Author: Rhys Gregory

The Beaufort Community Hall Group Limited was established in 2015 and stepped in to save the Beaufort Hill Miners Welfare Hall which at the time was facing closure. The group has since successfully kept the building open, introducing a range of activities and events that ensure the hall remains at the heart of the community. More recently they have successfully obtained funding from the National Lottery Community Fund Wales. This allowed refurbishments to the lower hall which was previously a snooker room and football changing rooms. These now provide new disabled toilet facilities, kitchen area and two meeting rooms which…

A rogue trader who defrauded a retired Powys resident into paying £60,000 for construction work that was substandard and incomplete has been given a two-year prison sentence. Leslie James Smith of Pershore, Worcestershire was prosecuted by Powys County Council’s Trading Standards Service after carrying out work at a property in Felindre. Smith, who pleaded guilty to two offences under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and Fraud Act 2006 at an earlier hearing at Llandrindod Wells Magistrates Court, was sentenced to two years in jail and ordered to pay a £156 victim surcharge by Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court.…

Wales’ national vegetable and emblem, the Welsh Leek, is now officially protected as it gains PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) UK GI status. It becomes the third new Welsh product to achieve the highly sought-after UK GI status, following on from Gower Salt Marsh Lamb and Cambrian Mountains Lamb. Welsh Leeks also becomes the 19th member of the Welsh GI family of products, joining the likes of other great produce such as Anglesey Sea Salt, Welsh Lamb, Welsh Beef and Pembrokeshire Earlies. Each family member is Welsh to the core and uniquely linked to the landscapes and seascapes which nurture them.…

Wales’ national vegetable and emblem, the Welsh Leek, is now officially protected as it gains PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) UK GI status. It becomes the third new Welsh product to achieve the highly sought-after UK GI status, following on from Gower Salt Marsh Lamb and Cambrian Mountains Lamb. Welsh Leeks also becomes the 19th member of the Welsh GI family of products, joining the likes of other great produce such as Anglesey Sea Salt, Welsh Lamb, Welsh Beef and Pembrokeshire Earlies. Each family member is Welsh to the core and uniquely linked to the landscapes and seascapes which nurture them.…

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,…