New podcast explores history of Castell Dinas Brân

* A postcard depicting Castell Dinas Brân including the camera obscura and tearoom. Courtesy of Llangollen Museum.

A new podcast exploring the history of Llangollen's Castell Brân has been launched.

Created by Sarah Baylis and produced by Sally Harrison it is entitled Capturing the Castle: A Journey Through Time.

The podcast takes listeners on an audio-guided walk with Sarah, from Llangollen Bridge up to the summit of the castle walking in the company of the many ‘ghosts’ who’ve made the same journey over the last 200 years.

Their words - extracts from letters, travel journals, newspapers, poetry and song – are voiced by local people who responded to a call out for contributors to read the accounts of the historical characters.

Members of the community also feature, providing a modern perspective of the castle from both locals and visitors. 

The recording also features traditional harp music performed by Tom Parry, and the Victorian folk ballad Jenny Jones sung by Jennie Coates.

Layered over time, these varied voices capture the history of the the castle - telling its story from different perspectives, and providing a changing commentary on the picturesque landscape and the growth of tourism to the Dee Valley up to the present day.

The 48-minute-long recording was recently featured at the Dyffyn Dyfrdwy | Dee Valley exhibition at the Dory Gallery in Llangollen, where it played on repeat in a small nook of the gallery, accompanied by historical postcards of the area. 

Following the exhibition, it has been made available as a podcast on Soundcloud and on the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB website.

The audio histories project has been commissioned by the Our Picturesque Landscape project, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Hannah Marubbi, Partnership Officer for Our Picturesque Landscape project said: “We are really pleased to share this fascinating new podcast, creatively telling the story of one of the most iconic structures in the Dee Valley, which has been attracting and inspiring both locals and visitors for centuries.”

Cllr Emrys Wynne, Denbighshire County Council’s Lead Member for Welsh Language, Culture & Heritage, said: “It is fantastic to see the history of Castell Dinas Brân being shared in such an immersive way; this is a truly innovative approach to telling the story of the castle. We are also delighted that members of the local community were able to be part of this project, providing them with the opportunity to champion their local area and celebrate their heritage.”

* You can listen to the podcast at: www.soundcloud.com/ourpicturesquelandscape/capturing-the-castle. It is also being featured at an ongoing exhibition in Llangollen Museum.

Flower club to host Christmas floral art demonstration

Llangollen Flower Club is hosting a floral art demonstration, entitled "Christmas in Wonderland", by Don Billington of Liverpool, at Llangollen Town Hall on Tuesday November 21 at 7.30pm.

Doors open at 6.45pm and ticket price is £10 from club members.

* For more information, call 01978 860869.

Report says Government plans to cut speed limit between town and Berwyn

North Wales Live is reporting that the Welsh Government is cutting the speed limit on a busy A-road in Llangollen to create a 20mph "buffer". 

The Government has put forward a traffic regulation to cut the speed on a section of the A5 between town and Berwyn - slightly less than a mile away - from 60 to 40mph.

* For the full story, see: Welsh Government cutting speed limit on busy North Wales road to create 20mph 'buffer' - North Wales Live (dailypost.co.uk)

Traffic alert for Regent Street

Latest local traffic alert from one.network is:

Regent Street, Llangollen, Denbighshire 16 November - 20 November   Roadworks, Delays possible   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 NUMBER 20   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: ZU0070000/000041700404

Is this 174mph mean machine Audi's last V8 gasp?

Audi RS 6 Avant Performance drive by Steve Rogers

Believe it or not this mean machine is a family estate. Sometimes.

Other times it is a 170 mph supercar that would blow kids' minds on the school run.

But is this the last we will see of the monstrous twin turbo V8 with its colossal horsepower and torque? 

There will be a new A6 but with Audi throwing everything at hybrid and electric we shall have to wait and see what form the next RS 6 model will take, if we see one at all.

The Government has, predictably, changed its mind on the deadline for killing off the combustion engine, and even though Audi has started the clear out by dropping the TT the demise of the RS 6 is said to be ‘not imminent’.

For now RS 6 is very much alive and kicking and had an upgrade this year making it even more powerful.

This is the Performance version beefed up to give more horsepower. The bi turbo unit is bigger, increasing boost pressure, while new alloys are 20 kg lighter. These are the sort of lengths you take to make your car faster than the opposition.

The Performance has a self locking differential which ensures max power to all four wheels so there is no scrabbling for grip when the accelerator is stamped to the metal. 

All these elements have shaved nearly half a second off the sprint to sixty. For the record that takes just over three seconds and I imagine another four or five seconds would see you crashing through the 120 mph barrier.

Sounds manic, which it is, but we have to accept that this car is too fast for our speed limits. The car is a hooligan and would be locked up if it was human! 

Just pressing the start button warns of trouble ahead if you are not careful. It has a glorious roar to get the driver in the mood and can leave you spellbound with just one blip of the accelerator. Floor it and you are hurled back into the seat.

Top speed it governed to 174 mph but I'm pretty certain there is another 20 mph under the bonnet with the limiter disengaged. The 850Nm of torque is whopping so no worries about overtaking.

RS 6 has been revered as the world’s fastest estate car, whether it is better than rival offerings from Mercedes-Benz and BMW can only be decided on a track. On public roads the Audi feels immovable, hardly surprising when it is being pushed to a fraction of its limits.

To put it another way, a driver would have to be stupidly reckless to lose control such is the incredible grip from the quattro drivetrain. Apart from that the RS is stacked to the gunnels with driver safety aids and it is not at all intimidating to drive. 

The adaptive cruise control is impressive and came into its own on a drenched motorway where the lack of visibility was scary. Once set the car takes over braking and accelerating from a chosen distance to the vehicle in front. Using traffic sign recognition it automatically slows the car to a lower speed. A new one for me.

As a family estate the RS Avant is sensible, to a point. It easily accommodates five adults with a boot big enough to carry a sizeable piece of furniture with the seats down, or a pile of luggage with the back seats in place. 

In reality an A6 Avant is more realistic as family transport given the £127,000 for the RS Performance, and the costs that go with it. Insurance will be sky high, you need to cough up big bucks for the first year road tax and then there is the little matter of low twenties economy, although I did manage 25mpg over nearly 700 miles. Good job the car has a 73 litre tank.

And you might as well go the whole hog with ceramic brakes. An extra £9,200, you would get a good used car for that money, but my goodness they are immense.

I have been saying for 20 years that none of the other premium brands can trim a car like Audi and nothing has changed. This car is beautifully finished although some of the technology is becoming dated and will probably be refreshed in the new model.

Fast Facts

RS 6 Avant Performance

£126,970 (£140,000 tested)

4 litre V8, 8sp tiptronic; 618bhp

0-62mph 3.4secs; 174mph

22.4mpg combined

285g/km. First tax £2,365

Boot: 565-1680 litres

Insurance group 50

All four mobile phone networks still down in central Llangollen

* EE's signal checker shows a problem with its local service.

All four mobile phone networks serving central LL20 areas of Llangollen are still down after an outage which began late on Saturday.

llanblogger has looked at the online signal checkers for EE, Three, 02 and Vodaphone this morning are all are showing problems with their services to the area.

EE simply points out that it is "aware of the problem with this site".

Three says: "Our engineers are working on masts nearby which means the rest of our network is handling more traffic than usual."

02 at least says "sorry" and explains that a phone mast close by isn't working. But it assures: "Our engineers are on the case."

And Vodaphone's checker is registering "current network issues" with the area's 2G, 3G and 4G services. LL20 doesn't currently have 5G availability, it shows.

There have been lots of complaints about the situation on Facebook. 

* The word from Three.

 * 02's signal checker.

* Vodaphone's outage explanation.

Kaiser Chiefs to return for Llangollen Eisteddfod next summer

* The Kaiser Chiefs. Picture: Cal McIntyre.

Indie heroes Kaiser Chiefs will make a triumphant return to the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod on Saturday June 29.

Tickets go on general sale at 9am on Friday November 17. 

The announcement follows the news that the band will release their new studio album, the aptly titled Kaiser Chiefs’ Easy Eighth Album, on March 1 next year.

Produced by Amir Amor (Rudimental), Easy Eighth Album sees them return with a fresh and bold new sound. 

From the Nile Rodgers co-writer of new single ‘Feeling Alright’, to the frantic ‘Beautiful Girl’, horn-laden Kaiser Chiefs throwback ‘Job Centre Shuffle’ and joyous punch in the gut that is ‘Jealousy’, these 10 tracks are a true statement of intent from a band that continues to deliver the goods again and again.

The album arrives off the back of roaring success with previous releases ‘Jealousy’and ‘How 2 Dance’, as well as a big UK arena headline tour at the end of last year.

Where 2019’s Duck straddled the tide between Northern-Soul euphoria and early ‘00s antithesis, 2024 will see Kaiser Chiefs stepping into a renewed spotlight; a hook-heightened universe in which Ricky Wilson, Andrew “Whitey” White (guitar), Simon Rix (bass), Keyboardist Peanut and Vijay Mistry on drums, come together to create what they craft best; breakthrough hits for the world’s dancefloor.  

And with a band almost two decades in the game, armed with an extensive back-catalogue of stadium belters, and record-breaking success, fans at Llangollen Pavilion can prepare for a nightfilled with anthemic hits such as ‘Oh My God’, ‘I Predict A Riot’, ‘Everyday I Love You Less and Less’ and ‘Ruby’. 

The headlining Llangollen show is the latest to be announced as part of a new partnership between the Eisteddfod and Live Nation promoters Cuffe and Taylor. 

Kaiser Chiefs, who headlined Llanfest in 2018, join indie superstars Manic Street Preachers and Suede, BRIT award-winning artist Paloma Faith and disco legends Nile Rodgers & CHIC among the artists to be announced so far for the iconic peace festival in 2024. 

Lead Programmer &Production Manager of the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod Dave Danford said:“We’re delighted Kaiser Chiefs will be returning to Llangollen. They went down a storm in 2018, and we’re so pleased that they’ll bring their anthems back to North Wales in 2024.  

“This is just the latest announcement as part of our exciting new partnership with Live Nation promoters Cuffe and Taylor, with more to come in the next few weeks” 

Cuffe and Taylor co-founder Peter Taylor said: “Kaiser Chiefs are a brilliant live band. We’ve presented multiple shows with them over the years so we can’t wait to bring them back to Llangollen for what will be a really exciting show for everyone involved.”

* For more information and to purchase tickets go to llangollen.net and www.ticketmaster.co.uk