Glyndyfrdwy station volunteers hit their jubilee purple patch

* The parcels van in all its purple glory.

Glyndyfrdwy Railway Station on the Llangollen Railway has been given a striking and colourful new look as part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

Station Master Paul Bailey and his team have been busy with their paintbrushes to adorn part of the station in royal purple colours. 

An ex-Southern Railway parcels van, lamp post, milk churn, sack barrow, porters trolley and plant pots have all received the royal treatment. 

* The porters trolley ablaze with royal colour.

The milk churn even carries the regal signature of “ER”.

Paul said: “We were inspired by our friends at the Severn Valley Railway, who have painted one of their locomotives in Royal purple for the Jubilee.

* The painted milk churn.

"Our small team of dedicated volunteers have had a lot of fun getting the paint out at Glyndyfrdwy and we hope our visitors will enjoy looking out for all the purple bits and pieces around the station over the bank holiday weekend, where we are running a busy schedule of steam and diesel trains."

Her Majesty and Prince Phillip visited Llangollen on the Royal Train in July 1953, when the line was still part of the national network and ran between Ruabon and Barmouth. 

It closed in 1964 as a result of the infamous Beeching cuts, but was reopened in stages by volunteers from the 1970’s onwards. 

The long-awaited final piece of the Llangollen Railway jigsaw is also about to be completed, with a new station at Corwen set to open soon.

Ian Bibby, Volunteer Liaison Officer for the Railway, said: “As well as the Jubilee, June 1^st to 7^th is Volunteers’ Week. Our wonderfully atmospheric stations have all been restored and cared for by volunteers. 

* The artistic Glyndyfrdwy station volunteers.

A railway spokesperson said: "Paul and his team at Glyndyfrdwy have done a fantastic job of making the station look even better than usual with their Jubilee display. 

"Getting stuck in, having fun and then having a stunning achievement like this to stand back and admire is very much what volunteering is all about at the Llangollen Railway. 

"As part of Volunteers’ Week, we are keen to encourage new volunteers to consider joining us. You don’t need to be qualified or experienced in anything beyond having a bit of spare time to give us and some enthusiasm to try something different. 

"We provide full training for all roles. Anyone interested in getting involved can make-contact with us via our website or telephone."

Meanwhile, Llangollen, Berwyn, Carrog and Corwen stations are also joining in with the celebrations. Llangollen will host a fascinating display of Queen Victoria’s Royal Train memorabilia. 

Superbly restored Carrog and Berwyn will be showing visitors what the line was like in its GWR heyday, with tea rooms serving delicious cakes and ice cream. Finally the partially complete station at Corwen will be open for visitors to have a look at work-in-progress.

Steam engine No 5619, visiting from the Telford Steam Railway, will run on all three days of the Jubilee weekend.

Also back by popular demand will be 1956-built Class 08 diesel-electric Shunter No 13625, offering the chance for visitors to try their hand at being a train driverfor just £5 a go.

The shunter will also be working a shuttle service between Llangollen and Berwyn Stations, which will run in-between the three daily steam trains that run between Llangollen and Carrog.

All main works on 2020 project complete, says council

* An artist's impression of how the finished project would look.

In its latest update Denbighshire County Council says that all main works on the town's 2020 project are complete but adds that efforts to clear the compound on the Market Street car park will carry on for the rest of the week.

Historic diesel engine in action on railway this weekend

* Number 47449 pictured by Kevin Lane in June 1979 making her way alongside the cars of the day on the A547 towards Llandudno Junction with Conwy Castle in the background. 

* The Class 47 in Llangollen River Sidings waiting to work the day’s trains back in May 2019.

A historic diesel engine saved from the scrapyard by enthusiast Pete Waterman will be in action at Llangollen railway this weekend.

The Class 47 loco, also known as a Brush Type 4, was a regular performer on the North Wales Coast line and spent a good proportion of her working life at Crewe Diesel Depot between 1973 and 1990, just a mile or so from where she emerged brand new from Crewe Works in March 1964. 

Moving South to London in 1990, 47449 ended her 29-year career with British Rail working the semi-fast passenger trains between London Paddington and Oxford before being withdrawn in March 1993. 

After being saved from scrapping by the renowned music impresario and railway enthusiast Pete Waterman, 47449 was purchased by the Llangollen Diesel Group in 1996 for use on the Llangollen Railway, where she has been ever since.

Number 47449 has now been preserved at Llangollen for nearly as long as she spent working for British Rail.

With the exception of a few years out of traffic for repairs to her bodywork, engine and cooling system, the loco, currently running with her early 1970’s era number of 1566, has been a very useful and active member of the Llangollen Railway fleet.

She is powered by an 83 litre, 2580hp 12 cylinder twin bank Sulzer LDA28C engine. 

Sulzer are a Swiss Engineering business, but the engines for the 47s were all built in England under licence by Vickers at Barrow in Furness using a factory built in the early 1950s to produce submarine engines in large quantities in anticipation of an escalation of the war in Korea, which was never required. 

The diesel engine drives a Brush TG160-60 Direct Current generator which in-turn drives six traction motors, one for each wheelset.

The Class 47 will be working on Saturday and Sunday this weekend. 

Castle Street to be closed Friday evening

Llangollen county councillor Karen Edwards has received information that Castle Street will be closed once more between 6pm and midnight on the evening of Friday May 27 to complete the lining works.

Plan to turn former B&B into healthcare workers bedsit

* The Denbighshire Free Press story.

Denbighshire Free Press is reporting that plans are under way to turn a Llangollen bed and breakfast into a bedsit for healthcare workers.

A story says that Nadarajah Pragash has applied to Denbighshire County Council’s planning department for permission to change the former Four Poster Bed and Breakfast premises on Mill Street into a house of multiple occupation.

* For the full story, see: https://www.denbighshirefreepress.co.uk/news/20166865.denbighshire-llangollen-bedsit-plans-healthcare-workers/

Llangollen couple back national skin cancer campaign #KnowYourSkin

* Jen Rush (far right) joined others to raise awareness and promote the #KnowYourSkin campaign to MPs.

A Llangollen couple are contributing to a national campaign this Melanoma Awareness Month to encourage everyone to stay safe in the sun and look out for signs of potential skin cancer.

James Rush, a former tree surgeon and retained firefighter at Llangollen Fire Station, was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma skin cancer in 2020, a week before the UK’s first lockdown. 

Sharing his story with Llanblogger, he said: "Receiving this diagnosis within a few weeks of welcoming our daughter, and while the world was dealing with COVID made it a very difficult time. 

"I had previously had a melanoma surgically removed, but it was considered stage 0 and I was given the all-clear. 

"Five years later I developed a cough, the result of metastatic melanoma that had spread to my lymph nodes, liver and bowel.”

James underwent major surgery and has just completed two years of monthly immunotherapy treatment. 

He was initially treated at Glan Clwyd, but transferred to the Christie in Manchester after surgery, where there is a large specialist melanoma department.

James added: “Depending how my recent and future scans go will determine whether I need more doses. It would be nice to think I didn’t, but obviously it’s unpredictable.  

"I am grateful to Dr Cooper and the team at Llangollen Health Centre – he made what was probably an overly-cautious initial referral that has been life-saving.”

* Llangollen Fire Station crew raised money for Melanoma Focus in 2021
to support their colleague James (far right).

James and his wife, Jen, who has just been elected as Llangollen's Deputy Mayor after winning a town council seat earlier this month, work with the charity Melanoma Focus through her local digital marketing agency. 

James has designed the #KnowYourSkin campaign posters, which are appearing in service stations and offices throughout the UK this month.

* The poster is one of four designs appearing throughout the UK.

This week, Jen attended a parliamentary event to raise awareness of the charity’s #KnowYourSkin campaign, together with clinicians, patients and the Patron of Melanoma Focus, Chris Bryant MP.

The family would like to share Melanoma Focus’ message this melanoma awareness month – wear SPF 30+ and visit your GP if you’re concerned about a mole or lesion. 

Jen told Llanblogger: “86% of melanoma cases can be avoided by protecting your skin from the sun and, if diagnosed early, melanoma is usually very easy to treat with minor surgery. 

"I wouldn’t want anyone to go through what our family have in the last couple of years – please avoid sun beds and protect your skin when enjoying the (hopefully!) good weather this summer. 

"If you’re worried about a mole or spot anything changing on your skin, don’t put of visiting your GP – early diagnosis saves countless lives.”

* You can find out more information about melanoma and sun safety on the Melanoma Focus website.

llanblogger's 'ghost dog' story appears in New York Post

* The story in the New York Post. Marc Mountford and Katie Morran feature with Cooper the mastiff.

A story which started off in llanblogger has just hit the pages of the New York Post.

Earlier this month we reported on a string of local Facebook messages about a dog which refused to walk past the former Gwyn Davies butchers shop in Castle.

And theories abounded that the pooch may have shied away because the empty shop was haunted.

The story was first picked up by a regional newspaper and has now made its way across the Atlantic to the Post in New York.

The story says: "A couple and their 168-pound Mastiff, Cooper, had a real-life Scooby-Doo moment in Wales while traveling in their camper that they appropriately named their “Mystery Machine.”

According to Daily Post UK, Marc Mountford and Katie Morran said their furry friend “went mental” when he passed a former butcher shop in Llangollen, Wales, that is said to be haunted.

“As soon as he reached the shop, he went wild,” Mountford said. “He was uncontrollable — I was so close to going under a coach [bus].”

Luckily, several people were around and helped the couple control Cooper.

“We had to get him across the road to calm down. But he was still shaking,” Mountford added. “He wasn’t making a noise but his tail was between his legs and he was clearly in distress.”

This isn’t the first time the pup’s been spooked by the shop, either. The family has taken the Mystery Machine to Llangollen four times, and said Cooper’s spooked reaction is always the same.

“When he was younger he was easier to control, but now he’s fully grown it’s different,” Mountford said. “This was the first time he’s dragged me into the street. When a 12-stone Mastiff starts pulling, it’s almost impossible to stop them.”

“This behavior is totally out of character,” he continued. “He’s a lovely dog and we’ve been past plenty of other butchers’ shops with no problems — especially if we pop in for a bone! But there’s something about this particular place.”

The now-vacant shop belonged to Gwyn Davies until he retired last year. Some Facebook users wondered whether Cooper could smell the old slaughterhouse in the back of the building.

Old photos of the town show carcasses hanging up in front of the shop.

“Row upon row of sheep, cows and chickens, before Gwyn had it,” said one Facebook commenter, the Daily Post reported.

Another added, “[The] smell of blood, maybe it lingers?” While a third comment read: “[Cooper] feels like he is walking past a graveyard with all the dead meat in there.”

The theories continued as an alleged former employee of the butcher shop chimed in, saying the cellar and an upstairs apartment were both haunted.

One of the people that helped the couple calm Cooper was a town historian. The couple happened to meet her in a neighboring town after the encounter, and she told them she’d find a history book with the ghost story recorded — which she did.

According to “Tales of Llangollen: Past and Present” by Trevor Roberts, the shop’s then-butcher swore he saw the owner of a nearby fishing tackle shop outside while on his way to work.

Once inside, he was informed the angler had died the day before, but the butcher always stood by his sighting."   

* The story has also appeared in the Mirror in the UK.