Llangollen takes top 10 spot in list of UK's best inland towns

* Horse-drawn boat trips helped propel Llangollen to a top spot in the Which? list.

Llangollen takes one of the top 10 spots in a new list of the UK’s best inland towns.

With its 79% it wins seventh place overall out of 94 towns and villages ranked by consumer champion Which? 

It is also the top Welsh town in the list, which is based on feedback from over 9,000 holidaymakers with rankings worked out according to scenery, food and drink, tourist attractions and value for money.

Which? said of Llangollen: “From canal boat cruises to horse-drawn boat trips, as well as its annual International Musical Eisteddfod festival, there’s plenty for visitors to enjoy.”

Claiming the top spot is Wells, in Somerset which scored 83% overall and at the other end of the scale is Gretna in Scotland with a score of just 49% for bottom spot.

* For the full story, go to: Britain's best inland towns and villages have been revealed — did yours make the cut? (msn.com)

Health authority responds to question about nearest minor injuries units

* Oswestry Minor Injuries Unit at the town's health centre, Picture: Whitchurch Herald.

A health authority has responded to a question about the minor injuries units which  Llangollen people can use.

These units (MIUs) are staffed by experienced emergency practitioners who are supported by health care assistants but not doctors.

The query about Oswestry MIU, which is located at the town’s health centre, arose when a local social media user revealed that they had received excellent treatment there for an ankle injury sustained over the bank holiday weekend.

Their Facebook post described how they were first advised by the health information service 111 to attend hospital accident and emergency.

But not wanting to face a long wait for an x-ray the person contacted their GP a few days after the injury and was told they could visit the Oswestry MIU, which they did and received “excellent” treatment there.

But they then questioned why 111 didn’t advise them about the Oswestry service.

Llanblogger raised the issue with the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) where a spokesperson said: “We publicise our Minor Injuries Units on our website here: Minor Injury Units - Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (nhs.wales)

“We’ve also make regular posts on social media directing people to their local MIU.

“The nearest MIUs to Llangollen are Mold, Holywell or Denbigh.”

Llanblogger checked out the suggested link and found that, actually, Oswestry is listed as the nearest MIU for the central Llangollen postcode area at just under nine miles distant. Then comes Mold (13.9 miles), Denbigh (18.1 miles) and Holywell (20.8 miles).

* From the link provided by BCUHB giving closest MIU's to Llangollen.

According to the BCUHB website, patients attending one of these units will be assessed and treated as quickly as possible. If their condition cannot be dealt with at the Minor Injuries Unit, then they will be referred to their GP or nearest Emergency Department or to another appropriate service.

Injuries dealt with at MIUs include:

• Minor injuries in adults
• Minor injuries in children
• Human/ Animal Bites
• Minor burns
• Minor head injuries/ scalp laceration
• Ear/ nose foreign bodies
• Limb injuries
• Minor eye injuries
• Insect stings

The website adds: “Minor injury units cannot treat patients who have collapsed, chest pain, breathing problems, abdominal pain, alcohol related problems, drug overdose, gynaecology problems, health conditions normally seen by a GP such as minor illness, mental health problems, dental problems, neck injury, chest or back injury.

“MIU's are a walk-in service and no appointment is required and NHS 111 Wales is the first port of call of course. However, if the patient is still unsure it is better to telephone the MIU, to allow us to put the patient in the right place, at the right time first time.”

Oswestry MIU is located at the health centre in Thomas Savin Rd, SY11 1HS.

* Details for Oswestry MIU from the Shropshire Community Health Trust website.  

Grants available now from Denbighshire Voluntary Services Council

 

Denbighshire Voluntary Services Council (DVSC) now have grants available for 2024/2025. These are:   Youth Led Grants Dementia Aware Community Grant  Welsh Church Act Grant  The Youth Led Grants Scheme supports a small range of volunteering projects and activities that are led and carried out by young people. The applications are selected and recommended by a panel of young people aged 14-25. Grants are available up to £2,500 (Closing date: Friday 31st May 2024) For more information and to apply Dementia Aware Denbighshire Community Led Grant has been enabled by funding from the Welsh Government Regional Integration Fund. It will give Voluntary and Community Groups, Third Sector Organisations, Social Enterprises and Small Businesses (less than 100 employees) who operate in Denbighshire the chance to apply for up to £5,000. Individuals can also apply for grants up to £500. Grants are available for events, activities and training sessions, which can raise awareness about dementia and encourage people to turn awareness into action and improvement in their communities. (Closing date: Friday 31st May 2024) For more information and to apply The Welsh Church Act Grant offers grants of up to £500 for local constituted organisations (including registered charities, charitable incorporated organisations, community groups who have been constituted for more than six months, parish or community councils, community interest companies, social enterprises, and uniformed groups). Other entities can be considered at the discretion of our volunteer led Grant Panel. (Closing date: Friday 31st May 2024) For more information and to apply

 

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

Corwen toilet block to close temporarily for refurbishment

The toilet block at Green Lane car park in Corwen is to close temporarily while refurbishment work takes place.

The refurbishment is part of a wider project to improve the facilities at Green Lane car park which has been funded through the UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund.

In October 2021, Denbighshire County Council secured investment from round 1 of the Levelling Up fund through a joint application with Wrexham County Borough Council for the Clwyd South Constituency. 

£3.8 million was allocated to Denbighshire to invest in the communities of Llangollen, Llantysilio, Corwen and surrounding areas. The application was supported by Simon Baynes MP.

The toilet block will be closed for the refurbishment from April 8-12. Temporary toilets will be in place at no cost throughout the construction period.

Some of the improvements that visitors can expect following the refurbishment include a dementia friendly cubicle, which is being funded by a grant from the Welsh Government’s Brilliant Basics fund, and the introduction of contactless payments to be able to access the toilets.

The council says it is pleased to see that the construction work for these much-needed improvements to the toilet block at Green Lane car park are now taking place. Once completed, this will bring the Levelling Up project to improve facilities at Green Lane car park to a close.

The toilet block will remain open following the refurbishment with Corwen Town Council taking over the management of the facility from Denbighshire County Council going forward.