Book launch at Plas Newydd tomorrow

 

Horseshoe Falls improvement scheme appoints contractor

Denbighshire County Council have appointed a contractor to undertake improvement works at Horseshoe Falls funded by the UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund (LUF).

During the first round of LUF, the council was successful in its joint application with Wrexham County Borough Council for the Clwyd South Constituency, which was supported by Simon Baynes MP. Denbighshire secured £3.8 million to invest in the communities of Llangollen, Llantysilio, Corwen and surrounding areas.

Residents and visitors will soon be able to benefit from enhancements to Horseshoe Falls through improvements to the toilet facilities and drainage, additional parking spaces and improved visitor flow between the car park and the viewing area which will enable the area to cope with increasing visitor numbers.

KM Construction have been successful in their tender for the project, with work having begun at the site earlier this week.

Part of the car park will be closed to the public while the work is carried out, which are anticipated to take approximately 10 weeks, with a two-week shutdown during the Christmas period.

Every effort will be made to keep disruption to the toilet facilities to a minimum, but there will be occasional closures while the work takes place, says the council.

Cllr Jason McLellan, Lead Member for Economic Growth and Tackling Deprivation, said: “We are pleased to have appointed KM Construction as the contractor to complete these much-needed improvements to Horseshoe Falls and look forward to seeing them bring the plans into fruition.

“The area has seen a significant increase in visitor numbers in recent years, and hope that this project, once completed, will enhance the visitor experience for all who visit the site.” 

* Find out more about Denbighshire County Council’s Levelling Up Fund project at Horseshoe Falls here.

Llangollen Food Share gains registered charity status

* Treasurer Gill Robertson on Llangollen Food Share’s stall at last Saturday's Llangollen Christmas Festival.

Volunteers at Llangollen Food Share are celebrating their official recognition as a registered charity. 

The group applied for registration earlier this year and have now received notification from the Charity Commission and HMRC that their application has been successful.

Centre Manager Steph Mitchell said: “We are all delighted by the recognition that we have gained from the Charity Commission and hope that the benefits will enable us to continue to ensure that no-one in our area goes hungry.

“Charity registration enables Llangollen Food Share to claim back income tax on donations from the public, meaning that the government will add an extra 25p to every pound donated by those who pay UK income tax. 

"Registration also gives assurance to grant funders that the charity is being run properly and that its accounts are verified externally each year."

In July Food Share stepped in to help parents provide lunches for their children when the Welsh Government free school meals emergency support ended. 

Steph added: "We knew that some children in our area would be affected when the government support ended and during school holidays we provided just over 1,350 packed lunch meals for children."

Llangollen Food Share says it continues to see an increase in demand for its services during the cost of living crisis and the challenges that increased fuel bills have brought.

As the festive season approaches the organisation expects to see its busiest Christmas ever.

“We’ll be helping many of Llangollen’s least well-off to be supported during the most expensive time of the year,” said Steph

* Learn more about Llangollen Food Share on the website www.llangollenfoodshare.org.uk.

Pengwern Community Hub's calendar for December

 Pengwern Community Hub's calendar for December is:

Farm near Glyn Ceiriog on the market for £1.8 million

* Caedicws Farm near Glyn Ceiriog is on the market for £1.8 million.

A farm near Llangollen is up for sale at £1.8 million. 

Caedicws livestock farm close to Glyn Ceiriog comprises a three-bedroom detached dwelling, a range of stone traditional buildings as well as more modern agricultural buildings and approximately 235 acres (95 ha) of agricultural land, according to agents Roger Parry & Partners. 

The farm is located in an elevated position above the Ceiriog Valley. The property is situated one mile from the village of Glyn Ceiriog.

The farmhouse is said by the agents to require renovation and but lends itself to make "the ideal farm family home, or provide an excellent tourism opportunity".

The description adds: "The farm benefits from a particularly impressive and extensive range of outbuildings which are centred around the farmyard. The courtyard range of traditional, stone-walled, farm buildings are suitable for conversion into a number of uses including residential and tourism, subject to obtaining the relevant planning consent. There’s also a machinery and implements storage building as well as multiple sheds for housing livestock.

"The land extends to 232.47 acres (94 ha) and comprises four separate blocks which are split only by the minor council highway providing excellent access to the field parcels. 

"The land is predominantly flat/gently undulating throughout, except only for one field parcel to the west of the farmyard extending to 40.78 acres (16.50hectares) being steep hill land with its own separate access to the west by Afon Ceiriog. The grassland is suitable for grazing or fodder conservation, with some parcels being suitable for an arable rotation, if desired, having previously grown corn."

* The particulars are available on Roger Parry & Partners website: Caedicws Farm, Glyn Ceiriog, Llangollen - Roger Parry & Partners

Viewing of the farm is strictly by appointment through Roger Parry & Partners. Please contact Tudor Watkins or Amy Thomas in the Welshpool office to arrange a viewing. Telephone: 01938 554499 or email: tudor@rogerparry.net

Winter warmer event at Community Hall this Thursday

 

Hard to find fault with Kia's ProCeed - except maybe the name

Kia ProCeed drive by Steve Rogers

This is a bit mean but the first thing I do when reviewing a car is try and find a fault.

In years gone by you could draw up a list but it is not so easy now. There are no bad cars these days and so there shouldn’t be after more than 120 years trying to get it right.

My old English teacher gave us a good piece of advice: Make sure you get the simple things right. That mantra could be applied to the ProCeed, all the bases have been covered, although I did come across one niggle but you will have to wait until the end to find out what it is.

ProCeed is part of the Ceed family and started life as a slightly sporty three-door hatch only to be replaced in 2019 by this rather sleek estate, or shooting brake as it is badged. Its job was to add pizzaz to the range. Box ticked.

It is longer and lower than Ceed Sportswagon with a coupe style roof and steeply raked tailgate. A more dynamic chassis has spiced up handling but this is no flaming hot hatch. A Volkswagen Golf GTI it ain’t, yet it will fly around bends faster than will ever be need on public roads but at the same time road surface damage is well cushioned so this is very much a car the family can enjoy.

A midlife upgrade has seen cosmetic surgery to the front end, new light signature, snazzier grille finish and large air intakes either side of the bumper. The range has been paired down to two models and one engine, a 1.5 litre petrol turbo.

Although the emphasis is semi-sport ProCeed is a practical family car but still cool enough for the kids to quite happily pile into for a lift to school. With no boot lip and lower ride height it is arguably more practical than Sportswagon.

These days the major upgrades are centred on technology and that is the case here, from the 10.25in central touchscreen to the 12.3in digital driver’s binnacle. Drivers will enjoy the simplicity of the displays in the eyeline which impart loads of information via rotating steering wheel buttons.

Other tech upgrades bring in Kia Connect telematics with live weather updates, while journey directions can be pinged to the on board navigation from a mobile phone app, or they can be relayed to the screen using smartphone integration.

The spec is good across both models but go all in for GT-Line S and it is pamper time with heated seats front and back, powered tailgate, along with a host of other features and, of course, a safety list as long as your arm. Highlights are adaptive cruise control and cross traffic alert which can stave off a rear end shunt pulling out of a parking bay and should be a standard fitting on all cars.

Kia has not knocked it out of the park with ProCeed but nearly five years on it is still a car that is almost flawless. It is worth recording that Ceed has made Kia, even though it is no longer its top seller, but has helped the brand double sales to more than 100,000 a year since first appearing in our showrooms way back in 2006.

So what was the flaw I found in the goody two shoes ProCeed? Your thinking the name, which I agree is a naff. No, my niggle is the brake auto hold which has to be switched on every time the car is started.

Okay it is minor and hardly a deal breaker, but lots of other makes have it sorted so, just for me, put it right.

Fast facts

ProCeed GT-Line S

£32,270 (starts £26,665)

1.5 T-GDi; 157bhp. 7sp auto

0-62mph 8.8secs; 130mph

46.3mpg combined

138g/km. First tax £255

Boot: 594-1545 litres

Insurance group 19