MP in talks with council over support for Eisteddfod

Clwyd South MP Simon Baynes has revealed he has been in talks with Denbighshire County Council over additional support for Llangollen Eisteddfod.

The festival has partnered with promoters Cuffe and Taylor, which will see a number of high-profile musical acts travel to Llangollen for concerts before, during, and after the Eisteddfod. 

As part of the deal, it has been announced that rock bands Manic Street Preachers and Suede will headline the 2024 Eisteddfod on Friday, June 28, with more acts to be announced over the coming weeks. 

Prior to becoming the local MP Mr Baynes served on the Board of Trustees for the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod from 2017 to 2019. 

Since his election, he has continued to maintain his interest in the Eisteddfod, both in his personal capacity and as MP.

Earlier this year, Mr Baynes was contacted by the Chair of the Board of Trustees, Sarah Ecob, regarding the future of the event. 

This resulted in a meeting being arranged on Friday October 6 with the leader of Denbighshire County Council, Cllr Jason McLellan, and the Chief Executive of the Council, Graham Boase, to discuss additional support that could be offered to the Eisteddfod in light of the announcement of the partnership with Cuffe and Taylor. 

Mr Baynes said: “I am delighted at the news that the Board of the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod has agreed to partner with Cuffe and Taylor. The deal has already seen the announcement of two major headline acts for next year’s Eisteddfod, with further acts to be revealed over the coming weeks.

"As a former member of the Board of Trustees for the Eisteddfod, I have seen first-hand the dedication of those who help to make this event a success every year. In my role as the Member of Parliament for Clwyd South, I have had a number of discussions with the Chair of the Board, Sarah Ecob, with regards to the future of the event, with the most recent being attended by both the Leader of Denbighshire County Council and the Chief Executive. 

"I look forward to continuing to liaise with all relevant parties over the coming months to ensure that the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod is a success for years to come.”

Tickets go on sale for Food Festival tasting events

 * One of last year's successful Food Festival events held in the Town Hall.

Whisky, wine and cheese enthusiasts and connoisseurs, mark your calendars. 

For Llangollen Food Festival has announced that tickets are now on sale for the three tasting events it is featuring this weekend.

The Penderyn whisky tasting experience will take place from 6pm on Saturday, October 14. 

Attendees will be able to savour three of the Welsh whisky company’s finest whiskies paired with three delicious cheeses courtesy of The Little Cheesemonger, an award-winning specialist shop based in Prestatyn. 

At 12 noon on Sunday, October 15 the local Hafod Brewery will be hosting a beer and cheese pairing event where you’ll be able to enjoy two of life’s great pleasures – beer and cheese – together. 

Hafod Brewing Co is a family team creating diverse, drinkable beers proudly showcasing the northeast Wales region’s amazing ingredients and cheeses will be supplied by The Little Cheesemonger. 

Rounding out a weekend of special events is a wine and cheese tasting event hosted by Pip Gale of Gales Wine Bar. 

Pip will be exploring six of the glorious wines of the Valpolicella region of Italy alongside a curated selection of cheeses, again from The Little Cheesemonger.

Tickets for the Penderyn Whisky and Cheese tasting cost £20, tickets for Hafod Brewery’s Beer and Cheese tasting cost £20 and Pip Gales’ wine and cheese tasting event is £25. 

All the tasting events will take place in the Silver Band Rooms in Parade Street, Llangollen.

* Tickets for all the events can be purchased from Ticketsource.  Due to the exclusive nature of these events a limited number of tickets will be available, and early booking is recommended to secure your place. Tickets are only available to those over the age of 18.

Service for Baby Loss Awareness Week at St Collen's

 

A special Wave of Light service is to be held at St Collen's Church this Sunday (October 15) at 4pm to mark Baby Loss Awareness Week.

A spokesperson for the organisers said: "It’s all about raising awareness and breaking the silence on what people used to consider a ‘taboo’ topic. 

"I know that baby loss has affected many local families, including my own, so it would be really good for families to know that their babies are not forgotten. 

"The church will also be lit up to raise awareness and the service is for anyone who has a lost a baby in pregnancy, at birth or in the early years, whether the loss was yesterday or 80 years ago. 

"There will be an opportunity to write names on the remembrance tree at the back of the church throughout Baby Loss Awareness Week and the church will be open every day from 10am-3.30pm."

County council warns of 'serious budget challenges'

Denbighshire County Council is warning that challenging times lie ahead as it faces a series of continuing budget pressures due to rising costs and demand for services.

It is estimated that delivering day to day services – including social services, waste collection and schools, will cost an extra £26m due to price increases, inflation, and pressure on demand.

Despite an expected increase in funding of £5.6m (3%) by Welsh Government, this still leaves a funding gap of £20.4m. Like Local Authorities across Wales, the 

* County Hall in Ruthin.

Council must find additional money through savings and efficiencies, charges for services, increases in Council Tax or by reducing or cutting services. 

Councillor Jason McLellan, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Lead Member for Economic Growth & Tackling Deprivation said: “Like all Councils across Wales and England we face the most challenging of times. Over a decade of constant austerity cuts from UK Government has taken its toll on local authorities and as a result we have to make very difficult decisions.

“We have already been looking at every Council function to identify budget savings. We have asked staff internally to propose ideas; we are considering what we can do differently, what we can reduce and what we can stop. On the basis of these considerations, we are working to come up with a list of potential savings across everything we do. The current financial position is incredibly challenging and as a result, the need for significant budget savings is unprecedented.”

Councillor Gwyneth Ellis, Cabinet Lead Member for Finance, Performance and Strategic Assets said: “The main priority for Cabinet at this point is ensure the Council can balance the books. Denbighshire wants to avoid arriving at a situation where external Commissioners are sent in by government to reduce spend with little or no reference to the elected Members or the local communities. This is the reality of what could happen should we fail to balance the books.

“That is why we must start making difficult decisions now. We need to be able to agree to implement significant savings over the next few months to enable us to set a balanced budget for 2024/25.  We also know there are likely to be similar challenges facing us for 2025/26.”

The proposals which will be put forward will all go through the appropriate process with some decisions made by Cabinet while others will be taken via delegated decision either by the Lead Member or Head of Service.  All decisions which have a significant impact on our communities will be subject to a public consultation.

Roadworks alerts for this week

Local roadworks alerts from one.network are:

Fron Bache, Llangollen, Denbighshire 11 October - 13 October   Delays likely - Road closure   Name: Fron Bache, Llangollen   Location: Fron Bache   Description: Streetworks / License - Streetworks   Responsibility for event: Denbighshire County Council   Current status: Planned       Vicarage Road, Llangollen, Denbighshire 11 October - 13 October   Delays likely - Diversion route   Name: Diversion   Location: Vicarage Road   Description: Streetworks / License - Streetworks   Responsibility for event: Denbighshire County Council   Current status: Planned

Market Street, Llangollen, Denbighshire 11 October - 13 October   Roadworks, Delays unlikely   Traffic management: Some carriageway incursion   Description: INSTALL NEW MTR AND BBOX DIG IS A METER BY A METER SQUARE   Works location: ROAD OPENING & DIG TAKING PLACE ON FOOTWAY OUTSIDE PUBLIC CONVENIENCES & PREMISES   Public facing description: one.network has automatically assigned a category of Unclassified works to this Works based on the information available. Please note: Works Descriptions are not published by Hafren Dyfrdwy.   Responsibility for works: Hafren Dyfrdwy   Current status: Planned work about to start   Works reference: ZU0070000/0000800797909

Judy to tackle Great South run at 78 in memory of friend Sandra

* Judy Smith, right, with her friend Sandra Woodhall at a Llangollen Round Challenge event.

At the age of 78, Llangollen's Judy Smith is to take part in this Sunday's Great South Run in memory of her friend and fellow fundraiser.

In aid of Cancer Research UK, Judy Smith had originally planned to compete in last month's Great North Run as a fitting tribute to her late friend Sandra Woodhall with whom she founded and organised the famous Llangollen Round Challenge which has raised many thousands of pounds for Cancer Research UK since it began in 2012. 

But a broken wrist put paid to Judy's plan and instead she began training for the less demanding southern event of "only" ten miles rather than 13. 

Judy said: "Unfortunately, I managed to break my wrist falling over at the Erddig Parkrun a few months ago and had it in plaster, so the Great North Run would not have been a good idea. I therefore switched my entry to the Great South Run in Portsmouth.

"Sandra herself raised more than half a million pounds for CRUK in her lifetime and of course, was passionate about the Llangollen Round Challenge that has proved so successful.  

"I wanted this run to be a last fundraising event in her name, and both I and Cancer Research UK will be grateful for any sponsorship you can offer.

"You can donate using the following link: https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/judys-giving-page-109  or email me on smithdinbren@gmail.com to discuss other means of donation."

Three local TV stars stage hit Town Hall fundraiser

 

* Chris Sims and Shea Ferron join forces on Light Up by Snow Patrol.

* Singing policeman Karl Joseph.

* Chris Sims tells all about The Piano.

 * Shea Ferron with one of his big West End musicals numbers.

Three-plus-three plus 100 equals one thousand. Or at least they do when talented Llangollen people sprinkle some stardust on the equation.

The magical arithmetic here means that last night at the Town Hall three local TV heroes spent three marvellous hours giving their services free to entertain a sell-out audience of over 100 to raise a marvellous £1,000 or more to ensure this year’s Llangollen Christmas Festival is another big hit and in turn raises thousands for local charitable causes.

Shea Ferron, who made it to the finals of ITV's Britain's Got Talent as part of the Johns' Boys choir appeared along with well-known local musician Chris Sims, who was featured in Channel 4's The Piano, and "singing policeman" Karl Joseph who hit national prominence on ITV's Star Struck.

The sum of success for got even better for the Llangollen Superstars concert when Orb Sound and Lighting and a host of volunteers, headed by Christmas Festival chair Chem Cheminais. manning the hall threw in their efforts free of charge.

Chris Sims provided the melodic prelude to the proceedings with a sing-along version of Monkees’ hit Daydream Believer, following up with Beatles biggie Lady Madonna.

He showcased his keyboard versatility even further with favourites from the likes of Duke Ellington, Bill Joel – pounding out for the first time ever in public his Piano Man – and also threw in some of his own compositions a couple of which really deserve to become hits in their own right.

Chris rounded things off in fine style by encouraging the audience to jump to their feet and dance along with Status Quo’s Rockin’ All Over the World – a version of which he had played on The Piano.

In the gaps between his numbers he gave us some fascinating behind-the-scenes tales of his couple of days in front of the TV cameras.

There were similar inside stories from PCSO Karl Joseph when he took his turn on the Town Hall beat, opening with a foot-tapping Let Me Entertain You from Robbie Williams and continuing with Coming the Air Tonight from Phil Collins.

Switching styles he steered us out West with his take on country number Wagon Wheel before paying homage to his favourite band Queen’s Crazy Little Thing Called Love.

By this time he had ‘em dancing in the rather limited aisles, ramming home Footloose, I’m a Believer from the Monkees, Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol and a big soulful Angels by Robbie Williams.

Hotfoot from another gig out on the coast, Shea Ferron bounded on stage to deliver a powerful Tougher than the Rest by Springsteen then It’s Hard to Speak My Heart from the musical Parade.

He stuck with the West End theme with a well-acted-out You’ll Be Back from Hamilton, a moving Bring Him Home from Les Mis – the same one for you which he had memorably joined Alfie Boe on stage at this year’s Eisteddfod – and a soaring Defying Gravity from Wicked.

Shea gave us his own personal memories of singing to telly glory with his choir before demonstrating how easily he can move around the songbook with Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel and the thumping Show Me the Way to Amarillo by Tony Christie.

To wind up he was joined on stage by Chris Sims to finale with Light Up by Snow Patrol.

All this added up to a stonking evening of home-grown entertainment the like of which we should see more.