Have your say on new two-counties well-being plan

The Conwy and Denbighshire Public Services Board (PSB) have produced a draft Well-being Plan for the region and want to hear people’s views on the chosen objective and the approach to be taken.

The PSB is a collaboration between public and voluntary sector organisations who are working together to improve economic, social, environmental and cultural well-being in the region. 

Every five years, following an assessment of local well-being in its area, the PSB has to agree objectives for the benefit of its communities, and the steps it proposes to take to meet them.

The draft outlines the content of the PSB’s future Well-being Plan for 2023 to 2028, where the Board will focus on making Conwy and Denbighshire a more equal place with less deprivation.

This document provides only the outline of our plan, and it is through this consultation that we are seeking you views on the direction we are taking and the steps that we propose to take, which will then better inform a final version that we will approve in the Spring, 2023.

To share your views on the draft Well-being Plan, please visit the link: https://conwyanddenbighshirelsb.org.uk/draft-local-well-being-plan-2023-2028/ .

To request a paper copy, please get in touch through the contact us page.  Alternatively, you can also send any comments or suggestions on the Well-being Plan to countyconversation@conwy.gov.uk, or phone 01492 574059.

* For more information on the Conwy and Denbighshire Public Services Board (PSB), please visit https://www.conwyanddenbighshirepsb.org.uk/about-us/

Stunning new film highlights case for change at St Collen's

* A drone camera aerial shot of St Collen's place at the heart of the town featured in the film.   

Stunning aerial shots of St Collen's Church and the surrounding town of Llangollen feature in a new film just premiered on Youtube.

It was commissioned by the team leading the scheme to adapt the historic place of worship to meet the needs of the 21^st century and who invite people to get involved.

The Genesis Project had a professional film-maker create the short video in which priest-in-charge Father Lee Taylor warns how St Collen's - dating back to the 7^th century - could share the same fate as places of worship across Britain which have been forced to close, unless it makes a number of changes to create a more “flexible and inclusive” building for community use.

* Father Lee Taylor outlines the case for changes to the church. 

The project team is currently putting together an application for a substantial amount of Heritage Lottery cash to pay for the adaptions.

To a background of ecclesiastical music and interspersed with shots of the church plus stunning aerial sequences filmed with a drone camera, Father Lee stands in front of the altar and says: “The church dates back to the seventh century when Collen came here and parts of it are at least 13^th century.

“It has got some amazing architectural features such as the medieval hammerbeam roof and the legendary Ladies of Llangollen’s tomb in the churchyard.

* The magnificent medieval hammerbeam roof.

“But we have to move forward in order to meet the social and spiritual needs of the 21^st century and to do that we need to make some very big changes.

“Over the decades the Church generally has seen a downward trajectory in attendances and this has meant that a number of churches in Wales and in England have had to close.

“We don’t want that to happen here at St Collen’s, so what we propose to do is make a few alterations to the fabric of the building, taking away pews to make a space for a stage platform which will enable us to host more plays, concerts and school nativities and bring in more sections of the community.

“There is also a desperate need for toilet facilities and better heating and lighting to generally allow the building to have more flexibility and inclusivity, allowing people to feel part of this building when they visit.”

* An aerial shot of the tomb of the Ladies of Llangollen in the churchyard.

He adds: “The church has always been the focal point of the community and is always here to serve the needs of the community.

“We very much want our community in Llangollen to get involved with the Genesis Project. We’d love to hear from you – tell us what you think about it, whether you’d like to get involved.

“We very much want to see all organisations and groups coming into this building - which is your building – and using and using it to its full potential capacity.”

* Anyone wanting to find out more about the project or to become involved with it is asked to email the project team at: genesisteam1300@gmail.com

* The film can be viewed on Youtube at: https://youtu.be/7HFpmclaElI

 

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.