CHURCH FLOWERS

September

4th Margaret Hughes

11th Mabel Roberts

18th Mandy Bailey

25th Sian Jones

LLANWDDYN NEWSLETTER Medi/September 2011

Newyddion a Digwyddiadau _____ Covering the News and Events

pentref Llanwddyn of Llanwddyn

VALLEY ARTS AND CRAFTS

GALLERY & SHOP

We have a large selection of high quality,

locally produced Arts and Crafts

on view and for sale.

Telephone 01691 870386

Winter 11am - 4pm

Summer 11am - 5pm

www.valleyartsandcrafts.co.uk

Vyrnwy Craft Centre

Unit 3

St Wddyn’s Church Services for September

Services start at 11am on Sunday Mornings

with the exception of

September 11th, due to the Half Marathon on that date.

Everyone Welcome

Oedfaon Sardis 2011

Medi

4- I’w drefnu

11– marathon

18– Rhoswen Charles– Pryn

25– Y Gweindog –bore

The Lake Vyrnwy Experience

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly The Lake Vyrnwy Hotel has grown and provides over eighty jobs. The houses in Abertridwr and the Top village have had the benefit of grants towards improving them. The farm buildings in Llanwddyn were converted into workshops by Montgomeryshire County Council. Tourism businesses have developed. The Estate has been developed into an RSPB reserve and the farm is managed by the RSPB as an organic farm. The days when Severn Trent Water kept the estate tidy for visitors, weeded and swept clean the dam road, repaired roads, produced tourism leaflets, and even had a visitor centre have all gone. 61 properties have been sold over the last 30 years. Traditional jobs have melted away. The Upland area has lost 3000 sheep for sustainable management, heather burning has stopped. There have been many changes. But all is not well in the community. The school is closed. The future of the building is uncertain as is the Community hall. St Wddyns Church is going to struggle financially in the next few years. And to cap it all Severn Trent Water would like to sell the estate in 4 lots so they can raise £11million. They have not talked to the community, only in a perfunctory manner with their tenants. A gagging order is imposed on all bidders so in effect nobody knows what is going to happen. Severn Trent Water was fined £37.8 million for false reporting in 2006. The Consumer Council for water has accused Severn Trent Water of not sharing its profit success with its consumers in 2008 as well as saying Severn Trent Water must work to restore consumers trust. Their poor record is being further tarnished by the conduct of this sale. It is asset stripping by a greedy corporate body. Severn Trent Water is showing no ownership or leadership skills as the principal landowner in this community. Ofwat, The Consumer Council for water, The Water UK, The Welsh Government, Powys County Council, and The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs should be actively asking searching questions before it is too late. This is not a responsible transfer process. There are no benefits locally if Severn Trent Water is taking £11 million. Why sell to another water company who already takes the water and pays for it? How are the future purchasers finding the money to provide promised benefits? What about lot 4 that is still on the market? Is this being carved up into lots 1, 2, & 3? Another delay before the Consultative process of 3 months starts? The four leases have to be agreed before signing. How long is this going to take? And until this is done the community has no idea what is going to happen. The final crunch will be what effect this will have on all the property values in the community and the local businesses? Everybody will be affected. The sale should be put on hold and all parties should be made aware of all the details of the sale. Page 2

LAKE VYRNWY HALF-MARATHON

The Half-Marathon will take place this year on Sunday 11th

September and once again the

race is fully subscribed. Our new Race Director, Jan Roberts, has been busy since January and

I’m sure that all her hard work will result in another successful race.

We are grateful that Margaret Morris and her family as well as members of the Oswestry

Olympians will continue to provide support for Jan and the local team over the weekend. I am

also pleased to say that Llanrhaeadr FC will be providing additional marshal cover this year in

the possible absence of the police.

The race would not be possible without the support of the local community and I am grateful

to everyone who helps each year. Many organisations benefit financially from the race and we

are always keen to recruit more helpers so please contact me [details below] if you think you

can contribute.

Every year many competitors compliment us on our rigorous road safety procedures so I am

sure that, for the benefit that accrues to the community as a whole, we are prepared to put up

with a bit of disruption on the day. We will certainly endeavour to keep disruption to a

minimum but in order to ensure the safety of both competitors and spectators the usual traffic

regulations will be in place again this year.

Most importantly traffic will be directed anticlockwise around the Lake with the runners

following their usual clockwise course over the dam. The road from the football field to the

dam will be single file in convoy – following quad-bikes – from about 1.30 to 4.00 and

closed completely from about 12.45 to 1.15 to allow the runners to run up to the dam using

both lanes. Pedestrians and cyclists are prohibited from using the road between the dam and

the football pitch as the Traffic Regulations permit two lanes only – one for runners and one

for cars. Traffic from the hotel will go down the Church road and link in with the convoy.

Safety barriers will be erected outside Abertridwr numbers 1 – 5 in order to keep pedestrians

separate from cars between Dafarn Newydd and the football field car park. The road from

Dafarn Newydd to the school junction will be closed from 1230 to 4.00 so access to and

from Penybontfawr will be via Llanfyllin only.

During the race there will be access to the shop via the usual route around the Finish but

there will be no access to the petrol pumps as they will be behind the safety barriers.

Sadly this year we will be missing another marshal who was prominent in every race that has

taken place.

Bu farw Maldwyn yn sydyn iawn ym mis Rhagfyr ac rydym ni gyd yn ei golli. Mi oedd o’n

weithgar iawn pob Dydd Sadwrn yn paratoi y râs a phob Dydd Sul wrth drefnu y parciau ceir

ar ran Capel Sardis ac yn casglu sbwriel ac ati ar ol y râs. Diolch yn fawr iawn Maldwyn am

eich holl gyfraniadau.

Maldwyn Davies made a huge contribution to the Marathon and I am very grateful to him for

all that he did. We are pleased that Hywel Tynymaes has taken over the duty of Chief Parking

Marshal on behalf of Capel Sardis.

David Thomas

Chair, Half-Marathon Local Organising Committee

870642

david_thomas6@talk21.com Page 3

Lake Vyrnwy Hotel & Spa

“Calling all local residents”

Come and join us for dinner!

This September we are offering readers a 25% discount on

dinner taken in our Tower Restaurant.

Please see below just a small selection of dishes available from our

5 course menu which includes a taster of soup and a sorbet course.

Starters: Smoked salmon and chive mousse, orange and horseradish

mayonnaise with a ciabatta crouton

Chicken, tarragon and wild mushroom terrine with

pineapple chutney and toasted brioche

Main: Roast leg of Welsh mountain lamb studded with mint, served with

braised Savoy cabbage and garlic confit

Slow braised feather-blade of beef glazed with creamed

mushrooms and honey roasted vegetables

Dessert: Baked chocolate fondant served with vanilla ice–cream

Red wine poached pears with strawberry ice-cream

and a berry sauce

Please telephone our reception desk on 01691 870692

to make your booking.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

September Dining - 25% Discount Voucher This voucher entitles the reader to 25% off dinner for two

people dining in the Lake Vyrnwy Hotel & Spa Tower

Restaurant – between Sunday &Friday (6.45pm – 9.00pm)

(Normally £39.95 pp; 25% discount rate £29.96 pp)

Offer is subject to availability

Voucher is valid throughout September 2011

Please present this voucher at the Tower bar on arrival to

obtain your reader discount. Page 4

Page 5

County Councillor Simon Baynes

is always available to help with

enquiries, issues and

problems that you might have.

Please contact him at:

Bodfach Hall

Llanfyllin

Powys

SY22 5HS

Tel. 07880 786573

Email- baynes@bodfach.com

Page 6

Happy 21st Birthday

to Jamie on the 4th September.

Love from Dad, Mum, Shane, Kyle and all the family.

X X X

To Dad and Mum

Happy 40th Anniversary on 18th September.

Love from Rhi, Llin, Sion and ALL. X X X

MacMillan Coffee Mornings

Will be held in the Social Room of the Community

Centre on 19th and 22nd September.

Please come and support

Everyone very welcome

The Cake Stall opened slightly before 11

am, with people already stopping to buy

when they saw the wonderful array of

tempting cakes and preserves on offer.

Some cakes hardly got as far as the table.

The day was reasonably good to us – the

weather held off until after we had

packed up, having sold out shortly after 1

pm.

The final tally was £285! A great

achievement for such a small village.

Thank you to everyone who provided .

SENIORS CAKE STALL HELD SUNDAY 21st AUGUST 2011.

cakes, everyone who bought cakes and all the people who made donations.

Thanks also to Margaret Probert for her unflagging help on the stall, and of

course Audrey, who provides her garage in such a convenient position. Thank

you everyone!

The Seniors’ Christmas Lunch will be held once again at the beginning of

December, and the exact date will appear in the November issue of the

Newsletter

Cock-A-Doodle-Do St. Sillins church at Llansillin has got a shiny new cockerel on it’s tower. The

old one was made of wood and was a bit worse for wear. Graham Kyle and

and his bride, Mary Cunnah, commissioned Stan Jankowski to make a new one

out of copper after they recently got married in the church and wanted to do

something for the building.

The new cockerel is an exact replica of the old weather vane but inside it holds

a tiny time capsule which tells the story of the kind couple who donated it to

the community and the date that they were married.

Stan Jankowski has a workshop in Llanerfyl where he creates the weather

vanes and other garden items and he shows and sells them all over the country.

Page 7

From the parish priest:

c/o The Post Office,

Llanwddyn.

Tel: 830010

Dear Readers,

We must applaud the vigour of the Action Group, which has brought swift and welcome national

publicity to our many worries over the future of the Lake Vyrnwy Estate. Councillor Simon Baynes

has managed to secure a meeting with the most senior people at United Utilities and the possibility

of a Welsh Assembly enquiry into the whole matter still looks possible. For its part, the church will

go on praying that the beauty of our parish will not be tarnished and that the community, our

residents, farmers and businesses alike will flourish in the years ahead.

September sees the end of the holiday season and the beginning of the winter's work. Our

congratulations to Llanfyllin High School for their excellent A level and GCSE results and to those

youngsters in our community who have done so well and now continue their journey into Sixth

Form or Further Education. We are hoping to revive the Youth Club this Autumn and will be

grateful to know if there are any other adults in Llanwddyn who can help to make this a success.

An advance notice about the Harvest next month. We look forward to seeing the church as

splendidly decorated as usual, but instead of asking for produce, which now seems to be rather

pointless, we are requesting instead that families should think of donating bandages, plasters,

disinfectant, and other small items of surgical equipment that we can send direct to the Archbishop

of Kenya for his medical staff to help with the hordes of sick and hungry refugees flooding into the

north east of his country from drought and war in Somalia.

It is indeed sad to see so much suffering in the world, and yet a lot of it, not least the recent city

riots, is the result of a refusal to heed God's laws, which call us to love Him first, others second and

ourselves last. A world without God's order of priorities will invariably end in horror, violence and

sadness.

Diolch yn fawr i chi,

Mike Keulemans

ST.WDDYN'S CHURCH SERVICES FOR SEPTEMBER

Sunday, 4th

September, Family Service, 11am

Sunday, 11th September, no service because of the Marathon

September 18th September, Morning Prayer, 11am

Sunday, September 25th

, Holy Communion and Baptism of Cari Jones, 11am

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fr i Sat

1 Marathon Meeting

7.30

2 Bowls

3

4 5 6 Hair

Dresser

7 Line

Dancing

8 9 Bowls

10

11 Half

Marathon

12 13 14 Line

Dancing

15 16 Bowls

17

18 19 MacMillan

Coffee Morn &

Community Council

Meeting 7pm

20 21 Line

Dancing

22 MacMillan

Coffee Morning

23

Bowls

24

25 Christening

Party

26 27 Merched Y Wawr

28 Line

Dancing

29 30 Bowls

September 2011

Llanwddyn Newsletter

Annette Griffiths

Dam View

Phone: 01691 870236

Email: annettegriffiths@llanwddyn.com

The opinions expressed in this News-

letter are those of the contributor and

not necessarily those of the Editorial

Board

Editorial Team

David Rowlands

Audrey Jones

Annette Griffiths

www.llanwddyn.com

In Touch With The Community