Popular sightseeing bus service returns to Dee Valley

The popular Dee Valley Picturesque bus service will be running again this year, providing access to some of the key destinations in this beautiful and historic landscape. 

The Dee Valley Picturesque Bus service is a circular route which links Llangollen and the surrounding villages to popular local attractions including Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, Wenffrwd Nature Reserve, Horseshoe Falls, Valle Crucis Abbey, Plas Newydd Historic House and the Horseshoe Pass. 

The hop on/hop off service will enable passengers to visit these key locations without the need of a car, making it easier for those without their own vehicle to access these places and helping to reduce congestion at some of the busiest sites in the Dee Valley. 

The service has been made possible thanks to funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund in Wales, and delivered in partnership by Denbighshire County Council and the Our Picturesque Landscape project, a landscape partnership scheme which is working to conserve and improve access to the inspiring landscapes of the Dee Valley and Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal World Heritage Site. 

The all day 1Bws ticket provides great value for those wanting to take a sightseeing tour of the area, and this year the service will also offer tap on/tap off payments for shorter single trips, making it the ideal option for discovering some the area’s linear walks.

The Dee Valley Picturesque Bus Service 199 will operate Saturdays only from Saturday 30^th March – Saturday 30^th August 2024. For the full timetable and ticket prices please visit the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB website, Denbighshire bus timetable webpage, or pick up a leaflet from Llangollen Tourist Information Centre.

https://www.clwydianrangeanddeevalleyaonb.org.uk/projects/the-picturesque-bus/

https://www.denbighshire.gov.uk/en/parking-roads-and-travel/public-transport/bus-timetables/bus-timetables.aspx

Hannah Marubbi, Partnership Officer for the Our Picturesque Landscape project, said: “We are delighted to bring back the Dee Valley Picturesque Bus Service for a fourth year.  The service saw record numbers of users last year and we hope that this season it will provide even more visitors and local residents with the opportunity to explore the wider area.”

Cllr Win-Mullen James, Lead Member for Local Development and Planning, said: “The Dee Valley Picturesque Bus offers the perfect chance to explore the Dee Valley in comfort without the stress of having to plan to park at these fantastic locations around Llangollen.”

Latest events at Pengwern Community Hub

Half-term events happening at Pengwern Hub in Llangollen are:

... and the Hub's March timetable is:

 

Denbighshire cabinet to discuss £1.1m boost for care home fees

Denbighshire County Council’s Cabinet will discuss the 2024/25 Care Home Fee increase at the next Cabinet Meeting, which will take place on March 19. 

The recommendation will be an increase of 8.8% for 2024/25.

Councillor Elen Heaton, Lead Member for Health and Social Care said: “The provision of care is at the heart of the Council’s priorities, and this is evidenced in our approved budget allocations for 2024/25, which prioritises protection for social care and education, despite the acute nationwide local government funding crisis.

"It’s within this context we’ve approached the issue of care fees with due diligence and prudence, recognising the need to balance challenging financial constraints with our commitment to prioritising care provision.

"We currently spend around £13 million on approximately 364 placements in 82 care homes. This constitutes a huge part of our Adult Social Care & Homelessness budget and totals 6% of the Council’s overall total net revenue budget.

"At our upcoming Cabinet meeting, I will be proposing an 8.8% increase in our care fees, following careful consideration of inflation and the Real Living Wage increase.

"If approved by Cabinet, our expenditure on care home fees will increase by around £1.1 million. Given that the proposed increase is substantially more than the modest 3.8% increase we’ve received in our settlement, this increase will significantly impact our budget at a time where savings targets loom large across various council services.

"However, whilst this decision comes with financial implications, it reflects our priorities as a council, and upholds our commitment to prioritising care provision in our community.

"We value our care providers in Denbighshire and remain committed to fostering an open and fair relationship with them. To this end, we consistently offer the opportunity for an ‘open book exercise’, where providers can openly share their financial information with us. This allows for a transparent discussion about the costs involved in delivering care services and helps ensure that public funds are being used efficiently.

"As Lead Member, I stand firmly behind this proposal, confident that it reflects our commitment to maintaining a sustainable future for the care sector in Denbighshire.”

Cavern's resident Beatles band to play at Town Hall

* Beatles Complete on stage.

* An audience in the Netherlands goes wild for the band.

A Beatles tribute band which has a residency at Liverpool's famous Cavern Club is heading for Llangollen in a couple of months time. 

Beatles Complete, who play at the iconic venue on Thursdays and Saturdays, have just started to venture out into theatres and will take to the stage at the Town Hall on Friday May 10.

They are known as the only tribute band that are similar in age to The Beatles when they first had their big break and the show is receiving wide acclaim throughout the UK. 

They began in 2020 with Max as George and Joe as Paul after Joe spotted an ad to start the band while purchasing a Hofner violin bass at his local music store. A year later, George, who is ex-LIPA, and Tom joined as John and Ringo.

The foursome were aged just 14 to 18 when they took to the stage at 2021’s International Beatle Week to make their debut both at the festival and as a band.  

Beatles Complete have performed at International Beatle Week for the last three years and are playing at the Pier Head in Liverpool in front of an estimated 10,000 people. 

All are big Beatles fans who grew up with parents who were also Beatles fanatics. 

They say that a combination of songwriting, musicianship and performance, live and in the studio, are the reasons for their love of Fab Four.

Some sample comments from their audiences are:

"These young boys are amazzzing. Must be seen"

"Absolutely Amazing fantastic show"

"Very talented musicians and vocalists. Brought back lots of memories from when I saw The Beatles on 7th December 1964 at the Apollo!' 

* Tickets are available from www.beatlescomplete.com Look for Tour Dates to find Llangollen.

Funeral details for well-known former postman

A man from Llangollen who was a well-known postman in the area for over 45 years has passed away. 

Doug Price – affectionately known as “Doug the Post” – used to live in West Street. 

He had two sons and four grandchildren. 

One of his sons, also called Doug, said of him: “He was very keen on shooting with a shotgun and beating. He was also the proud captain of the Ponsonby Arms darts team, who won quite a few trophies in the Llangollen darts league, and on watching Llangollen Football Club.” 

The funeral will be at noon on Thursday March 21 at Wrexham Crematorium. 

Friday's Merseybeats fundraiser for Eisteddfod cancelled due to illness

* The Merseybeats playing at their spiritual home of The Cavern in Liverpool.

A gig by chart-topping Merseyside band The Merseybeats due to be staged at Llangollen Town Hall this Friday evening has been cancelled because of illness.

The band, who performed regularly at The Cavern in Liverpool and appeared there with the Beatles, were due to play in the latest fundraiser for the Llangollen Eisteddfod's own charity which helps to bring in overseas competitors.

But this afternoon (Tuesday) organisers said: "Unfortunately, due to illness, the Merseybeats event has now been cancelled.

"Full refunds will be issued to ticket holders. The Eisteddfod will automatically refund the ticket purchasers."      

County council looks at plan to shed all its public toilets

* Llangollen's public toilets in Mark Street.

Denbighshire County Council is considering a plan to dispose of all its public toilets in a bid to save around £200,000 a year in running costs. 

A report on the issue is due to be discussed by the council’s communities scrutiny committee this Thursday. 

A officers’ report says the council needs to make savings as it faces an “unprecedented” financial challenge and the closure proposal is part of a corporate process to pinpoint savings in the 2024/25 budget. It has already been discussed by councillors in budget workshops. 

The report says: “The provision of public conveniences (PCs) is a non-statutory duty. Many local authorities ceased providing this service many years ago. Some neighbouring authorities still provide this service in certain areas but have reduced it in recent years and/or are currently looking to reduce this provision.” 

Denbighshire currently has 20 PC sites across the county, including Llangollen. Some are free to use, and some have a facility to charge users. The report reveals that none of these sites break even financially. 

Because the council believes that the provision of PCs in local communities is important, it says it will be looking to transfer as many of them as possible to other groups or organisations, such as city, town and community councils, so that they continue to operate but at no cost to DCC. 

The council is currently in the process of transferring PCs in Corwen to the local town council, which it believes could become a model for other areas. Any PCs that it is unable to transfer to another owner could be closed. 

Another way of reducing the impact of the plan, says the report, is to expand the Community Toilet Grant scheme, under which the council pays local businesses £500 a year for allowing the public to use their toilet facilities free of charge. 

It is believed that some businesses would be receptive to this offer because it would increase their footfall and some people would probably feel obliged to buy something at the same time as using the loos, explains the report. 

The annual budget for providing PCs is £270,000 but costs such as decommissioning could reduce the saving to about £200,000. 

The report adds that a redundancy process for people working in the toilets would also need to be pursued.