Panto group have another monster hit with Beauty and the Beast

* Mrs Potts (Niki Davies-Bottomley) and the gang at the palace.

Llangollen Pantomime Group have produced another monster hit with their stylish version of the classic Beauty and the Beast.

Resident wordsmith David Lyne has once again expertly tailored the script for a talented cast of around 50 to have some glorious, fast-paced and colourful fun with the piece, which began its run at the Town Hall last night (Thursday) and continues until Sunday.

Action revolves around the Llangollen-set cafe of the dame, Mrs Rose, wonderfully brought to life by that man David Lyne again.

It's the uproarious time that he and his three daughters - Bella, Ffion and Eira, skilfully played by Heledd Edwards, Elise Davies-Bottomley and Frankie Williams - have with the Beast and his odd bunch of cronies that sets the pace.

As expected there are plenty of local references in the script, not just to people like a certain Mrs Claybrook but also to events, such as the continuing, troublesome closure of Newbridge Road.

Costumes are little short of dazzling, especially the zany teacup creation worn by Mrs Potts - a marvellous interpretation by Niki Davies-Bottomley - in the Beast's creepy palace. The Beast himself is suitably scary yet sympathetic thanks to a nuanced performance by Steve Hughes. 

Huge credit should go to whoever created some of props, like the tea trolley wheeled on by Mrs Potts which features two enormous cups holding the singing heads of her lads Jack and Crack, played by Austin Forkin and Tommy Edwards.

David Lyne's old stage partner Neil Barrett makes a welcome, larger-than-life return as the Roses' helpful yet inept family friend Bellamy Fluff who shares all their misadventures.

Sophie Siddall makes a suitably horrid "nasty" as Trystan, the leader of a gang of local yobs, who has his eye on young Bella.

Then there's a whole cavalcade of talented kids who play the parts of cafe customers, skeletons - I loved their dance in the forest - ghosts and mini bakers.

Apart from a number of fine singing voices at play, there's some powerful accompanying music, including the requisite sing-along stuff, courtesy of the band, which sees Jayne Belton on keyboards, Stuart Dillon on guitar, James Barber on bass, Barrie Roberts on drums and Lynsey Blair on flute and alto sax.  

Backing all this up is a wonderful production team, led by director Louise Lyne, producer Samantha Fletcher and musical director Helen Belton. Choreography is by Sophie Siddall and Nike Bottomley-Davies.

Hope House Children's Hospices and the Llangollen Parks community group will both benefit from the proceeds of Beauty and the Beast, which is the group's 39th show.

* Action in Mrs Rose's cafe in Llangollen.

* Mrs Rose (David Lyne) is confronted by the Beast (Steve Hughes).

* Neil Barrett as Bellamy Fluff.

Latest roadworks alerts from the county council

Latest roadworks alerts from Denbighshire County Council are:

40M DOWN FROM ALFRYN GEUFRON 27/01/2025 29/01/2025 Gwaith Dwr / Water Works HAFREN DYFRDWY Ffordd ar Gau/Road Closure

OPP 10 Regent Street JNC QUEEN STREET AND CHURCH STREET Llangollen LL2 BROOK STREET 14/01/2025 26/01/2025 Gwaith BT/ BT Works SUNBELT RENTALS (DCC) LLANGOLLEN Ffordd ar Gau/Road Closure

PARKING BAY EAST STREET EAST STREET 28/01/2025 30/01/2025 Gwaith Dwr / Water Works HAFREN DYFRDWY Atal Parcio yn unig / Parking Suspension Only

Hall St jct with A5 Berwyn St, Llangollen HALL STREET 27/01/2025 28/03/2025 Gwaith Ar Wal Gynnal/ Retaining Wall Works OBR CONSTRUCTION

County replies to complaint over 'treacherous' park paths

A Denbighshire officer has responded to a complaint about the "treacherous" condition of the paths in Llangollen's Riverside Park in last week's freezing weather.

The official complaint was made by one of the area's county councillors, Karen Edwards.

The officer's reply, which she has shown to llanblogger, said: "Please see the extract below from our Adverse weather Plan which also relies on personnel being available and salt stock levels being sufficient as all salt stock needs to be preserved for priority gritting routes. 

"Last week we had been gritting the winter maintenance routes virtually non stop 24/7 which left us with very few operatives to undertake any other duties."

The adverse weather plan states: "As a general rule Denbighshire does not routinely treat any footways or cycle tracks during any adverse winter weather.

"It is the policy of the council to begin snow clearance on footways only once the main carriageway precautionary salting routes have been fully opened up to vehicles. 

"Even then the clearance will be limited initially to town centre footways that are likely to be hazardous, most notably in St Asaph, Denbigh, Ruthin and Llangollen. 

"Snow clearance will be limited to any footways immediately within the town centres and will be reflective of the Priority Walking Routes in the council’s highway maintenance inspection schedule."

Mixed but busy year for Tidy Town Team

* Volunteers of Llangollen Tidy Town Team enjoy their annual Christmas dinner at the Wild Pheasant Hotel and Spa. 

2024 was a year of mixed results for Llangollen Tidy Town Team, according to its co-ordinator David Davies.

In his annual report he says: "We have continued our maintenance duties in the town square throughout the year including upgrading the corner area with more locally supplied slate. 

"The area between the Tourist Information Centre and Town Hall benefitted from a major tidy-up and we participated in the erection of the Town Christmas tree.

"Having finalised the St John’s Wood project last year we were pleased to see all the fruit trees planted had successfully taken but benefited from some maintenance and care.

"We spent substantial time at another fruit tree project area, planted in partnership with Canal & Rivers Trust years ago, clearing invasive growth to allow access and tree care.

"Litter continues to be a problem in two areas, on the Panorama and along the roadside from the Old Tip into town. We collected 35 full sacks from just these two areas this year.

"We were pleased to participate yet again in another successful Town Christmas Festival offering our traffic control and light switching on skills."

Mr Davies adds: "Regretfully some of our regular tidy-up activities this year had to be cancelled due to the delays and mis-management of the Four Great Highways Project by DCC. This project has further urbanised our town with more roadside furniture in the shape of another variety of tourist information signage and the multitude of trip hazard direction plates set into the pavements. 

"In the absence of maintenance, much of the planting on the 'wharf bank' has died and the part of the project to replace the broken and untidy fencing along the wharf access slope appears abandoned.

"The Team is very grateful and wish to say a big thank you to Llangollen Town Council and all our local supporters, both business and personal, for their support and encouragement of our efforts in 2024 of over 400 hours of work during the year.

"Our supporters include: Llangollen Town Council, Keep Wales Tidy, Llantysilio Community Council, McDonalds (Chirk), Gwyn Morris (Gardening), AJP Couriers, Kenrick Motors, Garden Railway Event, Riverbanc, S&G, AF Blakemore (Spar), Horse Drawn Boats, local residents, closing funds Rotary and Gardening clubs.

* For details of the Tidy Town Team, contact David Davies, co-ordinator, at: yand.davies@gmail.com 

Nissan's cunning plan to master e-range anxiety

Nissan Qashqai e-Power drive by Steve Rogers

This is a car for the doubters and the waverers. Those who are not ready to take the plunge into electric.

Yes, another year has passed and we are getting closer to the big switch, but in the meantime Nissan has come up with a solution, and a clever one at that.

The e-Power has an electric motor to drive the front wheels but instead of plugging into a charging point you go to a petrol pump because it has an engine whose job is to keep the battery topped up so it can power the 140kW motor. You get all the performance benefits of an electric car but without the range anxiety. Didn’t I say it was clever.

This is the new Qashqai that has been getting a lot of air time with TV ads but is more of a facelift with a big tech upgrade and new front, dominated by a full width curved grille and is as spectacular as a catwalk model wearing a huge dazzling necklace.

The grille has an intricate design with dozens of three dimensional ‘comma’ inserts. That is Nissan’s description but pardon me for being pedantic and giving our Japanese friends a lesson in punctuation. They are quote marks and you are probably thinking ‘who gives a stuff’ so let’s just say it is one heck of a grille.

The comma theme (I’m over it now) is carried through to the redesigned daylight running lights and rear light elements and is very attractive.

What’s under the body remains the same but quite a lot has been going on to improve quality in the cabin with alcantara coverings along the dashboard, doors and centre storage console paired with leather trimmed seats.

As for the technology they have virtually ripped it out and started again with Google mapping featuring over the air upgrades and security that allows the car to be monitored, sending a warning if it has been tampered with or towed. Voice control is good as well, just ask Google and it will change the radio station, set a navigation destination or adjust the heating.

Should you want to adjust the heating then there are big knobs and buttons rather than dabbing endlessly at the touchscreen. Thank you Nissan.

Two standout features are the incredibly bright adaptive headlights that seem to be on full beam all the time, but aren’t, and the surround camera system. Nissan introduced this on the Note more than a decade ago but what it can do does now is staggering.

The camera has a 3D function allowing the driver to see the car from above, along with eight external view points to help avoid hitting anything.

A clever new addition shows the position of the front wheels as if looking at them from just behind, showing hidden curbs, the sort you might encounter in multi storey car parks.

Qashqai now comes with five grades starting at £30,135 topping out with the e-Power Tekna+.

This has a 3-cylinder 1.5 litre turbocharged engine to power the electric motor and has that exhilarating instant power surge. Economy is some way off the best rivals with a week’s average of 43mpg although I did manage to top 50mpg on a couple of longer trips.

Push the boat out for Tekna+ and you get a long list of goodies, including a heated windscreen, glass roof and power for just about everything. All that seemed to be missing were cool air ventilated seats, though not something you necessarily need in this weather.

The e-Power is another milestone in Qashqai’s remarkable story, a car that started a trend that has consumed the car industry for nearly two decades. But although it will still be around it is only a stopgap until the industry ends production of the internal combustion engine in favour of the all electric car.

Fast facts

e-Power Tekna+

£38,875

1.5 litre petrol; 187bhp

140kW electric motor

0-62mph 7.9secs; 105mpg

54mpg combined

117g/km. 1st tax £220

Boot: 504-1447 litres

Insurance group 29

Temporary closure of Green Lane to allow gas works

 

* The alternative route along Abbey Road.

Eisteddfod gears up to be more user-friendly for disabled

From left: Rachel Jones, Davina Carey-Evans, Melanie Cash and Tansy Rogers on. 

Llangollen International Eisteddfod has pledged to provide more opportunities for people with disabilities to enjoy the event.

Officials from the festival are taking advantage of a special project designed to gear-up events and businesses to be user-friendly for people with additional needs.

They took part in an Introduction to Accessibility Awareness workshop and are participating in a pioneering four-day course created by community interest company PIWS to establish Accessibility Champions within the organisations.

Other events that have signed up include the National Eisteddfod that’s being held in Wrexham in 2025, the Urdd National Eisteddfod and the Royal Welsh Show, along with Disability Sport Wales and Wales Young Farmers’ Clubs.

Every year Llangollen Eisteddfod, established in 1947 to promote peace and harmony in the aftermath of the Second World War, transforms the picturesque Dee Valley town into a colourful multi-cultural melting pot.

Billed as the event where Wales welcomes the world, organisers say this year’s festival, that’s being held from Tuesday, July 8, to Sunday, July 13, will be even more welcoming for people with disabilities.

Chair John Gambles said: "Accessibility for all is a huge priority for the Llangollen Eisteddfod. We always act on feedback from our customers to ensure our festival is as accessible as it possibly can be.

"As an organisation, we welcome the opportunity that any further training to improve will bring.

“We pride ourselves on welcoming the world to Wales and that means being as inclusive as we possibly can and sharing best practice with other festivals across Wales."

If funding allows, Eisteddfod officials say they will look to provide an equipment package to fill one festival tent with  specialist sensory equipment suitable for both children and adults of all ages and abilities.

"These including bubble tube, infinity mirror, LED interactive tube, colour changing mood seat, light board and glass pebbles/cubes, fibre optic tails, foam flooring, UV floor tiles, projectors, beanbag seating, music and lots more.

"Four small pop tents within the sensory den space would provide safe spaces suitable for two people in each.

"Two experienced Sensory Support staff would be on-site all day, ensuring the  operation and cleanliness of the equipment and offering physical and emotional support to visitors where appropriate.

"As I have said, though any best practice that come to our attention as part of the course will be looked at," he added.

Set-up in 2018, PIWS is a community-driven organisation dedicated to enhancing accessibility for individuals with disabilities, including autism, learning difficulties, sensory impairments, mobility challenges, and brain illnesses.

Founder Davina Carey-Evans, who has two sons with complex disabilities and whose husband was severely disabled in a fall, is spearheading the project.

As well as being the right thing to do, she said, it can also help the events tap into a lucrative market.

"We hear a lot about the power of the LGBTQ+ community’s pink pound but the purple pound is also very valuable and in accessible tourism across the UK,”  said Davina.

"There are 16.1 million disabled people in the UK, this represents 24% of the population and it has been estimated there is an untapped potential value of £15.8 billion a year in Accessible Tourism alone.

“Gearing up businesses to be user-friendly for the disabled isn’t just the right thing to do, it makes commercial sense as well," she said.

Davina has enlisted the help of three motivated women to run the project. All three have years of experience in the hospitality business and are dedicated to training.

Rachel Jones, who hails from Cardiff but who now lives at Trawsfynydd near Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, said: "I've been training in hospitality for 30 years but it wasn't until I had my own family that I realised how difficult it was for people to access venues if they had additional needs. There were many times when my own family just didn't go out because it was more trouble than it was worth.

"My passion has always been to help hospitality businesses to be the best they can be. I work mainly with very small businesses and it's lovely to go back and see the effect training has made so this course has really opened my eyes to the difference we can make for families, for people with additional needs just by adjusting and making a few simple things."

She added she started working in hospitality behind the bar at her local rugby club when she was 16 and has worked in several five-star hotels during her career.

"I got interested in training and when I began looking for another job I looked at hotel and training opportunities. I've done training work all over the north of England and Wales."

Rachel added as a family once they found an accessible place to visit they would return again and again.

"It's not about the place as much as the welcome, that is really very important," she said.

Melanie Cash, from Cricieth but who was born in Cardiff, said: "My Dad was a hotelier and we moved whenever he changed jobs. I was drawn into hospitality on the back of it. I worked in some of the biggest hotel companies like Marriott and Hilton and they were fantastic at training so I've benefitted from some very good training. I became interested in becoming a trainer myself predominately in customer service, sales and leadership.

"I set up my own company and worked with big hotels, big venues and visitor attractions.

"Then I moved to Cricieth seven years ago, started learning Welsh and am interested in being part of this project to help people. We hear so often people saying businesses in this area don't make the best of themselves and see what they can do and seize the opportunity."

The third member of the team is Tansy Rogerstone from Conwy. She has spent her working life in events, hospitality and product development.

"I jumped at the chance to be part of this project because I want to be involved in something that really makes a difference. It is amazing what Wales has to offer in tourism and events and enhancing that further and offer an even more inclusive destination is imperative and will take it to a whole different level.

"With the Future Generations Act being introduced it's very important that we follow the framework from the Welsh Government.

"I'm passionate about businesses offering the very best they can and being more inclusive and this is a new way in how we can support them," she said.

Davina said the course is split up into different segments with the first section focussing on background and introduction.

"The why we're doing it and hopefully opening people's eyes to new opportunities. The second day will be broken down into vision, hearing, mobility and toilets.

"Day three is about autism, sensory and brain injury. The last day is about website, marketing, policies and solutions. There's a lot of information," she said.

* More details about PIWS online at www.piws.co.uk