Author: Rhys Gregory

Ruthin Gaol, the historic Victorian prison museum located in the heart of Denbighshire has been awarded the Tripadvisor Traveller’s Choice Award for 2024. This recognition places Ruthin Gaol among the top-rated attractions, celebrating its dedication to delivering outstanding visitor experiences. The Tripadvisor Traveller’s Choice Award is given annually to accommodation providers, attractions, and restaurants that consistently receive exceptional visitor reviews on the platform. This accolade highlights Ruthin Gaol’s commitment to preserving its unique history and engaging visitors through its interactive exhibits, educational tours, and family trails. Ruthin Gaol offers a captivating insight into daily life under the Victorian prison ‘silent…

Local foodbanks and food sharing groups could soon be benefiting even more from apples plucked by volunteers from local orchards and trees. Swansea Council has awarded a £10,600 grant to a local charity that picks surplus fruit from local trees and orchards for distribution onwards to those who need them most. The cash will go towards a feasibility study to create apple storage facilities so the fruit can be stored and distributed over time thereby reducing wastage and enabling the apples to last longer and go further. The initiative is being led by local community interest company Cyfoeth y Coed…

Small and medium sized businesses in Swansea can soon find out how they might benefit from contracts worth close to £5m over the next six months in Swansea and beyond. They’re being invited to attend an event being organised by Business Wales and supported by Swansea Council’s Commercial, Corporate Building and Economic Regeneration departments on Tuesday September 10. Many other public sector organisations from across South Wales will also be attending. Taking place at Swansea Arena from 9am to 4pm, businesses which attend will learn how to do business with the council and how best to bid for council work…

RESIDENTS in two city centre blocks of flats can look forward to the start of a multi-million pound homes makeover in the coming months. Tenants in the Croft Street flats on High Street and the low-rise homes next door are set to benefit from a multi-million pound upgrade that will see their homes refurbished inside and out. Swansea Council is putting the finishing touches to the scheme that will see new kitchens, bathrooms and fire prevention equipment in every home as well as state-of-the art security and attractive weather-proofing for the buildings outside. Work is expected to start later this…

Structural improvements will be made to one of the culvert inlets at Heath Terrace in Ynyshir from Monday, using Welsh Government funding – with minimal disruption expected locally. Residents may notice the scheme get underway from Monday, September 2, with the work intending to directly alleviate the risk of flooding to 30 nearby properties. The work will include installing a larger grille, structural repairs to the wing walls and head walls, and creating an improved access for maintenance vehicles. The scheme has been funded by Welsh Government’s Flood Risk Management Small Scale Works programme. This included funding for the design…

A well-known local businessman, trading under the name of the ‘Recycling Man’ has been caught red handed and dealt with in court after he fly-tipped waste that he was entrusted to dispose of Mr. Andrew Williams of Bell Street, Trecynon, regularly advertises his business (Recycling Man) on Facebook stating that all waste is disposed of correctly – However, on this occasion, he was found guilty of illegally disposing of the waste that he had charged a person to dispose of correctly. Mr. Williams had decided to blight his local neighbourhood and fly tipped waste at Parish Road, Rhigos, because he…

Hancox’s Pies is a local business that opened in 2020 making homemade meals for the surrounding community. The local business that makes pies, cakes, pastries, and more homecooked goods to order presents a true family feel as business owner, Alexandre Hancox, uses his own mama’s recipes, all the way from Avora in Portugal. When COVID restrictions lifted, Hancox’s Pies secured a property in Bargoed that acted as a café and bakery at front of house for their local community. As the business grew, Hancox’s Pies relocated in December 2023 to their current location in Caerphilly. The move created a space…

As part of work to produce a new cultural strategy for Newport, a new survey asks people to share their views on the city’s current cultural offer, and how this can be developed in the future. The short survey should take around 7-10 minutes to complete, and is open until Friday 20 September. The results will help us shape the strategy, which is being developed in partnership with the city’s cultural sector as well as other partners and stakeholders. Newport’s creative industries sector is one of the fastest growing in Wales, with employment count in the sector increasing 125 per cent…

Penallta Reuse Shop celebrate more success. Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Penallta Reuse Shop opened in partnership with South Wales based charity, Wastesavers Charitable Trust Ltd. in October 2022. The shop provides an opportunity for items once destined for the Household Recycling Centre to be reused and sold at bargain prices. Since opening, the Shop has gone from strength to strength, not only diverting items from the waste stream, but also joining forces with local projects and charities to offer community projects. These include a partnership with mental health charity Growing Space to run a recycling programme that delivers new skills,…

Caerphilly County Borough Council are on a mission to boost recycling rates and work has been ongoing to help further improve the quality of recyclable materials collected at kerbside. In a Cabinet meeting, which took place on Wednesday 18th October 2023, Members agreed to the implementation of an enhanced education and engagement process which incorporates letters, home visits and the option to serve legal notice on persistent offenders of kerbside recycling contamination. Whilst the existing kerbside recycling method results in the capture of significant dry recycling tonnage, there are currently high levels of contamination within the borough’s brown recycling bins,…