County council has new A-Z recycling guide

Do you know how to recycle your old bike, or how to dispose of your roller blinds? 

Denbighshire County Council has launched a handy Recycling A to Z guide to help you recycle as much as you can and dispose of your waste safely. 

The easy-to-use guide includes information on how to safely recycle or dispose of almost every item you can think of in handy alphabetical order. 

We throw away all sorts of items from our homes every day and lots of these things that are thrown in the bin can be recycled, such as clothes and electrical items. 

The average person creates around seven times their body weight in waste each year, therefore it is important this waste is recycled as often as possible. 

Councillor Barry Mellor, Lead Member for Environment and Transport said: “This easy-to-use guide provides brilliant information on how to recycle or dispose of almost any household waste you can think of.  

"This helps us create a greener Denbighshire and helps clear up any confusion with recycling some of the more complicated items." 

* For more information go to: https://www.denbighshire.gov.uk/en/bins-and-recycling/a-to-z-recycling-guide/a-to-z-recycling-guide.aspx

Timings given for Sunday's illuminated tractor run

Organisers have given more details about Llangollen's first-ever illuminated tractor run which roars away next Sunday.

The event is being jointly run by Llangollen Young Farmers and the new Vale of Llangollen Rotary Club as a charity fund-raiser for the community.

Tractors will muster at 3.30pm at Llangollen Pavilion and, after judging, will be waved off at 5pm by town mayor Councillor Paul Keddie and Rotary district governor Paul Dutton.

The route goes up Castle Street on to the A5 and then through Froncysylte, Chirk, St Martins, Overton, Ruabon, Trevor and back to Llangollen. 

Short stop-overs are planned in Chirk and Rhyn Park School car park in St Martins for local people to walk around the tractors and for children to get their photo taken with our Santa.

Organisers have just posted an approximate timetable on Facebook which goes:

* 3.30pm – Tractors arrive at Llangollen Pavilion decorated and ready for viewing and judging

* 4.50pm – Drivers' briefing

* 5.00pm – Tractors leave Pavilion grounds and set off on the Run. Santa will hopefully be in one of the lead tractors

* 5.30pm – (5 miles) Arrive and travel through Froncysyllte

* 5.50pm – (3.3 miles) Arrive and travel through Chirk

* 6.05pm – (1.3 miles) Pass Dobbies Garden Centre

* 6.15pm - (1.2 miles) Arrive and stop at St Martin’s School car park

* 6.30pm - Leave School car park

* 6.55pm – (5.6 miles) Arrive in and travel through Overton

* 7.20pm – (5.2 miles) Arrive in and travel through Ruabon

* 7.40pm – (2.6 miles) Arrive in and travel through Trevor

* 8.00pm – (4 miles) Arrive back at Llangollen Pavilion

These times are approximations based upon average speeds of some of the vehicles

The post adds: "We will also be aiming to have a tracker with Santa so you can follow him and know when he is getting close to you. The link will be published on her at 4.45pm. The link relies on a mobile signal. If we loose signal we will try any to remake the link and publish the new link here.

"Please let people know here when they are passing you and lets have your photos and make this a real community event."

Roadworks alerts from county council

Latest local roadworks alerts from Denbighshire County Council are:

Chapel Street CHAPEL STREET 14/11/2022 23/12/2022 Gwaith Gwelliant/ Improvement Works DCC WORKS UNIT (PHILIP BI LLANGOLLEN Un Ffordd/ One Way

Wrth / Nr Winton ABBEY ROAD 24/11/2022 01/12/2022 Gwaith Trydanol / Electrical Works O'CONNOR UTILITIES (DCC) LLANGOLLEN Goleuadau Traffig Dros Dro/ Temp Traffic Lights

A539 OPPOSITE 3 HILL STREET HILL STREET 21/10/2022 21/10/2023 Gwaith ar Dwll Archwilio/ Man Hole Works MJ QUINN (DCC) LLANGOLLEN Ffordd ar Gau/Road Closure

Hall street Llangollen HALL STREET 14/11/2022 23/12/2022 Gwaith Gwelliant/ Improvement Works DCC WORKS UNIT (PHILIP BI LLANGOLLEN Atal Parcio / Parking Suspension Ffordd ar Gau/Road Closure

Bryn Dethol Road BRYN DETHOL ROAD FROM A5 TO MAESMAWR ROAD 28/11/2022 02/12/2022 Gwaith Draenio / Drainage Works DCC WORKS UNIT (PHILIP BI LLANGOLLEN Ffordd ar Gau/Road Closure

Hall street Llangollen HALL STREET 14/11/2022 23/12/2022 Gwaith Gwelliant/ Improvement Works DCC WORKS UNIT (PHILIP BI LLANGOLLEN Atal Parcio / Parking Suspension Ffordd ar Gau/Road Closure.

Inner Wheel's Christmas Cheer event is back this year

Llangollen Inner Wheel has announced that its popular Christmas Cheer event will be back this year after a break of two years due to Covid. 

Organisers say thanks for Christmas Festival success

* The lights go on in Castle Street. Picture: Barrie Potter.

Organisers of last Saturday's Llangollen Christmas Festival have sprung into verse to say thanks to everyone who made it such a huge success.

Thousands of people packed the town centre throughout the day to see the popular event return after a three-year pandemic delay.

In a statement to llanblogger the organisers say: "We would like to thank all the people who donated their time, effort, skills, equipment, money and expertise to make the Llangollen Christmas Festival such a successful event."

And they've penned a poem, entitled  The Night Before the Festival (With apologies to Clement Clarke Moore), to sum up their feelings. It goes:

‘Twas the night before the Festival and all through the town

Not a creature was stirring not even a sound. 

But we leapt from our beds with a loud joyous cry

When we looked out the window to see it was dry. 

The morning was busy, the feeling electric

As the stalls were put out and the gazebos erected. 

As the town clock struck one, the buses delayed,

When over the bridge came the Christmas parade. 

Ahead went the Fire Engine in case on the night

Sîon got stuck in the chimney and his beard was alight. 

Seated in luxury with his chain gold and shiny

The mayor looked magnificent in all of his finery. 

Behind the Town Cryer was Llan’s Silver Band

It surely must be the best band in the land. 

Then following behind was a wondrous array

Of faeries, a TukTuk, a bike and a sleigh. 

No Donner, no Blitzen, no reindeer at all

Just kids on their scooters who were having a ball.

At last came Sîon Corn drawn along in his sleigh

His sack full of gifts to distribute that day. 

The procession was over, the choirs in the tent

Kept the crowds entertained throughout the event. 

As the afternoon darkened, in the street the folk came

They listened to speeches in spite of the rain. 

The countdown began and Bob Lube pressed the switch,

The lights flooded the streets with nary a hitch. 

Then over the Castle was a sight to behold,

The fireworks exploded in silver and gold. 

The excitement was over, the crowd drifted away

And everyone went home at the end of the day. 

But I heard Sîon Corn shout as he went out of sight

Happy Christmas to all and to all a Good Night.

Mean E-machine with colossal performance

Genesis electric drive by Steve Rogers

I am getting vibes that driving electric cars is going to make life very boring.

A couple of friends, neither of whom have driven an EV, predicted we would be moving like snails frightened of running out of power before finding a charging point. And then there was the ‘you can’t beat the thrill of a red hot hatch’ jibe.

My reply was ‘that’s the past’ and then said I have been driving a electric hatchbacks with acceleration to sixty only a second behind a Ferrari or McLaren supercar. The pace of these cars really is electrifying.

Like it or not we have to prepare ourselves for E Day in 2030 by which time the majority will already be driving EVs or hybrids. Car companies are going hell for leather building electric models for all tastes, and from the ordinary to the outrageous.

For the outrageous cast an eye over Genesis. For those not familiar with the brand, Genesis is the luxury arm of Hyundai and launched here early last year with a range of saloons and SUVs targeting premium players like Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar, Lexus, and not forgetting the rising star that is Volvo.

This year has been all about electric power for the G80 saloon and GV60, and this week saw the launch of the GV70 electric SUV which is predicted to be the best seller.

Realistically we are talking hundreds because the brand is still making its mark and cars are generally built to order in Korea with a waiting time is around five months.

The all wheel drive GV70 has an electric motor on each axle, together pumping out nearly 500bhp and an equally colossal 700Nm or torque. To cope with the power the chassis has been stiffened by 24 per cent over the petrol model.

Honestly, the performance is manic and if you are not satisfied with hitting 62mph in 4.8 seconds a boost button provides 10 seconds of increased power bringing the time down to 4.2 seconds. Going from 50-75mph using boost takes a frantic 2.5 seconds.

Drive like that all the time and it is unlikely you will get anywhere near the 283 mile electric range but you will have the satisfaction of sitting in one of the fastest electric cars in its class.

With a price tag of £78,090 you sit in the lap of luxury, pampered with top class materials but many buyers choose add-ons which can amount to another £11k.

GV70 can take a 350kWh charge which can top up the batteries to 80 per cent in 18 minutes. A similar range from a 50kWh post takes 73 minutes.

Although this was the big news of the day I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the electric GV60 Sport+, smaller and lighter but with the same power output and even quicker at FOUR seconds with the help of the boost button which is perfectly placed on the steering wheel as is the drive mode switch on the opposite side. The body styling is stunning and it is ditto inside with a futuristic layout.

An innovative feature are interior side cameras instead of door mirrors. They are a £1,240 extra but drivers need to experience them first because they take a bit of getting used to and can be a distraction with everything swishing by in the eyeline as well as offering no real perspective. I would give them a miss.

You pay a top price for top technology and premium features so £65,405 was no real surprise but I would be tempted to fork out £740 for the stunning lime green paint finish.

Even though Genesis is part of the Hyundai group there are no showrooms. Customers are given a virtual tour of the models at city centre studios before buying online with the help of a personal assistant who looks after the customer in a cradle to grave operation. After that it is five year warranty, servicing, courtesy car, road side assistance and map updates.

At the start studios were set up just in the south east, bosses believing this would be the only sales territory because of the high price of the cars, but they got a reality check with half the sales being scooped up throughout the rest of the country.

E-Day officially is 2030 but Genesis is not hanging around and want all their cars running on electric power by 2025. That is a strong message to the competition.

Christmas quiz will support children's charity