Foraging trips along Llangollen Canal organised

Leah Apostolou, the founder of Living Wild, has arranged a series of foraging walks along Llangollen Canal in the near future. 

Living Wild delivers workshops which educate and inspire people to reconnect with, and protect our environment and empower people by teaching skills like foraging and bush craft to bring them closer to nature and promote wellbeing.

The first walk of the season is coming up on Sunday March 26, followed by a few more over the Easter holidays. Summer dates will be published at a later date.  

Meanwhile, to whet the potential forager's appetite, Leah has written a special article for llanblogger showing five beginner-friendly wild foods to look out for.

1 - Stinging Nettle (Urtica Dioicia)

This mighty little plant is often overlooked because of its prickly nature, but don't be fooled into thinking this plant is anything but wondrous! The Stinging Nettle is one of the most nutritionally dense, wild foods growing abundantly around us rich in vitamins A, C & K, and packed with iron and protein. There is so much to say about Nettles it won't fit in this little paragraph. Use them in bread, cakes, soups, pestos, juices and teas.

2 - Cleavers (Gallium Aparine)

Also known as sticky weed, goose grass and sticky willy because of its entertaining ability to stick to anything! In Spring, our bodies are waking up and shedding the toxins accumulated from dormancy and indulgence over the Winter months. This wonderful little plant is the perfect ally for detoxification. Collect a good handful and leave it to steep in water for a few hours, for a refreshing cucumber tasting water which stimulates the lymphatic system.

3 - Primroses (Primula Vulgaris)

These dainty little flowers are a wonderful addition to salads and as a decorative garnish.They can be sugared and used to decorate cakes beautifully. The fresh green leaves are also edible and can be eaten cooked or raw. In Scottish legends it was said that if you ate Primroses you would see a fairy!

4 - Wild Garlic (Allium Ursinum)

A firm foragers favourite, it’s versatile, delicious and nutritious! This potent wild herb grows abundantly from mid February through to May. It loves shady damp spots in woodlands.. Careful not to confuse this one with Lords and ladies - Arum Maculatum which grows in amongst wild garlic. Harvest selectively and make sure you have that strong garlic scent to confirm your ID.

5 - St Georges Mushrooms (Calocybe Gambosa)

St George's are so called because they tend to appear around St George's Day (23 April). One of the only white mushrooms growing at this time of the year they are fairly easy to identify for beginners. Check for a cream/buff coloured cap, white/cream gills, a thick stem and a cucumber/flour smell.

Leah's messages to potential foragers are:

* Always be 100% sure of your identification before eating anything!

* Remember to pick mindfully and sustainably, these plants and fungi are part of a winder ecosystem which we need to protect.

Learn how to safely and sustainably gather wild food during the 2.5 hour Introduction to Foraging walk along Llangollen canal.

* Get in touch with Leah at www.livingwild.uk for more information or you can follow her for foraging hints and tips on Instagram @livingwild.uk

Llangollen Leisure Centre to host Comic Relief dancethon

Llangollen Leisure Centre is to host a Comic Relief Clubbercise dancethon between 6-8pm on Friday.

A post on its Facebook page says: "This coming Friday 17th March is our Clubbercise Danceathon session...raising money for Comic Relief. Get set for an evening of fun, laughter, dance and cake.

"We will be taking donations on the door and cake will be for sale throughout the evening. Get on your dancing shoes and come along for a night that will leave you GLOWING.

"And don't worry, you don't have to dance all night.

"Members get booking via the app or at site. Non-members or first timers - we will accept a donation on the door (minimum £4). Bring a friend along and get ready for a night you won't forget."

MS hails local businesses as figures show more people in work

 * Clwyd South MS Ken Skates.

A Member of the Senedd spoke of his pride after it was revealed that unemployment in his constituency has fallen significantly in the past decade. 

In the Senedd last week, Clwyd South MS Ken Skates told was by Economy Minister Vaughan Gething that the unemployment rate was 3.7% - down from 6.4% in 2013. 

Mr Skates said: “It really is quite incredible and demonstrates how relentless the Welsh Government has been in creating job opportunities in Clwyd South and across Wales.”

Mr Skates expressed his concerns that the loss of "millions upon millions of pounds of EU funding and the crashing of the UK economy by Tory Ministers" could impact future job creation in Clwyd South.

However, he says it’s testament to local businesses and local people that his constituency is outperforming other areas of the UK. 

“The unemployment rate in Wales continues to track below the UK average, and Clwyd South continues to have a lower rate than the Welsh average,” said Mr Skates. 

“Considering we have suffered a decade of austerity and recession, and a pandemic, it’s really encouraging to see our area performing comparatively well.” 

Mr Skates, a former Economy Minister, said crucial support from the Welsh Government to key employers – including Pat’s Coaches, The Plassey Leisure Park, Neatcrown, Read Construction and Charles Owen in Rhostyllen – during the height of the pandemic helped safeguard ‘hundreds, if not thousands’ of local jobs.

He also said previous Welsh Government initiatives such as Jobs Growth Wales have helped people into work in Wrexham and Denbighshire. 

But he added: “While I welcome these figures, we remain in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis and local unemployment is still higher than we would like. It’s not a cause for wild celebrations, and I’m certainly not saying everything is rosy, but I’m proud of what the Welsh Government has done to protect jobs in Clwyd South and I’m proud of our local businesses for continuing to withstand the storm.” 

Mr Skates believes "chronic under-funding from Westminster" is also stymying what the Welsh Government can do to build on the strong foundations laid in recent years. 

Mr Gething told the Senedd: “I’m deeply concerned about the choices made by the UK Government, because they leave Wales short. Newsnight recently undertook an investigation where they thought the gap might be as much as £1.4bn. 

“The UK Government haven't listened to us, they haven’t listened to businesses. If only we had a UK Government on the same wavelength, prepared to invest in the future in a collaborative way, we could ensure that we make even further progress in creating goodquality employment in Clwyd South and the rest of Wales.”

Healthy eating sessions to be held at Pengwern Hub

 

One-hour sessions exploring ways to eat healthily, use store cupboard ingredients and provide tips for saving money when food shopping will be held in Llangollen next week. 

The sessions, entitled Eat Smart, Save Better, are being run by South Denbighshire Community Partnership. 

They will go ahead at Pengwern Community Hub on Tuesday March 21, between 10.30 and 11.30am and then between 1 and 2pm. 

You can register by calling 01490 266004, or emailing: office@sdcp.org South Denbighshire Community Partnership. 

Organisers say there are limited spaces and booking is essential. 

There will be a free bag of ingredients for every participant.

Genesis - the birth of a new luxury car

 

Genesis GV70 drive by Steve Rogers

Good looking car, what is it? Haven’t seen one of these before.

Plenty of admiring comments but the name is a bit of a mystery in these parts. Guy the plumber thought the car on my drive had the look of an Aston Martin. May be, from the front.

It seems the Genesis message is struggling to get past Watford which might be down to  initial thinking that most of the sales for this relatively new premium brand would be in the south, ‘where the money is’.

Genesis has been around for two years, the brainchild of Hyundai which funded this luxury brand to expand its burgeoning empire - think Toyota and Lexus.

And it is doing it differently. No flashy showrooms, you pop into a city centre studio for a virtual tour of chosen model and buy online with the help of a personal assistant who looks after the customer in a cradle to grave operation along with a generous five year warranty package.

The first studio was in London, where else, but there is life past Watford and a studio has been opened in Edinburgh which ties in nicely with the Genesis sponsored Scottish Open golf tournament, and there is talk of another somewhere in the middle.

There are six Genesis models with a full compliment of petrol, diesel, hybrid, electric and the GV70 is the best seller. It is an SUV with the likes of Audi Q5, BMW X3 and Lexus NX in its sights.

First impressions? Very good. An imposing in your face grille, clearly there to make a statement, flowing lines and coupe style roofline. The rear quarter window is eye catching too.

First impressions inside? Wow. Make that a double wow. All the premium brands, Audi in particular, have beautifully finished cabins but lack a bit of design flair. The Genesis stylists have gone that extra mile to make GV70 look special with brushed aluminium oval shapes and inserts.

A wide 14.3in infotainment screen dominates the dashboard with enough information to rival Encyclopedia Britannica. It is easy to navigate the menus either by touch or, better still, by using the rotary controller which is safer when driving. There is a minor design glitch here because there are two switches placed line astern between the seats, a gear selector with the screen controller in front.

Trouble is I invariably grabbed the screen switch when I wanted the gear selector. It was the same for my wife. Solution. Switch them round.

No such problems with the driver’s binnacle which has traditional speedo and rev counter dials, digital of course, with a separate central display to access relevant driver information. A head up display with digital speed, navigation instructions, safety warnings etc completes the picture.

GV70 is a car that puts you in a good frame of mind even before setting off. Comfy seats, good driving position, and it doesn’t take too many miles before you feel the comfort from a well damped suspension. There is a sport setting which firms up the ride but this is an SUV, not a sports hatch, so I stayed in comfort mode and enjoyed the ride.

A car this size it is a natural five seater although the all wheel drive transmission hump is a bit of nuisance for the middle seat passenger. But there is ample leg and head room for taller folk. A small improvement would be a three-way split for the back seat instead of the current 60-40. Boot space is plentiful but not class leading. A handy touch is an underfloor slot for the boot cover.

A good game for children is ‘find the tailgate opening button’. It is cleverly placed at the base of the rear wiper which might be a better slot for the camera which is low to the ground and gets covered in grime in a flash.

The surprise package is a diesel option. I thought diesel had gone out of fashion but if it suits your needs then this 2.2 litre is very refined and good for 38-39mpg. It is not the quickest in the SUV pack but may be we make too much of the odd second in a sprint to sixty league table. The bottom line is it is quick enough and well catered for with an eight speed automatic box with steering wheel paddle shifters should you need to up the engine response.

It is going to take a while for the Genesis brand to catch on, but catch on it will because this is a formidable, well equipped package even if you end up paying extra for luxury packs which is the way of the world with the premium brands.

Fast facts

Genesis GV70 Sport Line AWD

£41,800 (£49,260 tested)

2.2 litre diesel; 206bhp

0-62mph 7.9secs; 133mph

38mpg combined

186g/km. 1st tax £945

Boot: 542-1678 litres

Insurance group 44

 

Four Great Highways scheme needs your feedback

* Concept design options (above and below). This one is for the Wharf, with new surfacing steps, seating and signage.

Following the recent public information exhibition and introduction to the Four Great Highways scheme, Denbighshire County Council has been continuing to gather data and engaging with key stakeholders and the project team has now developed concept design options for the improvement.  

This engagement is seeking to present these concept design options and obtain local people's feedback to inform the subsequent detailed design stages and final proposals for implementation.

Following the latest engagement, the team will develop the concept design options into a preliminary design to be taken through any necessary planning and consenting process and then proceed into detailed design and finally contractor procurement and implementation.  

The team says: "It is important for us that you continue to be involved in the process.  You will be able to provide feedback on the latest proposals as well as the premliminary/detailed designs going forward.

"Feedback must be received by March 21."

 The designs will also be available to view at Llangollen Library from next Monday, March 13 for a week.

* You can get in touch with the team in one of the following ways:

* E-mail the completed Word/pdf feedback form to: fourgreathighways@denbighshire.gov.uk / pedairprifforddfawr@sirddinbych.gov.uk

* Collect and complete a paper questionnaire from Monday 13^th March 2023: Llangollen Library, Castle Street, Llangollen, LL20 8NU

* Write to: Highways & Environmental Services, County Hall, Wynnstay Road, Ruthin, LL15 1YN

* View of Llangollen Bridge/Castle Street towards the ramp structure.

* View from inside Lower Dee Mill of ramp and new path.

* Lower Dee Mill Park plan with play opportunities.

Latest Citizens Advice column

Latest column from Denbighshire Citizens Advice is:

Q: I ordered a watch online with personalised engraving for my partner’s upcoming 40th birthday. The company has since gone out of business. I keep phoning and emailing them but can’t get through to anyone. I’m assuming they can’t fulfil my order, but I’d paid for the watch upfront and can’t afford to buy another gift until I get my money back, please help?

A: I understand the frustration you must be feeling - especially as you’ve already parted with your money and presumably spent time searching for a suitable gift for your partner’s special birthday. I assume you haven’t had a dispatch note yet, which suggests the order isn’t on its way.

If the company’s gone into administration, it may still be able to fulfil outstanding orders, but if the company is already in liquidation, you’ll need to try to get your money back. If you’re unsure about what state the company is in, the Citizens Advice website has information on how to find out.

As the company hasn’t responded to your calls or emails, is there a shop or office you can visit or write to, to get an update on your order, or request a refund? If that isn’t possible, the next steps depend on whether it’s a limited company (it will have ltd or plc after its title) or if it’s a sole trader (someone who runs their own business) or partnership.

If it’s a limited company, you’ll need to get details of the administrator or receiver - the person dealing with settling the trader’s debts. The names of those administrators will usually be on the website of the company that’s gone bust. You should register your claim as a creditor on the GOV.UK website. Fill out the form with details of what you’re owed and send it to the administrator dealing with the trader’s debts.

Unfortunately, there’s only a small chance you’ll receive any money back because you’ll be last in a long list of creditors who need to be paid.  

As the order was online (and I’m therefore assuming you paid by debit or credit card) you could also try getting your money back with a Section 75 claim or a chargeback claim to your card provider or bank. Full details about both these types of claims can be found on the Citizens Advice website.

If the seller was a sole trader or partnership and not a limited company, pursuing a Section 75 or chargeback claim is your best option.

Every case is different when traders go under, but you can call the Citizens Advice consumer helpline to find out exactly what your rights are: 0808 223 1133 and visit.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/wales/consumer/somethings-gone-wrong-with-a-purchase/if-a-company-stops-trading-or-goes-out-of-business/