Author: Rhys Gregory

Cardiff steakhouse and late night bar, Pasture, is expanding its High Street venue to create a new ‘small plates’ restaurant and speakeasy-inspired bar. The well-established restaurant, known for its fire-based cooking, is taking over the neighbouring 1,750 sq ft unit at 11 High Street. At street level a tapas-style restaurant will emulate the ethos of local sourcing, top-quality produce and innovative dishes. The basement expands the Pasture drinks offering with a contemporary, lounge-styled speakeasy where a variety of local beers and independent wines and spirits are showcased, alongside its inventive cocktail menu, in a relaxed setting. Pasture’s chef owner Sam…

A group of influential business leaders are calling for direct train services between North Wales and London to be reinstated in full as a matter of urgency. The plea came from the North Wales Mersey Dee Business Council along with some of the biggest names in the tourism industry who fear the coming summer season will be a “major lost opportunity” because of the lack of services. Among those fronting the campaign are two of the region’s biggest tourism operators, Zip World president and co-founder Sean Taylor and Adam Williams, owner of Llandudno Pier, Tir Prince Raceway in Kinmel Bay…

Exciting plans for the first ever GWCT Welsh Game Fair, which will be held at a historic country estate in North West Wales in September, were unveiled at a reception attended by more than 80 invited guests this week. The new, three-day event, to be hosted by the Vaynol Estate, near Bangor from September 9-11, is being organised by the team behind the hugely popular The Game Fair and The Scottish Game Fair, in partnership with leading conservation charity The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT). Leading Welsh celebrity chef and author Bryn Williams will be leading the culinary charge…

North Wales brewery, Wrexham Lager Beer Company, is celebrating success after scooping the ‘Best Beer from the UK’ title in a highly prestigious international competition in Germany. The company’s Wrexham Export lager wowed judges at the Frankfurt International Trophy, putting it among some of the best beers in the world and providing customers with a sign of brewing excellence. It also gives the company an important marketing boost as it seeks to expand its retail and customer bases. Many people regard Germany as the traditional ‘home’ of lager production with a brewing history dating back centuries. Therefore, said Wrexham Lager…

Cardiff and Vale College recently hosted Esports Wales players for a media training day ahead of esports being included as a pilot event in the Commonwealth Games this summer. The day gave CAVC Esports students the opportunity to meet and pick the brains of professional Esports players and see them in action. They also had the chance to play against them and network with them throughout the day, gaining advice and guidance. The Esports courses offered by Cardiff and Vale College are about far more than just playing video games. They cover the technology, the nutrition and the psychology and…

A Welsh cyclist will take part in a new study funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) aimed at understanding how heart scarring impacts athletes. Gethin Davies-Jones, 55, lives near Caerphilly, and has tragically lost family members to heart problems. Gethin’s brother Glyn Jones was also 55 when he suddenly collapsed whilst competing at the Tenby Long Course Weekend in 2019. It was discovered that Glyn, who grew up in Brecon, had been living with coronary heart disease, which had been undiagnosed – and sadly, Glyn later passed away in hospital. Gethin’s mum Helen Jones was in her late 40s…

Charities and community groups providing crisis support to people facing food poverty in Swansea can now apply to the council for funding to support their work. Grants are available towards a range of uses including purchasing additional supplies of good quality food and essential goods or operating expenses such as overhead costs, additional volunteer expenses or other additional costs incurred as a result of increased demand. Community growing and cooking projects can also apply for funding if their main aim is to tackle food poverty, while organisations could use money to help towards membership of FareShare Cymru. Charities and community…

One of RCT Council’s longest-serving School Crossing Patrol Officers will soon be retiring from the role – having helped primary school pupils safely walk to school in Pontygwaith for the past 38 years. Christine Leach, who is from the village and herself attended Pontygwaith Primary School as a child, first started the road safety role during 1984 – and will retire following her last day of work on Friday, May 27. Her dedicated commitment has ensured that generations of children in Pontygwaith have remained safe while crossing the road on the way to school each day. The 73-year-old is one…

RCT Council has now appointed a contractor to deliver the A4119 dualling scheme from Coed Ely to Ynysmaerdy – and can confirm that the main construction phase is on course to start on site in late summer 2022. The A4119 project is a major transportation scheme to improve connectivity and encourage economic activity into the valleys – providing 1.5km of dual carriageway from Coed Ely Roundabout to Llantrisant Business Park. A new active travel bridge south of Coed Ely roundabout will allow pedestrians and cyclists to cross the road from a new shared community route into the village. The Council…

A key attraction in the centre of Newport will receive just over £78,000 to help with reducing carbon emissions thanks to a Welsh government grant. Newport City Council has successfully applied to the government’s Transformation Capital Grant fund to install solar panels on the roof of the Newport Museum and Art Gallery. The grant will also fund the upgrading of the lighting in the art gallery to LED, a much more energy efficient option. The work will reduce the building’s emissions by an estimated 15 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, with the solar panels generating almost 45,000kWh of…