Llangollen Railway has made a last minute cancellation of its steam train services for this weekend.
In an announcement last night operations manager Paul Reynolds said: "The loco will not be running over the weekend as its documentation is incomplete and therefore it cannot run."
The railway has explained that scheduled steam services will be taken over by diesel multiple units.
Steam was due to start running again from today (Friday) until Sunday.
* Paul Edwards and Simon Baynes MP.
Clwyd South MP Simon Baynes met with Paul Edwards at the Cross Foxes in Penycae as he celebrated the completion of his sponsored walk from John O’Groats to Land’s End in aid of Hope House Hospice.
During the course of his walk, Mr Edwards completed on average 25 miles a day dressed as the Marvel character Deadpool in honour of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney's takeover of Wrexham AFC.
He had prepared for the solo and unsupported 971-mile hike with a gruelling 24-week training schedule.
And his last epic trek in 2019 from Scotland to Wales, took him to the three peaks of Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowden, before arriving home in Penycae.
Mr Edwards, who has been fundraising for various different charities for over 20 years, set a target of raising £10,000 from his walk for Hope House, but he has spectacularly exceeded this figure, raising an amazing £14,000 so far.
Donations can still be made to Paul’s Just Giving page on: www.justgiving/fundraising/paul-edwards1000mileshike.
Paul Edwards said: “I have had some incredible experiences on this challenge, but throughout the journey, the one thing that will forever stay in my memory is the kindness, generosity and support of the British people.
"From the Northernmost tip of the country to the southernmost, I had such a fantastic response from people I met.
"Whether it was to ask me into their homes for a cup of coffee, stopping their cars to offer me a bottle of water and something to eat, stopping to chat about what I was doing or just beeping the horns and waving as they drove by, the people of Britain are amazing and this is reflected in the wonderful amount of money raised so far.”
Simon Baynes MP said: “Having completed many events and challenges for various charities in the past, this was the biggest by far for Paul, who pushed himself to the limit to achieve a fantastic result for Hope House Hospice.
"I would like to join everyone else who has praised Paul for his selfless charity work – which he also self-funds so that every penny raised goes to the hospice. He is a local hero in Penycae and I know that his family, friends and neighbours will all be tremendously proud of what he has achieved. Many congratulations, Paul!”
Denbighshire County Council is congratulating pupils receiving their GCSE results.
Cllr Huw
Hilditch-Roberts, the council’s Lead Member for Education, Children's Services
and Public Engagement, said: “On behalf of the council I would like to
congratulate all pupils getting their GCSE results.
“This last
year has presented significant challenges for learners and they have made a
tremendous effort to achieve their results, they have worked very hard to get
here.
“There has
been some fantastic partnership working to ensure students achieved the best
results and pupils have received support from their families and schools. I
would like to thank all those who have supported our hard-working students this
last year.
“We would like to wish all learners the very best in their next steps.”
* The Minister for Education and Welsh Language, Jeremy Miles, has congratulated learns on their GCSE achievements.
This year’s assessment and qualification process has been different to previous years, as examinations for summer 2021 were cancelled in response to the pandemic. A new system was designed and delivered by schools and colleges, drawing on a range of assessment evidence to determine learners’ grades.
The Welsh Government provided an additional £9m to support schools and colleges in the delivery of this year’s assessments. £26m was provided to ensure students could complete their vocational qualifications and colleges could continue to deliver practical sessions this year.
The Minister visited Ysgol Glan Clwyd, in Denbighshire, where he met pupils collecting their GCSE grades.
Jeremy Miles said: "Our priority this year has been to put a system in place so that learners receive grades based on evidence of their work and enables them to progress to the next stage of their education, training or work with confidence.
"My message to this year’s GCSE students is a huge ‘well done’. You’ve had everything thrown at you over the last 18 months – periods in lockdown, time away from your friends and families, and times where you’ve missed out on many of the social activities you should be enjoying. You’ve shown tremendous resilience to overcome all of these challenges.
"I also want to congratulate learners on their vocational qualification results. Skills in priority sectors are vitally important in meeting the range of needs of the Welsh economy, now more than ever, and your hard-earned qualifications will put you in good stead for the future.
"It’s also been a remarkable achievement by all the school and college staff who’ve worked so hard to enable qualifications this year. It’s been an almighty task to put measures in place so that learners could get their results, like any other year. You should be very proud of the work you have done to help our learners progress."
Denbighshire County Council has today launched a Public Space Protection order (PSPO) to ensure dog owners control their pets properly whilst using county public areas.
The PSPO
launched following a full consultation, will allow the council to take action against
owners who allow their dogs to foul in an area of public land without cleaning
up after them.
The intention
of introducing the revised, county wide control of dogs PSPO is to effectively
deal with particular problems and nuisances that occur across the county.
This order
also prohibits owners from taking their dogs onto sports pitches across
Denbighshire and also letting a dog off a lead anywhere that is not allowed.
There
are also restrictions on Rhyl and Prestatyn beaches between May and 30th
September please check the signs in these areas.
Cllr Mark Young, the council’s Lead Member for Planning, Public Protection and Safer Communities, said: “We know that the majority of Denbighshire dog owners are respectful of other members of the public and they do clean up after their pets.
"Unfortunately, the council does receive a number of complaints from
residents regarding anti-social behaviour from dog owners who don’t control
their dogs properly in public places.
“This
new PSPO will allow us to take the appropriate action against those dog owners
who behave irresponsibly with their pets in public.
“I
would also like to take this opportunity to remind all dog owners to ensure
that they carry appropriate dog mess bags with them when they take their dogs for
a walk.”
* For further information, please click these links:
https://www.denbighshire.gov.uk/en/environmental-health/dog-issues/dog-issues.aspx
With the re-opening of Llangollen Railway, work is being carried out on what of the line's most famous landmarks.
Scaffolding has been erected around
the station house at Berwyn which dates from 1865.
A mix of volunteers and a contractor have been tackling the exterior of the mock Tudor building.
With repairs to the roof flashings, efforts are concentrated on the
timberwork to prepare it for painting whilst it has been necessary to replace
some of the outer layers of timber due to weather damage.
Phil Coles, deputy chair of Llangollen Railway Trust, said: "The building restoration project is costing upwards of £5,000 plus the input from volunteer labour and we hope the work will be completed by the end of August.
"The building will then be revealed in all its black and white glory as befits Berwyn which has previously been judged as in the top ten stations in Britain for its dramatic location above the River Dee Gorge."
For the moment the station is the terminus of the interim railcar service from Llangollen and passengers arriving by train are discovering the delights of the location as viewed from the historic chain bridge and route to the Horseshoe Falls.
Professor Julian Evans will be giving an illustrated presentation entitled God’s Trees on Saturday, August 14, at Glanrafon Chapel in Princess Street, Llangollen.
Professor Evans is a forest scientist and author of God’s Trees – trees, forests and wood in the Bible.
He is a
Commissioner of the Forestry Commission (England), a past president of the
Institute of Chartered Foresters and has published numerous books and
scientific papers.
The illustrated talk will begin at 5:30pm and will last for approximately 45 minutes.
A limited number of places are still
available but due to ongoing Covid restrictions, it is essential to
book for the event.
* Please contact coedclwyd@gmail.com for further details or to book a place. Copies of God’s Trees will be available at a 20% discount.
Rural residents and businesses in Denbighshire are being remind to apply for funding towards the cost of installing gigabit broadband.
The Welsh and
UK governments are working together on the Gigabit Broadband Voucher scheme
which covers part of the cost of installing new gigabit-capable internet
connections.
Under the
partnership £7,000 is available for small-to-medium sized businesses and up to
£3,000 is available for residential premises.
Gigabit-capable
broadband connections offer the fastest and most reliable speeds available, and
the scheme is open to rural premises with broadband speeds of less than
100Mbps.
Cllr Hugh
Evans OBE, Leader of Denbighshire County Council and Lead Member for the
Economy, said: “The scheme has now been relaunched by the Welsh and UK
governments and we are urging Denbighshire residents in rural locations without
decent broadband to check to see if they are eligible for these vouchers.
“Connecting
communities is a priority for the Council under our Corporate Plan and improved
internet connections ensure our communities have access to goods and services
and help the county’s businesses provide services online.
“It is
possible for residents or community groups to work together on applications and
the Council is working to advise and assist them with their applications.”
As well as
offering the Gigabit Broadband Voucher scheme, the Welsh Government funded
Fibre Roll-out will see a total of 1,862 extra premises in Denbighshire enabled
for Fibre To The Premises
(FTTP)
connection by June 2022 and Openreach has already enabled 399 premises in the
county.
If you would like to discuss the options available contact the Council’s digital officer via communitydevelopment@denbighshire.gov.uk and to check eligibility for the Gigabit Broadband Voucher visit https://gigabitvoucher.culture.gov.uk
