Rescuers deal with medical emergency near Castell Dinas Bran summit

* The team brings the man requiring medical assistance down from the summit of Castell Dinas Bran. Picture: NEWSAR

A multi-agency rescue operation was launched on Sunday afternoon after a man required medical assistance near the summit of Castell Dinas Bran in Llangollen.

North East Wales Search and Rescue were alerted to the incident by North Wales Police, initiating a rapid response to the historic site.

* For the full story in North Wales Live, go to: https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/doctors-rescuers-join-forces-assist-34007716

Leri lands top piano honour at Urdd Eisteddfod

Ysgol Dinas Bran student Leri Roberts won the Year 10 and Under19 Piano Solo award at the Urdd National Eisteddfod in Anglesey over the weekend.

Playing piano is not her only accomplishment as she is also a rising star of Llangollen Operatic Society's junior section, Young 'Uns, taking a lead role in their recent production of The Little Mermaid.

Rising stars join Tom Grennan at Llangollen

* Fiona Lee.

Fresh off the back of a sold-out UK tour, Scottish breakout sensation Brooke Combe will bring her signature soul-infused sound to Llangollen this summer, when she joins Tom Grennan as special guest for his huge headline show, alongside rising Yorkshire artist Fiona-Lee, who will open the show. 

The fast-rising artists will take to the stage on Sunday July 5 as part of TK Maxx presents Live at Llangollen Pavilion, delivering a powerful showcase of two of the UK’s most exciting new voices, setting the tone for a standout summer evening at the iconic Welsh venue.

 

Final tickets are available at ticketmaster.co.uk   

 

Brooke Combe has quickly established herself as one of the UK’s most exciting emerging artists, fusing classic soul influences with contemporary indie and deeply personal songwriting. Since her breakout in 2023, she has played to sold-out crowds across the UK and supported major names including Lionel Richie, Paolo Nutini, Blossoms, Miles Kane and The Coral, as well as Tom Grennan himself. She has also appeared on major US television shows including The Kelly Clarkson Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live!.

* Brooke Coombe.

 

Her debut album Dancing at the Edge of the World, alongside recent release How Can I Tell You? (To Love Me More), showcases a timeless yet modern sound defined by rich, soulful arrangements and standout vocals. Earlier project Black Is The New Gold was shortlisted for the Scottish Album of the Year Award, underlining her status as a rising force in UK music.

 

Opening the night will be rising Yorkshire artist Fiona-Lee, whose acclaimed new EP Every Woman showcases her raw, emotionally charged songwriting and soaring guitar-driven sound. Earning praise from Rolling Stone UK, The Observer, The Independent, Dork and Clash, alongside strong support from BBC 6 Music and BBC Radio 1, Fiona-Lee is rapidly emerging as one of the UK’s most exciting new voices, fresh from completing her debut UK headline tour.

 

Tom Grennan burst onto the music scene in 2016 as the guest vocalist on the Chase & Status track All Goes Wrong, before stepping into the spotlight with his gold-certified debut album Lighting Matches, in 2018. Since then, he’s delivered a string of fan favourites, including Little Bit of Love, By Your Side, Lionheart, Found What I’ve Been Looking For, Let’s Go Home Together (with Ella Henderson), and How Does It Feel. 

 

His breakthrough came in 2021 with Evering Road — a UK Number One album packed with platinum hits and Top 10 singles – which he followed up with 2023’s chart-topping What Ifs & Maybes. 

* Tom Grennan.

 

With more than 1.5 million album sales, 2.5 billion streams, an MTV Award for Best UK Act, and a sold-out 25,000-capacity headline show at Gunnersbury Park, Grennan’s rise has been nothing short of meteoric. Last year, his festive single It Can’t Be Christmas became a seasonal hit, reaching Number 3 in the UK charts. 

 

Tom Grennan’s headline show is part of an incredible summer lineup for TK Maxx presents Live At Llangollen Pavilion, which also features Bowling For Soup and Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls, Rick Astley, Billy Ocean, Deacon Blue, David Gray and Pete Tong’s Ibiza Classics.

 

For more information head to llangollen.net

 

FOLLOW TOM GRENNAN  
WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | SPOTIFY | TIKTOK | YOUTUBE  

 

FOLLOW BROOKE COMBE

INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | YOUTUBE | TIKTOK  

 

FOLLOW FIONA-LEE

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Anti-social behaviour makes town 'feel like Wild West' storms councillor

* The rubbish-strewn appearance of the bridge at 7pm last night.

Bouts of bank holiday anti-social behaviour made Llangollen town centre feel like the Wild West, says a furious local county councillor.

Karen Edwards claims businesses and visitors were subjected to "completely unacceptable scenes" and that she contacted police to request immediate assistance.

Yesterday evening as crowds subsided after a day of high temperatures, one disgusted resident and business person contacted llanblogger to complain about rubbish left strewn across the bridge from where youngsters were jumping down into the river and "going to get killed," they feared.

In a hard-hitting statement issued shortly afterwards County Councillor Edwards said: "I am extremely concerned and deeply frustrated by the serious anti-social behaviour witnessed in Llangollen over the weekend. 

"Residents, local businesses and visitors were subjected to completely unacceptable scenes in what should be a safe and welcoming town.

"I contacted North Wales Police directly to request immediate assistance and made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that the lack of any visible police presence in Llangollen was totally unacceptable. 

"At times, the situation felt like the Wild West, with residents and businesses left feeling unsupported and vulnerable."

She continued: "This behaviour was entirely predictable given that Llangollen has been subjected to similar anti-social behaviour on numerous occasions before, particularly during periods of hot weather and high visitor numbers. 

"Despite this, there was simply no visible police presence to reassure residents, businesses or visitors.

"Llangollen is a busy and vibrant town which attracts large numbers of visitors, particularly during warm weekends, and our community deserves to see a consistent and reassuring police presence on our streets. People must feel safe in their own town centre, and businesses should not be left to deal with disorder and intimidation alone.

"I have urged the police to review the events of the weekend urgently and to ensure that adequate resources are allocated to Llangollen going forward. 

"Our community cannot continue to be left completely defenceless and without proper visible policing to avoid incidents like this occurring in the first place. We pay for policing through our council tax and expect to receive the service we pay for.

"I will continue pressing for stronger action and greater police visibility to protect residents, businesses and visitors alike."

* llanblogger has requested an official response from North Wales Police.

Former mayor's choir appears on TV days before their BGT final

* Choir members are interviewed on the This Morning programme.

Putting together the Hawkstone Farmers' Choir, which includes Llangollen's former mayor and won last Saturday's last Britain's Got Talent semi-final, was a bit like herding sheep.

That was how choir director Lizzie described the process when she and two of the other choir members appeared on ITV's This Morning show earlier today.

She told how the original 500 farmers recruited were eventually whittled down to just 34 following the initial auditions held at Jeremy Clarkson's Farmers Dog pub. 

"It was a bit like herding sheep but when they got together on that first day and started to sing I thought they were incredible," she said.

Another choir member told the presenters that farming could be lonely but that coming together had changed their lives.

* Aled Morris sings with the choir in their semi-final winning live performance last Saturday.

"We really hope this is just the start. One day we'd like to do Glastonbury."

After their live semi-final victory the singers are due to compete in the BGT series 19 grand final, for a £250,000 prize and an appearance at the Royal Variety Performance, next Saturday on ITV1 from 7pm.

Llangollen's former town mayor, Aled Morris, told llanblogger after the semi-final: "It is unbelievable! We are all so gobsmacked by the support and love that we have been shown and we are incredibly grateful for all the support in getting us through to the final."

Railway's bonus day of steam for Charles Beyer Legacy Day

 

* Heavy Freight locomotive No. 3802 bearing its Charles Beyer nameplate.

Llangollen Railway has announced a special Bonus Day of Steam to accompany the Charles Beyer Legacy Day commemorations taking place on Tuesday June 2. 

The wider Charles Beyer Legacy Day will include commemorative services at St Collen’s Church in Llangollen and Llantysilio Church, a steam-hauled journey through the Dee Valley, the unveiling of an Institution of Civil Engineers commemorative plaque at Berwyn Station and a procession across the historic Chain Bridge to Beyer’s final resting place.

The commemorations will conclude with a reception at Llantysilio Hall, the historic country house which Charles Beyer rebuilt and where he spent the final years of his life. 

The hall remained one of Beyer’s most cherished personal connections to the Dee Valley and provides a particularly fitting setting for the closing stages of the anniversary events.

* Charles Beyer by Carl Fredrich Schmid. 

Charles Beyer was one of the most important railway engineers and industrialists of the nineteenth century. As co-founder of Beyer, Peacock & Company in Manchester, he helped create one of the world’s most influential locomotive manufacturers, exporting engines across Britain, Europe, Africa, Asia and South America. 

The company became internationally renowned for the quality and innovation of its locomotive designs, including engines for the Great Western Railway and pioneering locomotives for London’s Metropolitan Railway, the world’s first underground railway.

Although closely associated with Manchester and the industrial revolution, Beyer also developed a profound connection with Wales. In 1867 he purchased the 700-acre Llantysilio estate near Llangollen, rebuilding the beautiful Llantysilio Hall while making the Dee Valley his home in later life. 

He died at Llantysilio Hall on June 2 1876 and was buried beside the church overlooking the valley he had come to love.

The day forms part of the 150th anniversary commemorations marking the death of the pioneering railway engineer and industrialist whose work helped shape railway development across the world. As part of the occasion, visitors will be able to enjoy unlimited travel throughout the day behind the impressive GWR Heavy Freight locomotive No. 3802, with heavily discounted rover tickets available across the railway.

Built for hauling heavy freight traffic, the striking 2-8-0 locomotive represents the power and engineering ambition of the steam era. Usually associated with demanding freight work, No. 3802 will instead take on gentler duties through the Dee Valley as part of a day celebrating one of Britain’s greatest railway pioneers.

The Bonus Day of Steam has been introduced to allow both commemorative visitors and the wider public to take part in the celebrations surrounding the 150th anniversary of the death of Charles Beyer, the pioneering engineer and co-founder of Beyer, Peacock and Company in Manchester.

Visitors attending the church services, commemorative events and plaque unveiling will be able to travel by steam as part of the day, while railway enthusiasts, families and visitors to the Dee Valley are equally encouraged to come along simply to enjoy a day of heritage steam travel celebrating Beyer’s extraordinary legacy.

To mark the occasion, Llangollen Railway is offering significantly reduced fares:

Adult Day Rover - £20
Child Day Rover - £5
Dogs - £3

A specially commissioned Charles Beyer locomotive headboard, created in partnership between the Llangollen Railway and East Lancashire Railway, will also be carried by the train during the event.

David Hennigan, Trust Manager of the Llangollen and Corwen Railway, said: “We wanted to ensure that everybody could be part of the Charles Beyer Legacy Day, whether attending the commemorative events themselves or simply travelling by steam to celebrate the life and legacy of one of the great figures in railway engineering.

“No. 3802 is a magnificent locomotive and feels a very fitting engine to lead our services on such an important occasion. The reduced fares are designed to make the day accessible and encourage as many people as possible to join us.”

* Tickets and further information are available at: https://llan.hops.org.uk/tickets/special-events-in-2026/charles-beyer

Once-slammed Skywell EV is now better but still needs work

Skywell BE11 drive by Steve Rogers

It is ironic that it has taken a war to send electric car sales to record levels.

The high cost of fuel has pushed buyers into giving electric a try and we have now gone through the two million barrier yet even though April was the best month ever taking 26 per cent of the market it is still way short of the 33 per cent needed to meet the Government’s zero emissions vehicle mandate.

Not a bad time to be launching a new electric car then, or in the case of Chinese brand Skywell, relaunching its BE11 SUV. The back story does not make for kind reading. Launched in January 2025 the BE11 was hammered by the motoring press and Youtubers for everything you could think of that is bad in a car, especially the lack of driver safety aids.

I did not drive the car to give a view, but to its credit Skywell listened, went back to the drawing board and hoped to have put things right. It has also knocked five grand off the price to bring it more in line with Chinese rivals.

So the BE11 is back with its best clothes on as it sets out on the comeback trail. I counted 21 new features, 10 of which are safety aids which says a lot about the shortcomings of the original effort.

The safety suite now includes adaptive cruise control, emergency braking, lane departure warning and assist, blind spot detection and rear cross traffic alert. What made the company think it could sell a car in Europe and the UK without advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS)?

This is a spacious SUV and follows the Chinese formula of packing the car with kit normally found on premium models sometimes costing nearly twice as much. It has a seven year warranty and up to 10 years road side assistance. Skywell is really making an effort here!

Battery options are 72kW or 86kW powering a 150kW motor giving a range of 248 and 303 miles respectively. The long range falls short of the leaders but anything over 300 is acceptable. What’s not so good is 45 minutes to get the 86kW battery from 20-80 per cent when charging away from home.

Using a 7kW home wall charger takes all but 12 hours or 10 hours for the smaller battery. That’s pretty standard.

Take a seat in the BE11 and you will be satisfied with the overall quality - soft touch materials along the dashboard and doors, wood effect panelling and rose gold effect accents. They have rectified an early blunder by resighting the rotary gear selector to the driver’s side of the centre console.

I didn’t expect switches and didn’t get any, apart from a few quick keys for heating. Everything goes through a 12.8in touchscreen, or cough up £800 for a 15.6in version, and takes time to work out. I spent a good 15 minutes swiping through the menus and trying to remember where everything is like the radio volume control for a passenger, a fiddly job. What’s wrong with a simple knob?

The large driver’s digital display is a swanky affair but doesn’t do a heck of a lot, not even displaying navigation mapping, and I was still trying to work out the simple task of selecting a mileage trip display when the car was returned. It is probably there somewhere.

Skywell came in for heavy criticism on the handling and comfort fronts and I am sure improvements have been made. I pushed it through some twisting country roads and wasn’t troubled by excessive body roll but the steering is too light and lacking feel. I switched to the sport setting which added a little weight.

There is still work to be done on the level of comfort if it is to compete with other Chinese brands let alone the best of what Europe has to offer. The ride is hard and road imperfections are felt on all but silky smooth surfaces. Many rivals do better.

BE11 is front wheel drive and, annoyingly, will spin those wheels without hesitation. Another bugbear is throttle lag from standstill and can cause driver hesitation when pulling on to a roundabout or from a junction. Oh, and can we have an intermittent swipe for the rear window please.

Skywell has clearly made the BE11 more saleable but it is a work in progress. The ride needs to be more refined, excessive wheelspin needs addressing, and the DC charging time is way too long.

There are redeeming features like a spacious cabin and large boot, competitive price and lots of kit.

Fast facts

BE11 Long range

£34,990 (Standard £31,990)

Battery: 86kW

Motor: 200bhp

0-62mph 9.6secs; 93mph

80kW charging: 45mins 20-80%

Boot: 689-1608 litres

Insurance group 43

Warranty: 7 years