Author: Rhys Gregory

It’s three years since the first brand new station opened under Transport for Wales and since then it has gone from strength to strength, with almost 30,000 using it in 2023/24. Bow Street Transport Interchange was completed in 2021 as the result of more than a decade of work and campaigning by local groups in Ceredigion. During 2021/22 it saw 12,563 passenger journeys, which grew to 23,156 the following year, helped of course by the reduction of Covid-19 restrictions. And in the most recent data, it has been confirmed more than 29,000 used the station in 2023/24, an average of…

With her 100th birthday looming, Margaret Rees, a resident of Ty Cwm Ogwr in the Ogmore Valley, reflects on her colourful past and treasured memories of serving as a cook in World War II. In 1940, at just 16 years old, Margaret fled her home in Llangynwyd, Maesteg, and joined the army by adding a couple of years to her age, in a bid to avoid working at the local arsenal factory, which she claimed could tint workers’ hair to yellow. Following initial training, teenage Margaret became a cook in the RAF’s Catering Corps, stationed at various air bases.  However,…

COUNCILLOR Steve Hunt has vowed to continue campaigning for increased funding for Welsh councils after being re-appointed as Leader of Neath Port Talbot Council for a third year. Cllr Hunt and Deputy Leader Cllr Alun Llewelyn were re-appointed to their roles at the council’s Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, May 15th, 2024, where a number of other appointments and administrative measures were progressed. On his re-appointment, Cllr Hunt told the AGM at Port Talbot’s Civic Centre: “After two extremely challenging budgets, my focus this year will be on maintaining a stable council and preparing for an even more difficult budget…

embroke Leisure Centre will play host to a free disability sports and physical event later this month with lots of sports and activities to try. The insport series, in partnership with Disability Sport Wales, Sport Pembrokeshire and Pembrokeshire Leisure is an inclusive sport and physical activity event. It offers opportunities for disabled young people (ages 5 years+) and adults across Pembrokeshire and friends and family are welcome. On offer to try are: boxing, boccia, swimming (on a separate first come first serve booking basis), football, wheelchair rugby, target shooting, adaptive bikes, cricket, golf, multisport, and more.  The event takes place…

RCT Council has provided an update on the Tylorstown Landslip remediation scheme, with Phase Four work ongoing. Current activity includes earthworks, transporting the remaining tip material to a receptor site, building infrastructure at receptor areas, and work within an extended drainage programme. The landslip on the Llanwonno hillside in February 2020 was triggered by the unprecedented rainfall in Storm Dennis. It blocked the river valley, broke a foul sewer, covered a water main with several metres of debris, and covered a shared footpath. A four-phase remediation plan has been implemented – and included emergency clearance work in the weeks that…

The outcomes and recommendations from the Bovine TB Technical Advisory Group’s (TAG) first meeting are announced today. The TAG’s inaugural meeting was held on 17 April, with the priority to discuss and produce advice regarding the current on-farm slaughter of TB reactors policy. The Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs, Huw Irranca-Davies has accepted the Group’s recommendations in full. Immediate changes will now be made to the on-farm slaughter policy, with the aim of reducing the numbers of cattle slaughtered on-farm in Wales. The main reasons cattle may be slaughtered on-farm for TB control purposes are either because…

The Welsh Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Welsh language, Jeremy Miles, has set out his immediate economic priorities for Wales during a keynote speech at AMRC Cymru in Broughton. In setting out the challenges and opportunities presented by a just transition towards a greener economy, the business and skills audience was left in no doubt as to the scale of the prize for being at the forefront of that transition – not just for the business community in Wales but across public services and wider society. Immediate action being taken will include: Establishing a national economic council, replacing…

Thirty innovative projects across north and west Wales have secured funding totalling over £2 million through the ARFOR Challenge Fund. The fund was set up to pilot new and innovative solutions to challenges that exist in the ARFOR area, which covers Anglesey, Gwynedd, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire. With a focus on bringing organisations together to innovate, collaborate and solve local and regional challenges, and to pilot ideas that can become commercial entities in the long term, the ARFOR Challenge Fund aims to ensure the economic vitality of communities and enable people to live and work in those areas. The successful projects…

A syndicate of 15 female investors from Women Angels of Wales (WAW) is helping to improve recycling rates of single-use plastic with an equity investment in Deeside-based Polytag. With the backing of Collateral Good and Knop Ventures, Polytag has now raised £2.85 million to help fund the growth of its unique, tag and trace barcode technology. The GS1 Digital Link QR Codes allow brand owners and retailers in the food and beverage sectors to track packaging from the time it’s labelled to the moment it’s scanned at recycling centres. Trials are already underway with Ocado, Co-op, Arla, Aldi and Biffa.…

A global search has been launched to find the families who rode the world’s first people-powered rollercoaster on its inaugural run 20 years ago. The Green Dragon celebrates its 20th anniversary on May 22, having been an immediate sensation when it was unveiled at the eco-friendly GreenWood Family Park in Felinheli in North Wales back in 2004. The iconic attraction has stood the test of time because it’s still a must-ride destination for devoted rollercoaster fans who beat a path to the park from as far afield as America and Japan every year. Anybody who rode the Green Dragon on…