News
Californian sisters reach Pembrokeshire
RACHAEL and Hayley Williams, two Welsh sisters who moved to California as infants, have elected to walk 870 miles across the Welsh Coastal Path this summer for charity – and in memory of their grandmother.
The two sisters, who are now 29 and 27, have reached the half-way point of their journey, having walked along the whole of the North Wales coast, around Anglesey and the Llŷn Peninsula, down Cardigan Bay to Poppit Sands.
Beginning on June 15, the girls have elected to raise money for Age Cymru, the national charity for older people in Wales, through sponsorship on their walk. This is to commemorate their late grandmother, who was from Wales.
Rachel and Hayley are hoping to reconnect with their Welsh heritage throughout their journey through visiting historical and cultural sites during their trip.
Discussing the 870 mile walk, Rachel Williams said: “Our paternal grandmother Jean Williams lived in Cardiff, and when we came over for her funeral in 2008, we felt our connection with Wales was starting to slip away.
“We decided we wanted to do something to reconnect with Wales and so we came up with the idea of walking the 870 mile Wales Coastal Path.”
Throughout their journey, Rachel and Hayley are staying in hostels, camping and visiting family members, such as their maternal grandparents in South Wales.
“We’re both looking forward to spending time with our grandparents, Geoff and Valerie Richards”, added Hayley.
“We don’t often get the chance to see them and we would like to be able to do more to look after them, but we can’t do as much as we’d like because we live on the other side of the world.
“This is why we’ve decided to raise funds for Age Cymru during our walk, because of the work it does to improve the lives of older people in Wales.”
Age Cymru works nationally and locally and, through its network of independent local Age Cymru partners, they are committed to achieving an age friendly Wales where older people have equal rights to respect, opportunities and the same access to services as the rest of the population.
Both girls set off from Poppit Sands on Friday (Jul 29) and are now completing the Pembrokeshire branch of their journey. To donate to Rachael and Hayley’s Walking Wales 2016 fundraiser, visit www.justgiving.com/walkingwales2016. You can also follow their walk on Twitter at @walkingwales16 and look out for ‘Walking Wales 2016’ on Facebook.
News
Change of direction on 20mph will boost economy, say business leaders
BUSINESS leaders say a new “common sense approach” to the default 20 mph speed limit and road schemes will boost the economy.
According to Business Professionals, the plan unveiled by Ken Skates, the Welsh Government’s new Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport was potentially a “game changer”.
Mr Skates, who is also the Senedd Member for Clwyd South, outlined his vision at a meeting of the group that’s made up of successful businesses and skilled professionals working together to promote regional prosperity and shine a light on the enterprise and expertise that exists in the region.
The process of reverting some roads from the 20 mph limit will begin in September and Mr Skates has urged people to contact local councils to tell them where they think this should happen.
He also revealed his commitment to resurrect a plan to restructure the log jammed A494 and A55 dual carriageways taking traffic to and from the M56 along the Flintshire corridor.
Wrexham Business Professionals committee member Ian Edwards, who chaired the event, said: “This is a significant step forward for the growth prospects of the North Wales economy.
“We welcome the change of direction which Ken Skates’s appointment brings. Since becoming an MS he has proven to be a determined and hard worker on behalf of his constituents here in North Wales and in Wales as a whole.
“His appointment has been a breath of fresh air and we are impressed that he is taking a measured and pragmatic approach to the 20mph dilemma.
“It has had a serious, direct impact on the livelihoods of numerous small businesses, particularly those whose profit margins and business reputations rely on being able to get from A to B within set timeframes.
“We’re also extremely pleased to hear that key highways improvements in Wrexham and Flintshire areas could soon be back on the table.
“We especially appreciate Mr Skates having chosen our meeting to confirm that the long talked about upgrade of the Flintshire Corridor at the gateway to North Wales is back on the agenda.
“In addition, he’s committed to finding a desperately needed solution for the Aston Hill bottleneck at Deeside.
“It is not the first time Mr Skates has spoken at a Wrexham Business Professionals event and whenever he has there has always been a sense that he genuinely is listening to our views.
“It is a real sign of hope that we may finally see some much needed progress on the roads and transport front in North Wales.”
Mr Edward said poor road links and ineffective public transport services around Wrexham and Flintshire were at the forefront of any entrepreneur’s mind when considering expanding existing operations or setting up new businesses in the area.
He said: “The current gridlock of the A55 and A494 and its links to the M56 is hindering the entire region’s economic growth prospects.
“We cannot stress how important an issue this is to the business world and the creation of new jobs for the local economy.”
Mr Skates told the meeting he accepted that in some areas the lower limit was simply not working and he would be consulting with local authorities and all sections of the affected communities to look at restoring a 30mph limit where there was a consensus in favour of it.
But he insists that the 20mph policy has been a huge success in other areas, making roads safer and protecting lives, especially near schools, hospitals and in residential estates.
He said: “The truth is that this has worked. In many areas 20mph is the safest and most sensible option. To simply reinstate 30mph across the board would be a travesty in these situations. That is not what I am advocating.
“But we do need to revise and refine the policy, which is something we always said would be done after a period of time had passed and we had been able to assess how well it was working. We need to make revisions with humility and compassion and accept that on some roads the 20mph limit is not proving to be appropriate.”
On the Flintshire corridor and the creation of a more efficient trunk roads network in North Wales he said there was a lot of work to be done, though progress could be slowed by the transport department’s ever tightening budget.
Mr Skates had been critical of the decision to scrap the so-called Red Route £300 million scheme which would have seen the construction of a new eight-mile dual carriageway, linking the A55 at Northop with the A494 and A550 north of Deeside Parkway Junction via the Flintshire Bridge.
An all-Wales review of planned road schemes saw it shelved along with other North Wales highways improvements which had long been in the pipeline including a third Menai Crossing to Anglesey.
Mr Skates said the A55 at Deeside was outdated and a formidable air pollution hazard for nearby communities, adding: “It was never designed to take the enormous modern day traffic volumes it now handles.”
He promised Wrexham Business Professionals that he is determined a new scheme will be drawn up and implemented but it would be done in the most sustainable way possible, making use of the latest roads construction technology and using design features to minimise air pollution in the surrounding landscape.”
The other guest speaker at the meeting was Professor Dylan Jones-Evans who said the global celebrity status of Wrexham AFC has given the city a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to secure unprecedented economic growth.
He said the impact of the club’s superstar owners, Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, had been hugely positive but that local leaders must now invest significantly in home-grown businesses and incoming innovators to make the most of Wrexham’s higher profile.
Louise Harper, who is also a committee member of Wrexham Business Professionals, was grateful to both the speakers for their contributions.
She said: “There were huge positives in what both Ken Skate and Dylan Jones-Evans told us and it all bodes well as we look forward to a more prosperous future in this part of Wales.”
Community
Badger cub rescued and released after cliff fall at beach near St David’s
A young badger cub who had fallen onto rocks at Porthlysgi Beach, St Davids, has been released back into the wild after a period of RSPCA specialist care.
The male cub – which weighed just 1.455 kilograms (3.2 pounds) – which is the same weight roughly as three loaves of bread – was found on Saturday 20 April at around 1pm. He was understandably in a frightened state and was making distressed noises.
RSPCA Inspector and Wildlife Officer Keith Hogben attended the location – a rural cove off the Pembrokeshire Coast Path – to collect the badger and take him to a place of safety.
A video taken by Keith shows when he was initially spotted as he was hidden amongst the rocks. On this occasion a specialist bag designed for wildlife was used instead of a cage due to the difficulties accessing the location safely.
“The cub was found directly below a larger badger sett so we knew where he came from,” said Keith.
“Luckily he was spotted and we were able to find him amongst the rocks and able to get to him before anything happened to him. He would have been very vulnerable out in the open and in the daylight.”
The badger cub was then assessed by Keith and RSPCA Wildlife Officer Ellie West who provided specialist care for the cub.
Ellie said once the badger was fully recovered from his ordeal they were able to return him to his sett.
“On Monday 22 April he was taken back to the sett at dusk and released,” she said.
“We were really pleased he was able to be released so soon as he was still at a suckling age and would have not been out and about yet at this age much at all.”
If you encounter a badger who is injured or in distress please visit our website https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/wildlife/badgers
or call the RSPCA’s emergency line on 0300 1234 999.
To mark the RSPCA’s special anniversary the animal welfare charity wants to inspire one million people to join their movement to improve animals’ lives. To find out how you can join their million-strong movement for animals visit www.rspca.org.uk/200.
Entertainment
Create a dried meadow flower artwork at Roch Castle
ROCH CASTLE near St Davids is hosting a workshop to create a dried meadow flower wall artwork to adorn your home on Sunday, May 19 (12pm-2pm).
During the two-hour session you will learn how to fill a 40cm x 30cm natural wood frame with your chosen mix of dried flowers, grasses and seed heads.
Most of the flowers have been grown and dried by Karen MacKechnie from the Floral Goat on her Pembrokeshire farm, with some additional stems sourced from other British flower farmers.
Places at the dried flower meadow workshop, which will be led by Karen, are priced at £70 per person to include all materials as well as tea/coffee and Welshcakes. Book online via Roch Castle’s website www.rochcastle.com or call 01437 725 566.
Free parking is available on-site but as space is limited please car share where possible. As a 12th century castle, access within Roch Castle is not suitable for those with mobility difficulties.
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