Llangollen people encouraged to join 'Fix It Feb' campaign

 

* A volunteer repairer at work in the Llangollen Repair Cafe.

Llangollen Repair Cafe is inviting local people to take part in  Fix It Feb, a Repair Café Wales campaign encouraging people to repair rather than replace their faulty items.

They are being asked to pledge to fix at least one broken item - saving money, reducing waste, and supporting sustainability locally. 

Pledges could include sewing on a button, patching clothes, or restoring a beloved item. 

 

If you don’t feel like your repair skills are up to it, not to worry. Go along to Llangollen repair café this Saturday February 15 at St Collen's Community Hall, between 11am and 2pm, and the friendly volunteers there will either show you how to fix your item, or repair it for you. 

 

The repairs completed at Llangollen repair café will contribute to Repair Cafe Wales’ aim to fix 1,000 items across the county in February, which they say is a carbon reduction saving equivalent to driving a car over 360,000 miles. 

 

Repair café events take place in villages, towns and cities across Wales every month. Experienced fixing volunteers, equipped with tools and skills, repair items including small household electricals, clothing/textiles, mobile phones and laptops, bicycles (some dates) and small items of furniture.

 

Everyone is welcome to bring their item along to Llangollen repair café on this Saturday, with no need to book. 

 

Since Repair Cafe Wales launched, the initiative has helped local communities save an impressive £1 million and has fixed over 21,000 items. 

 

The Fix it Feb campaign aims to further that impact by empowering even more people to fix items, reducing the need for new goods, helping to conserve resources, reducing the carbon footprints and saving local people money.

 

"Repairing things can be simple, accessible, and rewarding," says Phoebe, Director of Repair Cafe Wales.

"Not only does it save money and reduce waste, but it’s a great way for the local community to get together to share skills and ideas. With Fix It Feb we're showing Wales how small actions can make a big difference for the environment and our communities."

 

* You can pledge your support for Fix It Feb by visiting Repair Cafe Wales' website at https://repaircafewales.org/. Whether it's repairing a household appliance, mending a cherished sweater, or restoring a favourite toy, every repair effort contributes to a greener future.  

Age Cymru's winter newsletter is out now

Age Cymru has published the 2024/25 Winter edition of its bi-lingual quarterly newsletter Age Matters.

The edition looks at how you can protect yourself from winter viruses by using some simple measures and an update is provided on the charity's campaign on the changes to the winter fuel payment system.

There’s a feature on Age Cymru's online photography collection portraying realistic images of older people that has received more than a million views, and the edition has a report on the launch of its groundbreaking toolkit for care home residents.

New Mazda SUV is big bold and beautiful

Mazda CX-80 launch drive by Steve Rogers

Big, bold and beautiful sums up Mazda’s newest member of its SUV family.

Yes, it looks like a stretched CX-60, which it is sort of, but there is a lot more to it than just a longer wheelbase. Take a gander at the rear doors and you should spot the difference - they are enormous, and for good reason because the reason for the extra length is to fit in a couple of extra seats.

This is the seven seat CX-80, or six if you prefer, but I will get to that later. Mazda has thought this through and come up with a cunning plan. Getting to the third row, and getting out for that matter, is often a case of contorting legs and arms and that is where the extra wide doors make things that bit easier, along with a button that slides the middle row seat forward creating a big enough gap to get to the back seat.

Will it take a six footer? Yes, although not as easy as someone my height, 5ft 8in and a smidge. I had no trouble and could happily sit in the back row for a longish journey although realistically the third row is better suited for toddlers and teens.

Which brings us onto the six seat option. This is a nice set up with four ‘captain’s’ chairs so you can walk through the middle to get to the back seats. Possibly a bit extravagant but a good option to have although the seven seat configuration is going to be the main seller.

Much of what you see inside CX-80 is a mirror image of CX-60 which is no bad thing because it is sensibly laid out and wrapped in high quality materials supporting Mazda’s claim to be worthy members of the premium club.

There is no shortage of tech with a touchscreen that is controlled on the move by a rotary knob positioned between the front seats. I have always favoured this method where menus are easily selected, in fact this setup should be the template for the industry, it is that simple to use. Heating controls are neatly set out with clearly marked buttons.

There are five trim levels with a starting price of £49,670 for the petrol Exclusive, the diesel carries a £2,535 premium and will not make much sense for the fleet buyer because its higher emissions push up the tax bill by quite a way compared to the petrol. The level of equipment is excellent even for the Exclusive that also gets almost all the extensive list of safety features.

Engine mix is aka CX-60 with a petrol 2.5 litre plug-in hybrid and 3.3 litre diesel hybrid. Most will opt for the petrol with its 38 miles of electric driving, but my preference is the diesel even though it is a second behind the petrol in a sprint to sixty.

The handling is good for such a big SUV, it is 25cm longer than CX-60, especially behind the wheel of the diesel which does not have to carry the extra weight of the batteries and is pretty good fun on twisting roads with a good mix of comfort and tautness which has always been the Mazda way,

The suspension has been retuned to compensate for the extra length and the rear anti roll bar removed to improve cornering stability which is a new one on me.

All models are four wheel drive with the option to switch from normal to sport, off road, or towing modes. Both petrol and diesel have a terrific 2500kg towing capacity and a trailer hitch view camera, a first for a Mazda SUV.

The new model is not going to be a big seller and there is no pressing need to upgrade from CX-60 unless you need seven seats, although some people might like the enormous boot with all the back seats folded; you could easily sleep in this space. But for a big family the Mazda needs to be on a very short shortlist.

Fast facts

CX-80 Homura Plus PHEV

£55,470

2,5 litre petrol; 321bhp

8-speed auto

0-62mph 6.8secs; 121mph

176.6mpg

EV range 38 miles

36g/km. 1st VED £10

Boot: 1971/687/258 litres

Insurance group 39

Llangollen's 'lack' of childcare provision raised in the Senedd

* Llangollen Day Nursery closed in the summer of 2023.

What campaigners claim is Llangollen’s lack of adequate childcare facilities for working parents has been highlighted in the Welsh Senedd.

Since the closure of Llangollen Day Nursery in East Street in the autumn of 2023 and the loss of Llangollen Playgroup last winter, worried parents have been claiming not enough is being done to make up the shortfall in provision. 

And one of them has involved local politicians in the fight to secure extra places. 

North Wales Senedd Member Sam Rowlands was asked to raise the issue in a Senedd recent plenary session. 

And he requested an official response from the Welsh Government. 

He said: “I'd like to call for a statement from the Minister for Children and Social Care regarding the role of councils in ensuring that there is enough childcare provision in our communities. 

“A resident of mine, Chelsea Robinson, has been in touch regarding the lack of childcare provision to support working parents in Denbighshire. Indeed, the council has admitted that there is a childcare sufficiency gap in Llangollen. 

“You'll know, Minister, that the Childcare Act 2006 is in place to ensure that there's a duty on local authorities to make sure that there's enough provision in our communities, and seemingly Denbighshire County Council are not doing anything about it for residents in Llangollen. 

“So, I'd like a statement from the Minister to outline what they're doing to support councils to ensure that there's appropriate childcare provision.” 

The Senedd’s Trefnydd, or Leader of the House, replied on behalf of the Minister for Children and Social Care: “We invest more than £100 million every year in childcare for children aged two and up through our flagship Flying Start and childcare offer schemes, and we're committed to the further expansion of Flying Start childcare for two-year-olds, and we're working closely with local authorities on their plans.” 

A Denbighshire County Council spokesperson said: “The council reviews its Childcare Sufficiency Assessment Action Plan annually and have updated it to include the childcare sufficiency gap in Llangollen as a priority. 

"In the last year, we have been working with existing childcare providers in Llangollen to try to support them to expand their offer to provide full day childcare, including under 2’s. 

"Our officers are also meeting with representatives of Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years (PACEY) and the Welsh Government’s WeCare Wales to discuss driving recruitment for new childminders in Llangollen and surrounding areas. "

Llangollen Young ‘Uns to perform We Will Rock You!

* The cast of We Will Rock You.

Based on the unforgettable music of Queen and written by Ben Elton, Llangollen Young ‘Uns will be performing the hit musical We Will Rock You at Llangollen Town Hall from Thursday-Saturday February 2022.

The show rocks along to classic numbers such as Bohemian Rhapsody, I Want to Break Free, Killer Queen and many more. 

Performed by a talented cast of 21 aged from eight to 18, We Will Rock You follows on from the successful shows Young 'Uns have enjoyed going all the way back to 1999 and in recent years including Oliver! in 2024 and 2023's The Addams Family.

* Tickets available on line from: www.ticketsource.co.uk/llangollenoperaticsociety and also through four local outlets - Llangollen Tourist Information Office, Jades Hair and Beauty, Llangollen Oggie Shop & Fine Foods and The Clwydian Butcher.

Latest local roadworks alerts from Denbighshire County Council

Latest local roadworks alerts from Denbighshire County Council are:

Hall Street, Llangollen. HALL STREET 12/04/2025 17/04/2025 Gwaith Draenio / Drainage Works NMWTRA (DCC) LLANGOLLEN Ffordd ar Gau/Road Closure

GLAN YR AFON HORSESHOE PASS VIEW 10/02/2025 10/02/2025 Gwaith Dwr / Water Works HAFREN DYFRDWY (DCC) LLANGOLLEN Ffordd ar Gau/Road Closure

Approximately 70 metres from end of track to Ty Canol Farm A539 LLANGOLLEN ROAD 26/02/2025 26/02/2025 Torri Coed / Tree Cutting HRJ GOULD LTD.

NR CATTLE GRID A539 LLANGOLLEN ROAD LLANGOLLEN LL20 7UH A539 LLANGOLLEN ROAD 20/02/2025 20/02/2025 2 Way signals is required for safe pole testing works. SUNBELT RENTALS (DCC)

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,

A539 Verge ABBEY ROAD 31/01/2025 14/02/2025 Gwaith Ar Wal Gynnal/ Retaining Wall Works DCC BRIDGES & STRUCTURE

Llangollen appears on list of Wales's quirkiest towns

Llangollen appears in a list of the "quirkiest" towns in Wales published by an international travel website.

World Atlas has put together six towns from across the country it says fits that description and which also includes Beddgelert, Aberystwyth, Hay-on-Wye, Tenby and Brecon,

Each come with a few paragraphs describing what makes them attractive to visitors supported by pictures.

And of Llangollen it says: "Last but not least on the list is the town of Llangollen, which was awarded Cittaslow status in 2013. 

"Cittaslow status, often referred to as a “slow city,” means that a town has implemented efforts to improve quality of life by promoting sustainable actions such as waste reduction, supporting local businesses, and preserving natural resources.

"Even though Llangollen is known as a “slow city,” there are still lots of activities to make the visit an adventure to remember. Close by is the iconic Berwyn Mountains to get the adrenaline going on a hike. The tallest peak is Cadair Berwyn, which measures 830 meters. Some other activities to enjoy are canoeing, quad biking, climbing, rafting, and riding the steam train.

"Throughout the year, many fun festivals are put on to spread the joy of music and culture in the town's streets. Visitors can seek entertainment from the International Musical Eisteddfod and the Fringe Festival in July, the Food Festival in October, and the Christmas Festival in November."

Pictures of the railway, from both sides of the river, accompany the piece.

* To see the full article go to: 6 of the Quirkiest Towns in Wales - WorldAtlas