Hill Street junction roadworks will now go on for another week

* Work at the junction of Hill Street and the A5 will go on for another week.

Roadworks to improve the junction of Hill Street and the A5 in Llangollen will now take another week to complete, llanblogger has just discovered.

The project to upgrade the traffic lights and realign the junction, providing signals to the pedestrian crossing phase, began on January 9 and were originally due to be finished six weeks later on February 17.

But it was announced shortly before that date that they would actually run on until March 9 - this coming Thursday.

However, llanblogger thanks to Llangollen county councillor Karen Edwards, has now seen a copy of an official note by the North and Mid Wales Trunk Road Agent (NMWTRA) that the work, being carried out by contractors A Parry Construction Ltd, will not now be completed until Thursday March 17.  

No reason is given in the note for the second extension to the deadline.

However, when the work was last extended the Trunk Road Agent said in a note to the county council that the extra time was needed "due to changes to the original NMWTRA scheme with the addition of Puffin Crossings, along with other unforeseen changes." 

llanblogger is taking a short break

 

llanblogger is taking a short break and will be back in around a week's time

Teachers to tackle Llangollen Canal Walk in aid of hospice

* At the back are the six teaching staff taking part Steven Jones, Martin Wyeth, Laura Hughes, Jane Parr, Laura Thomas and Sarah Hughes. At the front are Grace O'Hare, Deputy Head Girl, Archie Lee, Deputy Head Boy and Cassius Curran, Head Boy. 

A group of teaching staff from a Wrexham primary school are lacing up their walking books at taking on Hope House Children’s Hospice’s Llangollen Canal Walk this month. 

Six staff from Ysgol Sant Dunawd in Bangor-on-Dee will be taking on the 10-mile trek on Sunday, March 12 to help raise money for the hospice which cares for children and families in the area.  

Steven Jones, Martin Wyeth, Laura Hughes, Jane Parr, Laura Thomas and Sarah Hughes decided to raise money at the same time as bonding outside of school. 

Teaching Assistant Laura Thomas said: “We like to get together outside of work and we are a bit of a family here. 

“This walk has always looked really good, especially as it passes over the famous Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, and this year we decided we would take it on as a group and raise money for such an incredible local cause.  

“As a teaching staff we work with and are passionate about children so it felt it was fitting for us to help raise money to support local children too.” 

The group has so far raised more than £275 and are asking for anyone who would like to sponsor the walk to visit justgiving.com/fundraising/mark-wyeth1. 

Fundraiser Cat Dowdeswell recently gave an assembly to the children and staff to thank them for their fundraising efforts and explain more about the charity. 

She said: “We are so touched that the staff from Ysgol Sant Dunawd chose to support us by taking on our Llangollen Canal Walk. 

“Without the fantastic support of our local community and those taking part in our events we wouldn’t be able to be here for those seriously ill local children and their families when they need us the most.” 

The Llangollen Canal Walk has been sponsored by this year by Principality Building Society. 

James Harper, social impact lead at Principality said: “We’re proud to be sponsoring this amazing walk and raising money for such an important charity. We’ve got our hiking boots ready to join the walkers on the route, and our fingers crossed for dry weather.” 

Four Great Highways drop-in to be held at Town Hall

* The access point to the railway is one of the key areas 

included in the Four Great Highways scheme.

A drop-in session is to be held at Llangollen Town Hall to provide local residents, businesses and visitors with an opportunity to view the concept design options that have been developed for the Four Great Highways scheme as a result of the recent consultation. 

The scheme is aimed at promoting and enhancing the four great ‘highways’ of Llangollen: the Llangollen Canal and World Heritage Site, the former Ruabon to Barmouth railway line, the River Dee and Thomas Telford’s historic route, the A5 Holyhead Road.

The intention is to improve the visitor experience and increase the amount of time people choose to spend in the area.

Proposed works include providing landscape and engineering improvement works to enhance accessibility and biodiversity, as well as making it easier for visitors to understand what is available in the area and how to find it.

The four key areas which have been identified are: Wharf; Access points to the Wharf, Railway and Lower Dee Mill Park; Lower Dee Mill Park and Signage & Wayfinding (including visitor information in car parks).

On Wednesday March 8, from 11am – 3pm, the project team will be present at the Spring Jobs Fair being held in the Town Hall.

They wish to give members of the public chance to see the concept design as part of Denbighshire County Council’s stand.  

The project designers from Burroughs & The Urbanists will then be joining the team from 3pm – 7pm onwards at the Town Hall, to discuss the scheme designs, and to answer any questions or queries anyone may have.

The concept designs will then be made available for viewing at Llangollen Library from the afternoon of Monday March 13 for the week, allowing people to view the concept designs at their leisure.

Further information regarding the designs will be available on our website from next week as well for those who may not be able to come along next Wednesday.  

The team will be welcoming feedback via its e-mail address regarding the design options and says it looks forward to hearing people’s thoughts and views – fourgreathighways@denbighshire.gov.uk / pedairprifforddfawr@sirddinbych.gov.uk  

Balloons are back at the Pavilion ... but just for the day

* Up, up and away goes one of the scaled-down

 balloons from the Pavilion field.

 * Another couple of balloons get ready for launch.

 * Ballooning enthusiasts gather around the field. 

Balloons are back at the Pavilion after a break of a few years.

It's now some time since a regular balloon festival was held at the Llangollen venue and eventually lost to Oswestry.

But today (Saturday) the field around the Pavilion has become a launch-pad for around 20 scaled-down and manned balloons brought in by private enthusiasts from around Britain and Ireland.

A number were already there early on and began to take off assisted by their ground crews.  

Organisers have asked us to point out this is a private event and that they are not able to cater for spectators on the field. However, they say they are happy to have people watch the balloons from the canal towpath which overlooks the field.

Roadworks alert from one.network

Latest local roadworks alert from one.network is:

Track To Groeslwyd And Rhydonnen Isaf, Llangollen, Denbighshire 06 March - 17 March   Delays likely - Diversion route   Name: Diversion   Location: Abersylio To Efenechtyd   Description: Streetworks / License - Streetworks   Responsibility for event: Denbighshire County Council   Current status: Planned

Llangollen Round wins national award for its charity support

* Clwyd South MP Simon Baynes met Llangollen Round organisers to congratulate them on the £120,000-plus they raised in 2022. From left: Nadine Isaacs from Cancer Research UK, challenge organiser Judy Smith, Simon Baynes MP and organisers Jason Morley and Sandra Woodhall. 

Organisers of the Llangollen Round Challenge have won a national award for the major support they have given to a cancer charity.

The often gruelling 35-mile run/walk through the beautiful yet tough terrain of the hills surrounding the town was launched in 2012 by members of the Llangollen Ramblers group and is based roughly on the Alpine Walk Tour of Mont Blanc.

The amount raised for Cancer Research UK (CRUK) by the challenge has climbed steadily from £33,000 to last year's total of almost £120,000 which was boosted by government returns on charity donations.

In recognition of this massive cash support for CRUK and the involvement and commitment of around 100 volunteers who run the event the Round has been selected for the Flame of Hope Award.

These national awards are CRUK's annual accolades to celebrate the achievements of its most outstanding and inspiring volunteers.  

This year they received a record-breaking 835 nominations from staff and volunteers across the country.

Judith Smith, a Llangollen Round founder and organiser, said: "We will be receiving the award at a ceremony in Manchester at the end of March, after which the Tourist Information Centre in Llangollen has agreed to put it on display for a limited time. Do go and take a look.

"We are very grateful to all of you who have offered your support in whatever context - this recognition is yours also."  

The 2022 Round attracted over 500 entries from across the UK and abroad and saw 238 walkers or runners finishing it in a single day with another 189 completing it in two. 

The event can be completed in either one or two days and also saw another record set for the route being completed in the fastest time.

A fresh record was set when the first person back at the event's Llangollen Leisure Centre base was certified to have covered the whole 35 miles in just seven hours.

The fastest woman completed it in just seven hours and 34 minutes. 

The two oldest people to complete the course were aged 90 and 87.

As usual 80 volunteers manned checkpoints along the route where those taking part were served with water supplied free by local businesses and cakes presented by home bakers in the area.

More helpers were back at base checking in participants and handing out their times.