Railway's classic transport weekend gets into gear

* Above and below: The line-up of vintage tractors and buses from previous shows.

* A busy timetable of steam, diesel and railcar trains will operate on the railway.

Over 300 vintage and classic cars, buses and other vehicles will be on display at Glyndyfrdwy Station on the Llangollen & Corwen Railway this weekend, July 1 and 2, as the much-loved Classic Transport Weekend takes place.

A busy timetable of steam, diesel and railcar trains will operate on the railway, centred around the  village station of Glyndyfrdwy, where a large vintage vehicle rally is to be held in a large field right next to the station. 

All trains are now running to the new station at Corwen, which opened on June 2^nd.  A free vintage bus service will also operate between Corwen and Glyndyfrdwy, allowing visitors to follow trains from the adjacent A5 road and take in the views of the stunning Dee Valley AONB.

The event has again been organised by two of the railway’s younger volunteers, Tim Hines and George Walker, who are both under 30 years old. 

Tim said: "Last year George and I had our first go at running this event and put a lot of hours in to make it happen. As well as volunteering at the railway, George and I are also both owners of vintage buses, which we’ve restored and take to shows. 

"Last year’s event was such a great success that we couldn’t really do anything other than say yes when we were asked if we could do it again.

"We now have over 300 vehicles booked to attend the rally at Glyndyfrdwy station across the weekend. We will use two of our neighbouring farmer’s fields to fit them all in and provide a car park. Our neighbour has always been extremely supportive of the event – especially the vintage tractor display."

Husband and wife stationmaster team at Glyndyfrdwy, Paul and Wendy Bailey, said: “We always look forward to welcoming so many visitors to our station, which is usually a very quiet and beautifully-restored country station with fascinating links to the local slate industry, some of which you can still see. 

"Our tearoom and brand new Porters station bar will be open all weekend to refresh both exhibitors and visitors. It’s a great opportunity to see our country station at its busiest, with a wonderful parade of classic cars, motorbikes and buses all making their away across the traditional, gated level crossing between the station and signal box. 

"There’s also a lovely village picnic field and playground right next to the station where you can watch the cars, trains, wildlife and see if you can spot the old loading wharf, where slates produced at the Deeside Slab and Moelfferna quarries up in the Berwyn mountains above the village were brought down on a narrow gauge railway and trans-shipped into standard gauge wagons for onward transport around the world."

* Tickets for the event are available in advance from the railway’s website or on the day from station ticket offices. 

Parking for visitors is also available at the Glyndyfrdwy rally priced at £5 for the day or £8 including a reduced price programme. The railway’s website also has an event information page: https://llangollen-railway.co.uk/classic-transport-weekend/

Police appeal for witnesses to fatal road collision near Corwen

* Police have issued this picture of Andy Thomas who died in the collision near Corwen on Saturday.

North Wales Police have issued an appeal for witnesses to the road collision near Corwen in which a man died yesterday (Saturday).

They have named him as 54-year-old Andy Thomas from Summerhill, Wrexham.  

Police said this afternoon (Sunday): "We were called at 2.43pm on Saturday afternoon (June 24) reporting a two vehicle RTC [road traffic collision] on the A494 at Glanrafon, Corwen involving a white Volvo XC60 and a Honda CBR motorbike.

"Officers from the Roads Policing Unit attended alongside colleagues from WAST [ambulance], Helimed and NWFRS m[fire service] and the road was closed for some time.

"Andy’s family have issued the following tribute: ‘Andy Thomas was a wonderful husband, son, father and brother who was tremendously loved by many, many people.

‘He was a huge motorbike enthusiast who lived his life to the full, making the most of every day possible.

‘He was an absolute ray of sunshine, who put others before himself at all times and devoted his life to his family.’"

PC Dylan Smith from the force Roads Policing Unit said: "Our thoughts are with Andy’s family at this tragic time.

"We are appealing for witnesses to assist our investigation. Anyone in the area who witnessed the incident or saw the vehicles prior to the RTC is encouraged to contact us.

"Additionally, anyone with dashcam should also get in touch via our live webchat online https://orlo.uk/xcphJ or on 101 quoting ref A098568."

Police witness appeal after fatal collision

North Wales Police are appealing for witnesses to a one vehicle road traffic collision in which a man died yesterday.

A statement says: "We were called at 5.32am today (Saturday) by colleagues from WAST [ambulance] reporting a single vehicle RTC involving a white Renault Traffic van on the A525 near to the fishery in Llandegla.

"Officers from the Roads Policing Unit attended along with WAST and NWFRS [fire], and the road was closed until approximately 10.30am.

"The deceased man’s family have been informed.

"Anyone who may have seen the van in the area, or who was driving and has dashcam is encouraged to contact us via our live webchat online https://orlo.uk/KOIPD or on 101 quoting ref A098337."

Report says Three Eagles has been put up for sale

* The estate agents' picture of the Three Eagles.

North Wales Live has reported that the award-winning Three Eagles gastropub in Llangollen has been put up for sale. 

* For the full story, see: Award winning North Wales gastropub put up for sale with £1m+ price tag - North Wales Live (dailypost.co.uk)

Reports of two serious road collisions today

North Wales Live is reporting this afternoon that the A494 has been closed following a "serious incident".

Traffic Wales announced that the road had been closed in both directions.

The incident is between Druid lights and Bala, near the community of Glan yr Afon. They said local diversions are in place.

A police car and ambulance were seen speeding through Llangollen earlier.

* For the full story, see: LIVE: Major road closed due to 'serious incident' - North Wales Live (dailypost.co.uk)

* Earlier, the BBC reported that in a separate incident one person had died following a single-vehicle collision.

The crash involving a van happened on the A525 at Llandegla, Denbighshire, on Saturday at about 05:30 BST.

* For the story, see: Denbighshire: Person dies after van crash on A525 near Llandegla - BBC News

Search is on for volunteer crime busters

* From Left; PACT Manager David Evans, volunteers Sonia Jones and Mark Owen, PACT chairman Ashley Rogers  and volunteer Gary Leighton-Jones.     

A search has been launched for a trio of volunteer crime busters.

The call has come from the North Wales Police and Community Trust (PACT) which is celebrating its 25^th anniversary this year.

The charity is looking to recruit the volunteers, one to work in each of the three policing divisions, Flintshire and Wrexham, Conwy and Denbighshire and Gwynedd and Anglesey.

PACT recently revealed that it has handed out more than £2 million in grants and funded over 2,500 community projects since it was founded in 1998.

To celebrate reaching the milestone it set up a £25,000 anniversary fund and is inviting bids for grants of up to £2,500  for local initiatives across the region – the deadline for submissions is June 30.

Fittingly, much of PACT’s funding comes from cash seized from criminals and recycled for the public good.

The organisation works closely with North Wales Police’s Neighbourhood Policing Teams, particularly the network of Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs).

According to PACT, its main purpose  is to provide funding to community and voluntary groups for schemes that improve people’s quality of life by reducing crime and the fear of crime.

Chair Ashley Rogers said: “We’re celebrating a quarter of a century of PACT but we are certainly not resting on our laurels. We want to build on what we have achieved so far for the next 25 years.

“Our success has been based largely on the help we have received from volunteers and we are looking to recruit more so we can ramp up our activity.

“If you’re passionate about our communities and you want to get involved, this is a great opportunity to interact and get to visit some amazing projects that are doing exceptional work in the community.

“Much of our funding is sourced from the ill-gotten gains of criminals. This is about restorative justice and it’s very appropriate that the money is used to help support the communities that have been damaged by crime, converting bad money into something good. It’s poetic justice.”

Mark Owen, head of Citizens in Policing and the Special Constabulary Chief Officer at North Wales Police, was involved in the setting up of PACT when he was an Inspector looking after community safety for the force.

He said: “What PACT has achieved is absolutely superb, all the grants that have been awarded and the good work that has taken place since it was founded. It’s just fabulous.

“The direct link into my current role as the person in charge of police volunteering for North Wales, with Special Constables, Police Support Volunteers and Cadets, is that they benefit directly from PACT.

“We’re now working on a programme for our Special Constables to become ambassadors for PACT at the local level, creating a beautiful loop from police volunteering and back again.

“If anything, PACT is more relevant now that it ever was and it helps make communities safer.

“There’s a lot of academic research that shows that volunteers get a feelgood factor and a sense of value. It’s good for you.

“For people who are on the verge of retiring or have recently retired, they have invaluable skills and knowledge that might otherwise go to waste.

“By volunteering, you’re not only giving something back you’re getting that positivity and a buzz from helping others.”

Mum-of-two Sonia Jones works full time as the admin manager of the pharmacy at Ysbyty Gwynedd, in Bangor, and has been a special constable for seven years.

She volunteers for around 30 hours a month on the beat in Anglesey and has same powers as all other police officers – the only difference is that she is not paid.

Sonia said she’s delighted to become an ambassador for PACT, having witnessed the good work that they do.

She said: “Policing is always something that I have aspired to do. However, life just got in the way and now I am getting the best of both worlds.

“I enjoy giving something back and putting the uniform on gives me a big sense of pride. It makes you feel special. I just love it.”

Gary Leighton-Jones worked as a member of staff in the Operational Planning Department at North Wales Police for 21 years.

He now does a range of voluntary work for North Wales Police, doing debriefs of critical incidents, role playing for training exercises and I also run the force lottery.

Gary said: “I enjoyed my time at North Wales Police  greatly and I wanted to keep active after I retired because I thought I still had things to offer.

“I thoroughly recommend the notion of volunteering because I believe in giving something back to society. I get the satisfaction of helping.”

PACT Project Manager Dave Evans said: “We’re looking for a small cohort of volunteers who are committed to helping us engage with community groups across the six counties and almost act an advocate for PACT, encouraging groups to apply for funding and also importantly carrying out some project feedback and find out how effective, or otherwise it’s been.

“We work closely with the network of PCSOs and are excited to be developing this work with the army of Special Constables, volunteer police officers, who work across North Wales.

“We are looking for people who are interested in community affairs and want to make a real difference and make North Wales a safer place to live, work and visit.”

* Anybody interested in becoming a volunteer or making a bid for a grant should go to the PACT website  www.pactnorthwales.co.uk or email  enquiries@pactnorthwales.co.uk or contact Dave Evans on 01745 588516

Clean-up team remove tonne of waste from Dee Valley

* Trolley good job!

* Wheely good.

* One the biking team goes around the valley looking for junk.

* Cheers: One of the empty bottles retrieved from the river.

* The river-borne clean-up squad at work.

Volunteers taking part in last Saturday's big Dee Valley Clean-Up scooped up a staggering 1.2 tonnes of man-made waste from the area.

One of the organisers, Aaron Kendell, said: "We had over 100 participants with 60% male and 40% female. Their ages ranged from under two to over 70 years of age.

"We collected over 1.2 tonnes of man-made waste off the valley floor. That’s the same weight as a new Mini!

"We had people mountain biking, walking, canoeing, SUPing, tubing, rafting and kayaking around the valley picking up waste.

"Thanks to your donations, for the first time ever we’re on track to break even. This is huge for us as it fills us with confidence that the clean-up is substantial and established enough to grow into the future.

"Over 60 burgers and 20 litres of chilli were consumed later by the volunteers."

* For more information on the Dee Valley Clean-Up, go to: Dee Valley Clean Up