicarage team.

* The Holy Cross representative collects their winner's certificate from the deputy mayor.

Llangollen Churches Together hosted the annual carol service at the Town Hall yesterday evening.

Musical accompaniment was provided by Llangollen Silver Band.

The service was led by the Rev Phil Poole from the Methodist Church with assistance from Father Anthony from the Holy Cross Catholic Church.

Afternoon tea was professionally prepared by Fabiano Silva.

During a break in the service the winners of the annual Christmas tree competition, based at the Methodist Church, were announced by the town's deputy mayor, Cllr Issy Richards.

Members of the public were invited to visit the church over the past two weekends to view all the trees on display and vote for their favourites.

Winner of the traditional tree category was the creation from The Old Vicarage care home and topping the poll in the recycled category was the tree from the Holy Cross Church.

Welsh Government unveils draft budget

Finance Minister Rebecca Evans will today (Monday) publish a draft Budget delivering major investment for the Welsh NHS and injecting new ambition to help protect the future of our planet.

This will be the first Welsh Government Budget following the declaration of a climate emergency in Wales. It will help to deliver a greener, more equal and more prosperous Wales, says the government.

Following the UK government’s one-year spending round announcement, real terms funding for the Welsh Government remains below 2010 levels.

Speaking ahead of its publication, Finance Minister Rebecca Evans said: “This draft Budget delivers on our promises to the people of Wales and invests to protect the future of our planet.

“Despite a decade of austerity, our plans will see investment in the Welsh NHS reach 37bn since the start of this Assembly term in 2016.

“We are also providing major new funding to combat climate change and ensure our vital public services, such as schools and local government all receive funding increases.

“Our promises have driven our priorities in the face of ruthless UK government austerity that has left Wales worse off.”

The draft Budget 2020-21, which sets out one-year revenue and capital spending plans, will be published on the Welsh Government website today.

Stuart Davies recalls fighting an earlier Boris election

* Stuart Davies's picture of a young Boris Johnson fighting the 1997 general election in Llangollen,

For Llangollen mayor and county councillor Stuart Davies reflects on his connections with newly-elected Prime Minister Boris Johnson

* Stuart Davies.

People will have heard of me as the old man who asked Theresa May, “Prime Minister, why don't you resign?” 

But I was also the media officer for Boris Johnson in Clwyd South in the ‘97 general election. His first bash at becoming an MP.

It was a forlorn task in those days fighting a safe Labour seat with a majority of around 14,000! 

Boris famously said afterwards he “fought Clwyd South and Clwyd South fought back”.

Twenty-two years later, however, the Boris Bounce has finally prevailed. Clwyd South has turned blue! 

We have kept in touch over the years, he has the master politician's knack of remembering faces and names and when we saw him in Abergele in North Wales this year he remembered us, even our names! I was wearing the rosette that I wore back in '97 with his name on it.

What most people don't remember is that in '97 I chucked my hat in the ring to be the candidate for Clwyd South as well. 

There was one other candidate if I remember correctly as well as the blonde mop head. I got through to the shoot-off with Boris. It was no contest, with the then chairman of Clwyd South, Ian Reynolds, famously saying afterwards, "We have a future Prime Minister here as our candidate."

We got on with the job and I accompanied Boris on the stump as his media officer.

I got to know him well travelling across the constituency and people ask me what he is really like, to which I reply, he was just as you see him now. 

However, underneath all that funniness is a razor-sharp intellectual mind. He was and is from what I can see from his time as Mayor of London, a superb chooser of staff and delegater. He fills people with confidence and gives them freedom to carry out their job.

He also has that knack of catching your eye and giving you the impression that you and he are a team. 

One last anecdote. I was talking to him a few years ago and recounted the tale of taking him to Brymbo Conservative Club near Wrexham.  

I showed him where I had worked in the Loco Shed at Brymbo Steel. It was still standing although the steelworks had been shut for a while. He said, I vividly remember, that he still had the tie from the Conservative Club.

Stiwt panto is a happy clappy smash

* Love Island star Niall Aslam stars in the Stiwt panto Aladdin. 

The hardest-working Wishy Washy in the business and slick-talking Widow Twankey are the driving forces of the Stiwt’s happy-clappy 2019 panto, Aladdin.

There for good measure are a reality TV star and glittery leading couple.

This show marks the tenth anniversary of LHK Productions staging pantos at the stylish Rhos venue and, having seen quite a few, I reckon this is arguably its best yet.

Buzzing around the stage, and frequently the auditorium too, like his baggy pants are on fire is the multi-talented Kyle Corrin as Aladdin’s sparky younger brother, Wishy.

This young man is literally never still, dominating almost every scene as he fires off a barrage of funny lines between leaping on and off stage, once with an enormous running jump worthy of the Olympics.

Of course it helps that he’s fuelled by native Scouse humour, is fit as a fiddle and only 19 years old.

This show runs until New Year’s Eve and by then I estimate he’ll have run the equivalent of three times around the globe.

Widow Twankeys are traditionally young cheeky chappies dressed up as brassy elderly ladies. This is true of Michael Chapman but the laid-back way he delivers his lines – and what great lines everyone has – is down to the “Jafaican” accent his uses to do it.

For the uninitiated that’s the trendy patois that is currently taking over from cockney and estuary Down Sarf.   

Official star of the show – and there’s some good-natured leg pulling about that from his fellow cast members – is Niall Aslam who rose to fame in the 2018 season of Love Island.

He’s still got the six-pack which wowed his fans and isn’t afraid to use it as the Genie of the Lamp. Any deficiency he displays in line delivery is not surprisingly milked for laughs in the script.

Back for another great season is Stiwt favourite Michael Jenkins who this time delivers a deliciously evil and overbearing baddie Abanazer. He’s also the professional glue which binds the whole show together.

Some actors in this pivotal role just aren’t nasty enough but that’s certainly not true of Mr Jenkins who brings forth a crescendo of hisses and boos from the crowd at every appearance.

Christopher Twyford is a stage school graduate from just down the road in Shrewsbury who shines in the title role with his likeable stage presence and mellow singing voice.

He’s teamed with the marvellously named Oakleigh Briscoe as Princess Jasmine, another young professional who’s everything a female panto queen should be – very sweet with a handy voice.

Equally glam with a neat line is joke spinning is Claire Simmo as the Genie of the Ring.

All this is enhanced by that great script, glittery costumes, a repertoire of contemporary and traditional songs, a small army of performance school dancers, masses of audience participation and the early appearance of a toy dog appropriately named Piddle who squirts streams of liquid into a delighted, squealing audience.

What more could you want from a fantasic family Christmas show?

* To book, call the Stiwt box office on 01978 841300.

Railway puts final link on the line in place

* Bill Shakespeare MBE and Gordon Heddon heave on the big spanner to fix the bolts to the symbolic fishplate joining the rails.

A railway conservationists' dream going back almost 45 years finally came true when the final section of the line between Llangollen and Corwen was put in place.  

The linking of the trackwork at Corwen station with the track extension railhead from Carrog was marked by the fixing of a golden fishplate to the rails on the site of the former gap in the railway embankment.

Llangollen Railway Trust President Bill Shakespeare MBE and Vice President Gordon Heddon were helped to heave on the big spanners to fix the bolts to the symbolic fishplate to join the rails.

The occasion marked the official completion of the trackwork which now runs the full ten miles from Llangollen station to the buffer stop at Green Lane, Corwen. 

It finally fulfils the dream of restoring the railway as envisaged by the pioneering preservationists back in 1975 to rebuild the line through the Dee Valley from Llangollen to Corwen. 

It also marks an important stage in the completion of the new Corwen station with the terminal trackwork loop now in place around the island platform.

This stage of the project has been a work-in-progress since April 2019, when the gap in the embankment was infilled to restore the railway formation. 

Much planning and design work followed before site preparation during the autumn allowed for the setting out of two sets of points for the eastern end of the loop and access to a siding.

Following the manual effort on the fishplate, the Road Rail Vehicle moved through the rail connection from platform 1 to demonstrate the completion of the loop.

Members of the Corwen Project team were on site to meet invited members of the Corwen community who have supported the building of the station. The party adjourned to the new station building adjacent to the town car park for light refreshments and BBC Wales attended to record the occasion for Wales News.

Volunteer Project Manager, Richard Dixon-Gough said: “Today’s celebration acknowledges all the hard work that has been completed by our dedicated volunteer work force to bring this highly complex trackwork project to a conclusion. It is a momentous occasion, with the switches in place, the mainline is connected to the new build station platform and the run around loop completed. 

"This represents a magnificent effort and is truly a very notable step forward in completing the extension of the railway into the centre of Corwen.

“With the connection of the track, within the station confines, to the existing railhead, it completes the original aim of returning the railway link between Llangollen and Corwen.

“Over the past 44 years many people have contributed and supported the workforce thus helping to bring a heritage railway to the Dee Valley for all to enjoy travelling along this most scenic valley by train and experience the wonderful views from the comfort of a heritage railway vehicle.

“Without their support the project would not have succeeded.

“The full 10 miles will be operational through to Corwen in 2020 if we can continue to meet the challenges which the remaining work on the new build station platform represents.”

Llangollen Railway President, Bill Shakespeare MBE, aged 92, said: “I am delighted to be involved in today's golden fishplate occasion when we celebrate completing the track layout at Corwen. 

"Little did I think when the first track was laid at Llangollen back in 1975 it would take so long to reach a new build station at Corwen. 

"The volunteer workforce has done brilliantly with the limited resources available. The job has been done, so it is right we pause for a little celebration and can look forward to the station opening in 2020.”

Llangollen Railway Trust Vice President, Gordon Heddon said: “It gives me great pleasure to be here today to mark the completion of the trackwork at Corwen. When, as Chairman of Llangollen Railway, I initiated the Corwen extension project on 2004, I little realised how complex the whole process would be in the face of modern rules and regulations. 

"That it was necessary to split the project into two phases to provide temporary station facilities for trains in 2014 is now apparent by the size and scale of the Corwen terminal station which is coming to a completion. This achievement has only been possible by the sheer determination of the volunteer members of the project team and the financial support of our members and well-wishers who have contributed towards the cost of the project.”