Railway now in healthy financial state, board told at AGM

* The trusty diesel railcar two-car set.

The new trust board of Llangollen Railway has issued a statement about their annual general meeting which was held yesterday (Tuesday).

This was the first AGM since the PLC trading arm was placed into administration, and therefore the first opportunity for the membership as a whole to discuss the outcome and quiz the new board in a lively Q&A session afterwards.

The main message was that the trust is now in a healthy financial state.

The statement says: "The 31st December 2020 accounts were presented. These show a small loss of £7,252 after write-offs of £220,000, mostly in connection with the PLC trading arm now in administration.  No further write-offs in that respect will be required.  

"The Trust is in a healthy financial state with a positive bank balance, no debt and minimal creditors.

"Phil Freeth, finance director, reported the up-to-date position showed the bank balance had increased significantly since thanks to a mixture of generous donations from supporters and the general public, grants, delays in rehiring staff, operating fewer steam trains, relying on DMU (Diesel Multiple Units) and diesel for midweek operations in particular, and passenger loadings had been about 10% above forecast. 

“'We would like to take the opportunity to again thank all our supporters and members of the public who have made generous donations and visited the railway since we reopened in July,'” said Phil.  We also wish to thank again the Welsh Assembly Government and Denbighshire County Council for their support, and the media without whose generous coverage and supportive stance our plight would not have reached so wide an audience.'

"The board was also able to announce that approximately £200,000 had been approved under South Clwyd’s Levelling Up fund application towards the cost of the canopy at Corwen. 

"Richard Dixon-Gough, project manager for the Corwen Station development, was delighted to say, 'This is the final piece in what has been a massive jigsaw. There are still a number of critical steps required before the station can open, and dozens of non-critical tasks to be done before the job can be considered complete.'

"To much applause, Richard thanked his team of volunteers, average age 68, who have progressed the works in all weathers over the last 8 years, having overcome numerous challenges along the way.

"Tom Taylor, an adviser to the board on organisational structure, governance and planning matters, gave an update on progress of his One Railway initiative. Although only in its very early stages, Tom has received over 70 responses so far to the online consultation survey and conducted numerous 1-1 interviews. 

"Feedback has been mixed but as Tom said, 'There’s no such thing as bad feedback. It’s only by reaching as many members as possible and capturing their views that we will be able to shape the organisation for the future, and put it on a sound footing that is fit for purpose.'"

The statement comes with a picture of one of the engines which has become the backbone of its renewed operations.

Railway publicity officer George Jones explained: "By way of illustration, and in acknowledgement of the major part played in the 2021 season's operation, the photo shows the diesel railcar two-car set at Carrog station. 

"Operated by the volunteers of the Llangollen Railcars Group, their fleet of heritage diesel units have provided the bulk of the train services on the line when steam has been in short supply.

"By their last day of service in 2021 on Sunday November 7 they will have operated on 85 days and carried over 23,000 passengers in the course of running 3500 miles on the Llangollen line since services resumed to Berwyn on July 9.

"Their appeal to the modern generation of visitors is as trains on which they perhaps went to school or to work 40-50 years ago. 

"Visitors riding these trains appreciate the viewing opportunities from the all round windows when taking in the Dee Valley scenery and observing the driver and the operation of the railway. All such interesting opportunities are denied in the modern units now employed on Network Rail, so they are pure nostalgia for some." 

Virtual dementia tour planned at St Collen's

A Virtual Dementia Tour Llangollen will be held at St Collen's Church, Llangollen, on Wednesday November 17, from 1.30-3.30pm and 2.30-3.30pm.

It is described by organisers, Denbighshire Voluntary Services Council, as a "window into dementia".

They say places are limited and advise booking is essential.

Register at: https://bit.ly/DAD_VDTLlangollen1711; email, engagement@dvsc.co.uk; or call 01824 702441.

Avian Influenza identified in Wrexham

 

The Chief Veterinary Officer for Wales, Christianne Glossop, has confirmed the presence of avian influenza H5N1 in poultry and wild birds at a premises in the Wrexham County Borough area.

Temporary Disease Control zones of 3km and 10km have been imposed around the small infected poultry premises, to limit the risk of disease spread.  A veterinary investigation is underway, however, dead wild birds found in the area have tested positive for the virus and are believed to be the source of infection. The risk to public health from the virus is considered to be very low and these cases do not pose a food safety risk for UK consumers. Members of the public are encouraged to not pick up or touch any sick or dead birds and instead contact the Defra helpline on 03459 33 55 77. The last recorded case of avian influenza in Wales was in January this year. Today’s confirmation follows the announcement of similar findings of avian influenza in the UK and Europe. All keepers are strongly advised to be vigilant for signs of the disease such as increased mortality or respiratory distress. If keepers have any concerns about the health of their birds, they are encouraged to seek prompt advice from their veterinary surgeon. The Chief Veterinary Officer for Wales said: “Avian Influenza has been found in poultry and wild birds in the Wrexham area. This is further evidence of the need for all keepers of poultry and captive birds to ensure they have the very highest levels of biosecurity in place. “Public Health Wales has said the risk to the health of the public from Avian Influenza is very low and the Food Standards Agency has made clear it does not pose a food safety risk for UK consumers. “Temporary control zones have been imposed to help prevent further spread of the disease. “Suspicion of avian influenza or any other notifiable disease must be reported to the Animal and Plant Health Agency immediately.” * Further information on how to report and dispose dead wild birds can be found at: Report and dispose of dead birds | GOV.WALES

Roadworks alert for Market Street

 

Latest local roadworks alert from one.network is:

Market Street 04 November — 04 November   Delays unlikely - Some carriageway incursion   Works description: Disconnect and Remove Kiosk...   Works location: OPPOSITE NUMBER 4, MARKET STREET, LL20 8PT...   Public facing description: one.network has automatically assigned a category of Unclassified works to this Works based on the information available. Please note: Works Descriptions are not published by BT.   Responsibility for works: BT   Current status: Advanced planning   Works reference: BC005PP25W00001978861982

Have your say on constituency boundary changes

* A map of the proposed new Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr 

constituency, which includes Llangollen.

Electors in Llangollen may soon have to get used to living in Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr (Maldwyn a Glyndŵr).

That’s because the present Clwyd South is proposed for the axe in a major review of parliamentary constituencies being proposed by the Boundary Commission for Wales (BCW).

And people now have just a couple of days to have their say on the plan as the eight-week consultation period comes to an end this Wednesday.

The shake-up aims to redraw the political map of Wales.

Old constituency names will disappear, such as Clwyd South, Arfon, Vale of Clwyd and Clwyd West.

The proposals from the BCW, published in the summer, follow a decision to reduce the number of Welsh seats in Westminister from 40 to 32.

Under rules set out in the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986, each constituency proposed by the Boundary Commission for Wales must contain between 69,724 and 77,062 electors.

Some constituencies will see changed names while some are fully absorbed into neighbouring constituencies.

Previous Boundary Commission proposals were abandoned because it wasn’t possible to get them through Parliament.

In making its recommendations, the BCW says it considered geography - such as lakes, rivers, and mountains - and current boundaries such as local authority and ward boundaries.

The commission also considered local ties, such as shared history and culture.

If the plan is approved by the UK Parliament, Llangollen will become part of the new Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr (Maldwyn a Glyndŵr) constituency.

This, says the BCW, would combine the existing Montgomeryshire constituency with wards from Wrexham and Denbighshire.

Included would be nine wards from the old Clwyd South constituency and three wards from the old Clwyd West constituency.

As well as existing Montgomeryshire wards, the new constituency would have the following wards (electorate size in brackets):

 

Clwyd South (Wrexham) – Cefn (3,768), Dyffryn Ceiriog/Ceiriog Valley (1,685), Chirk North (1,846), Chirk South (1,503), Llangollen Rural (1,631), Penycae (1,525), Penycae and Ruabon South (2,026), Plas Madoc (1,169) and Ruabon (2,078).

Clwyd South (Denbighshire) – Corwen (1,799), Llandrillo (931) and Llangollen (3,302).

Size: 72,363 electors, 1.4% below the UK quota.

 

Proposed name: Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr. The official alternative is Maldwyn a Glyndŵr.

 

Why? Existing electorates in the Montgomeryshire and Clwyd South constituencies are too small.

 

The Commission chose to combine the existing Montgomeryshire constituency with an area that effectively forms the southern electoral wards of the former Glyndŵr district council.

All of the responses to the first consultation are to be published and there is a six-week period of 'secondary consultation', during which people can give their views to BCW on what others have said in the first consultation.

During this six-week period, BCW will also hold a limited number of public hearings across Wales, more details of which will be made available closer to the time, it says.

After analysing all the responses from the first and second consultations, the commission will make appropriate changes to its initial proposals and publish these revised proposals for a final four-week period of public consultation in late 2022.

After analysing all the responses to the third consultation, BCW will make appropriate changes to its revised proposals, and submit the final report and recommendations by July 1, 2023.

* Full details of the boundary proposals can be found at: https://www.bcw-reviews.org.uk/node/6468?postcode=LL208EQ

Before the closing date of November 3, the public can send their views on the proposals to an online consultation portal at bcw-reviews.org.uk, which features the proposals in full.

People can also emailing bcw@boundaries.wales or write to the Boundary Commission for Wales, Hastings House, Cardiff, CF24 0BL.

This week's work on the 2020 project

Latest work planned for the ongoing 2020 project in the town centre foe the coming week is:

Work planned for week starting 1 November 2021

Below is a summary of the work planned in different areas.

Bridge Street (North footpath)

Pave footpath outside of the Royal Hotel.

Castle Street (East footpath)

Install new kerb line.

Castle Street (West footpath)

Continue with excavation for the new footpath.

Market Street (North footpath)

Laying of the paving.

St Collens' atmospheric alternative Halloween

* Father Lee speaks of the original meaning of Halloween. 

* The roof carving of a man with two barrels.

* A flight of angels carved into the roof.

* The original main door to the church.

While the kids were outside trick-or-treating the vicar was inside St Collen's Church last night acquainting people with the original meeting of Halloween.

According to Father Lee Taylor, rather than the ghouls and ghosts of recent popular culture, the term actually refers to All Hallows Eve - traditionally the day before All Hallows on November 1 when, in the ancient church, the lives of the saints were celebrated.

Father Lee, against the background of a darkened church atmospherically lit with flickering candles and some haunting 16th century ecclesiastical music, gave a run down on a couple of the more colourful of these, including a certain St Simeon who was famous back in medieval times for attracting the attention of his congregation by throwing nuts at them.

The vicar's discourse on the saints was deftly interwoven with many interesting facts about his ancient Llangollen church the origins of which go back as far as the seventh century when it was founded by St Collen, the man whose name it bears and for whom the town which grew up around it is named.

Father Lee next drew attention to the church's magnificent roof whose breathtaking carvings date from 1450, his audience was informed.

One of the carved features he pointed out was that of a diminutive figure rolling out a couple of barrels, perhaps no surprise when one learns that in medieval times beer was so revered as a life giver and enhancer that it even had a special prayer of homage composed for it.

Opposite the tiny drayman the roof is adorned by a whole squadron of angels, every one of them crafted with incredible precision.

The vicar highlighted many more features of interest which mirror the church's evolution over the centuries, last and not least of which was the stout oaken door in the corner near the font which dates back to the 12th century and was once the original entrance to St Collen's. 

It may also have been the portal via which those fleeing from the clutches of the law once sought the sanctuary of the church to which they were historically entitled. With the blessing of the vicar, of course.

It was a brilliantly informative evening and a most satisfying escape from the pumpkins and witches of October 31, 2021.