Skates praises work of North Wales Police in Senedd

* Ken Skates MS, right, on patrol with Sgt Nathan Harvey from North Wales Police. 

Two politicians have praised police officers for their dedication to protecting the public during a Senedd discussion about anti-social behaviour. 

Ken Skates and Lesley Griffiths both placed on record their admiration and respect for frontline North Wales Police officers.

Trefnydd and North Wales Minister Ms Griffiths, deputising for Mark Drakeford during First Minister’s Questions, was asked by Welsh Labour MS Jane Bryant (Newport West) what the Welsh Government is doing to tackle anti-social behaviour. 

Crime and policing is not-devolved to Wales, and falls under the remit of the UK Government. However, the Welsh Government says it has increased the number of frontline officers it funds in the wake of huge cuts to police budgets from Westminster. 

“While policing is a reserved matter currently, we are committed to continue to doing all we can to help reduce anti-social behaviour, working closely with the Home Office, said Ms Griffiths. 

"We are currently funding 600 police and community support officers to help keep people and communities safe across Wales.”

Mr Skates, MS for Clwyd South, said: “Can I thank Jayne Bryant for raising this important issue today? Trefnydd, I was in Coedpoeth, a community that you're familiar with, very recently on patrol with the local police there. I was astonished by just how much they know about the communities that we serve and the people that live in them. 

“Would you join me in thanking all of our police forces, and in particular those community support officers that do so much to contain and limit anti-social behaviour across Wales?” 

Ms Griffiths responded: “Yes, I absolutely would join with you in commending the work that they do. They're very visible on our streets, in our villages, and obviously I know Coedpoeth very well. 

“I think the reason that we brought forward the funding for another 100 PCSOs, plugging Home Office gaps, shall we say, was in relation to making sure that that support is on our streets, making people feel safer.”

After his recent patrol with Sgt Nathan Harvey from North Wales Police’s Wrexham Rural team, Mr Skates said: “It was a really interesting morning, and it was great to get out with Nathan and get an idea of what our frontline officers are dealing with day to day in keeping the public safe.”

Drosi teams up with company to recycle bikes

* Bryson's Gerwyn Williams with Beth Ward of Drosi Bikes CIC. 

Bryson Recycling has joined forces with Drosi Bikes CIC in Llangollen to collect bicycles for reuse at their Recycling Centre in Ruthin, which they run on behalf of Denbighshire County Council.

This new initiative will help give unused bicycles a new lease of life while also promoting the environmental and wellbeing benefits of cycling. 

Drosi Bikes CIC are a local social enterprise who refurbish and sell bikes, with all profits generated being used to support their social and environmental activities. Any bikes not suitable for reuse are recycled for parts

Since May 2021, Drosi have recycled and refurbished over 165 bikes, many of which have been sold or rented out to promote cycling as a genuine alternative to driving. 

They upskill and empower under-represented groups through workshops and classes to support individuals to cycle and have also donated a number of bikes to local refugee and asylum seeker charities.

Commenting on the new scheme, Gerwyn Williams, Team Manager at Bryson Recycling, said: “At Bryson, we are always looking at ways to help make our local area greener and are keen to look at ways to reduce waste while benefitting the local community in the areas where we work. We are delighted to work with Drosi Bikes CIC and think this a great way to encourage local residents to choose to reuse their bikes."

Beth Ward, Director/Co-founder of Drosi Bikes, said: “One of our main aims at Drosi Bikes CIC is to offer accessible solutions to climate change. We are really excited to be working with Bryson Recycling, helping them to reduce waste in Denbighshire and empowering people to have a positive impact on the world. 

"We’re looking forward to seeing some of these bikes back in action! Any bikes that are donated should be in good condition with no obvious signs of rust or damage. Both adults and children’s bikes are accepted."

* If you wish to donate a bike, please take it to Ruthin Recycling Centre, Lon Parcwr Industrial Estate, Ruthin. LL15 1BB. For opening hours and further details please visit www.brysonrecycling.org.

Pengwern Community Hwb wins county achievement award

* The Pengwern Hwb project team at the awards ceremony in Rhyl.

A Llangollen community project was in the honours at a prestigious awards ceremony to celebrate the achievement of tenants across the county.

The Denbighshire Housing Awards, held at the 1891 Restaurant in Rhyl last Thursday, was a celebration of all that tenants and communities achieve as well as showcasing projects they are involved in.

This year’s award sponsors were Brenig Construction who are the lead contractor on the Llwyn Eirin project in Denbigh which contains the first new council homes to be designed and built for the Denbighshire area in 30 years.

Community Project of the Year tile was won by Community Hwb Cymunedol Pengwern, Llangollen.

Denbighshire County Council secured over £78,000 of funding for the Hwb project, which was officially opened in August, from the National Lottery and Rural Futures.

The aim was to develop Pengwern Community Centre into a community hub space that aims to meet the needs and aspirations of the surrounding area and Llangollen generally.

South Denbighshire Community Partnership (SDCP) has employed a part-time project coordinator for the project to initially consult with the community so that everyone has the opportunity to have their say and share their thoughts of what services and activities are most important to them, their families and their community.

At the awards ceremony Councillor Rhys Thomas, Cabinet Lead Member for Housing and Communities, said: “The Denbighshire Housing Awards continue to go from strength to strength. It’s great to bring communities and individuals together to celebrate what they have all achieved through hard work, determination and simply being great tenants.

“Day in day out we see a huge amount of positive work going on throughout our communities led by our tenants to help support and improve the quality of life for all.

“Being shortlisted for an award is an honour for those groups and individuals and our thanks go to them for their efforts in their local communities."

Former teacher who swapped blackboard for baker’s oven stars at Llangollen Food Festival

* Rising to the challenge: Liz Wilson of Ma Baker, pictured at work in her Overton-on-Dee bakery. She is among the exhibitors at Llangollen Food Festival on October 15. Contact her at: mabakerbakes@gmail.com or call 07900 321144.

A former schoolteacher who rose to the challenge of swapping the blackboard for the baker’s oven will be showcasing her range of mouth-watering traditional bread at this year’s Llangollen Food Festival.

After taking a bread-making course back in her London hometown eight years ago Liz Wilson fell in love with the skill overnight.

She says she just baked and baked, enjoying every moment of it and was soon making enough bread at home to start selling it to friends.

Things really took off during lockdown when time away from her primary school day-job gave her the scope to start baking in earnest and her customer-base eventually soared from 60 to 450 in just a couple of weeks.

Last year Liz decided to look for premises with more space for baking and she and her husband moved to the picturesque North Wales village of Overton-on-Dee where she opened her own business under the name of Ma Baker.

The property, known as the Old Pharmacy House, dates back over 200 years and provides plenty of room for the couple to have their home and for Liz to have the professional bakery she had long dreamed of.

She bakes just twice a week, on a Thursday & Friday, and quickly sells out of everything she produces.

Using two large professional ovens, and with hers the only pair of hands, she lovingly creates around 150 items of baked goods a week.

Liz said: “I love what I do. With three or four simple ingredients I can make something that tastes wonderful and makes people smile. The process is calming and satisfying and the smell is amazing.

 

“Each week I will offer a range of breads which will always include tinned whites and wholemeal, my Great Taste 3 star award-winning porridge bread, buckwheat crackers, sourdoughs, granola, biscuits and focaccias.

“I also have a few specials which will change from week to week. It could be a dark chocolate bread, cheese, chive and chili, marmite, walnut, pecan and sultana, hot cross buns or stollen.”

Liz is among a host of top food and drink producers from across North Wales and beyond who will be taking stands at the one-day Llangollen Food Festival on Saturday October 15.

“My first visit to the festival was last year,” she said, “I wasn’t exhibiting but just went to have a look. I enjoyed myself so much I knew I definitely had to come back as an exhibitor this year.

“I love to be part of the community. My business and I have already become pretty well-known in Overton but coming to the festival will help me to get out the word of what I do even further.

“I love to meet people and to tell them about my bread and the festival will give me the chance to do that. It will also provide the opportunity to meet other people in the food business. I’m really looking forward to it.”

This year’s Food Festival will be coming from a variety of venues in the centre of Llangollen and is open to the public from 10am-5pm.

An array of around 40 stand-holders will be waiting to show off their products, ranging from the best in home-grown Welsh artisan delicacies to Bolivian street food, at the Town Hall, in the main entrance to Llangollen Steam Railway and also at Gales Wine Bar.

There will also be some exciting hands-on workshops on offer, including local experts giving the kids – and adults too – the chance to test their skills at making cupcakes or creating a clay masterpiece on a real potter’s wheel.

Gales Wine Bar will be playing host to a mini beer festival within the garden area and throughout the day there will cooking be demonstrations from top local chefs.

After the main daytime event, people are invited back to the Town Hall from 6pm to challenge their senses with a special one-off tasting event from the experts of Wales’ own Penderyn Whiskey for which there will be a charge of £15 a head.     

Throughout the day there will be a selection of live outdoor entertainment in Llangollen’s centrepiece Centenary Square, including selections from Corwen ladies’ choir and local bands. 

* For more details about Llangollen Food Festival, check out:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/llangollenfoodfest

Instagram: @LlangollenFoodFestival

First Wool to Wealth contest in Pentredwr a success

* Contest finalists line up. 

* The presentation of ideas takes place.

Firefighter James is driven through town on his final journey

* James's funeral cortege, escorted by a fire engine, makes its way along Castle Street and on to Mill Street.  

* The fire engine escort heads for the bridge.

* A group of people wait on the corner to pay their respects to James.

Fellow firefighters from Llangollen escorted one of their colleagues who died last month on his "final shout" earlier this lunchtime (Friday).  

James Rush passed away with malignant melanoma at the age of 39 in August leaving a wife and young daughter.

And the family chose a route for the funeral cortege which started from the fire station and went along the A5 and Castle Street where people could pay their respects to him as a Llangollen-based fire engine, manned by his friends, accompanied him on his last journey to Pentrebychan. 

James had been diagnosed with metastatic melanoma in 2020, having previously had a malignant mole removed in 2013, after which he had been given the all-clear. 

* James Rush with daughter Jess, now aged two-and-a-half.

He regularly checked his skin and monitored his moles, but as the melanoma had spread to his lymph nodes and organs, it was a persistent cough that led to the diagnosis.

His wife Jen said: “James’ latest scan had been clear and we were cautiously looking forward to the future and what we hoped might have been a few cancer-free years. 

"The discovery that the melanoma had spread to his brain and the speed at which it took his life – just 10 weeks from the brain scan - has been a shock for us all, and is a reminder of just how deadly the disease is.

"He trained to drive the engine, which he loved, and Ben Lloyd, the watch manager, said he had a real impact on the people he met during his time in the service."

Susanna Daniels, CEO of Melanoma Focus, a charity which James supported, said: “We are hugely saddened by the tragic loss of our friend and supporter, James Rush.

"James designed our fantastic melanoma awareness posters for our 2022 national campaign which featured in service stations across the UK. He also helped us shape our updated patient information explaining melanoma and various treatment options. 

"We will always be hugely grateful and endeavour to continue to raise awareness and fund research to improve the lives of people with melanoma.”

* Donations to Melanoma Focus in lieu of flowers are welcomed by the family and friends of James. You can pay tribute and make a donation online here: Tribute to James Rush, 1983 - 2022 (muchloved.com)

Llangollen Railway facing shortage of volunteers

Despite facing a shortage of volunteers Llangollen Railway still managed to steam to success over the past month.

Figures show that passenger numbers for September are running at over 60% of what was budgeted. 

But, in common with other similar heritage attractions, the railway is short of people to devote their time and energies to helping them operate.

And last weekend, for the first time this season, it was forced to a cancel a train because of a lack of crew. 

Spokesperson Terry Pickthall explained: "Like many other heritage railways, we make no secret of being short of volunteers, especially mid-week. 

"We also recognise we need to work harder to look after and retain existing volunteers as well as attracting new ones. Our Santa trains need more and urgent support. 

"No prior experience is necessary, just a love of Christmas, working with people and ideally liking a bit of Christmas dressing up, whether it’s as the Great Man himself, an elf or even just a bit of tinsel around your hat and helping show people to their seats. 

"If busy crowds aren’t your thing then there’s loads of other things to do. Our beautiful stations at Llangollen and along the line need decorating for Christmas. They are also crying out for more TLC - painting, gardening or even a bit of DIY and building work. We provide full training for whatever you choose to get involved with too."

Terry added: "We have an excellent Volunteer Liaison Team ready to support anyone wanting to give working with us a try. Interested folk can visit https://llangollen-railway.co.uk/volunteering/ and should also keep a look out for one of Volunteer Recruitment days, which we will be running next season."

Terry added: "Despite these challenges, we have had a very successful season. Passenger numbers for September so far are over 60% what we budgeted. We managed to run a very successful diesel weekend earlier this month too, with three trains in use. 

"Next weekend (October 8 and 9) sees our very popular Heritage Railcar Weekend, which includes an evening train and hotpot supper. Tickets for our November “Ride the Rocket” firework train also sold out in record time. 

"Last Friday was the first time all season that we’ve had to a cancel a train because we were short of crew. This is no mean feat given how much midweek running we have done."