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Bethany home from rickshaw challenge

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bethany homeMILFORD Haven is proud to welcome home the stars of The Children In Need Rickshaw Challenge this week.

16-year-old Bethany Freeman and her mother Amanda have recently arrived back in Milford Haven after cycling 700 miles across Britain over eight days. The trek began in Giants Causeway, Ireland and ended in London.

The Herald managed to get hold of Amanda for a talk about how much she enjoyed The Rickshaw Challenge.

“It was so much harder than I thought,” said Amanda. “Bethany loved it. She missed her father a lot at the beginning. I had tried to tell her that he wasn’t going to be there but I don’t think she actually realised it. We were riding along one day and she saw somebody that looked like him and she started shouting ‘Dad!’”

Bethany and Amanda cycled with four other people in The Rickshaw Challenge as well as their partners and met many celebrities on the way.

“We met Jason Donavan, but Bethany wasn’t phased by that. She knew who he was, and she stood with her arms around him for about half an hour! We also saw Amir Khan in Bolton and we met the cast of Eastenders in Albert Square,” says Amanda. “It was such an adventure”.

Amanda had to cycle five miles up hill in the Lake District. She told The Herald how she got to do it: “This was the highest point in The Rickshaw, and all the men were wanting to do it saying ‘I’ll do it’, then someone else would say ‘No, I’ll do it’. In the end, Matt Baker came in and said ‘The next part is five miles up hill. You’re doing it Amanda’. I couldn’t really say no!” Amanda was filmed with tears in her eyes while cycling uphill due to the intensity of it. Amanda recalls the moment: “I was dying. Had it been a normal push bike I would have got off and walked, but The Rickshaw isn’t like a normal bike. It’s very solid and you can feel every bump. Plus it was being filmed!”

Bethany is only 4ft 11ins and was the smallest rider on The Rickshaw. Bethany had to have a special seat which was lower than the rest and was softer.

When cycling out of Birmingham, Bethany fell off The Rickshaw bike. Amanda said: “I didn’t see her fall over but when I looked she was lying on the road. I rushed out to her to see if she was okay, and she lifted her head and said ‘It’s all your fault mum’, which is her usual reaction to falling over. I knew that she was okay after she said that!”

Amanda continued: “She was okay. She had a helmet and protective clothing on, which did help her. Her coat ripped though and she wouldn’t wear it again, so I had to wear it afterwards! I also had to get on The Rickshaw then for her. I could see she was fine, so I didn’t mind”.

Bethany rode The Rickshaw bike into Oxford on day seven. BBC Children In Need raised £250,000 in half an hour that night through text messages. “It was such a great experience. People were chanting her name when we cycled past and one lady ran after us and gave Bethany a pair of reindeer slipper to put her feet up afterwards – she loves them!”

After meeting a number of celebrities and getting a mention from Oprah Winfrey, Milford Haven is proud to have Bethany and Amanda home safely.

Congratulations to you both from all here at The Pembrokeshire Herald.

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Business

Derelict Cilgerran house to be transformed into cafe

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PLANS by a village shop owner to convert a house “in a state of disrepair” to a café to “improve the variety of community facilities” locally have been given the go-ahead.

Mrs Morris, through agent Harries Planning Design Management, sought permission from Pembrokeshire County Council to convert The Old Post House, High Street, Cilgerran, currently a four-bed dwelling, to a ground floor café, along with a first-floor flat.

The application received five letters of support, saying it would provide local jobs, support the community, promote Welsh and local food, and provide a local community hub, with three letters of objection, raising concerns about parking and traffic, and potential odours from the premises.

A supporting statement, through the agent, said: “The proposed site is currently a dwellinghouse, in current need of modernisations and renovations throughout. The site is under the same ownership as the neighbouring village stores Siop Y Pentre,” saying the proposal “can be read as an extension to the existing Siop Y Pentre”.

“Siop Y Pentre is a thriving local community village shop which acts as a village hub. The shop provides local residents with day-to-day necessities, with a focus on local, sustainable and minimal waste products,” the statement says, adding the dwelling it seeks to convert “is in disrepair and in need of internal works to make suitable for modern living”.

It went on to say: “The proposed café seeks to retain its focus on local and seasonal produce with minimal waste and would provide a welcomed opportunity for socialising, especially during the daytime. The café will also seek to employ local staff retaining a community feel throughout. As such, the principle of the café adjacent to the existing village store is considered acceptable. The site seeks to encourage a sustainable community, with development of an appropriate scale and nature.

“Further to this, the location of the development is within the settlement boundary and seeks to fulfil a need for day-time socialising environments currently lacking within Cilgerran.”

The application was conditionally approved by county planners.

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Community

Emergency call outage affected Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire

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RESIDENTS in parts of Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire faced difficulties contacting emergency services via the 999 landline number on Sunday (Dec 17) due to a temporary outage.

Dyfed-Powys Police issued alerts on social media, warning residents of potential issues when trying to dial 999 from landlines in affected areas. Locations impacted included Pembroke, Manorbier, Carew, and surrounding areas.

In a statement, police advised: “You may have faced problems calling 999 from a landline in the Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire area. Places likely to have been affected were Pembroke, Manorbier, Carew. Please try calling from a mobile phone as mobile networks may have been working normally. Normal service will be restored as soon as possible. Non-emergencies can be reported online. Please look out for further updates.”

Later in the day, an update confirmed that the 999 landline service had been restored in the Llangrannog and Llanteg areas.

The temporary disruption raised concerns about access to emergency services in rural areas, where mobile coverage can sometimes be unreliable.

Authorities urged residents to remain vigilant and use alternative communication methods in the event of future disruptions. Further updates are expected as investigations into the cause of the outage continue.

For non-emergency issues, residents can continue to report incidents via the Dyfed-Powys Police website or contact their local police station directly.

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Community

Police and council in collaborative effort to tackle fly grazing

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IT WAS confirmed this week Pembrokeshire County council is teaming up with Dyfed-Powys Police in a bid to tackle a growing problem of horses on public areas in the county.

The move comes after the County has witnessed a significant increase in incidents of horses being left on public land and highways – known as fly-grazing.

Over the Christmas period the agencies will work operationally in a collaborative effort to alleviate the issue.

This joint approach is in response to community concerns and part of a wider initiative that will enable partner agencies to effectively address with the issue.

Members of the public can report fly grazing concerns by contacting [email protected] or 01437 764551.

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