SM impressed by progress of new Corwen station

* Mark Isherwood SM, left, with project leader Richard Dixon-Gough at the new Corwen station.

The Covid-19 pandemic has not prevented progress on an "exciting" Denbighshire rail project which is on track to be completed next year, according to North Wales Senedd Member Mark Isherwood.

Mr Isherwood has supported Llangollen Railway’s Corwen Station Project from the start and followed progress with regular visits.

On Friday he made his latest visit and was impressed by all that has been achieved since he was last there in February.

He said: “I always enjoy my visits to Llangollen Railway’s Corwen Station Project and each time I am amazed and impressed by the extent of the development of the platform and facilities, and this time was no different.

“I was last there at the beginning of the year, and what has been achieved since then, in the midst of a pandemic, is incredible. 

"The island platform is essentially now complete with its block paving surface, and the historic columns and steel work for the waiting room are all in place, along with heritage items with the name board and lamp posts. There is further work to complete in the new year, but they are on course with everything.

“All the volunteers, staff and supporters involved deserve huge praise for what has been achieved, particularly in these challenging times. I am now looking forward to prospects for the station opening in 2021 and revisiting to see the finished article.”

Richard Dixon-Gough, Corwen Project leader, said: "We are pleased that Mark was able to find the time to visit the station site for a catch-up with the work completed during 2020, despite the limitations imposed by Covid-19, and his appreciation of the work undertaken by our volunteers and the financial help from our many supporters."

During Mr Isherwood’s visit, the railway's financial position and the need for support was also discussed.

He said: “Although Covid-19 coronavirus restrictions are preventing Llangollen Railway from receiving any income, it is still having to find £40,000 every month to pay for its ongoing overheads.

“It has been an extremely challenging year for them and I therefore encourage people to support them. Donations to safeguard and support this wonderful heritage railway can be made to the Llangollen Railway Trust and shares in the Railway can also be acquired.”

* The online appeal can be accessed by visiting: https://llangollenrailway.enthuse.com/cf/covid-19-appeal

Railway's bridge appeal hits its £15,000 target

 

* Thanks to a successful appeal Dee Bridge can now be repaired.

The appeal to raise enough cash to repair a Victorian bridge vital to the running Llangollen Railway has reached its target.

As llanblogger revealed in October, the railway put out an urgent call to its supporters for £15,000 to revive Dee Bridge, built in 1865 and now in desperate need of new timbers if it is to continue to carry services over it next year.

In a Facebook post fundraising officer Paul Bailey said at the time: "If we are to run trains over the Dee Bridge next year we first have to renew the timbers on the bridge.

"This work, including purchasing the timbers, is costing £15,000 - monies the railway currently has not got.

"We have therefore launched an appeal to raise these monies without which we will not be able to carry out the necessary repairs to run train services in 2021."

Now a railway spokesperson says Mr Bailey has announced the total was reached last Friday and already been used to pay for 18 new lengths of profiled timbers for the bridge repairs.

The spokesperson added: “This past week has seen a volunteer workforce lift the track from the three-span bridge and remove the old timbers ready for a reassembly exercise in the new year.”

St Collen's stages successful Christmas Fayre

* Parishioner John Jones sells raffles tickets.

* Bargain hunters check out the stalls inside the church.

St Collen's Church held its annual Christmas Fayre yesterday morning.

Due to coronavirus restrictions it moved from its traditional venue at the Town Hall to the church itself, where stalls were set up to sell fancy goods and home-made cakes.

Turkey burgers, expertly cooked by Fabiano Silva, and other refreshments were on sale inside a socially-distanced parish centre.

The morning, for which people all turned up wearing masks, ended with the drawing of two raffles by the vicar, Father Lee Taylor, with many valuable prizes being won.

£10m boost to transform Welsh towns

The Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government has announced a £10m funding boost for town centres, under the £90m Transforming Towns programme, to support businesses and increase vibrancy and footfall in towns across Wales.

The loan scheme will support local authorities to reduce the number of vacant, under-utilised and redundant sites and premises in town centres by providing interest free loans to redevelop or refurbish sites. 

The properties will be redeveloped as shops, homes and leisure facilities, with loans being recycled up to three times over a 15 year period. Once repaid they can be used again to fund new loans and be re-invested in similar projects.

As part of the Welsh Government’s overall investment of £41.6m previous successful projects include Tramshed in Cardiff, Tŷ Castell in Caernarfon and the Magistrates court in Newtown.

The Tramshed in Grangetown Cardiff, which acts as a hub for other local businesses and has fully repaid it’s loan of £500,000, used the funding to create hundreds of jobs, accommodated 25 enterprises, created 7,500 sq ft of business space, supported over 40 community events annually, and increased footfall by 25,000 people per year.

Local authorities funded through this year’s round of applications include: 

* £840,000 for Flintshire

* £500,000 for Wrexham.

The Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government, Hannah Blythyn said: “This Transforming Towns loan scheme highlights the Welsh Government’s commitment to revitalising our town centres and putting their health and vibrancy at the centre of everything we do. These loans supports activities that generate footfall, tackle empty sites and premises and support businesses to grow and prosper.

“The way we use our town centres has changed and many towns are struggling in the wake of declining retail sales. Whilst businesses across our towns and on our high streets have faced challenges during the coronavirus pandemic, we have also seen a positive shift towards shopping local. I hope that this funding will enable this shift to continue and become embedded in how we shop and use our towns in the years to come.”

This funding is part of the Welsh Government’s total investment of £900m for regeneration projects alongside key partners.

Electronic snowflakes fall on town centre

* Multi-coloured snowflakes beamed on the bridge pavements.

* Snowflake lights cast onto Centenary Square.

Llangollen's famous bridge has been lit up to mark the part the town is playing in a county council campaign encourage people to shop locally in the run-up to Christmas.

In addition to the traditional seasonal lighting arranged by Llangollen Town Council, Denbighshire has arranged for LED lights to be fixed to lamposts along the bridge to floodlight the roadway plus a projector to cast multi-coloured snowflakes onto the pavements.

The county council also agreed to a request by Town Clerk Gareth Thomas to cast the same snowflake-shaped lights onto the paved area of nearby Centenary Square.

Llangollen's famous bridge is amongst a number of key sites across Denbighshire towns being lit up in December as part of the overall winter shopping marketing campaign called #lovelivelocal. 

Yaris deserves high marks as a top hybrid

* The Toyota Yaris Hybrid.

Toyota Yaris road test by Steve Rogers

Unlike my primary school reports my parents would have been pleased with my marks for the Yaris hybrid.

Each trip ends with marks out of a hundred and comments on how well, or badly, you have done, and I did rather well. What I wouldn't have given for marks like 86,73 and even 66 along with 'excellent'  and 'very good hybrid driving'. Clearly a late developer.

In some ways Yaris is a bit of a late developer; it has taken four goes and 20 years to make it look really appealing. Now there is style in abundance with its eye catching front and dynamic tail end, in fact Yaris has gone through a total rebuild sitting on a new platform that has transformed the driving experience as well.

Yes it looks pretty but the fourth generation Yaris needs to be hailed as a top hybrid in its class. The pandemic is crippling petrol and diesel but there has been a veritable explosion in hybrid and electric models this year so, remarkably, sales are up and when it comes to a self charging hybrid supermini Yaris is out in front.

Ten years of experience has made Toyota a hybrid master and this is the second Yaris with hybrid power. The more experience the better the product and this comes through strongly with performance, economy and emissions all improved.

This is a one engine fits all set up so we have a three cylinder 1.5 litre petrol beefed up by an electric motor powered by a battery pack slung under the back seats. Compared to the previous Yaris it is like someone has turned on the lights. It is quicker off the line but the biggest improvement is 50-70mph which has been trimmed by two seconds so overtaking is a breeze.

Not that you should be flooring Yaris too often if economy is a key reason for choosing hybrid. Aggression does not work, it has to be the complete opposite with measured, smooth acceleration and gentle braking. The car is at its most efficient puddling along the motorway at no more than sixty, or around town where the electric motor can take over for a short time. That is when petrol consumption can shoot into the eighties although a real time average will be mid fifties.

So all good on that front but how are we feeling about the restyled cabin? It has a modern look with either a seven or eight inch touch screen for everyday essentials and, thankfully, the heating controls are separate with a neat row of touch pads that are beautifully lit up at night but a little too dark in the day so additional back lighting would help.

The driver's binnacle is excellent with switchable information held in a central display, the best of which are the hybrid graphics so you can check how you are doing on battery power, recharging and the like. It is also the place that marks the driver and gives tips to improve hybrid efficiency.

If space is high on the wish list then pile everyone in to make sure they fit! Up front is fine but rear legroom is only average and beaten by some rivals. Honda Jazz is about the best I've come across for space. Boot capacity is also just average and without the option of a false floor suffers from too much of a drop into the well so retrieving heavy stuff is a pain.

With its new platform and sport suspension Yaris is good fun to drive through twists and turns, yet I think Toyota has got this all wrong.

There are four models, the first two with standard suspension and the top two with a sports set up. If you want a model with the best spec you can only have sports suspension which is going to be too hard for a lot of people. Over poor surfaces you can feel pummelled. If you want a hot Yaris then get the GR.

Yaris is one of the more expensive superminis (£19,910-£22,220) but hybrid power pushes up the cost, yet it has one of the best specifications particularly at entry level. All come with a rear camera, which is rare, rain sensing wipers and automatic lights, a strong safety list and mirroring for smart phones. With no satellite  navigation available you need to tag a phone app to the main screen for travel directions.

Like it or not it is starting to make more sense to think about hybrid or electric as your next car so if small is your bag then Yaris is a real front runner, strong on style, performance, economy and low emissions but the full range needs to be offered with standard suspension. Need to know

Yaris Hybrid Dynamic

£21,920

1.5 litre; 114bhp

0-62mph 9.7secs; 109mph

Transmission: CVT automatic

65.6mpg combined

98g/km. 1st road tax £125

Insurance group 14

Boot: 286 litres

Bridge to be lit up to support #lovelivelocal

* Llangollen bridge will be lit up as part of the #lovelivelocal campaign.

Llangollen's famous bridge is amongst a number of key sites across Denbighshire towns being lit up in December as part of an overall winter shopping marketing campaign launched to support local businesses.

In the absence of some of the Christmas activities normally held in the county’s towns, Denbighshire County Council has been working with its partners on an alternative approach to boost the recovery of town centres, in support of the Winter Shopping campaign already underway.

The Light Up Denbighshire project will aim to boost the number of people visiting town centres and to enhance the work already carried out by Denbighshire County Council to make commercial centres safe places to shop and enjoy hospitality.

The lights are expected to be switched on from today (Friday) and will run for a month, to try and reap the benefits of additional visitors, not only in the run up to Christmas but into the New Year as well, says the council. 

Locations due to be lit up are:

·        Llangollen – Main town bridge

·        Prestatyn – Churches and chapels

·        Rhuddlan – Rhuddlan Castle (Currently closed to the public)

·        Rhyl -  Town Hall

• Denbigh -  Denbigh Castle  (Information on opening hours at:   cadw.gov.wales/visit/places-to-visit/denbigh-castle  )

·        Ruthin – St Peter’s Square, St Peter’s Church

·        St Asaph – St Asaph Cathedral

·        Corwen – The Square

The scheme is funded by Denbighshire County Council.

Leader of Denbighshire, Councillor Hugh Evans BE, said: “The lead up to Christmas is going to be a bit different this year, with large events normally held during switch on of town lights unable to take place.

“Whilst the towns will have their own traditional Christmas lights, the council came up with the idea of adding a little sparkle and bringing some additional Christmas cheer by lighting up historic and iconic buildings and structures in our main towns.  We are delighted to have received support from many city and town councils across Denbighshire to carry out the project.

“Our aim is to bring people into the town and to promote our Winter Shopping marketing campaign, designed to encourage residents to support their local shops through this crucial buying period. This campaign will also look at supporting wider businesses activities, including online sales and forms part of the #lovelivelocal initiative.

“ We hope people enjoy the lighting experience and are tempted to visit the town centre for themselves to see what’s on offer and add some festive cheer."