Author: Rhys Gregory

Look forward to a magical day of world class, site-specific theatre, from established and emerging Welsh artists, performed throughout Carmarthenshire’s historic market town of Llandovery. Have you been in a café and cannot help but listen to the conversation happening next to you? Or how about going to the local chip shop and eating your meal whilst watching a play about Celtic mythology! Both of these are possible, and there are more diverse options to choose from, when you visit the first ever Heart of Wales Theatre Festival on Saturday, 28 September 2024. Llandovery is set to host an array…

An empty factory in Port Talbot could become the site of a new dialysis centre as part of a £70 million investment in South Wales renal services. Plans have now been submitted to partly demolish Stationary House in Acacia Avenue, Sandfields, ready to build the state-of-the art unit. Along with a dialysis centre currently under construction in Bridgend, the Port Talbot development will help relieve pressure on Morriston Hospital and means dialysis patients can be treated closer to home. Assuming the plans, which also include car park and landscaping work, are approved, it is hoped the centre will be ready…

Lovetovisit, the innovative online platform transforming how people discover and book leisure activities across the UK, has been named the Best Tourism & Leisure Start-Up of the Year at the 2024 National Start-up Awards. The Cardiff-born business beat 1600 competitors to secure the prestigious title, just months after winning the Welsh category earlier this year. The awards recognise the nation’s most promising and dynamic new businesses and were presented by Professor Dylan Jones-Evans OBE at the awards ceremony in Tring. Lovetovisit’s win is a significant milestone, underlining the company’s rapid growth and its disruptive impact on the UK’s domestic tourism sector. Founded in 2021 by twin sisters Alice and Georgia Aubrey, alongside tourism expert Fed Pereira, Lovetovisit was created to fill a clear gap in the market.…

Two seasoned Gower runners – Helen Nicholas, founder of Gower Unearthed, and her best friend, Sally Munro – are set to embark on a mammoth 200-mile journey from Oxford University Museum to Goat Hole Cave, Paviland, on the Gower Peninsula. This extraordinary run, beginning on October 20, aims to raise awareness of one of South Wales’ most significant archaeological treasures: the Red Lady of Paviland. Discovered in 1823 by archaeologist William Buckland, the so-called Red Lady is, in fact, an Ice Age hunter from around 33,000 years ago. Alongside the remains, a mammoth skull was also found, linking this discovery…

Tŷ Hafan’s first ever ‘A Walk to Remember’ event has, so far, raised more than £7,000. Last Saturday (14 September) Stol Coffee kindly provided the pre-walk coffees at Penarth Pier before a 28-strong group set off at dawn on the six-mile walk along the coastal path to Tŷ Hafan’s hospice in Sully. Tŷ Hafan’s Events Manager Jodana Weekley, said: “The weather couldn’t have been more perfect as we walked, talked and remembered our loved ones while the sun rose across the sea. “When we reached Tŷ Hafan, we were met by our wonderful volunteers who were on hand with hot…

A 25-year-old man has been jailed after attacking his ex-partner. Iwan Lloyd, of Derwen Deg, Ganllwyd, appeared at Caernarofn Crown Court last week, Friday September 20th, after admitting to assaulting his ex-partner. On July 5th Lloyd had been arguing with his ex-partner when he grabbed her by the throat and repeatedly hit her against the floor. He threw bottles of beer around the house and smashed them against the walls, damaging items inside the house. His partner later went to hospital which revealed a head injury caused by the attack. He was jailed for two years. He also received a…

A 19-year-old man from Swansea appeared before Winchester Crown Court last week (Thursday, September 19, 2024) after pleading guilty to terrorism offences and an assault that was motivated by and demonstrating hostility towards the victim based on her transgender identity. Alex Hutton, who has previously been convicted of offences under the Terrorism Act was arrested in November last year after South Wales Police received a report from a member of the public stating they had viewed a video on Hutton’s Instagram in which he claims to have kicked an unidentified person in the head. The video also contained far right imagery. Hutton…

A rail safety educational programme was today (Friday 20 Sept) launched in Wales by Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales, Ken Skates. Rail Safe Friendly was created by Learn Live and teaches young people about the dangers of trespassing on Britain’s railways, aiming to raise awareness, save lives and prevent injuries. Transport for Wales, Network Rail and Learn Live partnered to launch the programme at Ysgol Bryn Alyn in Wrexham. The programme provides schools and the rail industry with an opportunity to work together towards a common goal to educate children and young people on the many dangers that…

Plans for another 280 new council homes for the city, to help ease the extreme housing pressures facing the council, have been announced today. More people than ever before are seeking homelessness support and the city’s temporary accommodation is all full. As part of its rapid response to this housing emergency the Council is proposing to acquire three more properties in the city that would provide a further 280 units of accommodation. This is in addition to the property and land purchases already in process to help tackle demand. The new plans, which involve acquiring an existing student accommodation block…

Neath Port Talbot Council is inviting residents for feedback on a proposed Active Travel plan aimed at enhancing pedestrian, cycling and wheeling infrastructure between Neath and Cimla. The proposed scheme is part of the council’s ongoing commitment to promoting sustainable and accessible transport options which help improve the health and wellbeing of residents, create safer communities, reduce congestion and improve the environment. Active Travel, which aims to give as many people as possible the ability to choose an alternative to motorised travel, is defined as walking, cycling and wheeling for everyday purposeful short-distance journeys, not including journeys purely for recreation…