Tidy Town team put in another 500+ unpaid paid hours

* Tidy Town volunteers enjoy their Christmas party at the golf club.

Despite an early setback caused by the lingering lockdown, Llangollen Tidy Town Team went on to have another highly successful year in 2022.

In his annual report David Davies, founder and co-ordinator of the voluntary group, says its members contributed over 500 hours of unpaid work on behalf of the community, taking in everything from litter picking to handling traffic for the town's  Christmas festival which returned after a three-year Covid enforced break to notch up its most successful year to date. 

He says: "Our year started with a couple of jobs deferred due to lockdown regulations.

"The stream alongside the Army Cadet HQ needed rubbish and vegetation clearance again in the absence of any maintenance by DCC.

"We also made in-roads into clearing the public footpath that runs halfway up the hillside parallel to the A5, between Fron and Llangollen. Unfortunately, our efforts to secure the younger muscle-power of the participants in the Restorative Justice system failed due to 'H&S concerns'. It would be sad to lose this path and consign walkers to the A5.

"Meeting at least once a month, we have continued our litter picking activities, Town Square maintenance duties, tidying around the Wharf area and providing help at Plas Newydd.

"The woods project, adjacent to the cemetery by St Johns Church, made a major step forward this year with renewed enthusiasm from St Collen' s Church and a substantial grant from Cadwyn Clywd.    

"This work is ongoing but has enabled expansion of the cemetery parking area, creation of a surfaced pathway into the woods, new fencing and tree clearance ready for some new planting."

He adds: "The team has assisted at town events including the new locally-inspired Garden Railway Festival at the Pavilion and at the welcome return of the Christmas Festival.  

"We took on the challenge of making provision for and putting up the town Christmas tree with help with lifting equipment from S&G Estates Ltd.

"We are grateful to AJP Couriers for stepping in to finance our insurance cost this year. Other contributions this year included those from Llangollen Town Council, Garden Railway,  Kenrick Motors, Rotary (closing fund) and an anonymous passer-by, have returned our funds to positive. Thanks to all concerned.

"Finally, a thank you to the members of the team, who once again this year have contributed over 500 hours of voluntary effort in trying to keep Llangollen a tidy town to the benefit of residents and tourists."

County council warns of impact of industrial action on schools

Denbighshire County Council is reminding parents and carers it has been notified that national strike action by members of the National Education Union (NEU) is planned to take place on February 1 and February 14.

The council says this may impact on the operation of schools within the county and that additional days are planned on March 15 and 16.

It adds: "This is anticipated to result in a significant reduction in staffing levels within schools and will affect all areas of Wales.

"All schools are currently assessing whether they can remain open or partially open on these days and if not whether the sites will need to be closed to learners on these days.

"Schools will communicate directly with parents and carers regarding individual decisions and information.

"In addition, the National Association of Headteachers have notified Denbighshire that their members will commence action short of strike action as of February 1. 

"Alternative arrangements may need to be put in place during these days should your school close or partially close."

* Llangollen county councillor Karen Edwards has been officially notified by the council that Ysgol Bryn Collen (Primary) will be closed on February 1 due to industrial action.

Headliners announced for this year's Fringe Festival

* Henge are one of the headliners at this year's Fringe.

* DJ Mr Scruff. Picture: Jake Warrington is also appearing.

The 26th Llangollen Fringe Festival takes place from July 7-15 and will feature a wide range of shows featuring comedy, music, dance, workshops and more.

Headlining acts announced include extra-terrestrial prog rock band Henge, who have been delighting audiences for the past seven years. 

Joining them is one of the most sought after rock groups Half Man Half Biscuit, described as, "Witty and dry, sardonic yet never cynical, melodically infectious yet edgy."

Producer, cartoonist and cross-genre selector Mr Scruff will also be joining the bill.  

His DJ sets can range from deep soul/funk/reggae/afro/jazz/latin/hip-hop to harder edged electro/house/new wave/techno/electronic, often all in the same night.

Paul Keddie, chairperson of the Llangollen Fringe, said: “It’s always a hugely exciting moment when the first set of Fringe shows are announced, and this year, it feels more important than ever to celebrate."

* Tickets for these headline shows are on sale now, as well as festival passes. Priced at just £70 the pass allows access to all of the main events across the nine days. 

Festival tickets and dates and times for all concerts and events are available from www.llangollenfringe.co.uk or by calling the Fringe box office: 0800 1455 779.

New hourly T8 bus service begins

Transport for Wales and Denbighshire County Council have announced a new hourly TrawsCymru T8 bus service between Corwen, Ruthin, Mold and Chester.

Starting earlier this week, the new T8 bus will offer more frequent and faster services, improving connectivity in the region and enabling passengers to travel without changing buses.

Transport for Wales is investing in public transport throughout Wales and the Borders and the TrawsCymru network is expanding and becoming more connected.

As part of these improvements, the new T8 will connect at Corwen with the T10 (Corwen - Betws y Coed - Bangor) and with more journeys on the T3 (Wrexham - Corwen - Bala - Dolgellau - Barmouth), creating a travelling interchange for customers.

The new bus service will be operated by M&H Coaches. The new TrawsCymru app and website provide customers with the ability to purchase mobile tickets, get up-to-date information, track services and the opportunity to see carbon savings from using public transport.

New timetables are available on Traveline and the TrawsCymru website.

Deputy Minister for Climate Change, with a responsibility for transport, Lee Waters said: “An hourly bus service will make a real difference to bus users in the area and will help to encourage more people to use public transport to get about. This is part of the Welsh Government’s investment in north Wales and future developments are being looked at by our North Wales Transport Commission led by Lord Burns.”

Lee Robinson, Development Director Mid, North and Rural Wales said: "The T8 is the latest in a number of improvements to regional bus services across Wales. TfW is committed to improving accessibility and connectivity for Wales’ country towns that are not on the rail network and we look forward to all the benefits the new T8 will bring."

Denbighshire County Council’s Lead Member for Environment and Transport, Cllr Barry Mellor, said: "The T8 represents a remarkable opportunity to improve the travel opportunities for residents in south Denbighshire. In future, they will benefit not just from an increase in frequency but improved through-services and connections. It will also allow those travelling from England to access leisure and visitor opportunities in Wales."

Wales walking book launched at Plas Newydd

* Howard Sutcliffe of the AONB, author Julie Brominicks, and Sian from Courtyard Books, Llangollen

A new walking book exploring Wales was recently launched at Plas Newydd, Llangollen.

Author Julie Brominicks, of Machynlleth, travelled to Llangollen to treat visitors to Plas Newydd with snippets of her new adventure filled book, ‘The Edge of Cymru’.

Having left her job as a teacher, in the course of a year Julie Brominicks walked around the edge of Wales via the Wales Coastal Path and Offas Dyke path.

As an English incomer and a Welsh learner with a long association with the country, she was interested in what Wales meant, and how she did, or didn’t, fit.

Julie, who is also a regular contributor to BBC Countryfile Magazine, said: “The book is a travel narrative, detailing encounters with the people, landscape and wildlife I met. At the same time, it traces a journey back through time, from Devolution to Evolution, because I was feeling uneasy about being an English incomer, and wanted to find out more about Cymru's language, culture, natural and social history.”

Howard Sutcliffe, Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB Officer and Ranger Service Manager, said: “I loved the day, it is the first time we have promoted an author and somewhat of a learning curve, we will definitely do it again for Welsh Authors who explore and celebrate our landscape. Especially pleasing was a couple of the Friends of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley who travelled all the way from Liverpool to the launch!”

Cllr Win-Mullen James, Lead Member for Local Development and Planning, said: “The AONB were delighted to host the launch of book which was held at Plas Newydd Historic House & Gardens, Llangollen. Julie provided some very interesting background information before signing copies of the book for attendees.”

Visitors to Loggerheads Country Park Visitor Centre or Courtyard Books in Llangollen can purchase a copy of ‘The Edge of Cymru’.

Ethan takes final role before bidding farewell to Young 'Uns

* Ethan Le Cheminant, in his final role as Gomez Addams, with Heledd Edwards who plays Morticia. Below: Ethan without make-up.

* Another atmospheric scene from the Addams Family.

One of the stars of Llangollen Operatic junior section’s smash-hit shows of the past few years will take his final bow after playing a lead role in their new musical.

For the Young ‘Uns Ethan Le Cheminant has been Danny in Grease, Scarecrow in Wizard of Oz and Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, where he jointly won the best performer award with Celyn Orton-Jones for Audrey.

He’s now packing away his costumes for the final time as he leaves the group to study maths at university.

But not before he takes on his final leading role as Gomez Addams in their production of the Addams Family, which runs at Llangollen Town Hall from February 16-18 with a matinee at 2pm on the Saturday and all other performances at 7.30pm.    

Ethan said: “Young ‘Uns to me has been a place where I've learnt how to express myself creatively and have the confidence to then go and show that to everyone.

“It’s been a place where I've made many what I hope are going to be lifelong friends and been able to do shows and performances that I didn't know I was capable of.

“My favourite part of Young ‘Uns is always show weeks, all the excitement and hard work coming together for us to put out there to everyone, and the bitter-sweet ending of when it’s all over.

“Being able to go out and perform with some of my closest friends has been amazing and the most enjoyable part.”

He added: “Highlight was the Friday night show of Little Shop of Horrors. Most things that could've gone wrong did go wrong, a chair that should've stayed still moving, the plant pot not being stuck in place, the gun not going off straight away, all manner of chaos and yet somehow we still put on in my opinion an amazing show.

“I’m going to miss the people in Young ‘Uns the most - my fellow cast members I've gone all through my teenage years acting with.

“I’m going to miss my directors, Jo and Robin, who put in countless hours with me over the years perfecting parts and have been there as a pillar to go to whenever I needed support either with the show or just in general terms.

“I'll miss our Musical Director, Julian, who again has put in countless hours going over songs with me and bringing me along as a musician, and also being someone to nerd out to about music that I'd heard, someone I could talk to about the thing I’m most passionate about.

“And I'll miss our Producer, Pam, who has essentially been my stage mum since all the way back when I did Grease in 2019. She’s been there and has supported me the whole way through my Young ‘Uns journey, just like all of our production crew have.”

Producer Pam Williams said: “We will miss him incredibly but wish him well in everything he does.” 

The Addams Family will have a live nine-piece band and a cast of 27 including 10 principals ranging in age from nine to 18.

Co-artistic directors are Robin Crowley and Jo Lloyd, Producer is Pamela Williams, Assistant Producer Dee Smith and Musical Director Julian Cattley.

The cast is: Ethan Le Cheminant (Gomez Addams), Heledd Edwards (Morticia Addams), Katie Clark (Wednesday Addams), Ethan Roberts (Uncle Fester), Dylan Harrison (Pugsley Addams), Sam Gonzalez Jones (Lurch), Gracie Broadhurst (Grandma Addams), Leri Roberts (Alice Beineke), Will Robinson (Mal Beineke) and Freya Mortimer (Lucas Beineke).

Pam Williams said rehearsals are going really well with everyone putting in 100% to ensure that this very difficult and complex show is another hit.

She added: “The musical numbers are not well known but as soon as you hear them you fall in love with them and can't get them out of your head.

"The fact that there's a series called Wednesday, about the Addams' daughter, running now on Netflix makes our show very current."

* Tickets for the Addams Family, which are selling quickly, are available online at www.ticketsource.co.uk/llangollenoperaticsociety and also from Jades, Oggies and the Tourist Information Centre at £12 and £10.

Town Council to host area's first Death Cafe

Tea, cake and ... death will be on the agenda for a meeting at Llangollen Town Hall later this month.

Charlie Jones, facilities officer for the Town Council, has come up with the idea of hosting a free-to-enter Death Cafe there on the afternoon of January 31.

A Death Cafe is a scheduled non-profit get-together for the purpose of talking about death over food and drink, usually tea and cake.

The aim of these non-profit groups is to educate and help others become more familiar with the end of life.

The idea originates with the Swiss sociologist and anthropologist Dr Bernard Crettaz, who organised the first "café mortel" in 2004.

Jon Underwood, a UK web developer, was inspired by Crettaz's work and developed the Death Cafe model in 2011.

There are currently almost 3,000 Death Cafes listed in United Kingdom and over 15,000 in countries across the world.

Charlie Jones said: "The Death Cafe has become an international movement and they help people to talk more easily about death.

"The Death Cafe is not a bereavement session just a place to have a chat over tea and cake.

"We hope people will consider coming along."

The Llangollen Death Cafe will be held at the Town Hall between 4.30 and 6.30pm on Tuesday January 31.

* For more details, email: facilities@llangollentowncouncil.gov.uk