Llangollen fundraising group of Nightingale House is hosting two Christmas card sales sessions during October in aid of hospice funds.
Both will be outside the Town Hall, from 9.30am-1pm. First session is on Tuesday October 11 and the second is on Tuesday October 25.
A group spokesperson said: "There are some fabulous cards for sale including one of the Horseshoe Falls and also one of Rudolph at The Racecourse in Wrexham."
* Phil Meyers, a regular contributor to llanblogger, has sent in his picture of the realistic-looking dragon which has been created from a tree on the pathway from town to the new caravan park alongside Mill Street. Phil believes it is the work of Matt Baker.
.png)
The Denbighshire Free Press is reporting how a sheep stranded on the ledge of a quarry near Llangollen was rescued by an RSPCA team.
Footage of the incident, on Tuesday, shows specially trained officers from the animal welfare charity safely capture the ram after abseiling around 30 metres down at the disused Moel Y Faen Quarry.
* For the full story, see: https://www.denbighshirefreepress.co.uk/news/23022922.rspca-rescue-team-save-sheep-trapped-llangollen-quarry/
* Footage of the rescue can be seen on Youtube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Pn-sB5-t00
Denbighshire’s Library service has announced it is scrapping traditional library book fines – and will launch a drive to encourage more people to visit their local library.
The fines announcement was made yesterday to coincide with National Libraries Week 2022 where there is a focus on people using their libraries to continue lifelong learning.
All historic fines have been cancelled and library users who may have books at home that are past their due date can return them to their local library without fear or worry.
Councillor Emrys Wynne, Cabinet Lead Member for
Welsh Language, Culture and Heritage, said: “Getting rid of our fines system is
definitely the way forward. It’s an old and dated system and is perceived as
being a significant barrier to library use. This has an impact on people being
able to access free resources and facilities to support their literacy,
learning, skills and wellbeing.
“Now that services have returned to normality
following Covid, it’s given us a great opportunity to rebuild the physical in-person
library offer and encourage people to visit and use their local library and its
wide range of services.
“Fines are very much a thing of the past and people
can return books without any fear or worry, especially in the current climate
around costs of living. Our teams in libraries will be delighted to see more
people coming through the doors and accessing the wealth of free information
and events available to them."
Replacement charges will remain for items which are
not returned. These are different to fines and are levied when an item is
either not returned, lost or damaged by the borrower.
* Visit www.denbighshire.gov.uk/libraries
to find out more about all of the services and activities that Denbighshire
Libraries have to offer throughout the year to engage our diverse community.
Keep up to date with the latest news and updates, by following @DenbsLibs and
Denbighshire Libraries on Facebook and Instagram.
Grow Llangollen’s first public event at St Collens Community Centre recently was a great success, say organisers.
Grow Llangollen is a community group that has been established with the aim of increasing the quantity and affordability of cultivated crops that are grown in and around Llangollen, and to increase the amount of local produce sold in the area.
The project is funded by the UK Government through the UK Community Renewal Fund.
Around 35 people visited the Growing Local Food Forum throughout the day, to listen to and question speakers from Flintshare, Mostyn Kitchen Garden and ADAS Horticulture.
Many attendees stayed for most of the event, enjoying the array of local food that had been provided, including some delicious soup made by St Collens' Fabiano Silva from vegetables from local producers.
The day ended with a round table discussion about what actions would be most useful, and it was decided that regular get-togethers should be held to share ideas and support each other.
Grow Llangollen's Ros Stockdale said: “It was fantastic to meet so many enthusiastic people and find out about their ideas. We hope we can support the projects that
people are planning. One thing we all
decided on was that we should stay in touch and meet regularly to help each
other out.”
The group's next step is to visit Mostyn Kitchen Garden with some of the ADAS team for a growing workshop tomorrow (Friday October 7).
Ros added: "This
will be a great opportunity to see how things are done in a successful
commercial and community garden and to take part in some practical
demonstrations. The day runs from 10.30am to 3.30pm and lunch will be
provided. Anybody wanting to go should
get in contact via the Grow Llangollen Facebook page, and we’ll organise lift
shares.
The other crucial
part of the work is doing, she said, is the surveys. Separate surveys have been designed for:
Farmers and Growers:https://forms.office.com/r/kKzbDnDqUL
Local Businesses: https://forms.office.com/r/2AVuJSvAgy
Local residents: https://forms.office.com/r/ir4B4F114h
"The links to the surveys are also on our Facebook page, and there will also be flyers and posters around town.
"We'd be very grateful if people could take the time (5 to 10 minutes) to complete one of them. The more people that join in, the more useful the study will be in building a better project and attracting funding to support more growing."
* Neil Robertson, sous chef at The Wild Pheasant Hotel and Spa, perfects his culinary skills for his appearance at Llangollen Food Festival on October 15.
A young culinary wizard who reached the quarter finals of TV’s Masterchef: The Professionals will showcase his skills at this year’s Llangollen Food Festival.
Neil Robertson honed his cooking expertise in the
kitchens of an impressive range of top hotels in the UK and overseas before
becoming sous chef at The Wild Pheasant Hotel and Spa in Llangollen last June.
He is among an array of food and drink producers and
experts from across North Wales and beyond who will be appearing at the one-day
Llangollen festival on Saturday October 15 when he will present a
mouth-watering one-pot dish using the best of fresh Welsh ingredients.
Neil, 23, is originally from Johannesburg in South
Africa but came with his family to live in Newport, South Wales at the age of
14.
At 16 he became an apprentice chef at Cardiff’s
Marriott Hotel. After completing his training there Neil decided to specialise
in fine dining and his first role in that arena was at the luxurious Llangoed
Hotel in Brecon where he was chef de partie.
His next professional move took him across the
world to Melbourne, Australia where he built on his experience by working in
the kitchen of a hotel boasting three Michelin stars.
Returning to the UK after six months Down Under he
became junior sous chef at the famous Albrighton Hall Hotel and Spa in
Shrewsbury and then it was on to Nottingham to take on his first leading chef
position at the city’s Lace Market Hotel.
This summer he joined the busy team at The Wild
Pheasant.
Back in 2019 he vividly recalls reaching the
quarter finals of Masterchef: The Professionals and being tasked with making
the perfect Omelette Arnold Bennett early in the contest.
“To be honest, I hadn’t even heard of it before but
I quickly found out it’s based on smoked haddock with a mornay sauce. That was
quite nerve-racking but I got through to the quarter finals with a dish
comprising pigeon with wild mushrooms, truffles and blackberry jus, which the
judges loved.”
Neil says he is enjoying his time at The Wild
Pheasant, explaining: “It’s a great place to work in a lovely location and we
get such a fantastic range of customers as it’s a top-class hotel with a spa.
“Although I haven’t been to the Llangollen Food
Festival before I’ve heard lots about it as it’s known across the UK as a major
event in the foodie calendar.
“North Wales has some of the best produce in the
world and Llangollen has it all in terms of its location and accessibility.
“At the festival I’ll be presenting a special dish
prepared in a single pan featuring lovely fresh Welsh produce including Conwy
mussels, a Penderyn whisky cream sauce, smoked pancetta served with lava bread
butter on crispy sourdough bread.”
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 are waiting to display 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 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 decorating cupcakes or creating a clay masterpiece on a real potter’s
wheel.
Chef Neil will be masterminding the cupcake demonstration at the Town
Hall and says he is looking forward to having plenty of fun with it.
Gales Wine Bar will be playing host to a mini beer festival in its
garden area and throughout the day there will be dishes on show 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 Whisky for which there will be a charge of
£15 a head.
During 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
Bowel cancer screening will be made available to more people in Wales as home testing is expanded to include 55-57 year olds.
The expansion will mean 172,000 more people in Wales will start to receive easy to use kits that test for the early stages of bowel cancer. The move is part of a phased approach to lowering the screening age to 50 by October 2024.
People aged 55, 56 and 57 will start to be invited for screening from tomorrow, October 5 and will receive their home testing kits in the post. The programme will be rolled out to the newly eligible age group gradually over the next 12 months.
Part of a £16 million investment package by the Welsh Government, the funding has supported the introduction the new, easier to use, FIT (Faecal Immunochemical Test) at home testing kit. The new home testing kits have helped improve screening uptake to 65% and have improved sensitivity to better detect those at risk of bowel cancer.
More than 2,500 people were diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2019. Screening plays an important role in detecting cancer earlier and helps to improve cancer outcomes in Wales.
The lowering of the screening age is based on the recommendation by the UK National Screening Committee.
Minister for Health and Social Services, Eluned Morgan said: “It is great to see the next phase of our plan to widen access to bowel cancer screening come into effect.
“We have previously introduced the more user-friendly test and started inviting those aged 58-59. This next phase of the programme widens access to those aged 55-57.
“This move will help us to identity more bowel cancer cases early and support improvement in survival rates."
