St Collen's holds its annual summer fayre

St Collen's Church held its an annual summer fayre yesterday (Saturday).

Apart from the usual line-up of stalls and games, stonemason Tom Livingstone (pictured), who is currently working with the Genesis Project to sympathetically remodel the church, gave a demonstration of his skills which attracted a high degree of interest from visitors.

Also in connection with Genesis, which has gained major support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the project's leader Sue Evans led a series of guided tours inside the church highlighting the ancient building's many historical features to visitors.

St Collen's summer fayre is today

 

New group formed to champion Llangollen's rich heritage

* A map of historic sites in the Llangollen area.

A new initiative has been launched in Llangollen aimed at making its rich history and wide range of heritage sites better known, loved and visited by local people and visitors. Here, Sue Hargreaves gives the details: 

"I am Sue Hargreaves, and have been working through ACT (Armoury Conservation Trust) for the last 12 years to restore The Lock-Up Heritage Centre in Victoria Square, opposite Watkin and Williams, recreating the Magistrates’ Courtroom and Town Hall, town jail and Police Station. 

"Now that at long last the restoration is done, ACT is eager for the building to resume its part in the everyday life of community – but how? What will be the best use for this heritage site in the here and now, 190 years since it was first built?

"ACT felt unable to answer these questions without knowing what was already happening at Llangollen’s other historic sites, so we started talking to other local heritage projects. When we discovered that no group currently exists to bring together Llangollen’s historic sites, we thought, what about creating a collaborative group to share ideas and information on local history and how our town’s heritage is being interpreted, accessed and sustained by various projects? Key heritage personnel across the town responded favourably to the idea.

"Historic Llangollen Hanesyddol (working title) was born on Friday 19 July, with ACT as 'mid-wife'. We welcomed representatives from Llangollen Railway, St Collen’s Church, the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley National Landscape (including Castell Dinas Bran and Offa’s Dyke Path), built heritage within the Conservation Area (including Llangollen Bridge and Scheduled Monuments), Llangollen Museum, Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod and Plas Newydd to attend its inaugural meeting at the Lock Up Heritage Centre.

“Historic Llangollen Hanesyddol is based upon the principles of networking, information sharing, and collaborative working between people representing Llangollen’s historic landscape and sites. Our town contains a unique and dynamic record of human activity, shaped by the aspirations, skills and endeavour of successive generations of people responding to the surroundings they have inherited. In recognition that this history belongs to us all, the group chose to name itself Our Historic Llangollen. After consultation on how this was best rendered in Welsh, the bi-lingual name of the group, Our Historic Llangollen Hanesyddol i bawb' will be confirmed at our next meeting.

"Its purpose is to raise the profile of heritage in the area to locals and visitors alike, to provide more opportunities for people to get involved in local history, and to help sites stay relevant and sustainable. The group's geographical scope was agreed as ranging along the Dee Valley from the Llantysilio Hill forts in the south west, and Pilar Eliseg in the north west, to Offa's Dyke Path at the Castell and Panorama in the north east, and Plas Newydd in the south east. It encompasses aspects of the World Heritage Site, Clwydian Range and Dee Valley National Landscape, and Conservation Area and includes built, landscape, social and cultural heritage.

"The group will meet every two months to further information sharing and collaboration, which hopefully in due course will give rise to joint activities, such as promoting Welsh language and culture, developing marketing and interpretation, highlighting unprotected heritage, and storytelling. 

"Anyone interested in hearing more about "Our Historic Llangollen Hanesyddol i bawb", please contact armouryconservationtrust@gmail.com"

Repair work due to start on Newbridge Road landslip, says story

Leaderlive is reporting today that repair work on the Newbridge Road landslip is finally set to commence, according to a councillor. 

* For the full story, go to: https://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/24503821.work-finally-set-start-newbridge-road-repairs/

Dr Rhys tells council chief what harm loss of public toilets would do to town

* Dr Rhys Davies has emailed the county's chief executive.

A respected retired GP from the town has emailed Denbighshire County Council’s chief executive telling him straight that the closure of Llangollen’s public toilets would be a “public relations disaster”.

Dr Rhys Davies was amongst the 100-plus local residents and businesses who attended this week’s public meeting at the Town Hall called by Rod Holt to air protests against the proposal by the county council to shed all its public toilets in a bid to balance its budget.

Dr Davies repeated his assertion – first highlighted by llanblogger last April - that while the council had no legal duty to provide public loos it certainly had a moral one, which drew huge applause from the audience who were angered that no council officers had attended the meeting despite numerous invitations.

He has now followed that up by writing directly to chief executive Graham Boase to hammer home the damage which would be caused to our busy tourist town if the toilets have to go. 

Dr Davies, a former chairman of Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, writes: “I write to support the objections to the potential closure of the public toilets on Market St in Llangollen. I write as a previous GP in the town and district for 30 years and also as a long term resident.  

“A meeting of residents was held on August 6th in the Town Hall along with the Town Council. DCC had been invited, but no-one turned up. This was very disappointing for the attendees who had many questions to ask. The meeting was attended by in excess of 100, all of whom wanted the toilets to be retained. The Town Council and our local representatives on DCC , Councillors Edwards and Keddie, will be able to provide feedback.  

“Although DCC doesn’t have a legal or statutory obligation to provide public conveniences in Llangollen there certainly is a moral obligation. Public conveniences have been provided here for many years and they are essential for a tourist town the size of Llangollen. Although the population of the town is only 3,600, by its very nature of being a tourist/market town it serves a much bigger population even within a small radius and of course at weekends and in the summer. 

“I would have thought that the remuneration from the Smithfield car park would more than finance the current public conveniences. Also, the money received by DCC to reflect the number of visitors we have to Llangollen should be reinvested in the town and would also contribute and should not be kept by DCC.  

“There are other non-statutory expenses which could be reduced in place of public conveniences such as marketing (where less tourism could be expected if conveniences are closed).  

“DCC cannot ‘cherry pick’ what benefits them the most. Any transfer of estates should go hand in hand. The toilets and car park should remain as one.  

“If the town council were to take over the running of the conveniences they should receive all the remuneration mentioned.  

“The idea of paying pubs, restaurants, take-aways, shops etc to allow the public to use their services is a non-starter. We are not a city centre and there simply aren't enough places in Llangollen to accommodate people requiring conveniences especially those with disabilities and wheelchair users. Also, when buses full of tourists arrive, often earlier in the morning, very few places are open. There is nowhere that could cope with a busload of elderly visitors needing conveniences. As a result bus companies won't come to Llangollen and so there will be a significant loss of business and thus tourism. This would be detrimental to the town’s economy.

“Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod has just had its largest festival for years attracting 50.0OO visitors and such a move by DCC would be a retrograde step.  

“Many people, residents and visitors included, have urinary problems which require frequent toilet visits due to urinary frequency, urgency and incontinence secondary to numerous urological causes. We mustn't forget those with colostomies, ileostomies and urostomies who all need access to suitable conveniences to manage their condition.  

“In a civilised society it is essential that all are treated with respect and provided with conveniences when needed. Closure of the public conveniences in Llangollen by DCC as a cost-saving exercise doesn't make sense, the loss of business to Llangollen would be far greater along with the loss of respect from residents and visitors, in short it would be a PR [public relations] disaster!” 

Free healing sessions planned at City Church

For the next five months City Church in Llangollen is hosting a series of training sessions as well as running 'pop up' healing rooms. 

A spokesperson for the church, in Brook Street, said: “In affiliation with Healings Rooms England & Wales and following our successful Healing Rooms training day in March our aim is to provide training and practical sessions, as well as build a wider interest.

“They are for anyone needing healing, physical, mental, or emotional, are free of charge and take place at the church on Saturday mornings, from 11am-12.30pm.

“We are working towards transitioning into a monthly Healing Rooms centre in Llangollen later in the year.

“You are welcome to come join us for as many or few of the dates we are running.  If you have an interest in serving in the Llangollen Healing Rooms please speak to a member of City Church on the training days and we will give you more information.

“Please invite your friends & family to come along for either training or healing or both.

“Upcoming dates are August10, September 28, October 26 and November 23.”

* If you are interested in joining and want more information, click on the links below:

Healing Training Sessions

Pop up Healing Rooms 

Public meeting hears town's toilets are too valuable to lose

* The Town Hall was packed for the meeting.

Llangollen’s under-threat public toilets are too valuable to lose.

That was the strong message which came out of a public meeting last night (Tuesday) called to allow residents and businesses the chance to discuss the possible loss of the loos in Market Street.

In a bid to balance its budget, Denbighshire County Council aims to shed all the public conveniences it runs and offer local town and community councils the chance to take them over, including the local ones.

But Llangollen Town Council has already ruled out a take-over on the grounds that it would be beyond its financial means and lead to a big increase in the amount it draws from council tax.

* The panel, including the mayor, Cllr Aled Morris (in red tie) who chaired the meeting.

The idea that a major tourist town like Llangollen stands to lose its busy public loos has sparked major protests on social media ranging over the past couple of months since the plan was revealed.

The meeting in the Town Hall was arranged by concerned resident Rod Holt after weeks of negotiations with the town council.

An estimated 130 people turned up to hear Mr Holt outline the problems in keeping the toilets open, which was followed by a string of people airing their disgust and disbelief at the idea of losing them.

Although both the area’s county councillors were present along with a large number of town councillors – including town mayor Aled Morris who took the chair – not a single officer of the county council accepted the invitation to attend.

Mr Holt said: “The officers responsible were supposed to be here to explain what was happening and answer questions from the people of the town but nobody has come. Basically, Denbighshire County Council doesn’t care about Llangollen.”

* Meeting organiser Rod Holt makes a point. 

He added: “This town has a number of events, such as the Eisteddfod, which bring large numbers of people here who need public toilets. We also have many coaches calling here whose passengers all use the toilets. If the coach companies hear we are going to lose the toilets they’ll simply stop coming. I know this is a fact because people have told me so.”

Setting out the town council’s position, the mayor explained that the county council was planning to shed its public toilets to meet an estimated shortfall of around £27.5 million in the next financial year.

But he described the town council taking over the Market Street loos as a “non-starter” on financial grounds.

He said it had been estimated the cost of bringing them up to modern standards would be at least £110,000, which would mean an increase of 57 per cent in the town council precept – the amount added on top of the council tax to run the town council’s local assets such as the Town Hall and Centenary Square. This, he said, equated to £45 a year.

Resident Phil Jones suggested from the floor that the town council agrees to take on the toilets provided it could also take over the adjacent car park – estimated to bring in £187,000 a year in ticket sales – and use money from this to pay for the loos. The suggestion received a round of applause from the audience.

Retired local GP Dr Rhys Davies said that while the county council had no statutory duty to provide public toilets, it certainly had a moral one. This again attracted applause.

Another suggestion which was warmly greeted came from Eisteddfod trustee board member Dave Hennigan who said: “We should consider what we can do as a community to take action on this matter and if they won’t come to our meeting, maybe a number of us should go to theirs.”

The area’s new MP, Becky Gittins, who was in the audience and making copious notes, said she would do everything possible to get stakeholders in the issue together.

The meeting, which lasted just under two hours, ended with the mayor describing it as having been useful.

He said the town council, which had already had a number of meetings with county officers on the issue, would not be giving up on it and was still looking at a number of “different options”.

The county council is due to make the final decision on the fate of the toilets next month.