Judy, 78, runs up a total of £1,105 from Great South Run

* Judy Smith in Portsmouth after completing the Great South Run at 78.

A Llangollen woman has raised over £1,100 for a cancer charity by completing a half-marathon at the age of 78.   

Judy Smith strode to success in last month's Great South Run in Portsmouth in memory of her late friend and well-known former local vet 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. 

Judy's first estimate of the amount her run had raised for the same charity was just over £450.

But the final tally after her fundraising page closed is a magnificent £1,105.  

Judy had originally planned to compete in the Great North Run but a broken wrist put paid to that and instead she began training for the less demanding southern event of "only" ten miles rather than 13. 

Now she says: "I would like to say a very big thank you to all those who supported my efforts on the Great South Run in memory of Sandra Woodhall. 

"The total raised was £1,105, a fitting tribute to a remarkable and much-loved person, and Cancer Research UK will be very grateful for every penny of it.  Thank you!

"I had to change my plan to take part in the Great North Run but, unfortunately, I managed to break my wrist falling over at the Erddig Parkrun a few months earlier 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.

“I manage to complete the run and, in truth, it was quite good fun and I actually enjoyed myself.

“The atmosphere was fantastic, with 25,000 runners, lots of bands playing, and cheering people lining the streets make you feel good and keep you going - even if you can't quite manage four miles an hour. I wouldn't have wanted to do it again next day though.”

British birds and wildlife exhibition at Llangollen Museum.

 

Local artist Trish Neil currently has an exhibition of her prints, cards and coasters of  British birds and wildlife at Llangollen Museum. All are for sale in the gallery.

New Dot Cinema brings down the curtain after eight years

The organisers of New Dot Cinema have announced that they will be winding down the cinema with immediate effect. 

A post on Facebook said: "This has been a difficult decision that we have spent several months pondering, but ultimately we no longer have the volunteer power for the show to go on.

 

"New Dot was set up in 2015 by Simon and Jen, and went from strength to strength over the years. At our height we were screening two films a month and regularly welcoming up to a hundred people to Llangollen Town Hall.  

"We’ve loved every moment spent watching acclaimed Oscar winners, obscure indie films, doing the Time Warp and cheering on Buster Keaton with you."

Joanna Stallard to stand for Parliament at general election

* Joanna Stallard is standing for Parliament in Dwyfor Meirionnydd.   

The daughter of two well-known members of the clergy who was brought up in Llangollen is to stand as an MP at the next general election.

Joanna Stallard, whose mother, Mary Stallard, was one of the first women priests in Wales and is now Bishop of Llandaff, and father, Andrew Sully, was Vicar of St Collen's until 2018, has been chosen as Labour candidate for the Plaid Cymru-held seat of Dwyfor Meirionnydd.  

She grew up in Llangollen from 2006, attending Ysgol Gymraeg y Gwernant and Ysgol Dinas Brân, and lived here until the family moved to Llandudno, where her father became vicar. He is now interim head of Christian Aid Wales.

From 2015, Joanna attended the University of Exeter where she studied History and German BA, including a year abroad in Würzburg, Germany, before moving to London in 2019 to work for the then Clwyd South MP Susan Elan Jones, as her Parliamentary Researcher in Westminster. 

Since then she has worked as a recruiter and project manager for Just Eat Takeaway from 2020-2022, and as a recruitment manager responsible for UK and Germany hiring across the business for a company called Atheneum, which she’s done since April 2022.

Growing up, Joanna was a Youth Representative on Llangollen Town Council, a member of the Denbighshire Youth Council as well as being one of the Denbighshire Representatives at the Welsh Youth Parliament, formerly known as Funky Dragon. 

It was through the Welsh Youth Parliament that she had the opportunity in 2014 to speak as one of two Welsh elected speakers during the Live Televised Youth Debate in Westminster.

There she met Speaker John Bercow and gave a commemorative speech at the dispatch box about the North Walian hero, Hedd Wyn, during which she used the opportunity to introduce herself through Welsh. 

* The clip can be found (40:00 minutes in): https://www.c-span.org/video/?322762-1/annual-british-youth-parliament-100th-anniversary-world-war

Joanna says is grateful to her school history teacher Richard Evans who encouraged her from a young age to consider a career in politics. 

Through school and the local Ectarc she had the opportunity to visit the European Parliament in Strasbourg and to go on a cultural exchange trip to Estonia. 

She was also able to use her school work experience to do placements with Susan Elan Jones and Ken Skates MS which resulted in her completing a month's internship with Susan again during her university years. 

As well as being interested in politics, Joanna was involved annually in local productions of Llangollen Operatic Society and the Operatic’s Young Uns, highlights of which she says were playing Mr Toad in The Adventures of Mr Toad when she was 12, and Nancy in Oliver! when she was 17.

Joanna says she is very excited at the prospect of standing as the Labour Party candidate in Dwyfor Meirionnydd, which neighbours her hometown of Llangollen. 

The seat has been held since 2015 by Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville Roberts who had a majority of 4,740 at the 2019 general election.

Joanna says she already has experience of having campaigned in part of the constituency including Corwen, Cynwyd and Llandrillo, when it was formerly part of Clwyd South. 

On the day of the 2019 election, Joanna was responsible for covering that particular ward of the constituency and says she is very excited to return there to canvas, as well as to getting on the campaign trail in general across the vast constituency.

Eisteddfod's floral team make seasonal wreaths for festival

Ladies of the floral committee at Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod spent hours yesterday in St Collen's Community Hall creating colourful Christmas wreaths which they'll be selling on behalf of festival funds from their stall in Market Street during this Saturday's Llangollen Christmas Festival.

Also on sale will be a selection of tree ornaments in the shape of small, snow-covered wooden buildings, 200 of which have been lovingly made by committee member Ceinwen Clark with the help of her husband Ron. They can be bought separately or as a whole village from the stall.      

* Ceinwen Clark with her tree decorations.

Smiling man with white beard to volunteer at Eisteddfod's Snowman concerts

* Chem, pictured on Llangollen Bridge, is staying tight lipped over his involvement with the Christmas Peace concerts.

Llangollen town crier Austin “Chem” Cheminais has confirmed he will be volunteering at the Snowman Concerts to be hosted by the Eisteddfod and NEW Sinfonia at the town’s International Pavilion Hall on December 23.  

As a former town mayor Chem is a familiar face around Llangollen and is also a close associate of Sion Corn (Father Christmas) in his long-time role as chairman of the Llangollen Christmas Festival committee.  

He remains tight lipped about his involvement with the concerts other than to say he will be playing a “leading role” in the glittering seasonal affairs. 

The concerts, organised by North Wales orchestra NEW Sinfonia, in partnership with the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, will raise money for the Eisteddfod charity as well as a local refugee cause.  

Organisers have promised that the two concerts, at 12.30pm and 3.30pm, will be a musical highlight of the festive season and the “best Christmas family event this side of the North Pole!”  

The shows will feature a selection of popular seasonal songs and carols sung by NEW Voices, the inspirational community choir, who will be joined by refugees from Ukraine, who will conduct, sing and play with NEW Sinfonia.   

Both concerts will culminate with a showing of iconic Christmas film “The Snowman” whose magical soundtrack will be brought to life by NEW Sinfonia.  

Chem, who is currently busy with his team organising this Saturday's Llangollen Christmas Festival, said: "Everyone knows that Christmas is my favourite time of the year. The Snowman events at Llangollen Pavilion will be an amazing family experience.  

“I can't wait to join the festivities but I have been sworn to secrecy over my exact involvement other than that I will be saying ‘ho, ho, ho’ regularly during both concerts." 

Organisers of the event have reported brisk ticket sales and are encouraging anyone who hasn’t yet done so to buy theirs as soon as possible. Residents can get tickets online at newsinfonia.org.uk or by visiting the Llangollen Tourist Information Office. 

John Gambles, a trustee of Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod said: "Chem is a well-known character in Llangollen and we're delighted that he will joining us for our Christmas events.  

“We are so pleased to again be partnering with NEW Sinfonia to present these two extra-special Christmas concerts. They represent everything that the Eisteddfod is all about as we promote peace at Christmas."

Father Lee to appear on Netflix ‘Squid Game: The Challenge’

* Father Lee Taylor is contestant number 123 on Squid Game: The Challenge.

Father Lee Taylor, priest-in-charge of St Collen's Church in Llangollen, will compete as contestant #123 on the new record-breaking reality TV series: Squid Game: The Challenge which will premiere on Netflix tomorrow, November 22.

The 10-episode competition, dubbed ‘The biggest Netflix show ever’ on the trailer, will have the largest number of players ever to compete in the history of reality television. 

Father Lee was approached by Studio Lambert, an independent television production company known for producing Gogglebox, The Traitors, Race Across the World, The Circle and Four in a Bed, back in 2022 and asked if he would consider being one of 456 players from around the world to enter the competition show in pursuit of a record-setting cash prize of $4.56 million.

Squid Game: The Challenge is spawned from the original Netflix smash hit series 'Squid Game', a South Korean distopian drama which became Netflix's most-watched series, attracting 1.65 billion viewing hours in its first four weeks. 

Through a series of games, such as 'Red Light, Green Light', 'Sugar Honeycombs', and 'Tug of War', each player will be pushed to their limits and forced to ask themselves just how far they’ll go to win, with opportunistic alliances, cutthroat strategies and timely betrayals to follow. 

Father Lee says he was taken by surprise when Studio Lambert contacted him in August last year to encourage him to take part in the show. 

They urged him to watch the whole of the original series and gave him the reassurance that all contestants for Squid Game: The Challenge would leave ‘unscathed.’

* Squid Game: The Challenge will premiere on Netflix on November 22.