Author: Rhys Gregory

The first episode of a new BBC Wales TV series will feature Sir Gareth and Lady Maureen Edwards at the controls of a steam engine on the narrow gauge Corris Railway in Mid Wales. Titled ‘Gareth Edwards Great Welsh Adventure’, the programme will be screened at 8.30pm on Tuesday, October 26. In addition to footage filmed at Corris Railway, the former Wales and British Lion rugby knight and his wife travel at higher speeds in a rally car and have a close up meeting with birds of prey. The programme may be screened more widely on the national BBC network…

Cancer support charity Maggie’s Cardiff is delighted to announce a collaboration with The Diamond Centre of Wales to help raise much needed funds to support people with cancer across South East Wales. The Diamond Centre has designed and made a beautiful one of a kind pendant that Maggie’s will raffle. Tickets are just £5 and anyone can enter online to win this unique piece of jewellery worth over £2600 https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/maggie-s-cardiff1 Kelvin James of Diamond Centre Wales said “We are proud to be able to design and create this wonderful piece of jewellery that will raise funds for Maggie’s Cardiff. We…

A Mid Wales potter and his artist partner have opened a new studio and pottery school in Builth Wells as they aim to be part of a new, creative hub in the town. Alex Allpress and Blue MacAskill have relocated the Alex Allpress Ceramic Studio & Pottery School to Church Street, next to St Mary’s Church in Builth Wells, from its previous home in Newbridge-on-Wye. To celebrate the move, the couple are launching ‘Shades of Clay’, a Christmas exhibition of art, pottery and handmade ceramics from November 29 to December 5. The exhibition will be open daily from 9am to…

An “inspirational” woman who launched a café just before Covid-19 struck says she has had to reinvent herself “more times than Madonna” to survive the pandemic. Mother-of-four and gran-of-five Julie Vaughan-Roberts, 65, ploughed every penny of her life-savings – including her funeral fund – to establish Cwtch Ceramics in Rossett, near Wrexham Just 10 days after she opened, the UK went into lockdown and the doors shut with Julie not knowing when they would re-open. Despite the nightmare start, things are looking up again, with Julie paying tribute to her accountants, Wrexham and Chester based Coxeys, for helping her to…

A music cooperative that “pushed the boundaries of technology” to provide online lessons for children and young people has won a top award. The North Wales Music Cooperative, a not-for-profit organisation providing quality music tuition for pupils in Denbighshire and Wrexham, was honoured at the prestigious Social Business Wales Awards, winning the technology category, Tech for Good When the pandemic struck last year, the cooperative grasped the nettle and came up with new and innovative methods of working to achieve a “high degree of social impact”. Teachers and staff totally revamped the service  to keep music lessons alive, creating what…

The mini-Tredegar or The Little Role Play Town as it is known, boasts a replica of the town’s iconic clock, as well as its own ‘shops’ and play areas, offering an imaginative and stimulating experience for youngsters. Set up by secondary school teacher Kimberley Stephens, the venue is proving a hit since it opened earlier in the year, drawing in youngsters and their families from a wide radius, and the aim is to open more such centres In the future. The pretend town was launched with the help of a £1000 business support grant administered by Tata Steel subsidiary UKSE…

A Newtown attraction is offering businesses and groups a Christmas party with a difference this year. Beyond Breakout, located on the fourth floor of Newtown’s Royal Welsh Warehouse, Pryce Jones Building, has a choice of three escape rooms for festive party groups “As well as being great fun, escape rooms can double up as both a party and a team building exercise,” said Lorna Morris, who runs Beyond Breakout with business partner Jo Woodall. “Escape rooms are a great way to bond with colleagues, allowing between two to six  players per group to team up and solve the puzzles in…

The wholesale regeneration of a former British Steelworks site at Brymbo, near Wrexham has taken a major step forward with the acquisition of a 2.4 hectare development site by Taylor Wimpey North West. The development, to be known as Coed Issa, will provide a collection of 70 new three and four bedroom homes designed for first time buyers and growing families. All homes will be available for private sale and will offer a combination of detached and semi-detached houses. The first new homes are expected by be available to buy from December 2021 and completed by summer 2022. Brymbo Developments…

With a view to creating the first green hydrogen supply to a brewery, Budweiser Brewing Group UK&I, the UK arm of global brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev, and Protium, the leading UK-based green hydrogen energy company, have teamed up to explore the deployment of zero emission green hydrogen at Magor brewery in South Wales, one of the largest breweries in the UK. Bolstering Budweiser Brewing Group’s ambitious sustainability objectives, the project would build the first large-scale hydrogen generation system at a brewery. The hydrogen will fuel the brewery’s production, as well as its key logistics assets including Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) and…

Pupils counting down the weeks until they can move into their new school building have created a lasting legacy to let children in the future know what school life is like today. The children at Ysgol Gymraeg Tan-y-lan have worked with staff to gather items for a time capsule that has been buried on the site of the new £9.9m build in Clase. The development is nearing completion and they are due to move from their existing site at Tan-y-lan Terrace in Morriston to their new home in Clase after the Christmas holiday break. Pupils joined Swansea Council Leader Rob Stewart,…