Eisteddfod aims to bring Llangollen community together again

Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod will be holding another community meeting on Monday December 4 at St Collen’s Community Hall at 7pm. 

The hybrid session will be an opportunity to provide an update on the 2024 concert programme, answer questions about their plans for next summer, and to invite residents to join the growing team of volunteers.  

It will take place on the same day the Eisteddfod announces its evening concerts for the core Eisteddfod week, which takes place from Tuesday to Sunday July 2-7.  

The Eisteddfod has been one of the highlights of Wales' busy cultural calendar since it was launched in 1947 to promote peace through song and dance. This is the third community meeting since the summer providing information to the local community. 

Since the Eisteddfod announced the partnership with Cuffe & Taylor, they have announced numerous gigs before and after the core Eisteddfod week, which will see the likes of Manic Street Preachers, Suede, Paloma Faith, Nile Rodgers, Jess Glynne and Kaiser Chiefs heading to North Wales next summer. 

Organisers will announce their full concert series for 2024 on Monday December 4, before bringing the community together for the public meeting.

Vice Chair Chris Adams said: "It is vital for us to communicate at every level with Llangollen and wider community.  

"There is a real sense of excitement about next year's Eisteddfod so why not bring our community together on the day we announce our concert programme.  

"The Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod has promoted peace through music and dance since 1947.  

"Like any other Eisteddfod, we have had to adapt to challenges and that is why we are delighted to be working in partnership with Cuffe and Taylor.  The aims and ethos of our unique Eisteddfod remain and we can't wait for the Summer.  

"It is important to us that residents have the chance to ask us questions and take advantage of their chance to jump the queue to buy the hottest tickets in North Wales this summer."

Talk on the history of St Collen's at the museum next Wednesday

Llangollen Museum presents ‘A History of St Collen’s Church’. an illustrated talk by Suzanne Evans, at 7.30pm on Wednesday November 29.

Llangollen-based Archaeologist Suzanne will give a presentation looking at both the history and the future of St Collen’s Church. 

She will examine the fascinating history and archaeology of the church building, as well as explaining the planned research and changes that will result from the St Collen’s Genesis programme that she is managing for the church.

In legend, St Collen, after whom our town is named, established his cell or church in Llangollen. Whether that original cell was on the same site as the church that stands today is not known. 

The surviving architecture of the present building points to a stone church of 13th century date, with changes in the 15th or early 16th centuries and other major alterations in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Entrance is £3 which includes refreshments.

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.