Author: Rhys Gregory

A Mountain Ash teacher has been named as one of the nation’s most inspirational educators at a prestigious awards ceremony. Selected from thousands of nominations, Nicola Richards has won a Gold Award in the Pearson National Teaching Awards for Teacher of the Year in a Primary School. The ceremony followed a week-long celebration of these education award winners on the BBC every night on The One Show. The week ended with all the award-winning teachers, teaching assistants, lecturers and school staff being presented with their coveted trophies at a glamorous ceremony at The Brewery in the City of London.  Nicola…

Corris Railway will end a good year in festive style with two days of Santa Special trains on December 10 and 11. Trains will leave Corris station at 11am, 12.30pm, 2pm and 3.30pm and advance ticket sales are advised. Reviewing 2022, Corris Railway Society’s chairman Richard Foyn said considerable progress on a number of fronts has been made by volunteers and partners, following two years of disruption caused by Covid. The first quarter saw an important part of the improvements to Corris station completed with a new platform and track layout, which included a traverser to allow locomotives to run…

The winners of the SkillBuild National Finals 2022 have been announced, after nearly 80 construction trainees went head-to-head over three days. SkillBuild, often dubbed the ‘skills Olympics’, is delivered by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) in partnership with WorldSkills UK and offers a chance for trainees to compete in a bid to be crowned winner of their chosen trade. Following the Regional Qualifiers, which were held at various colleges across the UK earlier this year, the National Finals took place at Edinburgh College on 15 – 17 November. The event attracted roughly 1,000 school visitors from across Edinburgh and…

An award-winning Mid Wales visitor attraction, which educates people about the conservation of birds of prey, has also had success attracting another protected bird species. Luce Green and Barry Macdonald, who run Falconry Experience Wales at Forge, near Machynlleth, have been delighted that their bird feeding regime has attracted three pairs of Yellowhammers this year. Once a common sight in the countryside, the Yellowhammer is now so rare that it warrants red classification in the UK under the Birds of Conservation Concern 4: the Red List for Birds (2021). The Yellowhammer is protected in the UK under the Wildlife and…

Cardiff’s newest care home, set to open next year, has marked its latest construction milestone with the help of special guests.    The Care UK team and representatives from specialist design and build partners, Carter Lauren Construction, were joined by Councillor Graham Hinchey, The Lord Mayor of Cardiff, and his wife Anne Hinchey, The Lady Mayoress of Cardiff, who both placed the final tile on the roof of the new care home – which will be called Llys Herbert – on Ty-Draw Road.  The purpose-built care home – which is expected to welcome the first residents in August 2023 –…

This week sees the arrival of the much-anticipated gingerbread family to Cardiff Bay and to celebrate partner organisations are holding their first Gingerbread Day in the Bay. The gingerbread trail officially opens on Thursday 1 December and participating venues across the iconic waterfront location, led by Waterfront Partners Cardiff Bay, will be hosting fun, free activities on Saturday 3 December. The Red Dragon Centre will be hosting a gingerbread cookie decorating workshop, Mermaid Quay will be offering a free wooden gingerbread tree decoration craft session and visitors to the Norwegian Church can enjoy a visit from three of Santa’s elves,…

South Wales Police is continuing to investigate the discovery of the bodies of two babies. The babies were discovered at an address in Wildmill, Bridgend, on the evening of Saturday, November 26. Two men, aged 37 and 47, and a 29-year-old woman, who are currently in police custody for concealing the birth of child, have had a further 36 hour extension to their detention which was granted at Merthyr Magistrates Court this morning. Police are continuing to question the suspects and are awaiting results of post mortems and forensic examinations, which are taking place today, to determine the causes of…

Are you planning on walking down the aisle in a wedding dress any time soon? If you are, congratulations! There is a long and painstaking road to finding the perfect wedding dress out there. Many brides and even their entourages put a lot of stress and tension into the process, often with disastrous results. Luckily, we’re here to help you out. If you’re the process stresses you out, read on. Below are some of the most important things to remember when looking for the perfect wedding dress. Determine Your Budget When you are looking for a wedding dress, it is…

The Covid-19 pandemic brought many desirable habits, while others were quite the opposite. These habits helped many people cope with the cessation of movement, loss of jobs, quarantine, and more. There was also the introduction of new ways of testing for the disease. For example, rapid tests, such as the Healgen rapid Covid-19 antigen test, were developed to help people get quick results and know their infection status. So as life returns to normal, what habits should we keep after the pandemic, and which ones should we completely ditch?  What COVID Habits Should You Continue to Uphold? Staying in Touch…

Did you know that an estimated 7.5 million Brits are getting less than 5 hours of sleep per night? Furthermore, 45 million people admit to having sleepless nights on a regular basis.  If you are one of the many people living with insomnia in the UK or you simply want to enjoy a better night’s sleep, then sleep gummies might be just what you need.  As the name suggests, sleep gummies are designed to help you fall asleep and stay asleep. A relatively new addition to the health market, sleep gummies contain active ingredients such as melatonin and CBD, which…