Eisteddfod will be saying it with flowers this weekend

* Floral committee members arrange the daffodil wave at the back of the church.

Members of the floral committee have spent the day decking out St Collen’s Church with a wave of daffodils and other colourful displays ready for a packed weekend of special events to support this summer’s Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod. 

The programme begins tomorrow (Friday) evening with a a choral concert from 7pm featuring the Lleisiau’r Arfon Ladies’ Choir led by Leigh Mason, Clare Harrison accompanied by Owen Roberts and songs from the musical theatre by Shea Ferron. 

Tickets from £10 are available from Llangollen Tourist Information or online at www.llangollen.net 

Please use promo code LIVE24 to get the £3.25 booking fee off your purchase. Discount is applied at the checkout.where a small booking fee applies.

Events continue on Saturday when the daffodil wave, including daffodils of all shapes and sizes crafted by schools and local organisations, and other stunning floral displays go on show to the public inside and outside the church throughout the day. 

* Specially for the floral festival, the famous Eisteddfod crest has been brought over to the church from the Pavilion where it is normally on display.

The weekend’s programme comes to an end on Sunday when, from 3pm, Father Lee Taylor leads a Hymns and Pimm’s choral concert of favourite hymns. 

Father Lee says: “All are welcome, regardless of belief or background, to come together and celebrate the joy of singing. 

“Research shows that singing has numerous benefits, including boosting mood and promoting a sense of well-being. 

“Come hear the stories behind some of our most beloved hymns and discover how they have inspired and uplifted individuals on their spiritual journeys.”

* As part of the Daffodil Flower Festival at St. Collen's this weekend, local bellringers will be ringing a quarter peal (45 minutes continuous ringing) on the afternoon of Sunday, 7th April, before the songs of praise service at 3.00pm.

* The LLs from the Eisteddfod branding have been decorated with flowers outside the church door.

Event devoted to saving endangered curlews planned for Town Hall

Three internationally-acclaimed experts are to speak at a meeting in Llangollen Town Hall on April 10 on the theme of saving the UK’s endangered curlew population.

The celebration event, which is free to attend, has been organised by wardens from the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) to draw attention to what one of them, Rhun Jones, describes as a “catastrophic” decline in the species over the past couple of decades.

It will be the culmination of a day devoted to crafting and guided walks. 

Rhun said: “We have lost 80 per cent of the birds in less than 20 years. There are now only about 400 left and we are losing them at the rate of six per cent a year.

“There’s a variety of reasons for the loss, including development, fragmentation of habitat, predators and possibly also global warming.”

The problem will be addressed at the Town Hall meeting later this month by the three experts, including Mary Colwell, the founder and director of Curlew Action who has worked tirelessly to raise awareness about the plight of the species, conservationist David Elias, author of the book Shaping the Wild, and Dr Rachel Taylor, senior ecologist at the British Trust for Ornithology.

“We are very lucky to have three such eminent experts joining us for the event in Llangollen, which will also feature entertainment from the male voice choir Cor Meibion Bro Glyndwr and also, we hope, some poetry readings on the theme of saving the curlew,” added Rhun.

* One of the electrified fences is set up to protect a curlew nesting area.

He explained that the local AONB was closely involved with Curlew Connections Wales, a two-year conservation project funded to the tune of £1 million by the Welsh Government, which was concentrating of three particular areas of the country where the species is most at risk of extinction.

One of these – along with Montgomery and the Brecon Beacons, is the South Clwydian Mountains where the AONB is co-ordinating the work of a band of around 15 dedicated volunteers to identify likely curlew habitats.

Once a nesting site has been pinpointed, working in close co-operation with local farmers, electrified fences of about 3ft high are set up around them to protect chicks by warding off ground predators such as badgers, although they remain vulnerable from airborne attack from the likes of crows.

If the chicks can be protected in this way for the first crucial few days there is a much greater chance that they will survive into adulthood.  

This work, which is going on during the current nesting season from now until July, and much more will be highlighted at the Town Hall meeting on April 10, where doors open at 6.30pm ready for a 6.45pm start.  

* More info on the Curlew Recovery Plans can be found on this website.

Eisteddfod's Snowman stars to perform again in Wrexham

* NEW Sinfonia and NEW Voices perform at the packed Snowman concert last December.

Two acclaimed musical groups who last played to a sell-out Christmas fundraiser for Llangollen Eisteddfod will team up again for an inspirational concert in Wrexham this Saturday.

NEW Sinfonia Orchestra will partner with the NEW Voices once more for the musical event which rounds off a three-day exhibition of music and visual art centred around stories of war and displacement in the Eagles Meadow shopping centre.

In the run-up to the concert the centre’s refugee Hub - a vacant unit which has been turned into an exhibition and concert space - has been hosting a free exhibition curated by its members which includes interactive activities, guided tours, awareness workshops, craft sessions and a café and shop.

For the concert members of the hub will be joining the orchestra and the choir, which are both Wrexham based, plus guest soloist Ukrainian soprano Khrystyna Makar to perform a programme of music centred around tales of displacement interspersed with the poems and stories from refugees.

The project aims to raise awareness of the realities of being a refugee today in the UK and raise funds for UareUK, a Wrexham-based, grassroots humanitarian movement dedicated to helping refugees and those fleeing war and persecution.

New Sinfornia, NEW Voices and Khrystyna Makar last performed together at Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod's highly successful Snowman fundraising concerts last December.

The concert’s co-artistic director and orchestra leader Rob Guy said: ‘NEW Sinfonia and UareUK have a track record of working together for the benefit of everyone, particularly those who are most vulnerable in our home.

“We are proud to provide a platform for people who have fled war and persecution, and give everyone a chance to connect through music.

“This project, which will culminate in this concert filled with high quality music, has been unlike anything we’ve ever done before.”

Refugee Hub leader Jane Townend said: “We hope to take this project to other cities to spark conversations and raise awareness whilst providing a platform for people who have fled their home country to express themselves both as human beings and to share their experiences. Through sharing art and music we can come together to find common ground and learn about one another.”

* To buy tickets to the concert, go to: https://www.newsinfonia.org.uk/event-details/music-and-humanity

Bad Girls the Musical set for Llangollen breakout

Bad Girls the Musical is coming to town courtesy of Llangollen operatic society. 

Based on the smash-hit TV series back in the 1990s, it takes place inside a women's prison, Larkhill. 

Its inmates are a colourful, diverse, unpredictable collection of women and the show is fast moving with comedy in bucket loads. 

An evil prison officer who has no scruples, aided by his lazy, unfeeling female sidekick, gives this musical its storyline. 

It also has its darker side with confrontational issues being dealt with in a very sympathetic manner, thanks to the clever writing.  

It's raunchy in places, as you may expect in a female prison and these scenes will not fail to have the audience laughing, says director Chrissie Ashworth. 

She added: "Wonderful, show-stopping musical numbers make this show full of energy and oompah.

"Tickets are going well, so do be sure to get yours and come along for a truly memorable show. "

* Bad Girls is on at Llangollen Town Hall from Wednesday May 22 to Saturday May 25 with a matinee on the Saturday.

Promotional videos by Llangollen businesses go viral

Marketing videos made a Langollen eatery have gone viral on social media.

With the help of students from Wrexham University, Street Pizza & Kebab, based on the corner of Castle Street, have created a series of hysterical films to promote their business which have reached over a million shares and views on social media.

* For the full story, go to Leader Live: https://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/24225081.llangollen-street-pizza-goes-viral-delicious-parody/?ref=socialflow&fbclid=IwAR3tVgwfgRTwfVLLAxAnaCv2FDU_UsWwkARTl_h8CDLxC1ljX_rmvj1kdMo_aem_ASDv2cOAqHXhH5HwUMIXcdq3PE0Sl30CBQz0pxmH3vITdCtEmEF5k0Hdho2UphuMESQNlmyNbJtmCOE6IfBWUYkc

All aboard for the Llangollen Garden Railway Festival!

* The 2023 Llangollen Garden Railway Festival at the Pavilion.

Llangollen will be the place to be on Saturday, May 11 as the town again plays host to one of the UK's largest garden railway festivals. 

Over 50 leading retailers have already confirmed attendance at the Pavilion with a fantastic selection of outstanding layouts of the larger scale in railway modelling, catering for all tastes, showing garden railways from different periods and countries.  

The event is the brainchild of Llangollen-based garden model railway enthusiast Keith Potts, who is expecting thousands to attend. 

Previous festivals have been hugely popular in a town famous for its annual International Musical Eisteddfod and own its steam railway.  

A garden railway or garden railroad is a model railway set up outdoors in a garden.

Keith has his own garden railway, set up in the front garden of his  home in Llangollen. 

He said: "Since we held our first garden railway festival in Llangollen in 2020 it has gone from strength to strength. Since COVID, the popularity of garden railways has gone through the roof.  

"Llangollen is famous for its steam railway, but more and people are heading to this part of north Wales for our garden railway event.  

"Not only will you get to see some amazing model railways in action, but there will also be plenty of opportunities to meet fellow enthusiasts and learn about different railway models and layouts.  

"The festival is set against the backdrop of the beautiful Llangollen countryside, and it's a great opportunity to spend a day out with friends and family.  

"Tickets are selling fast and the great things is that all accompanied children can attend for free."

The event is held at the Llangollen Pavilion on Saturday, May 11 from 10am until 4.30pm.  

The festival will feature over 50 exhibitors, as well as demonstrations of modelling techniques and larger scale and gauge societies, preservation and heritage societies and railway specialist interest groups.  

"There will also be locomotives running on various gauges, live steam, gas fired, digital and analogue operations."

* Tickets are priced at £12 for adults, with free admission for all accompanied children. They can be purchased from the Llangollen Tourist Information Centre, or by calling 01978 860828. On the day tickets start at 10am. For more information and for a list of exhibitors see https://www.lgrf.co.uk/

Ramblers' gruelling but enjoyable latest outing

Llangollen Ramblers at the start of their Offa's Dyke Path walk from Churchtown last week.  

Thirteen-plus miles later, after much mud, detours for waterlogged fields and pouring rain, they didn't look quite so chipper, according to a group spokesperson who added: "It's not always like that."

If you'd like to join the Ramblers for something rather less demanding, email Judy on smithdinbren@gmail.com for more information.