Tourism leader welcomes Riverside Park make-over

* The 9-hole bespoke mini golf under construction.

Sam Rowlands, Member of the Welsh Parliament for North Wales, has welcomed plans to give a popular Llangollen park a new look.

Mr Rowlands, chair of the Senedd’s Cross-Party Group on Tourism, said: “I am delighted to hear about all the work which is going to be carried out to enhance and develop Riverside Park. 

“The town is an extremely popular tourist destination and as a very keen supporter of attracting visitors to this lovely part of the world it is good to see work being carried out to upgrade recreational spaces.

 

“I am also pleased to see this sort of investment in Llangollen which can only enhance and improve the area for local people and visitors alike.”

Contractors are currently working on a raft of new features for the Llangollen site including a new 9-hole bespoke mini golf which is due to be finished end of March with holes representing places and features of interest within Llangollen and the Dee Valley. 

This will include an active travel interpretation map for the area and replaces the old course at the site.

New play equipment for the 5-12 year old age range is also going to be installed early April and work is underway at the bandstand to install electricity power points to increase opportunities for entertainment along with seating block created in to the bank area for spectators.

Green infrastructure has also been introduced sat the park with trees to create shade, wildflower planting and shrub planting around the park. Also a green space area will be extended by introducing grass up to and around the blocked dragon area.

The work has been made possible through the Welsh Government’s Brilliant Basics funding round for 2022/23.

Paul Evans, Plas Newydd Site Manager, said: “ While planning this work, we worked closely with Llangollen Fringe along with Llangollen Parks Community group and Llangollen Town Council, who both provided some of the match funding towards the project.”

Cash boost for Pengwern Park

* Llangollen Parks Project has picked up a cheque for £2,217 from the North Wales Police Your Community Your Choice scheme.

The money will go towards providing adventure trail equipment in Pengwern Park and will add to the £1,300 the project has already secured from another source.  

Project spokesperson Jessica Evans said: "We hope to go ahead with installing the equipment within the next few months." 

Live show about death coming to the Town Hall

A live show about death is coming to Llangollen Town Hall next month. 

Outside the Box is presented by Liz Rothschild, a performer, celebrant and award-winning burial ground owner.

The 55-minute theatre show includes stories with props, music and post-show talk.

 

Themes touched on are how our society handles death and dying, talking or not talking about death, funerals and the full range of options available, involvement of children, preparing for end of life, funeral poverty and comparisons with practise in other countries.

 

The show’s pre-publicity says: “Her unique insights and experiences have created a highly original and beautifully cathartic show, combining mercurial tales and miraculous truths, collected over the years from life’s finishing line.

“Funny, wise and taboo busting, Outside The Box confronts the ‘Elephant in the room’ with grace and humour, asking its audience to embrace mortality and look on the bright side of life, with a weave of untold and surprising stories, a hint of history and some pithy commentary on the funeral industry from one who knows.

 

“The overall message of these pieces is that engaging with our mortality, rather being depressing, brings relief, connection and inspiration.”

 

Outside the Box, is coming to Llangollen Town Hall on Friday April 28, at 7pm, as part of a national tour. Tickets: £10 and: £8.00 concession.

 

* Booking: https://llangollentowncouncil.gov.uk/. Enquiries: facilities@llangollentowncouncil.gov.uk call: 01978 861345.

MP visits Chirk Castle to support tree planting campaign

* Simon Baynes MP planting with General Manager Lizzie Champion and Head Gardener David Lock at Chirk Castle.

Clwyd South MP joined the National Trust's campaign to plant four million blossom trees across the UK by 2030 by planting a blossom tree at Chirk Castle.

Mr Baynes is chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Woods and Trees, and supports the National Trust's commitment to plant and establish 20 million trees across the country. 

The Trust is planting native and historic varieties, and other trees such as blackthorn and hawthorn, to support nature and to bring back blossom to areas that need it. 

The blossom tree, a crabapple Malus Florentina, was planted at Chirk Castle where Mr Baynes met Lizzie Champion, General Manager, and David Lock, the Head Gardener. The castle is owned by the National Trust and is open to the public.

Mr Lock has worked at Chirk Castle for over 40 years, starting as a gardener and then becoming Head Gardener in 1988. 

There are four gardeners at Chirk, one of whom is shared with Powis Castle, and 20 garden volunteers.

Chirk Castle has a 10-year vision for the gardens that includes developing the kitchen garden, which provides fresh produce for the castle tearoom, and plans to restore the 17th century pleasure ground woods. 

Over the next five years, the National Trust says it will be continuing its efforts to plant blossom trees in areas that need them and to ensure that urban communities can experience the natural world. 

Cities such as Newcastle, London, Plymouth and Birmingham will see blossom being planted for everyone to visit, enjoy and reflect.

Lizzie Champion, General Manager at Chirk Castle, said: “Through the #blossomwatch campaign we are proudly bringing the beauty of nature closer to everyone in Wales. 

"Thank you to Simon Baynes MP for planting a blossom tree in the garden at Chirk today. We hope that everyone who visits will enjoy watching as it blooms each spring.”

Speaking about the planting, Mr Baynes said: “It was a great pleasure to plant a blossom tree at Chirk Castle, near where I live in Clwyd South. 

"I have been visiting the Chirk Castle gardens for many years and have seen them flourish under the expect care of Head Gardener David Lock and his team of staff and volunteers.

“As Chairman of the APPG for Woods and Trees, the National Trust’s commitment to planting over four million blossom trees is a matter very close to my heart, and I was so pleased to be able to be part of this effort in Clwyd South.”

Easter services on Llangollen Railway

* Corwen station taken last Saturday showing the canopy complete with classic dagger board, facia panels and valance. Photo by Richard Walliker.

* The railway's Class 08 shunter.

Llangollen Railway is running a daily Easter service from April 6-16, with a two-train service between Good Friday and Easter Monday April 7-10 and a steam loco at work on April 7, 8, 9 and 10 alongside diesel and railcar trains. 

Steam trains will also be running on April 15 and 16 and diesel and railcar the other April weekends. More information and a full timetable is on the railway’s website. 

The railway has also announced the return of its Driver for a Fiver, in which budding loco drivers can take the controls of an engine, and Berwyn Shuttle service, offering those with less time a shorter run up to the line’s first station. 

The railway’s Class 08 shunter will offer Driver for a Fiver sessions over the Easter weekend on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, April 7, 8, 9 and 10.   

The shunter will also be hauling Berwyn Shuttles on Saturday and Sunday April 15 and 16, alongside the scheduled Timetable A operation to Carrog. 

Work continues apace at the new Corwen station, with volunteers fitting out the station building, finishing the emergency exit and a contractor removing the impressive scaffolding used to erect the canopy, which is now complete.

Just over a week left to comment on Four Great Highways scheme

* A draft design showing the view from inside Lower Dee Mill.

Local people now have just over a week to study and comment on Llangollen's Four Great Highways project.

A statement from the team in charge of the scheme says: "Further to our e-mail last week, we are writing to let you know that the feedback form has now been added to Denbighshire's County Conversations Engagement Portal 

"We have arranged for the designs to be on display at Llangollen Library until Monday April 3 2023 to make sure everyone gets a chance to see them if they weren’t able to come along to our recent session at the Town Hall.  

"The designs are also available on the engagement portal at the above link and have been added to the Four Great Highways webpage.

"We’ve also extended the feedback deadline date to Sunday 2 April 2023 to make sure everyone has enough time to share their views with us and paper copies of the feedback form have been left at Llangollen Library for collection. Completed forms can also be handed in to the library and they will collect them on our behalf.

"We would be grateful if you could share this e-mail with your networks to make sure as many people as possible have the opportunity to provide feedback."

 

Gary plans 500-mile walk to help specialist children's unit

* From left: Sarah Bee, Lynne Ford, Curtis Langley and Ann Norwood, who all work at the Movement Centre, gather around Gary Fletcher.

A Llangollen man is planning to do a solo 500-mile charity walk to raise at least £10,000 for a local hospital’s specialist children’s unit.

Gary Fletcher, 44, aims to trek through France and Spain along the famous Camino De Santiago Pilgrim Trail.

He reckons it will take him between six and eight weeks, dependent on the weather or any injuries he might sustain along the way.

Gary, who recently sold his development site next to White Waters Hotel and is looking for another property in or around the town, says he is now busy training for his foot-slogging marathon by climbing local hills and mountains and sweating it out in daily gym sessions.

He has also mounted an intensive publicity and social media campaign to gain the sponsorship from local businesses that he needs before he can set off on the challenge in aid of the pioneering Movement Centre at the Robert Jones & Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in Gobowen.

He said: “I really need to get this out there as much as possible to raise as much as I can for the centre and the children it treats.

“I have wanted to do something to help children in our country for some time. With the centre I have found the perfect charity to support as it relies solely on donations and private fundraising to continue its work supporting children of all ages with mobility issues.

“The work it does includes physiotherapy and other treatments to help young patients some of whom are taught how to communicate through movement with their parents and family.

“Others may have prosthetic limbs or debilitating illnesses which require constant ongoing treatment from the centre.

“The centre is one of very few in the UK that provides this kind of support and treatment and is life-changing in so many ways for children and their families.”

Gary added: “I am in constant contact with the centre, and I am due to meet with more children there to learn about their disabilities and the treatments.

“I have set up fundraising through a GO-Fund-Me account. All proceeds are paid directly from Go Fund Me to the Movement Centre. My account for fundraising is here https://www.gofundme.com/f/500-mile-walk-along-the-camino-santiago-trail

“So far I have raised £315 both online and cash donations. I have set the target to £10,000, but I ambitiously aim to raise £100,000 over the course of the next three months.

“I anticipate donations to really take off once I am on the trail and will post daily photos and videos showing my progress to various media channels. This will include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.”

* Gary’s dedicated Facebook page fpr his challenge is at: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091220251610

Roadworks planned for Barbers Hill

Latest roadworks alert from one.network is:

Barbers Hill, Llangollen, Denbighshire 27 March - 07 April   Delays likely - Diversion route   Name: Diversion   Location: Barbers Hill   Description: Streetworks / License - Streetworks   Responsibility for event: Denbighshire County Council   Current status: Planned