Work planned this week on the town's 2020 project is:
* Digging out the existing footpath on Castle Street east from Oak Street to the A5
* Digging out the existing footpath on Market Street south
* Paving on Castle Street east from Oak Street to the A5
* Paving on Market Street south
Llangollen’s world-famous Chainbridge Hotel (pictured) is up for sale with a price tag of £1.8m.
According to the property website Rightmove, it is on the market with
Manchester-based specialist agents Fleurets.
The hotel was built
in 1827 and became a popular venue due to its location adjacent to the iconic
chain bridge over the River Dee.
The sales description
says the detached two and three storey property includes 33 en-suite bedrooms,
bar, function room and restaurant.
It also said to
have an unsurfaced car park for about 40/50 vehicles with a metal bridge
leading down to the hotel plus a surfaced car park at the same level of the
hotel for approximately 16 vehicles.
There is also an outdoor
seating area providing riverside views along the front elevation.
In October 2012
llanblogger reported how the hotel had recently been bought for £500,000 by
Seamus O’Keeffe, then in his early twenties.
He had rescued it
from administration where it had been placed following the collapse of Stephanie Booth’s
Llangollen Hotels group of which it had been part.
Surrey-born Mr
O’Keeffe told llanblogger it would be more of a family business than an
investment opportunity as running hotels had been a family affair for him.
After reading
history at Leeds University he went initially into public relations with
a London agency before taking off in a completely different career
direction to help run the George III hotel near Dolgellau with his wife
Elizabeth for his parents-in-law.
When The
Chainbridge came on the market he said he saw it as an opportunity too good to
miss and the family moved up to Llangollen.
Mr O'Keeffe told the Daily Post: "We’re under no pressure to move on, and whenever we do it will be with a heavy heart.
"It’s a magical place but we think it’s the right time to give somebody else a crack of the whip!
"It’s an absolutely fantastic business, obviously an incredible, unique location, and we’ve had a lot of fun and success building up the hotel over the 10 years we’ve been here.
"We have some other interests we want to try and pursue so it seems the right time for a change.
* Details of the sale of the Chainbridge Hotel can be seen on Rightmove at: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/118589033
A police boss has made an impassioned plea for a law to prevent miscarriages of justice like those suffered after the Hillsborough disaster.
North Wales Police and Crime
Commissioner Andy Dunbobbin (pictured) spoke out after the recent screening of the powerful TV
drama, Anne, based on the tragedy and its aftermath.
The campaign for a
Hillsborough Law has widespread support from the families of the victims,
politicians and celebrities.
Mr Dunbobbin says that
public authorities like the police should be legally obliged to be proactively
honest if anything goes wrong.
At the same time, ordinary
people should be provided with a legal body, funded by the taxpayer, to fight their cause in court.
The crusade stems from the
tragedy that happened at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham
Forest in Sheffield on April 15, 1989, when 97 men, women and children died as
a result of the crush at the ground.
The four-part ITV docu-drama starred Maxine Peake as Anne
Williams, whose 15-year-old son, Kevin, died in the disaster.
Mrs Williams dedicated her life to uncovering what happened to the
teenager but died in 2013, before the start of the new inquests.
The hearings, which concluded in 2016, found the victims were
unlawfully killed.
But match commander David Duckenfield was cleared of gross
negligence manslaughter in 2019.
Meanwhile, the trial of two retired police officers and a former
South Yorkshire Police solicitor, who were accused of perverting the course of
justice, collapsed last year after a judge ruled there was no case to answer.
Mr Dunbobbin said: “The TV drama, Anne, was incredibly moving and
powerful and served to underline the iniquitous injustice the grieving families
have been subjected to for too many years.
“It was also helpful in bringing back to the fore the campaign to
secure a new Hillsborough Law so that these injustices are not repeated in the
future.
“As things stand, the scales of justice are heavily weighted
against ordinary people like the late Anne Williams and the other campaigners
who have fought so determinedly for so long.
“It is a national disgrace that they were on the wrong end of lies
from senior police officers and an alleged cover up.
“I have written to the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, urging her to
set the wheels in motion for a Public Authority Accountability Bill that’s
being proposed by long time campaigner Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater
Manchester.
“Such a law would mean that no more grieving families would
have to suffer the same cruel fate again.
“Securing this long-overdue legislation would be a good way of
honouring the memory of all those innocent victims and would go some way
towards righting the terrible wrongs we have seen in subsequent decades.”
Clwyd South MP Simon Baynes has presented Prime Minister Boris Johnson with a collection of climate change poems written by the students of Ysgol Dinas Brân in Llangollen.
Mr Baynes was given the poems following a visit to the school during Great Big Green Week which ran from September 18 - 26, when he met students and teachers to learn more about their week of activities to encourage awareness and to listen to students’ climate change concerns.
The poems highlight a range of climate issues such as global warming, single-use plastics and deforestation, and were written as a call for action ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference – COP26 – last October and November.
Since Mr Baynes’ visit the school has been recognised with presentation of the highest Eco-Schools Award – the Platinum.
The school’s liaison officer Catrin, from Keep Wales Tidy, said: "Maintaining the Eco-Schools Platinum status is a fantastic achievement. The school, staff and pupils, should feel proud of their hard work and commitment."
Andy Wallis, PSE coordinator at Ysgol Dinas Brân, said: “I would like to thank all the staff and students involved in the Eco Schools programme, and in particular the Great Big Green Week, for the work they have done which has enabled us to win this award.
"Equally, I would like to thank both the headteacher Mark Hatch and our business manager Jamie Roberts for the investment they have made into making the school more sustainable and decreasing our carbon footprint with the instillation of the solar panels project.”
Simon Baynes said: “I was very pleased to present the Prime Minister with poems from the students at Ysgol Dinas Brân, by which he was very impressed.
"He remembers the school very well from his time as the Parliamentary Candidate for Clwyd South 25 years ago and is always very interested in hearing about activities locally, particularly in relation to the environment.
“The students and teachers have put in a huge amount of effort recently to raise awareness of environmental issue and reduce the school’s carbon footprint. And it was a pleasure to highlight their exceptional work to the Prime Minister.”
Its organiser has announced the winners of - and answers for - the latest Llangollen Christmas quiz, which has raised £667.21 in aid of Cancer Research UK.
Judy Smith, of the charity's local committee, said: "I’m pretty sure that this year’s quiz was the hardest ever, but it seems that nothing can defeat some of you!
"First Jane Hurle of Llangollen with 49
points, second Helen Watson of Cleobury, North
"Well, what can I say, Jane - however did you do it? And Helen, Maggie, Adrian, and Catherine, you’re obviously brilliant too.
"In fact, I’d say anybody who got more than half a dozen on that quiz was bloomin’ good!
"But let me just throw in a few more names
that surely deserve a mention - there’s
Pat and Richard Reid of
"Now a word about the quiz itself. The first section seems to have given you little trouble, although maybe not that many of you were acquainted with John Ryan’s cartoon of Lettuce Leefe in Girl magazine. Alright – it was a bit obscure, and a long time ago!
"From the second section I learned a lot, as well as enjoying some imaginative answers. Did you know that a scorpion has 8 legs, as well as a spider? We passed that one!
"And I was intrigued to
find there were ‘30 medieval castles in
Judy added: "On a more serious note, we were often told there were ‘6 rounds in a gun’. No that won’t do, not in every gun. And another common answer was ‘7 specific (or standard) movements of ballet’ – yes, 7 movements by one reckoning, but you had to invent something for the ‘S’.
"It was a similar story with 20T in the HPD – if you were thinking of football, you had to invent something for the ‘H’. I’m afraid we didn’t allow either of those. The main problem was with 10C in the B of E.
"I had intended 10 Commandments in the Book of Exodus, but there was quite a smattering of 10 Chapters in the book of Ezra (or the Book of Esther). Both the latter are clearly right, but surely the Commandments are better known? Well, I have to confess, I didn’t know how many chapters in the Book of Ezra! What to do?? Where we needed to split hairs (as we did for 3rd place), we awarded ½ point.
"Once again our grateful thanks for your support. We hope you enjoyed the quiz, and that you will make sure to get a copy of next year’s, which should as ever be published on 1st December.
"And
finally, an appeal. On 28th
and 29th May this year we are holding the 4th Llangollen
Round Challenge, a 35-mile hill hike that can be completed over one or two days
to raise funds for Cancer Research
"It’s a tough hike, but the views are amazing, there are 5 checkpoints supplying you with food and water, and there’s a certificate and medal for everyone at the end.
"Amazingly, participants even tell us it’s fun and we have many returning each time we put it on (last in 2018). So if you know anyone who just could be interested in this Challenge please pass on the word. We’d be very pleased to see them. Again our thanks."
Quiz answers
1 Opting about a headless fish (4,7) Plum Pudding
2 Harbour (4) Port
3 Poet on time (6) Claret
4 Island tangled in weed (6,4) Mulled wine
5 Small amount (6) Trifle
6 Drunk sounds like a French particle (7,5) Pickled onion
7 Animal snuggery (4,2,8) Pigs in blankets
8 Hazard of running in the Lakes? (7) Falafel
9 Audibly regret the pig fat (7) Roulade
10 Colourful group in an empty pen (3,7) Red cabbage
11 Money mad about directions (6,4) Cashew nuts
12 Sounds like John Ryan’s foliage (7) Lettuce
13 Standard cuts (8) Parsnips
14 Padding (8) Stuffing
15 State involved with a waterfall (7) Chutney
16 Vessel and French colour (9) Panettone
17
European growth (8,7)
18 Vehicle’s degenerating (7) Carrots
19 Little kind ones (11) Clementines
20 We hear you’re going to record it? (4,3) Yule log
21 1 E on a C 1 Eye on a Cyclops
22 2 WDMAR 2 Wrongs Don’t Make a Right
23 3 L on a MS 3 Legs on a Milking Stool
24 The S of 4 (ACD) The Sign of Four (Arthur Conan Doyle)
25 5 NLB on DD 5 Normandy Landing Beaches on D-Day
26 6 R in a G 6 Rowers in a Gig
27
7 SM of B 7 Stuart Monarchs of
28 8L on a S 8 Legs on a Spider
29 D, G, P, R, L, L, E, F, S, the 9 CB the B Denmark, Germany, Poland, Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, the 9 countries bordering the Baltic
30 10 C in the B of E 10 Commandments in the Book of Exodus
31 11 DL in 1752 11 Days lost in 1752
32 12 Y a S (SN) 12 Years a Slave (Solomon Northup)
33 13 P in a RLT 13 Players in a
34 14 T on a GP 14 Toes on a Guinea Pig
35 15, the FTN 15, the Fifth Triangular Number
36 16 FS in G 16 Federal States
in
37 17, the MDA 17, the Minimum Driving Age
38 18 G in the PT 18 Groups in the Periodic Table
39 19 P of C in a C 19 Pairs of Chromosomes in a Cat
40 20 T in the HPD 20 Teeth in the Human Primary Dentition
41 21, the CC 21, the Current Century
42 22N, the FD of SC 22nd November, the Feast Day of Saint Cecilia
43 OL23, the OSM for CI Outdoor Leisure 23, the Ordnance Survey Map for Cadair Idris
44 24 BB in a P 4 and 20 Blackbirds, Baked in a Pie
45 25, FTF 25, Five Times Five
46 26 B in the HF 26 Bones in the Human Foot
47 27 M of U 27 Moons of Uranus
48 28 D in the SM 28 Days in the Shortest Month
49 29, the AN of C 29, the Atomic Number of Copper
50 30 MC in N 30 Member Countries in NATO
First Minister Mark Drakeford (pictured) has set out a plan to return Wales to alert level zero.
The move comes as the latest public health data suggests cases of coronavirus have started to fall back from their very high levels.
More than two-thirds of people aged 12 and over have received a booster or third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
The full move to alert level 0 will be dependent on the public health situation continuing to improve.
Mr Drakeford said: "I want to thank everyone for following the rules we have had in place since Boxing Day to help keep Wales safe while the fast-moving omicron variant has surged through our communities.
"I also want to thank everyone involved in our vaccination programme for the enormous efforts to give almost a third of the population a booster since the start of December – this has been vital in increasing our protection against omicron.
"The actions we have taken together have helped us to weather the omicron storm. The latest data suggests some positive signs that the peak may have passed.
"We can now look more confidently to the future and plan to start gradually removing the alert level 2 restrictions, starting with the outdoors measures.
"But the pandemic is not over. We will closely monitor the public health situation – this is a fast-moving and volatile variant, which could change suddenly. I urge everyone to continue to follow the rules and have your vaccines to keep Wales safe."
If conditions allow, the alert level 2 restrictions will be removed in a phased approach.
From tomorrow (Saturday), the number of people who can be present at outdoor events will rise from 50 to 500.
From Friday 21 January Wales would move to alert level 0 for all outdoor activities. This means there will be no limits on the number of people who can take part in outdoor activities.
If the downward trend continues, from Friday 28 January Wales would move to alert level 0 for all indoor activities.
The self-isolation rules for all those who test positive for Covid and the face covering rules for most public indoor places will remain in force after 28 January.
The 3-weekly cycle would be re-introduced from 10 February, when the Welsh Government will review all remaining measures at alert level 0.
The thoughts of students and staff at Ysgol Dinas Bran about coping with the Covid-19 situation as they return to face-to-face learning have been shared with the BBC.
In an article on the news website there are interviews with headteacher Mark Hatch and a number of pupils about the situation they find themselves in.
Mr Hatch tells says in the story: "It's hugely upsetting how much impact it's having on the students."
And an 18-year-old pupil says: "It feels weird to be back with more restrictions. It's frustrating in a way to come back to more [restrictions] than there were before."
* For the full story, see: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-59945062
