Train ticket allows half-term visitors to sample Dee Valley delights

* A train leaves picturesque Berwyn station for Llangollen.

Llangollen and Corwen Railway has announced the launch of the Berwyn Explorer during February half term that invites visitors to discover some of the Dee Valley’s most scenic walks and landmarks by train, starting from Llangollen Railway Station.

The Berwyn Explorer will operate five return services from Llangollen on Saturday 14, Sunday 15, Wednesday 18 and Saturday 21 February, offering families, walkers and visitors the chance to combine affordable heritage rail travel with fresh air, exploration, and adventure during the school holidays.

Berwyn Railway Station is also said to be one of the most romantic places to celebrate Valentine’s Day, with the period tea rooms a beautiful setting for a romantic afternoon.

Designed to offer flexibility and freedom, the Berwyn Explorer is ideal for those who prefer a gentle ramble, a scenic pause by the river, or a leisurely pint by the Chain Bridge. 

It is particularly suited to families with younger children, walkers, history lovers and visitors looking for a shorter yet deeply satisfying taste of heritage railway travel. The service will be operated by one of the railway’s treasured vintage diesel railcar’s, which offer a nostalgic, comfy and warm travelling experience. The railcars also have excellent views from their large windows, including at the end of the carriages, where it is possible to see the driver at work.

The initiative encourages visitors to travel by rail and step straight into the landscape, providing easy access to a network of countryside walks, riverside paths and iconic local attractions, including the world-famous Chain Bridge, Llangollen Canal, Horseshoe Falls and Llantysilio Church, with its famous display of snowdrops, which will be in bloom when the services run. 

By combining a train journey with the great outdoors, the Berwyn Explorer offers a relaxed and sustainable way to experience this beautiful part of North Wales. Berwyn Station is restored to its mid-1920s Great Western Railway appearance, with heating provided by roaring coal fires in the waiting room and tea room.

Adding to the appeal, Berwyn Railway Station was ranked as the most beautiful railway station in the UK in 2025, recognition that reflects both its historic character and its exceptional setting within the Dee Valley landscape. The railway also offers the idyllic Berwyn Stationmaster’s house as a holiday let. More details can be found at: https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/1349885700423975837

The railway says tickets are deliberately priced to be accessible and family friendly, making the Berwyn Explorer the perfect affordable half-term day out.

Ticket Prices:

Adults (16+): £10.00

Children (3–15): £5.00

Infants (under 3): Free

Dogs: £3

Kayaks: £3

The ticket allows passengers to travel on any of the day’s 5 services, providing a self-paced experience with the freedom to return from Berwyn on a later train of their choosing.

What’s Included:

 

•         Return travel between Llangollen and Berwyn.

•         Freedom to explore local footpaths, landmarks and scenery at your own pace.

•         Easy access to nearby attractions including the Chain Bridge, Horseshoe Falls, Llangollen Canal and Llantysilio Church.

•         A perfect short break for walkers, sightseers and families.

•         The opportunity to enjoy refreshments in the railway’s period tearoom or at the Chainbridge Hotel across the river.

Berwyn Station is ideally placed for walkers of all abilities, with routes ranging from gentle and level river and canal-side strolls to more challenging countryside walks, making it a natural gateway to the Dee Valley and the famous Dee Valley Way path.

Peter Dickinson, Station Master at Berwyn Railway Station, said: “The Berwyn Explorer is about opening up the landscape around us and making it easy for people to enjoy it, especially during the school holidays. Berwyn Station is a fantastic starting point for some truly special walks, including routes to the Horseshoe Falls, and travelling by train adds to the sense of adventure. Being recognised as the most beautiful station in the UK only reinforces what a special place this. Our beautifully restored station is an attraction in itself; from its open coal fire to its wonderful little tearoom, which will be open on Berwyn Explorer days.”

The initiative forms part of the railway’s wider ambition to encourage visitors to explore beyond the railway’s destination towns, supporting rural communities and promoting sustainable travel and outdoor wellbeing.

Looking ahead, the Berwyn Explorer also represents an important step towards the railway’s longer-term plans to introduce a sustainable shuttle connection between Berwyn Station and Horseshoe Falls from 2028, helping to reduce car dependency while improving access to some of the Dee Valley’s most popular attractions.

The launch of the Berwyn Explorer comes as the railway prepares for one of its flagship events, their annual Branch Line Gala, taking place from Friday 10 to Sunday 12 April 2026. The three-day gala will feature intensive steam and diesel services, visiting locomotives, brake van rides, shed tours and family-friendly attractions across the line.

* Full details of the Berwyn Explorer are available at: www.llangollen-railway.co.uk/berwyn-explorer

* Full details of the Branch Line Gala are available at: https://llangollen-railway.co.uk/branchline-gala/

Another vehicle heads out to Ukraine with love from Llangollen

Members of a Llangollen church have sent out another vehicle to the Ukrainian battle zone.

Just weeks after a team including their Minister returned from the war-torn country after handing over a Honda CR-V for ferrying battle-weary troops to and from the front line, the congregation at City Church in Penllyn have supplied a Nissan X-Trail 4x4 which will be used for carrying medics to fighting hot-spots. 

The £1,500 cost of buying the Nissan and fitting it with winter tyres comes from the £5,000 pot raised by the church to support Ukraine's war to expel the invading Russians from their country.

Danny Fairbourn, who sourced both vehicles for City Church, said: "It's currently -20C in Ukraine so the tyres are very necessary. 

"The 2000-mile drive out there began yesterday (Sunday) with a volunteer named Kyle from Middlesborough at the wheel.

"He be filling up with aid in Luton, then crossing the Channel from Dover. From there he'll be heading for lviv then on to Dnipro." 

Danny, from Llangollen, personally paid for around 20 trips to Ukraine, mainly arranging the purchase, conversion and delivery of frontline ambulances and other vital vehicles to the army.

Through the Mission Ukraine organisation, he has since assembled the crucial components for more than 30 further trips, including those financed by City Church.   

The previous vehicle sent to Ukraine with love from Llangollen just before Christmas was taken out by Pastor Brian Smith, along with experienced Ukraine travellers Paata Samsonidze, the husband of Anna, the lady who runs the Oak Street cafe named after her, and Mark Birkhill from Corwen, an old hand at ferrying supplies to the battle area.

* The next major local effort for Ukraine will be a fundraiser in St Collen's Community Hall at 6.30pm on February 6. 

Latest local roadworks alerts from county council

Latest local roadworks notified by Denbighshire County Council are: 

A542 ABBEY ROAD, 13/04/2026 - 30/04/2026, Ailwynebu/ Resurfacing DCC HIGHWAYS, Confoi 10 mya/10 mph Convoy

A542 OUTSIDE NUMBER 9 CASTLE STREET, 01/02/2026, Gwaith Nwy / Gas Works WALES & WEST (DCC)

LLANGOLLEN PAVILION CAR PARK ENTRANCE - ADJ NO. 9 ABBEY ROAD, 28/02/2026 - 20/03/2026, Gwaith Nwy / Gas Works WALES & WEST UTILITIES, Goleuadau Traffig Dros Dro/ Temp Traffic Lights

A542 Carriageway HORSESHOE PASS, 24/03/2026 - 02/04/2026, Ailwynebu/ Resurfacing DCC HIGHWAYS, Ffordd ar Gau/Road Closure

A542 ON JUNC WITH TRACK FROM BRYN DETHOL ROAD TO TY UCHA BRYN DETHOL ROAD FROM A5 TO MAESMAWR ROAD, 09/02/2026 - 11/02/2026, Gwaith Dwr / Water Works SEVERN TRENT WATER (DCC), Ffordd ar Gau/Road Closure

OAK STREET, 22/02/2026 and 01/03/2026, Ailwynebu/ Resurfacing DCC HIGHWAYS, Ffordd ar Gau/Road Closure

AT JUNCTION OF BROOK STREET, PENGWERN, 24/02/2026 - 30/04/2026, Gwaith Teithio Llesol / Active Travel Works PRONIN LIMITED

Latest Denbighshire Citizens Advice column

Q: I'm worried about losing power due to stormy weather. I keep imagining being stuck in the cold, struggling to feed the kids, with no way of contacting people. What should I do if this happens, and is there anything I can do to prepare?

A: Power cuts can be unexpected and worrying, especially if your power doesn’t come back on quickly. So it’s good to know who to report an outage to and what you can do to prepare.

If you lose electricity due to stormy weather, or another unexpected cause, your electricity  network operator is responsible for fixing it. They provide the wires to your home, and they’re different from your electricity supplier, which is the company that sends your bills. To report an outage, call 105 - a free line that puts you through to your electricity network operator.  

In most cases, it’s your electricity that will go off in a storm, but it can seem like your gas is disrupted because you usually need electricity to start up a gas boiler. Gas pipes tend to be underground, safe from storm damage, unlike pylons and overhead cables. That said, if you smell gas or your carbon monoxide detector is beeping, turn off the boiler, go outside, and call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999. 

If you’re on a heat network, also known as district heating, your supplier should contact you or your landlord about an outage. Citizens Advice can provide specialist heat network advice if you’re without power and haven’t heard from anyone.

You might be entitled to compensation if a power cut isn’t fixed within 24 hours, so check the charity’s website to see how much you could get. It’s also worth noting that some power cuts are planned, and you should be told in advance if there’s going to be one in your area.

After an unexpected outage, your power might not come back on straight away. So, here’s a checklist of things you can do to prepare for the worst:

• Check you’ll be able to keep warm. There’s a high chance you won’t have any central heating without power, so make sure you have access to blankets and extra layers. If you’d feel safer, you might want to plan to stay with friends or family, or check if your local council has any public places you could use to stay warm.
• Check you’ll have a way to contact people. It’s important to stay in touch with people during a power cut, if you can. Charge all devices like mobile phones and tablets using battery power banks, and if you don’t have anything like this, write down important phone numbers and keep them safe - an analogue phone line might still work during a power cut.
• Have food at home which you can easily eat. Ideally, stock food with a long use-by date, like tinned fish, beans and soups. If you’re not able to boil water to make baby formula, you should use pre-mixed formula. 
• Check if you can sign up to the Priority Services Register (PSR). This can give you extra support during a power cut, like regular updates and a special number to ring if you need extra support. You might be able to sign up if you’re disabled, pregnant or have young children. See the full list of eligibility criteria and how to sign up on the PSR website.

* For more information and advice about power cuts, visit the Citizens Advice website.

Rhos Choir's tongue-in-cheek TV appearance

* The choir join the comedians on the set of Eight Out of Ten Cats Does Countdown.

The famous Rhosllanerchrugog Male Voice Choir put in an appearance on a popular Channel 4 comedy show last night (Friday).

The award-winning ensemble based just round the corner from Llangollen guested on Eight Out of Ten Cats Does Countdown singing in a rather different way than usual.

At a certain point in the madcap show, which saw comedians Jon Richardson and Roisin Conaty take on Rob Beckett and Kiell Smith-Bynoe, host Jimmy Carr declared that he was fed up with the usual Countdown music and had therefore arranged for the "Countdown Tongue Choir" to belt out a replacement.

That's when members of the Rhos appeared and began to sing Can't Help Falling in Love with their tongues jammed between their teeth.

Their novel recital won compliments from the comedians and warm applause from the studio audience.

Revealing how it all came about, regular choir member Mike Connolly from Llangollen - who wasn't able to join them on this occasion - said: "The choir were contacted by a production company and offered the engagement.

"The rehearsal required all those who would be involved to be physically present over two consecutive weekdays and I was not available for both.

"Then, from those who could go along on both days, the production company chose on day one those who would take part from about 40 possible entrants as they could only accommodate this relatively small number.

"Although it involved appearing on national TV, for the choir, it was just another engagement and demonstrates how flexible we can be.

"At the same time in 2024 we were singing in the big conference venue on the river front in Liverpool to an audience of 1,200 at a firm's annual dinner."

* Host Jimmy Carr conducts.

* The choir tongue their way through the song.

* Comedians Jon Richardson and Roisin Conarty enjoy the performance.

Oak Street closed on two Sundays for resurfacing

Denbighshire County Council has notified that Oak Street, Llangollen will be closed for the two Sundays February 22 and March 1 to allow resurfacing of the carriageway to be carried out.

Free cooking workshops at Pengwern Hub

South Denbighshire Community Partnership are running a series of free cooking workshops in Hwb Pengwern. 

Two of these will be specifically for men, two evening workshops for adults and two for families during February half term. 

All participants will learn to cook food that they will be able to take home with them, all for free. 

Places are limited, so booking beforehand is required. To book, contact SDCP: office@sdcp.org / 01978 280 365.