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EDITORIAL
Welcome to this bumper edition of Y Bont. Thanks to everyone who contributed articles, comments and letters. Also a very welcome return of ‘Wellies and Wheelbarrows, probably one of the best! Please continue and let’s show the good side of village life. Despite the small group of mis-guided individuals who continue to disrupt the sleep of the community, minor acts of petty vandalism and the frustrations of every day life, we are fortunate to live in such a beautiful place, which is envied by our many visitors. Perhaps if you have five minutes to spare to jot down your thoughts you could share them with the rest of us via Y Bont.
YSGOL CARROG
All the children took part in the End of Term Concert when they took the audience around the world in song and verse. Prof. David Jones, Chair of Governors presented Year 6 pupils Elisha Nash, Lowri Jones Williams and Alix Hooson with dictionaries. The Year 6 pupils presented a framed montage of photographs of the school. They also organised an end of year disco in the Neuadd for all. During the summer term the children enjoyed a visit to Children’s Day at Llangollen Eisteddfod and a trip to Camelot theme park.
INCIDENTS OF CRIMINAL DAMAGE
Sadly both the Church and the Village Hall have suffered damage in recent weeks. At the Church a fire extinguisher was taken from inside and discharged in the porch. The necessary replacement cost was £120, which Carrog Church can ill afford and coincidentally was the same amount raised for the Treasure Hunt Walk. The Village Hall has had both the newly painted doors and the Notice Board scratched and latterly one of the rainwater downspouts broken off. If you witness incidents please do remember you can report them anonymously using the Crimestoppers number: 0800 555 111 or by filling in the online form at <http://www.crimestoppers-uk.org/>
WEBSITE
Just a reminder about www.carrogybont.co.uk . If any of you have been monitoring the website, you will have noticed that it is updated on a regular basis with information received from both inside and outside the village. Of particular interest might be the information received from Denbighshire C C which lists all the relevant information released by the press office. During the holiday period, all the exciting activities available have been listed from Teddy Bears Picnics to Air Shows. Take a look. There is often a delay between the English version of this information appearing on our website, and the Welsh version. This is because sometimes the information is released in English first, with the Welsh translation following up to 24 hours later. As time allows, the editors add the Cymraeg as soon as possible, but please accept our apologies if sometimes this takes longer than you might wish. You can comment about any article appearing on the website, as you can with the paper version.
DENBIGHSHIRE COMMUNITY COMPETITIONS
The title of Denbighshire Village Hall/Community Centre of the Year 2009 has been awarded to Y Ganolfan, Llandrillo, together with a prize of £100.00. In equal second place, with a prize of £75.00 each were Neuadd Carrog and Canolfan Cae Cymro, Clawddnewydd. In third place receiving a cheque of £50.00 is Theatr Twm o’r Nant, Denbigh. This Competition was sponsored by the Denbighshire Church Acts Fund. Details of the winners of Voluntary Youth Initiative of the Year 2009 and Senior Citizens Estate of the Year can be found on our website.
BT COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS AWARD
Neuadd Carrog Village Hall made a successful application to the BT Community Connections Award Scheme, a laptop and a year’s free wireless broadband access will be delivered during September. The Scheme is run by BT to give community and charitable organisations the opportunity to access the online world of marketing, recruitment, fundraising, communication and networking. We were among thousands that entered the award scheme across the UK and R O I and impressed the judges with our ideas on how access to the internet will benefit the local community. Beth Courtier, BT’s Community Investment Programme Manager, said: “This award scheme means that thousands of communities are able to take advantage of the range of benefits the internet has to offer. By providing these capacity-building awards BT is encouraging sustainability and enabling groups to forward their growth.”
CARCHARDY
Sadly, we must report that the Carchardy site in the centre of the village has now been completely levelled and the last vestiges of the ancient walls on the banks of the River Dee have now disappeared under a layer of rubble. Owain Glyndwr’s ”Prison House” , at the end of Glyndwr Terrace, has been noted by historians for centuries and as long ago as 1906 Rev. Rees Jones of Carrog started a national campaign to preserve the building. One hundred years later nothing now remains above the ground of a building that the National Trust in 1908 recorded as a place of significant historical interest. We have no knowledge as to the future of the site as at the present time no plans appear to have been deposited with the county council. Nor, however, were any plans deposited prior to the clearance of the site. Fiona Gale, County Archaeologist, Denbighshire County Council made the following response to both Carchady and Invisible Carrog:
“As far as I am aware the site has not had any upstanding remains of the building associated with Glyndwr for sometime. I am aware of the site and of a lot of the research that Ian Lebbon has carried out. Foundations of the structure will remain below ground, but archaeologically it could be impossible ever to categorically link the building to Owain Glyndwr. On another matter the site of Owain Glyndwr’s Motte is due to be the recipient of substantial funding from Welsh Assembly Governemt to repair it. Cadw are involved in the early stages of putting a programme together. This funding was announced last year. I think until some repair work is carried out there is a reluctance to encourage visitors to the site.”
Councillor Hugh Jones, on election as member for the Corwen Community Ward convened a meeting with local historians, members of CADW and the County Archaelogist at Rhyg Chapel in the summer of 2008 with a view to establishing an ‘Owain Glyndwr Trail’ from Corwen, Mynydl-y-Gaer, Carchady, Owain Glyndwr’s Mount, over the Berwyn to Pen y Pigyn and down to Corwen Church. A report was commissioned and lodged with the Clerk of the Community Council. He has now stated that he is ‘amazed and saddened that they have not taken this on board’ and will endeavour after the summer recess to hold a meeting with the Fiona Gale, the County Archaeologist to discuss the future of the site.
In view of this, is there not a certain irony in the following:
A new era for Shepherd’s Cottage
Volunteers are needed to help a conservation project currently taking place in Nercwys Forest on the Denbighshire/ Flintshire border. The Forestry Commission and the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty partnership are working together to bring new life to the area and work has started on the enclosure in front of the old shepherd’s cottage.
The old tree stumps that remained in the enclosure since it was cleared of timber five years ago have now been removed and local craftsmen have begun to re-build the tumbled down dry stone wall that surrounded it. The idea is to turn the small enclosure into a flower rich hay meadow – an important habitat for many plant and insect species. Once the dry stone wall has been fully reinstated, then work will begin to prepare the ground ready for sowing the wildflower seed mix in spring. The old cottage at the top of the enclosure was demolished in the early 1960s when the forest was being planted and it was deemed to be unsafe. It has since remained a pile of rubble but it is now hoped to recreate the original floor plan of the building. Under the supervision of Fiona Gale, Denbighshire County Council’s Archaeologist, volunteers will be invited to help clear some of the rubble. It will be safeguarded from any further destruction and an archaeological survey will be carried out.
YOUTH CLUB PROVISION IN CARROG
We asked for an update on the future of Youth Provision in the village, and have received the following statement from Councillor Hugh H Evans, Leader of Denbighshire County Council: “The Youth Service is currently realigning its resources as part of its Delivering the Promise Strategy. This process includes a number of key features. These include: – · An independent review in order to make recommenda tions for future development and delivery. · The implementation of an action plan to address the outcomes from the review process · To programme in the new Youth Mobile for delivery of youth work in rural and smaller communities · The training of community based volunteers to run youth support activities in rural and smaller communities · Youth Service and Leisure services working together to improve the network of youth support and activity Carrog is currently one of the communities that will benefit from the new mobile provision. The service is planning a training course for volunteers to be delivered in January 2010 and will be recruiting for this course from September 2009 onwards. The Youth Service Senior Team Leader and Cllr Huw Jones have met with Carrog Village Hall Committee to keep them informed about the new mobile and volunteer training. Young people are very excited about the mobile and the committee have agreed to waiver the hire fee so that the service and DVSC can train volunteers from the community. It is anticipated that volunteers from Carrog community will be able to work with the Youth Service and DVSC to provide a good range of youth work support. If you have any further questions regarding developments in Carrog please do not hesitate to contact the Principal Youth Officer, Roger Ellerton on 01745 345234.”
Although it seems a long time since the last ‘Wellies and Wheelbarrows’, it’s safe to say very little has changed in the Llan! New fences have gone up and old fences have collapsed, hedges have been laid and the odd few acres have been ploughed, but on the whole, Mother Nature and I just keep plodding on in the same old way. As seems to be tradition, in my era of the Llan at least, the hot weather has broken before I have been able to cut my hay, and I can be found after every weather forecast sitting in front of the telly, cursing the weather presenter and the met office for conspiring to ruin my harvest. I’m planning on hiding the mower in the shed in an attempt to trick the sun into shining. The pessimist in me however suspects that even if my ruse worked, the minute I’d drive into the field to mow the heavens would open! One major change since my last article is the retirement of my friends and neighbours Vivian and Ruth. This seems to have left a large gap in my life (Especially as I have nowhere to waste a wet hour drinking tea anymore.) There’s many a happy time I’ve spent in Groesfaen swapping stories of agricultural disasters over a cuppa with Vivian. It seems very strange looking across and not seeing Vivian walking Groesfaen with Mot and Don, now he’s no longer there I think I’m the last lunatic in Carrog who persists in taking the Scythe for a walk. Another change since the last article is the addition of two new staff members! I only intended to get one bitch, but when Jess attempted suicide by throwing herself in front of a car (I think Henson told her what I’m like!) I thought I’d better get another in case she didn’t pull through, and so I purchased Lol. To say that Lol is a hooligan is an understatement; she is the doggie equivalent of Genghis khan. She has spent her short time in the Llan chewing her way through my doors and generally undermining my authority. She looks at me with utter disdain and shows not the least intention of ever trying to impress me. However when Dan arrives on the yard it is a different story. The damn dog will do whatever he says and is the picture of obedience; she’s even started working sheep for him! Oh well, birds of a feather and all that! Lambing time this year came and went without too many complications. The weather for once was on my side and I did a lot of my shepherding from the land rover. Normally at lambing time I lose weight due to all the extra walking I have to do. This year however instead of wearing out my boot leather, I wore out the drivers seat. The cows all calved with their usual impeccable timing, apart from three of them who calved within a couple of hours of each other on the same day. Most of them chose to calve between midnight and 5 in the morning. I’m pretty certain that their calving times have nothing to do with nature and everything to do with their evil sense of humour. Still when you have a successful calving it all seems worthwhile.
I’m going to have to cut this article short now because as I’m writing I can hear Keith mowing like crazy in Penarth. Maybe he knows something about the forecast I don’t! Gareth Llan
(Copyright Gareth Bryan)
A Special Place
After returning to Carrog after another hectic 9 months in Liverpool John Moores University, I was delighted to hear that Ysgol Carrog were happy to let me gain some much needed experience through an extended placement. Life is so much different in Liverpool compared to that of the life here in Carrog, which means that it has its advantages, but of course it also have its disadvantages. The one thing that I miss most while I am living in Liverpool is the glorious landscape of the Dee Valley. However, the main thing that I will miss this year while I am living in Liverpool is Ysgol Carrog and its children and staff. After the short time that I spent at Ysgol Carrog, as a trainee teacher, I have taken away so many fond memories. The things that I will remember most are the random comments, and superb imaginative skills of the children! There was a personal favourite however, which was the trip to Camelot. I think this is my favourite memory simply because of all the happy faces and sense of excitement that I felt from all of the children. The only down side of the day was that I blocked the children’s faces from view of the camera on the log flume ride! Another memory that I will carry with me for a long time is that of the sports day. I had not realised just how much organisation and preparation is required of all of the staff for one event. As a child, you just think that these things happen, because they do, and for no other reason! However, in real life it is a different story and I have taken a lot from that. The last memory which I will tell you about is helping some of the children prepare for the ‘Welsh Quiz’. This was a competition that some of the children took part in and came second in the county for performing a variety of tasks. Even if the contribution that I gave to the children’s preparation was only minor, I was still able to take a sense of well-being and achievement that I had helped to help the children (!) in doing something that they will hopefully remember for a long time. This will always be the school in which I taught first, and the school which helped me improve as a teacher and develop my own style. This experience will not only help me towards completing my degree, but it will also be the foundation on which I build my future career, and to that I owe a big thank you to every single member of staff at Ysgol Carrog. The experience I had at the school reinforced my ambition to become a teacher. I would also like to take the opportunity to give a special thanks to Mrs. Lebbon who is a fantastic role model and mentor for any trainee teacher. Thanks again to the special people, in the special place. Jamie Lee
LETTERS
Let’s keep Carrog clean
As a dog owner myself, I am aware of all the responsibilities that come with owning a dog. Before I bought my dog Lily, I carefully considered whether or not I could meet all of her needs. She means everything to me and I have worked hard to ensure that she is well looked after. She has been fully vaccinated, micro-chipped and spayed. Whenever she is sick she is taken to the local vet and her health and wellbeing always take priority above any cost. I have ensured that she has regular walks to keep her fit and mentally stimulated and I always ensure that a bag is to hand. Sadly not all of us are prepared to clean up – I am sure that everyone reading this will have experienced stepping in the stuff! It is not pleasant, but it is also dangerous as it carries diseases that can cause blindness. It is a criminal offence to allow your dog to foul public areas and not clean up. Let’s work together to keep Carrog clean. Jacqueline Williams
Llidiart y Parc
I have always considered the residents of Berwyn Street to be peaceful and law abiding citizens. But evidently I am mistaken. Since 1967 as far as I can recall, residents have disposed of their biodegradable garden waste consisting of grass and hedge cuttings, by depositing them in a lay-by above Laburnum Cottage. This small area has always been known as `common land` as the road was classed as `un-adopted,` and in all those years no one has ever complained, Until now, that is. Is there a `grass` living among us I wonder? (Pardon the pun). Recently `Environmental Crime Officers` from Denbighshire County Council visited the area with the consequence that every resident of Berwyn Street has received a letter stating that depositing such waste is ruining the local environment and is in fact a criminal offence. Offenders are liable to a fine or imprisonment if convicted. What diabolical rubbish! (Pardon another pun). If I am convicted of the crime in the future, how much would it cost to keep me in luxury in Walton jail for a week or two as I couldn’t afford to pay a fine on my state pension? Although it might be worth it for a cheap holiday! Maybe the Council will have to install CCTV cameras in Berwyn Street at taxpayers expense to stop this crimewave. I will let Y Bont readers know if I get a cheap holiday. A criminal resident of Llidiart y Parc
INVISIBLE CARROG?
Denbighshire County Council recently published “A View Of Denbighshire” which is intended to welcome visitors to the many fascinating places and things to do in the county. Unfortunately Carrog and Llidiart y Parc (and Glyndyfrdwy!) do not appear to be worthy of inclusion in the list of villages described. This despite our historic bridge and church and our position at the heart of Glyndwr lands – the Mount and the Carchardy site are both within our village boundaries. The only reference to the Mount is under the description of Corwen, which places this important site seven miles east, roughly in Berwyn! Tourism is an extremely important part of the local economy but if we are to benefit then at least we should be visible in an official guide published with public money. Some years ago Glyndwr District Council ran a very successful campaign based on “Glyndwr Country” – lessons learnt from that campaign appear to be completely lost on our present council. Tourists do still find their way here though, many by rail, yet despite being the western terminus of Llangollen Railway we do not even merit a mention! Perhaps the authors of the guide should have consulted members of the community as to the content. At least we might have been spared the “legend” that “Robert Hutton was beheaded by a falling tree in the 1850’s while riding past Rhaggatt Hall near Corwen”. Press reports quite clearly state that he died in January 1910, probably of a heart attack and is buried in Carrog. Asked to comment we received the following response from Peter McDermott, /Project Officer CANTATA2, Denbighshire County Council:
“It’s very difficult to include everything in a general guide. We are discussing a re-print of the guide at present and though we are not in the position to make wholesale changes we may be able to include a short paragraph about Carrog in the villages section. Thank you also for drawing our attention to the mistake about Robert Hutton. Should we re-print I’ll ensure that this is removed.”
Fiona Dolben, Tourism Unit has also pointed out:
‘that that the leaflets ‘Exploring Corwen’ and ‘Owain Glyndwr Country & Pen y Pigyn Woodland Trails’ do mention Carrog and Llidiart y Parc.’
TWINNING
August 2009 should have marked a return twinning visit to our Breton friends in Plouye but for various reasons this did not take place. Our hosts are naturally disappointed and hope that a group from the village will be able to visit next year. There will be meeting to discuss twinning in late September – all welcome, date to be confirmed.
EMERGENCY SERVICES TURN OUT IN CARROG
On 26th July following a report of a person shouting for help in the fields behind Maes y Llan, the police, mountain rescue team and two helicopters attended in response. The search continued for several hours but was called off when no trace of a personin difficulties was found. The cost of the operation has been estimated at around £20,000. Y Bont asked the police for any comments they wished to make but as it is believed enquiries are ongoing, they declined to do so.
WEDDINGS
Congratulations to Helen Louise Jones of Llidiart y Parc (youngest daughter of Phil and Jenny Jones) and William Oliver Sharman of Whitchurch who were married at Carrog Church on on Friday 24th July.
Congratulations to Hywel Owain Lebbon of Burnley (formerly of Carrog) and Shelagh Wilson of Burnley who were married at the White Waters Hotel Llangollen on Saturday 25th July 2009
Obituary
Mr. Idwal Pritchard
It is with sadness that the news reached the village about the passing of Mr. Idwal Pritchard who was in Abbey Dingle nursing home Llangollen with his wife. Mr. Pritchard was headteacher of Ysgol Carrog for 16 years before his retirement in 1982. During that time he saw many changes in education and in the numbers of pupils on role. There are many in the village today who remember him as their class teacher. For years he was a faithful member of the Neuadd committee and served as secretary and treasurer. He was a keen snooker player and a member of the Methodist chapel in Carrog. Our sympathy is extended to his wife, son, daughter in law and his grandchildren.
STOP PRESS Instead of sending individual Christmas Cards to your friends and neighbours in the Village, why not use our once a year special Christmas Edition Mail Box, to send your greetings. Text only – £1 for 20 words or £5 with picture. Contact editors or see website.