The warning comes in a message from PCSO Geraint Jones on the North Wales force's community alert website.
He says: "Due to a number of complaints in relation to speeding in Llangollen, local PCSOs have been monitoring the Abbey Road and Berwyn Street areas.
"The Neighbourhood Policy Team will continue to monitor these locations on a regular basis."
* The new coach is seen on arrival at Carrog on Friday.
Carriage restoration enthusiasts are celebrating the completion of their project to return a 1950s compartment coach to working condition at the Llangollen Railway.
The coach, once used on commuter trains in and out of London Kings Cross, is described as a Brake Second Suburban unit.
It has taken three years of volunteer effort to restore it at the railway’s Carriage & Wagon Works.
The coach features six separate compartments for passengers with a guard’s compartment.
It will join an
existing rake of four previously-restored suburban coaches. Together they will
offer a unique train operating formation on Llangollen Railway.
Coach No.E43359
was taken for a trial run with the 11am departure from Llangollen hauled by the Class 26 diesel locomotive No.5310, recreating a scene from the late 1950s when
such trains ran on the Eastern Region lines in north London.
During the restoration the opportunity was taken to provide additional capacity for the less able passengers to travel.
The luggage space within the guard’s compartment was partitioned off and fitted with seats and space to accommodate wheel chair users and their carers. An added feature is the installation of two windows in the end wall which offer an observation coach view of the line when at the rear of the train.
* Project team members Peter Jump and
Paul Bailey with LRT deputy chair Phil Coles sample the new compartment for
mobility impaired passengers
Project
leader Peter Jump said: “When the coach was acquired in dilapidated condition
from another railway its restoration was considered a major job.
“So it proved to be and three years later the Llangollen Railway Suburban Group members are more than pleased with the outcome of their endeavours.
"It shows what dedicated volunteers can achieve working one-day-week in the open air with a minimum of facilities.
"This style of coach has 18 doors, half of which had to be replaced and the rest repaired. The bench seating in each compartment has been reupholstered with a Scot Rail machete material and each compartment has four framed reproduction prints of British Railways countrywide scenes, each sponsored by supporters.
"The project has cost about £5,000, plus innumerable
volunteer hours of work.”
Llangollen
Railway Trust deputy chairman Phil Coles acknowledged the successful
completion of the project by the group of volunteers.
He said: “On
behalf of the Trust, I congratulate them for their dedication to see the work
completed, especially during the period of the pandemic.
“The Suburban
coaches will provide the regular set for weekend trains during the autumn
period running through to Halloween. Either a steam or diesel locomotive will
haul the train and offer an example of what it was like to travel into the City
of London in pre-electrification days.”
To be formed as a five-coach rake, the Suburban set offers a modern-day seating capacity of around 300.
This is rather less than the number of commuters British Railways wanted to cram in 60 years ago when travellers were a lot thinner and a compartment was expected to take 12 adults in cosy comfort.
Today the availability of all the compartments makes the coaches ideal for maintaining social distancing, as well as offering an unusual rail experience at Llangollen Railway.
* The Class 26 diesel and train at Carrog.
Skoda Kamiq drive by Steve Rogers
Remember
the Yeti, Skoda's ground breaking family SUV with the Tonka toy looks?
This
is its replacement, the Kamiq, and instead of chunky toy think Dr Who's tardis.
Kamiq
is the smallest in Skoda's trio of SUVs coming under Karoq and the big seven
seat Kodiaq, and shares much of what you will find in a Seat Arona and
Volkswagen T-Cross which are all part of the VW family.
It
might be classed as small but is anything but once inside hence the tardis
reference. This is a spacious package all round with a healthy amount of
legroom for back seat passengers. Plenty of space for adult legs here and it
has not been achieved by slicing into boot capacity, which is a handy 400
litres and not far off best in the class.
It
is family practical too with a wide opening tailgate and a few hooks and
tethering points to stop things rolling around. The double sided boot mat is
really useful but is a 75 quid extra. Come on Skoda that should be buckshee.
Skoda
always tries to throw in some 'simply clever' touches so here are four things
to make you smile: a mini sized umbrella slotted into the driver's door frame, just
like a Rolls Royce; an ice scraper tucked into the fuel filler cap; a seat belt
slot to stop them disappearing when the split back seats are lifted back into
place; and a funnel on the windscreen washer bottle. Now isn't that thoughtful
but I put on my glum face at the sight of a hand brake rather than an
electronic parking brake. That is so 20th century, just like an ignition key.
Thankfully this Kamiq has a starter button.
Does
Kamiq catch the eye of onlookers? Hardly, it is a plain Jane up against Renault
Captur, Nissan Juke, Peugeot 2008 or Ford Puma and it is the same inside, not
much character and lots of black although there should be no complaints with
trim and build quality, and isn't space the key here anyway.
What
I do like about the dashboard is the simplicity whether it is the driver's
binnacle where you can toggle between the various menus, or the centre console
which retains physical switches for heating and that is a bonus these days.
The
standard central touchscreen is eight inches but you can spec up to the 9.2in version
that includes navigation and voice control. It will set you back £930 and is
tempting because it is a super clear, fast reacting system and so easy to use.
I
was in it all the time switching off lane assist which is annoying on anything
other than motorways. Trouble is the default setting is 'on' when the engine is
fired up, so it is tap this, tap that, five annoying times to turn it off. Why
can't we have a simple switch?
On
the petrol engine front the choice is three-cylinder one litre with 94 or
114bhp and a 148bhp 1.5 four cylinder. I was glad to have the 114bhp version because
it is a cracking engine with lively pick up and fuss free cruising thanks to
the six speed gearbox. The lower output makes do with a five speed.
The
delivery driver set the economy bar high with 51mpg for his 160 mile mainly
motorway journey, too high for me as I ended the week on 45.2 some way off
Skoda's 52.3mpg average, but I could live with that as Kamiq is a no nonsense
fun car to drive on any road and is pretty comfortable into the bargain.
Kamiq's
spec sheet is reasonable from the start but the next along the line SE is the
favoured model and has just about all that is needed including wireless
smartlink, two USB-C ports, one touch front and rear electric windows, LED
headlights, a range of safety features and rear parking sensors. No reversing
camera on SE is a disappointment and the low slung front passenger seat needs a
height adjuster.
A
fair question is why bother with a traditional family hatchback when you can
pay less for a small SUV with just as much space? Kamiq is good value with only
the Dacia Duster beating it on price.
Kamiq
will never enjoy the cult following of the Yeti but when wading through the long
list of small SUVs it has to be a contender.
Fast
facts
Kamiq
SE 6sp manual
£20,985
(starts £19,095)
1-litre
TSI 108bhp
0-62mph
10.2secs; 120mph
52.3mpg
combined
124g/km.
1st VED £175
Insurance
group 13
Boot
400-1395 litres
Members of Llangollen Tidy Town Team, pictured, have undertaken a remake of the corner garden area of Centenary Square.
The area had deteriorated with people walking over the plants, dogs being allowed to foul the area, the growth of persistent weeds and cigarette ends being dropped.
On behalf of
Llangollen Town Council and with the expert guidance of Chris Morris, some plants
were repositioned, the area dug out, levelled, lined and filled with some 2.5
tonnes of local slate by members of the team who are all volunteers.
The following local roadworks alerts have come from one.network:
|
llanblogger is now taking a short break and will be back in a few days
After a gap of many months due to the pandemic The Collen Players were back in front of a live audience last night for their latest music hall and variety show in the Community Hall.
In the chair as usual was St Collen's vicar Father Lee Taylor - a devout fan of traditional Victorian music hall - introducing the evening's packed programme which featured a host of talented entertainers.
Following his opening breezy bout of patter and comedy songs first up came a favourite of Players audiences Susan Stokes with the catchy K-K-K Katy and a moving Danny Boy.
They've done a similar routine for previous Collen shows and there was another warm welcome for the double-act Neil Barrett and Dave Lyne doing their hilarious skit on gossips Barbara and Joyce.
Phil Robinson then took to the authentically-dressed stage to present the music hall staples Champagne Charlie and The Spaniard Who Blighted My Life.
During the interval a well-enjoyed buffet meal was served for the audience prepared by Fabiano Silva.
In the second half of the show Father Lee resumed the chair to present a rousing musical medley of golden oldies including Tulips from Amsterdam, Gilly Gilly Ossenfeffer, Loch Lomond and Let’s Go Fly a Kite.
For something a little different there was Paul Edwards presenting some amazingly cunning magic tricks in his guise as The Welsh Wizard.
Staying in lighter mood Gethin Davies followed with the ditty Have Some Madeira M’dear and The Spanish Guitar, both accompanied on the piano by his wife Eulanwy.
Mike Connolly's powerful and well-received contributions were Keep the Home Fires Burning and The Road to Mandalay before Barrett and Lyne returned to take an hilarious peek at George and Leonard, husbands of Barbara and Joyce.
Louise Cielecki rounded off in fine style with a couple of big-hearted show numbers, Little Girls from Annie and I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables.
All that was left was for the chairman to lead the entire cast in a rousing chorus of one of the best-known of all music halls songs, Down at the Old Bull and Bush.
