Author: Rhys Gregory

Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Bargoed May Fair, which took place on Saturday the 13th of May, attracted a record-breaking number of visitors to the town, making it an incredible success. Bargoed welcomed an outstanding 16,410 visitors to the fair, with the peak attendance being at mid-day. People even came from Rhondda, Newport, Tenby, and Carmarthenshire!  This was the busiest day for the town in a very long time, with 15,266 more visitors in the town compared to the previous Saturday. It was the highest footfall in Bargoed since footfall counters were installed in 2018. The day was fun filled with…

Cllr Malcolm Colbran has been elected Mayor of Merthyr Tydfil for the second time in three years after Covid-19 prevented him from carrying out the role fully in 2021-22. At the Council’s Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 17 May 2023, immediate past Deputy Mayor Cllr Colbran took over from Cllr Declan Sammon as First Citizen of the County Borough. Having grown up in Hailsham, Sussex, Malcolm moved to Merthyr Tydfil to take over Bedlinog Post Office in 2003. He has represented the Bedlinog electoral ward since 2017. “While I’ll always be proud of my Sussex roots, I’m equally proud to…

Food businesses can now find guidance and advice from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in one easy to access business guidance hub on food.gov.uk. The new hub brings together guidance on how to set up a food business, how to achieve a good food hygiene rating and manage allergens to keep customers safe. Businesses can also find new case studies on the FSA blog, telling real stories about how working with your local authority and the FSA helps get your business off the ground and grow safely and successfully. Cllr Richard Church, Powys County Council’s Cabinet Member for a Safer…

Free school meal holiday provision will be available to children from lower income families this May half term. The Minister for Education and Welsh Language, Jeremy Miles has also confirmed that eligible Further Education students in college and six form will also receive free meal provision during the May break, with an estimated 4000 learners set to benefit. An estimated 115,000 school learners are eligible to benefit from the free holiday provision. Funding for eligible school aged children is through the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru cooperation agreement. In 2020 Wales became the first UK nation to guarantee free school meals…

South Wales Police is investigating a serious road traffic collision and scenes of violent disorder which happened in the Ely area of Cardiff last night (Monday, May 22). Shortly after 6pm yesterday we received a report of a serious road traffic collision on Snowden Road which resulted in the deaths of two teenage boys. Police responded to this collision which had already occurred when officers arrived, and they remained on scene to manage a large-scale disorder until the early hours of this morning. Specially-trained public order officers were also deployed, including officers from neighbouring police forces. Several vehicles were set…

Free bus travel for residents will be returning this summer as part of a major new investment from Swansea Council to benefit hard-pressed families and communities. Being made available during the summer school holidays and the main school holidays at Christmas and Easter, the free bus travel is among a package of support the council is providing.Other schemes being funded by the £4.53m boost over the next year include: Continued improvement of bus shelters The continued replacement of old litter and dog mess bins Further investment in road repairs More dropped kerbs in areas of high footfall Continued extra resources…

The full programme of events for the first ever ‘Vale Food Trail’ has now been revealed; it features more than 30 local businesses offering farm tours, cookery workshops, tasting events, special exhibitions, live demos – and much, much more. Taking place between the 9th – 18th June the Vale Food Trai is a calendar of events designed to bring people closer to food producers and businesses in the local area.   Visitors and locals will be able travel around the region, independently visiting a variety of producers, restaurants and other businesses; in total more than thirty have signed up to offer a programme of events which showcase climate…

One of Wales’ highest-profile international motorsport events, Rali Ceredigion, will take place over the weekend of September 2 and 3, with JDS Machinery confirmed as the new title sponsor. As it did in 2019 and 2022, the event will start and finish in the Mid Wales coastal town of Aberystwyth, with a new route taking competitors into the Cambrian Mountains where they’ll experience some of the best closed road Tarmacadam stages in the world. Once again, Rali Ceredigion will host a round of five major domestic and international championships – British Rally Championship, Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Championship, JD Tyres…

A top bakery has 30 new jobs up for grabs because of soaring demand for its flagship bread products. Over the past year sales of the Jones Village Bakery’s own brand bread have increased by 20 per cent – with its signature Welsh Batch loaf proving particularly popular. As a result, the family firm is ramping up production on the night shift at its bakery in Minera, near Wrexham, where the award-winning bread is made. It’s then delivered fresh from the ovens by a fleet of vans  to customers across North Wales and the Marches, as well as supermarkets across…

Alixe Everson sacrificed her glamorous nails on a TV property renovation project to get on the housing ladder – but it was worth it after turning a handsome profit. The 24-year-old from Ystrad Mynach, near Caerphilly, joined forces with apprentice joiner Alex Loy, from Oakdale, Blackwood, on hit S4C show, Tŷ am Ddim (House for Nothing). The series, which is shown at 9pm on Wednesdays, teams two young people with the task of doing up a house on a budget and sharing any profit on its sale. The programme, made by Gwynedd-based television production company Chwarel, is the only one…