Denbighshire's ‘Free After Three’ parking scheme returns

* Llangollen's Market Street is one of the council car parks that will be Free after Three in the run-up to the festive season.

Denbighshire County Council will once again be running the ‘Free After Three’ parking scheme in the run up to Christmas.

Between November 20 and December 31, council-run town centre car parks will be free to use across the county every day from 3pm to encourage more people to use their local high street for shopping in the run-up to Christmas and New Year.

The Free After Three initiative will be available in the following car parks:

1. Corwen - Green Lane
2. Denbigh – Barkers Well Lane, Crown Lane, Factory Ward, Post Office Lane and Vale Street
3. Llangollen - East Street, Hall Street, Market Street and Mill Street
4. Prestatyn – Kings Avenue, Lower High Street Railway Station
5. Rhuddlan - Parliament Street
6. Rhyl – Central, Morley Road, West Kinmel Street, Sky Tower, Town Hall, Railway Station; Library (disabled bays only),
7. Ruthin - Market Street, Crispin Yard, Dog Lane, Park Road, Rhos Street, St Peters Square and Troed Y Rhiw
8. St Asaph - Bowling Green

Councillor Barry Mellor, Lead Member for Environment and Transport said: “Free after Three has proved popular in previous years because it is a great scheme that enables residents to support their local communities.

“We hope that everyone supports our local high streets and back our businesses, especially in the run-up to Christmas and take full advantage of the benefits of the scheme by using the county’s town centre car parks free of charge.”

Big treasure hunt features in Llangollen Christmas Festival

Keen-eye youngsters coming along to Llangollen Christmas Festival later this month are being invited to join the big treasure hunt.

After the success of last year's Strange Items Treasure Hunt in which festival organisers asked competitors to find all the odd things in 14 shop windows around town, this year they're being challenged to find various Gingerbread Folk who will be in the windows of 20 shops and businesses.

Entry forms will be available on festival day from the Town Hall lobby, and there'll be small prizes for those competitors who locate most of the gingerbread figures and bring back their forms for checking.

The back of each entry form shows the search area and an example gingerbread figure (Sion Corn) to give them an idea what they're looking for. On the front they'll find a list of all the figures ranging from a Mermaid to a Superhero (via a Granny and a Town Crier) in the total of 20 secret locations for the kids to discover. 

This year's festival is on Saturday November 25 and features:

* Free parking

* Market from 10am

* Parade at 1pm

* Sion Corn's Grotto

* Market stalls, crafts and street food

* Balloon sculpture and face painting

* Grand raffle

* Live bands, choirs and circus performers

* Fairground rides

* Punch and Judy 

* Bouncy play

* Christmas lights switch-on

* Fireworks display sponsored by The Wild Pheasant, Llangollen

Town's Christmas tree takes its place in Centenary Square

* Success: the tree in its final resting place ready for the the festivities. 

Members of the Tidy Town Team were out in force to help put up Llangollen's official Christmas Tree in Centenary Square earlier this afternoon (Wednesday).

The large conifer, acquired and paid for by the Town Council, will be the centrepiece of the town's annual Christmas Festival on Saturday November 25. 

* Placing the tree in its holder.  

* The tree is carried into place.

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