Bikers attend service in square to launch Poppy Appeal

* The Centenary Square service is conducted by Father Lee Taylor and the Rev Rebecca Cannon.

* Bikers gather for the Act of Remembrance.

* A bugler sounds Last Post.

* One of the bikers lays a wreath at the foot of the war memorial.

Around 20 Legion Bikers - the motorcycle branch of the Royal British Legion - attended a special Service of Remembrance in Llangollen's Centenary Square this morning (Sunday) marking the official launch of the 2022 Poppy Appeal.  

It was conducted jointly by Father Lee Taylor from Collen's Church and the Rev Rebecca Cannon.

The service included the traditional prayers, bugle calls and the minute's silence.

The bikers visit a number of parishes in North Wales as part of the commemorative event.   

Talented cast present Collen Players' latest music hall show

Pictures by Jeanette Robinson

* The cast of the music hall and variety show.

* Esme Salnow, left, and Sue Stokes.

* Phil Robinson.

* John Williams.

* Chairman Lee Taylor.

* Sue Stokes.

* Esme Salnow.

* Accompanist Owen Roberts.

A diverse array of talented performers presented Collen Players' latest old time music hall and variety show at the Community Centre yesterday evening.

Presided over as usual by Father Lee Taylor in his guise as the quick-talking Victorian music hall chairman, the show got under way with a selection of rousing songs from the era under his direction with which the packed audience sang enthusiastically along.  

First up on stage was Players' regular Sue Stokes accompanying herself on the ukelele with a rousing Knees Up Mother Brown. She was assisted by returning favourite Esme Salnow who provided the dance exertion to move the number along.

Next it was the turn of another cast regular Phil Robinson to describe in colourful terms how My Old Man's a Dustman. 

Esme was back shortly afterwards to present two songs in her own polished period style - Under the Bed and Burlington Bertie.

Right after the break and more patter plus a Max Bygraves selection from the chairman, Sue Stokes returned to the stage with My Old Man Said Follow the Van and then Phil Robinson was back to relate that plaintive cry of Alfie Dootlittle from My Fair Lady of Get Me to the Church on Time.

In his appearances John Williams provided moving versions of the standards Keep Right on to the End of the Road, The End of the Day and Roses of Picardy.

In was then time for a touch of old Hollywood-style glitz as Esme came back to sing and soft-shoe-shuffle her way through I'm Going to Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter and Putting on the Ritz.

Accompanist for the evening was Owen Roberts.

The now-traditional rousing choruses of Down at the Old Bull and Bush, ably augmented by the audience, brought the evening's enjoyable proceedings to a fitting close.    

Meeting planned to take forward Llan Parkrun

* Photograph courtesy and with thanks to volunteers at Henley Wood Parkrun, Oswestry.

Local people are being invited to a meeting at Llangollen Health Centre in Bishop’s Walk  on the evening of November 8, starting at 7pm, to discuss setting up a Park Run for Llangollen. 

A spokesperson for the group said: "We need amongst other things to set up a core group who will be responsible for establishing and launching our Parkrun. 

"We also need a team of people to volunteer on a regular basis - every Saturday at 9am once the event is launched - to marshall the course and we will also need time-keepers, bar-code scanners and people to lay out the course and clear it up after the event. It’s great community fun.

"We will explain everything at the meeting and look forward to your attendance."

Woodland trees to be felled to prevent spread of larch disease

* Foel-woodland.

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) will begin to fell larch trees at Foel Woodland, near Llangollen, this November.

This is part of NRW’s Larch Reduction Strategy to help control the spread of Phytophthora ramorum, commonly known as larch disease.

NRW will then replant and establish a native woodland within the felled areas. This is part of the staged approach to the eventual removal of all larch from within the Foel Woodland.

The work will involve felling the trees with the use of a harvester and chainsaw support. The operations will begin in November 2022 with the aim of being finished by April 2023.

Once removed they will go to sawmills to be used for house building material, fencing and wood fuel.

The Foel Woodland block is located directly above the village of Pentredwr, about three miles to the north of Llangollen and clearly visible from the Horseshoe Pass.

Aidan Cooke, Senior Officer Forest Operation for NRW, said: “Felling the larch trees now allows us to adequately plan for a sensitive operation without the timing restrictions of a Statutory Plant Health Notice.

“By removing Larch trees from the Foel in stages, we will have the opportunity to re-create a diverse and resilient native woodland habitat throughout the woodland to help benefit wildlife and enhance the environment for everyone’s enjoyment.

“We will work closely with the Forestry Works Manager and the local community in Pentredwr throughout the tree felling operations to reduce the impact of the works wherever possible.”

* If you have any concerns regarding the scheduled works please contact North East Wales’ Forest Operations Team via email on ForestOperationsNE@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk.

Forester is up there with the best off-roaders

Subaru Forester drive by Steve Rogers

Let’s face it, you don’t see many Subaru Foresters around yet this car is up there with the best off roaders money can buy, its sophisticated all wheel drive system capable of handling conditions many drivers would be afraid to attempt.

The brand is best known for its rally winning Imprezza which was also favoured by the cops because tearaway drivers couldn’t get away from it.

Subaru would prefer that side of the business was confined to its proud history preferring to concentrate on more economic, environmentally friendly cars. The new Solterra, for instance, is an eye catching electric car so the company has definitely drawn a line under its wild side.

Forester has been around for 25 years but has never enjoyed the success of more illustrious rivals. It is not that Subaru models are not liked, there are just not enough showrooms to get customers interested.

Which is not the case if you travel further afield. I have just spent some time on the east coast of Canada and over the border into Boston where Subaru models, particularly the XV Cross Trek, are as common as Tim Horton doughnut cafes. And it is much the same story in Nordic countries although the clue there is snow!

On the surface Forester should stand up to scrutiny against any of its medium sized SUV rivals. It is a roomy, solidly built, well equipped car that can go anywhere and pretty much do anything.

The permanent symmetrical all wheel drive system called X-Mode has gained legendary status making Forester far and away the most capable off roader in its league. If you are a caravanner worried about the cost of diesel then Forester is a good option and has the best towing capacity of any hybrid SUV.

Is it over engineered for our needs? Money no object punters who spend £90k on a Range Rover don’t care about paying for off road technology that will never be used, but lower down the chain nearly 40 grand for a Forester is quite a slab against £33,000 for a basic Honda CR-V.

The real point here is that Forester, along with its siblings, is engineered for markets that need the highest level of off road ability but it does not deserve to be ignored  by UK drivers.

That said there is a lot more to the car than its ability to traverse rocks, greasy drops and the like. It has been given a mild facelift with a redesigned grille and light signature but more significantly is built on a new platform which has made it more engaging to drive and improved passenger comfort.

With the diesel engine dropped the only power unit is the trusty 2-litre flat four Boxer mated to a CVT gearbox that works better than most, a rarity these days. Economy was always its Achilles heal but things have improved with the addition of hybrid power.

I was expecting no more than low thirties at best and was gobsmacked when it pumped in a 46.3 on a 340 mile round trip. Where did that come from?

The cabin trim has a quality feel and at first glance the layout is pleasing with touchscreen and clear tactile switches for the heating controls. But a closer look revealed areas that are outdated.

I like my switches, especially to work the heating rather than scrolling though a touchscreen, but the centre console is awash with them, and there are more.  Below and to the right of the steering wheel is a bank of eight whose symbols cannot be read so they need to be memorised. This is not good.

What is good is the Eyesight safety system. This was ground breaking when introduced in 2016 using two cameras built into the rear view mirror to monitor and take evasive action in an emergency. That has three new functions including recognizing the edge of the road and grass when the lane departure system is activated.

The problem for Forester is that it is not seen as a fashionable alternative to more trendy rivals like Mazda CX-5, Toyota RAV4 or Honda CR-V but is certainly underrated and deserves the title as an off road maestro.

Fast facts

Forester e-Boxer XE Premium

£40,895 (starts £37,895)

2-litre petrol; 164bhp

0-62mph 11.8secs; 117mph

41.9mpg combined

Road tax £155

Insurance group 23

Boot 509-1779 litres

Towing 1870kg

NatWest to close Castle Street cashpoint next month

* The cashpoint in Castle Street set to be closed.

Operators NatWest have confirmed to Clwyd South MS Ken Skates that they are decommissioning their cashpoint in Castle Street.  

They say the move comes after they failed to reach agreement with the landlord of the property in which is its located.  

Mr Skates says he is "extremely disappointed" and will be making further representations to the company. 

An official statement sent to Mr Skates said: "We have retained an ATM in Llangollen since the closure of the NatWest branch in 2015. 

"With the lease up for renewal, we entered into negotiations with the landlord but unfortunately were unable to reach an agreement, and as such, a decision was recently made to remove the ATM, with the new space created being utilised by the existing building tenant, Trespass. 

“Before making our decision, we undertook a review of the area’s free cash access. With the Barclays ATM on Castle Street, the ATM at Co-op on Regent Street, as well as the Post Office on Berwyn Road, we felt the community still had good free access to cash, even with our ATM being removed. 

“The NatWest mobile bank also visits the community on Fridays between 11.30am-12.30pm in the Market Street Car Park where customers can withdraw cash, pay in cash, as well speak to our team about their banking. 

“The ATM will remain in use until around 13 November, before the decommissioning starts. 

“I appreciate however that some of your constituents may find this disappointing.”

Twenty Club to stage classic Vicar of Dibley show

* From left: Mrs Cropley (Heather Wolffson), Alice Tinker (Bev Maier) and Frank Pickle (Arwel Jarvis).

The Twenty Club drama group  of Llangollen are well into their rehearsals for the iconic Vicar of Dibley play, having performed a different selection of episodes some years ago. 

This much-awaited second series includes Dibley on Air and the Second Coming, in which the Dibley nativity play with a difference goes all rather wrong. 

According to director Chrissie Ashworth, the cast are enthusiastic and hard working and aiming to provide lots of laughs and good humour on the way.  

She said set building is going on apace and the club is applying its usual attention to detail to ensure that everything is spot-on and in keeping with late 1990s/2000 period in which the show is set. 

"Everybody loved the warm-hearted, vivacious vicar and her unworldly yet lovable verger," explained Chrissie, "and the actors are really stepping up to the mark, making sure that they are as close to the original characters as possible. 

"Who can help but have a soft spot for the likes of Jim (no no no no), the unkempt sex-starved farmer Owen, the precise boring Frank who harbours a wistful secret, mad Mrs Cropley with her offerings of unusual combinations in her bakes, the lovable simplistic Hugo with his overbearing father David complemented by Geraldine Grainger the Vicar and her adorable verger Alice Tinker.

"They are all her just waiting to entertain you, so do make a note in your diary and come along.  A good time with non stop laughter guaranteed."

The Vicar of Dibley will be staged at Llangollen Town Hall from Wednesday November 16t Saturday November 19 at 7.30pm with a matinee on the Saturday at 2.30 pm.

Stage play is by Ian Gower and Paul Carpenter adapted from the original TV series by Richard Curtiss and Paul Mayhew-Archer with kind permission of Tiger Aspect Productions. 

* Tickets  - £12 and £10 concessions - are available online at: ticketsource.co.uk/llangollentwentyclub or from Courtyard Books, Llangollen Oggie Shop or Jenni in Market Street. Tickets also available from cast and crew members, and at the door, subject to availability.