Police appeal follows graffiti attack on castle

* Graffiti spray-painted onto the castle.

An appeal for information has been launched after vandals daubed graffiti onto Llangollen's historic castle.

Castell Dinas Bran, which sits on a hilltop above Llangollen, is popular with locals and tourists alike.

But the 13th century ancient monument has been defaced by paw prints being spray-painted onto it in red.

North Wales Police's Rural Crime Team say the Gate House wall of the site has been damaged by the vandals.

Castell Dinas Bran is looked after by CADW, the Welsh Government's historic environment service. They are aware of the incident and say they are working to rectify it. 

Officers are now appealing for witnesses to come forward and help identify those responsible.

A statement from the force read: "The team are appealing for any witnesses to the graffitiing of the Gate house of Castell Dinas Bran nr Llangollen.

"Cadw are aware of the damage and will take steps to rectify it. However if you have seen anything please contact the team on 101 or via webchat reference B035381."

Community cast sought for new Ladies of Llangollen show

Theatr Clwyd in Mold is producing a new show based on the true story of the Ladies of Llangollen.

And they are currently recruiting a community cast to help them bring it to the stage this summer.

Celebrated Virgins, written by Katie Elin-Salt and directed by Eleri B. Jones, tells the story of Lady Eleanor Butler and Miss Sarah Ponsonby who famously lived at Plas Newydd in Llangollen.

When the two women found each other, they defied convention, fleeing their homes and families, cast out by a society who did not understand their love.

Starting a new life in Llangollen, they became celebrities of the day, forced to witness their own lives re-told by those who weren’t there. 

In this new play they are back, ready to reclaim the story that’s rightfully theirs, and this time, it’s on their terms.

The community ensemble will be fully involved in the show and an integral part of the company. 

They’ll be working with the professional cast in rehearsals and will be involved in the show’s movement, text and visual language to help tell the story.

The production team is looking for a cast of 16, divided into two teams of eight.

The opportunity is open to anyone over the age of 18 and access needs can be accommodated.

Dates for the Project are April 18 until June 6.

Rehearsals are Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Saturdays between April 18 and May 14. Technical rehearsals are evenings during the week of May 16.

There will be four performances a week per group during the week of May 23 and 30, with possible additional performances in the week of June 6.

Workshop Day is Saturday March 12.

To audition you’ll need to sign up for one of our workshop sessions and places are limited. These are 10:00-12:00, 13:00-15:00 an 15:30-17:30.

There isn’t anything to prepare and people will be working with the director Eleri on some ensemble pieces and reading some short excerpts of text from the play.

This this is a participatory opportunity for community members and is not an opportunity for professional actors.

Click here to sign up for auditions.

Town council adopts the Llangollen's People's Plan

 

At its monthly meeting last night the town council formally adopted Llangollen’s People’s Plan.

Known as Caru/Love Llangollen, the plan has been prepared by a team of volunteers, under the auspices of the council, with the aim of providing a comprehensive vision for how the town should develop over the next four years. 

The suggestions in it are based on what the group Shape My Llangollen (SML), which steered the project, was told by the people of the area in a series of pre-pandemic public consultation sessions when they were asked about what they liked or didn't like about the town and how they reckon it could be improved.

These consultation sessions generated over 1,700 separate answers.

And, based on these answers, the volunteers produced the final draft of the plan which contains around 90 proposals for improving Llangollen and its quality of life and work up until the year 2026. 

Shape My Llangollen put the People's Plan back to the people for the final round of consultation last December before producing the final version, which was approved by members of the town council at their meeting last night.

Now that it has been formally adopted, the new council, elected on May 5, will be able to consider which elements of the plan can be fed into the council's business plan. 

At last night's meeting town councillors thanked members of Shape My Llangollen’s core team for their hard work in preparing it since 2018.

Phil Robinson, who chairs SML, said: “The plan’s adoption by the town council is the culmination of almost four years of hard work by the team which I have had the honour of leading.

"This is truly the People's Plan and something which has never been done before in Llangollen.

"I'd like to thank everyone, including organisations large and small, who helped us to complete this very important piece of work for the town’s future development and members of SML whose dedication has seen our work through to its conclusion.”

* To look through the finalised plan online - and turn it over page by page - go to: https://pubhtml5.com/gaql/bmps

Lorry in collision with bridge this morning

* A crowd gathers on Castle Street to watch developments.

Picture: Llangollen Advocate.

* Damage caused to the Deeside railings and the bridge. 

* A workman cuts off the globe on the damaged lampost.

* Picture: Paula Lingard.

A recycling truck collided with a section of the Llangollen Bridge in Castle Street earlier this morning.

The incident has effectively cut the town in two with the street completely closed by police and traffic being diverted around the town.

As a crowd looks on, the lorry is still lying across the middle of the carriageway and a number of people are complaining that they can't negotiate the bridge to get to their homes on either side.  

Damage has been caused to the railngs in front of the seating area in front of the Deeside cafe bar and a number of large stones along the top of the adjacent bridge.

A lampost on the bridge has also been damaged and just after midday a workman in a cherry picker sawed off one of the globes at the top in what was apparently a precautionary measure.

Town councillor Stuart Davies has blamed the incident on what he called the "ever-moving" barriers of the 2020 project making it difficult for drivers to maneuver properly in the narrowed roadways. 

Denbighshire County Council, which is overseeing the roadworks, has been asked for a comment. 

Only yesterday the bridge was repaired after stonework was damaged by contractors working on the town's 2020 project.

A spokesperson for Denbighshire County Council said: “This morning a private (non- council) bin lorry was involved in an incident at the end of Castle Street bridge near Dee Lane.

“The bridge is currently closed to vehicles and pedestrians whilst the area is made safe. The lorry is still in position.

“The council’s Bridges and Structures team are checking the structural safety of the bridge and making a lighting column safe that has also been damaged.

“Once these assessments have been made, and if assessed to be safe, then the bridge can be reopened. The police are also in attendance.”

Work to start on electric vehicle charging points in town

* Market Street car park is the location of two electric vehicle charging points.  

Work is due to start on the installation of a pilot electric vehicle public charging points across Denbighshire, including four in Llangollen.

The county council has secured a total of £57,400 grant funding from the UK Government’s Office for Zero Emission Vehicles, supported by the Energy Saving Trust, to pay for installation of fast-charging points in eight public car parks.

These are located at: Market St Car Park, Llangollen (2), Pavilion Car Park, National Pavilion, Llangollen (2), Fern Avenue, Prestatyn, Factory Ward Car Park, Denbigh, Bowling Green Car Park/ Lower High Street, St Asaph, Cae Ddol Car Park, Crispin Yard, Clwyd Street, Ruthin, Craft Centre Car Park, Park Road, Ruthin, Morley Road Car Park, Rhyl.

Work on the pilot is expected to be completed by early summer.

The county car parks have been chosen using a range of criteria including location and accessibility and include a mixture of key routes and car parks close to residential properties without access to off-road parking.

The chargers will be in place to support residents to transition to an electric vehicle where they didn’t previously have access to a charging facility.

The project is part of the council’s action to tackle climate change following the declaration of a Climate and Ecological Emergency in 2019 and adoption of the Climate and Ecological Change Strategy in 2021. 

Cllr Brian Jones, the council’s Lead Member for Waste, Transport and the Environment, said: “We are pleased to see the start of the installation work for this important project. These charging points will help us with our climate change work and also be a really benefit to nearby households with no off road charging facilities."

* More details of the four charging points in Llangollen are:

Market St Car Park		2 x 22 kW AC (ability to charge 4 vehicles)
Pavilion Car Park		2 x 22 kW AC (ability to charge 4 vehicles)

Bridge is repaired and 'no risk to integrity' says county council

* The bridge covered by sheeting where it was damaged last week.

Stones accidentally knocked out of the world-famous Llangollen Bridge last week have now been put back in place, according to Denbighshire County Council.

And they assure that there is "no risk to the integrity of the bridge."

Last Friday the council admitted that some stones were ‘displaced’ from Llangollen Bridge by contractors working on the town’s 2020 Project the previous afternoon, adding that work was going on to replace them.

They also revealed that a full structural survey of the site would be carried out in partnership with Welsh historic monuments body CADW to determine what further repair works were required.

This afternoon (Monday) the council said in an updated statement: “The stones at Castle Street Bridge are back in position and have been re-pointed by a stone mason. 

"There is no risk to the structural integrity of the bridge. 

"CADW has also been consulted throughout the process and will carry out a final inspection now the work is complete."

Last week pictures were posted on social media showing cracks in the stonework of the bridge - one of the Seven Wonders of Wales - as the contractors worked on the  renewal of the pavements above.

Llangollen town councillor Stuart immediately asked questions about the consequences of any damage to the bridge and urged that a full structural survey being carried out.

If the bridge had been damaged he also questioned whether heavy traffic could still be diverted through Llangollen and over it as happens when the A483/A5 viaduct is closed.

The council later explained: “During ongoing public realm improvement works in the town, a small number of stones were displaced from the bridge during the removal of the base of a street lighting column." 

Stuart Davies had told llanblogger: “Back in 2017, when I served as a county councillor for the area, we received a report from engineers to say that water ingress had caused some damage to the structure of the bridge. They said it was alright for the moment but that we would have to keep an eye on it.

“I have now written to the county council’s chief executive and leader to say that what appears to have happened yesterday means that we should have a structural engineer take a good look at it to see if there has been any damage which might weaken the bridge.

“If there has been any damage there is also the question of whether heavy traffic can still be diverted through Llangollen and over the bridge as happens when the A483/A5 viaduct is closed."

County council to welcome refugee families from Ukraine

Denbighshire County Council has announced it will welcome refugee families from Ukraine as part of its on-going commitment to support the UK Resettlement Scheme.

The council says it has processes in place and is making the preparations to extend and accelerate the offer of resettling families from Ukraine, once further guidance has been received from the Welsh and UK Governments.

Denbighshire points to its long history of accommodating and supporting refugees and has pledged to welcome families every year. 

Over the last five years, the council has resettled 25 families, made up of 95 individuals, predominantly in response to the refuge crisis in Syria and Afghanistan.

Councillor Bobby Feeley, Cabinet Lead Member for Well-being and Independence, said: “The heart-breaking scenes being broadcast from Ukraine every single day has shocked the nation and many people want to share their support to the thousands of people that have fled their homes as the situation continues to escalate.

“The council feels honoured to have helped refugees from Syria and Afghanistan to resettle safely in our county and we are extending our hand of friendship to families from Ukraine that now find themselves in desperate need of refuge.

“Through Home Office funding, we are well placed to provide that support with a dedicated team of staff working directly with families, as well as support from partners in the third sector and from local volunteer groups”.

The council says it has received many kind offers of help from residents of Denbighshire. If anyone has any enquiries, they should email ukresettlement@denbighshire.gov.uk, and the council will be happy to share its plans, once details of the UK schemes have been agreed.

Meanwhile, the Ukranian flag will be flown at County Hall, Ruthin and Russell House, Rhyl from Tuesday, March 15 as a mark of the Council’s support to those affected by the atrocities.