MS wants to see police officers 'fully focus' on their job

North Wales MS Sam Rowlands wants to see police officers being able to fully focus on their jobs.

Speaking in the Senedd, Mr Rowlands, Welsh Conservative and Shadow Minister for Local Government, asked what efforts had been made to allow police officers to focus on reducing crime and anti-social behaviour. 

He said: “One of the best ways of reducing crime and anti-social behaviour is ensuring that our hard-working police officers and PCSOs are able to fully focus their time and efforts on their very clear areas of responsibility. 

“Back in July, I raised the issue that police forces are facing across Wales at the moment, often being distracted from their clear priorities and focus. Police officers to have to deal with work that usually sits in other public service areas, such as in health or in social services. 

“Minister, you stated that many of these issues are being raised through the policing partnership board whilst working with policing colleagues. 

“In light of this, I was wondering whether you have an update on what efforts are being made to reduce police time having to focus on non-policing issues to enable them and allow them to focus on reducing crime and anti-social behaviour.” 

Social Justice Minister Jane Hutt agreed that PCSOs play a crucial role in promoting community safety and tackling anti-social behaviour and acting as ears and eyes on the ground for police forces. 

However, she added it was also about local relationships and so many of those are with local authorities, with social services, housing, youth workers, et cetera, as well as with health colleagues. It is very inter-related in terms of tackling crime. 

Mr Rowlands responded: “While I appreciate that the police do have to work closely with other organisations I still feel there is not enough being done to take away those pressures. 

“This increase has seen police officers dealing with defibrillators, tied up in A&E for hours on end, at times, waiting for those they may have arrested to be seen, along with assisting with mental health issues. 

“I am concerned about our police forces being taken away from their traditional work of solving crime and dealing with anti-social behaviour.”   

Council's reminder over free school meals for reception classes

Reception pupils in Denbighshire schools have started to receive universal free school meals since the start of the new term and parents/guardians currently not taking advantage of the scheme are urged to consider doing so. 

Following receipt of £859,000 from Welsh Government to support the roll out of Universal Primary free school meals across Denbighshire, works have taken place to increase the capacity of the authority’s Primary school kitchens. Work commenced before the start of the Summer holidays at 13 sites across the county. 

In December 2021 Welsh Government (WG) announced plans to offer free meals to all Primary school pupils. WG later announced a phased delivery approach to be implemented from 1st September 2022 to September 2024 and reception aged pupils have now started to receive the meals in Denbighshire schools. 

Councillor Gill German, Lead member for Education Children and Families said, “Delivery of Universal Free School Meals to all Primary pupils is a top priority for the Authority. This project has been a significant challenge with tight timescales, and I am delighted to see excellent cross service working by council teams and outstanding support from local suppliers, contractors and Welsh Government to introduce the programme. 

“There are parents and guardians out there that are not taking advantage of the Universal Primary Free School Meals offer and I would encourage everyone to consider whether they would like their child in reception year to receive the offer. There is no application process – it is simply the case of your child letting their class teacher know."

The council says the next phase of the works will focus on ensuring that all Primary schools are able to deliver to Year 1 and 2 by Easter 2023.

Author who wrote mead success story to guest at Llan Food Festival

 

* Tony  Cornish will spotlighting his Stone Circle Mead at Llangollen Food Festival on October 15. 

A former North Wales author who has written his own success story by becoming a key producer of the ancient drink of mead will make a guest appearance at this year’s Llangollen Food Festival.

Tony Cornish, who used to specialise in penning historical books, was fascinated by the many mentions the honey-based tipple receives in the Mabinogion, the legendary collection of stories detailing life in 12^th century Britain.

He recalls being so inspired by them that he immediately bought a bottle from the local supermarket and this led him to start up his own mead-making business which has since gone from strength to strength.

Tony 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 offer visitors a chance to try his range of lovingly produced mead.

He said: “It was in 1990 that I first developed the ambition of making my own mead after reading the stories about its popularity centuries ago.

“I did lots of preparation and research and began fermenting my mead in demijohns at the place where I then lived in Llangollen a couple of years later.

“Unfortunately, I had to take quite a long time off through ill-health but I re-established the business in 2018 and moved into a purpose-designed meadery in Wrexham.”

From there 60-year-old Tony operates the burgeoning Stone Circle Mead with the help of his wife Beth and has the capacity to produce up to 750 bottles of mead a day using mainly hand-operated machinery.

Many of the super-fresh ingredients he goes foraging for around the local countryside in places such as the Panorama near Llangollen which he particularly favours for the edible gorse flower growing there.     

A range of fantastic Stone Circle flavours includes Old Sarum Apple, Litha Rhubarb, Mabon Plum & Damson, Yule Spiced and Stánhenge – named after the famous stone circle - which he supplies to major customers such as the National Trust and Portmeirion Village.

When his business was hit by the pandemic a couple of years back he was thrown a financial lifeline by the Welsh Government’s Covid Recovery Fund through which he was able to join the SMART Recovery project run by Aberystwyth University.

Its AberInnovation laboratory facilities have enabled him to become involved in a fascinating project researching the health-giving properties of the honey on which mead is based.

While Tony has previously only visited Llangollen Food Festival as a visitor he is well aware of its high reputation within the foodie community and he says he can’t wait to be a first-time exhibitor.

“It’s the perfect place to showcase my mead and to give people who come from such a wide area of the UK the chance to sample it,” he explained.

“Most people’s experience of mead seems to come from the stuff they tasted at a medieval banquet back in the 1980s when they found it much too sweet for their liking, so they should really try mine which is much different.” 

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, where Tony will have his mead stand.

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.

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

Contact Stone Circle Mead on: 07939 338028. 

Theatre to stage Bertie Wooster farce

* A scene from rehearsals for Jeeves & Wooster in Perfect Nonsense.

Audiences are being guaranteed an "absolutely spiffing time" at the latest production from Wrexham’s Grove Park Theatre. 

Jeeves & Wooster in Perfect Nonsense, by the Goodale Brothers, was written in 2013 using the beloved PG Wodehouse characters. 

This update of 1938’s The Code of the Woosters sees hapless toff Bertie Wooster recounting a “perfectly frightful weekend” spent trying to pinch a collectable antique on behalf of his ferocious Aunt Dahlia with the help of his unflappable butler, Jeeves. 

Bertie finds his path to success blocked at every turn by frightful fascists, drippy damsels and a newt-obsessed pal named Gussie. 

The twist is that all 11 characters are played by just three actors in a series of increasingly frantic exchanges. 

Director Lisa Ford says: “Perfect Nonsense is such a fun production, a witty script, well loved characters and the charm of the Charleston era. My directorial debut with Grove Park has been 'all round top hole, chaps!'” 

Run entirely by volunteers both on stage and off, Grove Park Theatre is finally able to present Jeeves & Wooster, which was originally scheduled as part of its 2020-21 season but was cancelled as a result of the covid-19 pandemic. 

Matthew Richards is Bertie Wooster while Stephen Giles and Tim Williams play everybody else from Jeeves to femme fatale Stephanie “Stiffy” Byng. 

The play won the 2014 Olivier Award for Best New Comedy and its West End cast included Matthew Macfadyen, Stephen Mangan and Robert Webb. 

Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense is on at Grove Park Theatre from October 25-29.

MP says happy 100th birthday to Mary at Cwrt Glan Y Gamlas

* Simon Baynes MP hands some flowers and a congratulatory note to Mary Trenant.  

Clwyd South MP Simon Baynes went along to Cwrt Glan Y Gamlas in Llangollen yesterday (Friday) to wish a happy 100th birthday to one of its residents, Mary Trenant.

Fellow tenants of the Abbey Road flats helped Mary to celebrate her century last month by toasting her in champagne at a specially-arranged party in her honour.

And the visit from the MP, also fixed up by her friends, came as the icing on the birthday cake, of which there were a few served at a new celebration in the residents' lounge.

Mary was born in Bangor in September 1922, the second of her parents' four children.

During the Second World War she enlisted in the Women's Land Army, working on a farm in the Menai Bridge area Anglesey. It was there she met her future husband Harry.  

After the war the couple lived mainly in the north east of England at towns including Middlesbrough and Darlington. Harry eventually rose to become chief valuer for the region.

For a number of years the couple bred Welsh terriers and showed some of them at Crufts.

Because of the death of Elizabeth II Mary wasn't able to get the traditional message from the Queen. However, she still hopes to receive a few words of congratulation on achieving her century from the new King Charles III.      

Mr Baynes handed Mary a bouquet of flowers and a note from himself wishing her a very happy birthday.

Hospice fundraisers host Christmas card sales

* The Horseshoe Falls Christmas card which will be on sale. 

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."

Dragon spotted on the new pathway out of town

 

* 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.