An ambitious scheme could soon get underway to improve the western gateway to Carmarthen.

Carmarthenshire County Council is unveiling its plans to improve the wetlands area near Johnstown that will provide a rich environment for wildlife as well as enhancing the appearance with gateway signage for visitors entering Carmarthen from the A40 west.

The council’s leisure and regeneration officers will host an information day at Bro Myrddin Indoor Bowling Centre on Thursday, July 12 (3-7pm), to give residents a unique opportunity to view the project and meet the designers.

The project is part of the Carmarthen Town Regeneration Masterplan (2014-2030), a key aim of which is to improve the gateways to encourage visitors and promote the town as a tourist destination and special place to live and work.

The wetlands would cover almost 27 acres of land, planted with native trees and wildflowers, with mown pathways and marked trails, art installations made from natural materials, seating areas and interpretation boards to help people understand and appreciate their surroundings.

There will be entrance to the wetlands off Llansteffan Road and Picton Terrace where improvements will include bespoke oak features and a designated parking area off Llansteffan Road.

Cllr Emlyn Dole, executive board member for regeneration, said: “We encourage the local community to come along to the information event to see what we have planned for the area and to ask any questions before development gets underway.

“We are keen to enhance the area in a way that is both sensitive to the environment but also as an attraction for local people and visitors to enjoy.”

The team at Carmarthen-based Chartered Accountants and Chartered Tax Advisors Clay Shaw Butler are weighing-in with sponsorship for a championship-chasing tug-of-war team.

Clay Shaw Butler are sponsoring St Clears tug-of-war team as they head to the Welsh Tug of War Championship in Aberaeron this Saturday.

Mark Jones, director of Clay Shaw Butler, said: “We are delighted to be sponsoring the St Clears team and wish them ‘pob lwc’ (every luck) in Aberaeron this weekend.

“As a firm of Chartered Accountants, we know all about test of strength and stamina, so we hope our sponsorship brings St Clears extra help in their battle for championship glory.”

Teams of eight from across the country will battle it out when the Wales National Tug of War Championships takes place in Aberaeron.

There will be different categories for men, women, young people and mixed gender.

The competition starts at 9am on Saturday, July 14, at the Square Field and carries on throughout the day.

Teams taking part in the championships include, St Clears, Llanboidy, Hermon, Llanddewi Brefi, Glamorgan, Trecastle, Hay on Wye, Llanrwst and Llandovery, with weigh-ins taking place at the Feathers Hotel the night before.

John Lewis, the chairman of Aberaeron Town Improvement Committee which is hosting the event, said: “Tug-of-war is one of the country’s fastest-growing sports, so we are lucky to bring the Wales National Championships to Aberaeron. It is a great result for the town.

Last year’s championship was in Monmouth and was a great success.

With our location along the coast we hope that this year will be even better and will be a great family day out for everyone.”

“The Square Field is the ideal location and we hope everyone attending, whether competitors, supporters or spectators will have a great time and it will put Aberaeron on the map.”

The sport of tug-of-war is hugely popular with young farmers groups and in the rural communities of Wales.

West Wales is recorded as a hot-bed for the very best tug-of-war teams with the Llanboidy team being a past world champion.

Photo:

The St Clears tug-of-war team with Clay Shaw Butler director Mark Jones.

About Clay Shaw Butler:

You can find out more about money matters on the Clay Shaw Butler website (under our news for business section) –

http://www.clayshawbutler.com/news/latest-news-for-business

We have a strong and experienced team with great local knowledge all geared-up to helping you get the very best from your finances – whether that is as an individual or as a business.

We stay ahead of the game by putting great store by continual professional development for our staff.

With Investors In People status at Clay Shaw Butler, we care passionately about making sure our staff have all the tools they need to serve you, our customers.

Weblink – http://www.clayshawbutler.com

The team at Clay Shaw Butler can be contacted on 01267 228500.

The team at Clay Shaw Butler are on Twitter. Look for @clayshawbutler.

Comedian Phil Evans is from Ammanford. He is known as the man who puts the ‘cwtsh’ into comedy. Website – www.philevans.co.uk

………………………….

2018 is moving faster than Piers Morgan when he’s told the studio canteen’s selling triple cheeseburgers at half price.

When you buy your 2019 calendar, write across January in large letters . . .

“REMEMBER SUMMER 2018”

Because . . .

Next winter, when it’s freezing cold and gets dark at four in the afternoon; when the central heating’s on the blink; the roads are covered with ice; and you can’t escape the dreariness because snow has closed all the airports . . . that’sthe time to remember Summer 2018 and how we whinged and wilted in the sort of heat wave we haven’t experienced for years.

When you can’t leave the house in January 2019 without gloves, scarf, woolly hat, three layers of clothing and a hot water bottle up your jumper, I want you to say to yourself out loud . . .

“Did I reallycomplain the summer weather was much too hot?”

The sad fact is, unlike our neighbours in Spain and Italy (who not only adore sunny weather, they make an industry out of it), we British are never prepared when Mother Nature decides to slip on her sunglasses, roll up her skirt and go for a cooling paddle in the sea.

Towards the end of June, after only a few sunny weeks, I saw the first sighting of “Hosepipe Ban Predicted” in the newspapers.

Supermarkets rationed fizzy drinks and there’s talk of a beer shortage due to CO2 running out.

And, although we expectour railways to grind to a halt in the Autumn because of the ‘Wrong type of leaves on the line’ and in the Winter due to the ‘Wrong type of snow’, in June many trains were delayed because the ‘Wrong type of sunshine’ buckled the railway tracks.

Let’s just accept that Britain can’t cope with hot weather and find ourselves a shady spot to enjoy a cold fizzy drink . . . while we still can!

——————

The highlight of the week for me was meeting up with Kayleigh Williams from Llanelli.

Kayleigh is a wife and mother to two boys and has also served eight years in the British Army.

That’s not all . . .

Kayleigh was once a vehicle mechanic, pulling her overalls on daily basis and then throwing on her shorts to play Rugby!

Oh, did I forget to mention she also played rugby for the Army, too?

Now, that would be quite enough for some people to take on.

But, while juggling all this, she was also selected to work on the Bloodhound Project – a project to design and build a car that will break the 1,000mph land speed record!

She helped design and build the rocket element of the project.

I don’t know about you, but I am exhausted just from reading that list of achievements.

After leaving the Army, Kayleigh now works as a Personal Trainer, inspiring so many women to make positive changes and achieve their goals – and I can’t think of a better role model.

And, cue fanfare and drum roll, she’s also an award-winning body builder . . . training to compete on stage in Fitness Modelling.

So, weigh it all up . . . training in the gym several times per week, coaching fabulous ladies daily AND bringing up two amazing boys!

When we look back at how women’s roles were viewed years ago, it’s refreshing to see how society has changed and how positive female role models can inspire others.

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You can follow Phil Evans on Twitter @philevanswales and www.philevans.co.uk

Please again include www.philevans.co.uk

Phantom of the Opera legend Peter Karrie will be the special guest at the annual concert for Lleisiau Hardd and Lleisiau Hardd Bach choirs this Friday evening.

The concert is at Burry Port Memorial Hall at 7.30pm on Friday, July 13.

The event has been added to Peter Karrie’s continuing (and very successful) Small Halls Tour.

Peter has enjoyed an extensive singing career, but is probably best known for his performances in the lead role of the hit Andrew Lloyd Webber musical The Phantom of the Opera.

He has performed the role in London, Toronto, Vancouver, Singapore, and Hong Kong, and on the UK Tour in Bradford and Manchester.

In 1994 and 1995 members of the Phantom of the Opera Appreciation Society voted him their favourite Phantom.

Karrie began his career as the lead singer of pop group Peter and the Wolves and went on to star in several West End musical productions, including Les Misérables and Chess.

He also played Daddy Warbucks in Annie, Fagin in Oliver! and Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof for Aberystwyth Arts Centre.

In 2005, he starred with Shan Côthi in the Mal Pope musical Amazing Grace at the Wales Millennium Centre for the Wales Theatre Company.

He performed alongside John Owen Jones and Nic Greenshields in the one-off Three Phantoms concert in aid of George Thomas Hospice Care.

It’s something of a coup for Bridget Radford and the team behind Lleisiau Hardd and Lleisiau Hardd Bach choirs to secure Peter’s presence at their annual concert.

Tickets are £10 and are available on the door, or by ringing 07889471566

Meanwhile, tickets are now on sale for Loud Applause Production’s annual Night with the Stars Gala Concert which is at Ffwrnes Theatre on November 10.

This year, Loud Applause will host the fifth anniversary of the highly-talented Loud Applause Rising Stars (LARS) soloists.

A round dozen up-and-coming young singers from across South Wales will perform at the event, with the repertoire covering all genres of music.

Sharing the stage will be the famous Richard Williams Singers from Tonyrefail, the award-winning youth choir from the Rhondda Côr Y Cwm, the highly popular Callum Howells and Friends from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, the highly successful youth choir from Llangennech Llwyth Y Llan, under the baton of Lewis Richards, prize winning trombonist Rhodri Thomas from Burry Port and the ever popular compere TV and radio broadcaster Garry Owen.

Accompanists supporting the LARS singers will be Catrin Hughes, Andrew Pike and Stewart Roberts.

This is a not-to-be missed evening showcasing some of the most promising young up-and-coming singers from across South Wales.

Next weekend (July 21) Burry Port Town Band are scheduled to stage their annual summer concert.

The band’s special guests will be Tenovus Cancer Care Swansea Sing With Us Choir and Burry Port Junior Band.

Curtain up is at 7pm on Saturday, July 21, with tickets £10, under 16s free.

The Burry Port Town Band will be looking to perform an entertaining programme featuring popular classics and music from the stage and screen.

They will also feature their Eisteddfod programme ahead of the Royal National Eisteddfod at the Wales Millennium Centre on Saturday, August 4.

It has been a successful year for Burry Port Town Band, reaching the semi-finals of S4C Band Cymru and again qualifying to represent Wales at the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain taking place on September.

The compere for the Burry Port concert will be Robert Lloyd.

On the same night, and just down the road, Côr Meibion Dyffryn Tywi have put together an exciting line-up for their annual concert on Saturday, July 21, at the Princess Gwenllian Centre in Kidwelly.

The evening will feature the popular North Wales act Piantel.

Piantel are pianist Annette Bryn Parry and harpist Dylan Cernyw. They are described as ‘a magical musical experience not to be missed!’

The concert will also feature the much-acclaimed Tywi Valley musical duo, the husband and wife team of Aled Edwards and Eleri Owen Edwards.

They are already two of the most popular and successful singers in Wales.

Last year, Aled and Eleri launched a new CD of uplifting and inspirational duets, “Dau fel ni” (Two like us).

The compere for the Côr Meibion Dyffryn Tywi concert will be Eirian Wyn.

Looking further ahead, Côr Meibion Caerfyrddin Carmarthen Male Choir’s 60th anniversary concert will be held at the Lyric Theatre, Carmarthen, on Saturday, October 13.

The choir will be joined on stage by four other choirs – Mynydd Mawr, Burry Port, Dyffryn Tywi and Dyffryn Aman.

This will create a combined choir of around 150 voices under the baton of Wyn Maskell, musical director of Côr Meibion Caerfyrddin.

Also taking part will be well known soloists: Jessica Robinson, soprano, and Trystan Llŷr Griffiths, tenor.

Finally, another date for your diary for later in the year – The Annual Royal British Legion Charity Gala Concert will be held at the Lyric Theatre, Carmarthen, on October 27 (7pm).

This year, 2018, marks a significant year for our Armed Forces. It is the centenary of the end of The Great War (First World War) and also commemorates 100 years of the Royal Air Force.

The prestigious annual Royal British Legion Concert has become one of the landmark events in the calendar of South West Wales, providing a platform for the Royal British Legion to pay tribute to the fallen of current and past conflicts.

It also helps the British Legion launch the Poppy Appeal in South West Wales.

The concert features leading soprano and TV and radio personality Shân Cothi, one of Wales’s premier choirs in the form of Dunvant Male Choir, the highly popular Carmarthen-based mixed youth choir Côr Seingar, Swansea-based Dancerama performing arts group youth choir, the stirring sounds of the City of Swansea Pipe Band and the unforgettable Corps of Drums of the 215 City of Swansea Squadron.

The compére will be Brian Sullivan and the guest accompanist Jeffrey Howard.

The evening ends with the poignant Tribute to the Fallen and a Service of Remembrance.

The Royal British Legion is being supported with this event by Loud Applause Productions, the production company run by Llanelli’s Cerith Owens.

Robert Lloyd works as a media consultant – www.rlloydpr.co.uk

If you have any news about the choral scene in Llanelli, the please contact him on 07777 683637 or email rlloydpr@btinternet.com

Films from the past and the history of rural cinema will be the focus for an evening at Ceredigion Museum on Saturday 14 July 2018. Doors open at 7pm.

Radio and TV presenter Francine Stock will be choosing four of her favourite film to talk about, from the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s.

Joining her on the stage of the former Coliseum Cinema will be historian Jamie Terrill.

Jamie is studying the history of rural Welsh cinemas as part of a PhD at the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies at Aberystwyth University.

Jamie has been tracing the early spread of cinema technology, such as Thomas Edison’s Kinetoscope and the Lumière brothers’ Cinematographe, into Wales and its rural regions in the mid-1890s.

He will discuss the history of cinemagoing in Aberystwyth for those early days, with a particular focus on the Coliseum itself.

Originally built as a theatre in 1904, the Coliseum ran as a cinema from 1932 until 1977, with 3,800 films show during this time. It reopened as Ceredigion Museum in 1982.

Jamie said: “I’m really looking forward to sharing the stage with Francine, who I’ve long listened to on BBC Radio 4’s The Film Programme. It will also be a great opportunity to discuss the social history of Aberystwyth and my research within a public setting.”

With clips from selected films, all of which were shown over the decades at the old Coliseum Cinema, Francine will be explaining her choices, with background information about the creation of these iconic films.

“I wanted to choose films that reflected an era or captured the zeitgeist of those times”, she said. “By looking through the long list of films that were originally shown at the Coliseum, Aberystwyth I came up with a list that evokes the mood of each decade.”

Francine has worked on a variety of TV programmes including Newsnight, The Money Programme, The Antiques Showand more recently The Film Programmeon Radio Four.

Besides being involved in film criticism she is also a writer. Her books include novels and a social history of cinema.

She has been chairperson of the Tate members council and is an Honorary Fellow of Jesus College Oxford, having studied Modern Languages there.

Francine continued, “It was so exciting to find that the daily records kept by the proprietors of the Coliseum were so detailed. Not only were the films named and the film distributor mentioned but the number of people who attended were recorded as well as the takings for each showing. There were some surprises there; films I had never heard of which seemed to attracted a big audience at the time.”

“You might recognise some of the films and this is your chance to find out more about the making and background of each film. For the seventies I chose the award-winning ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’ with Paul Newman and Robert Redford. It was actually made at the end of the 60s but first shown in ’71 in Ceredigion and then brought back three more times over the decade.”

Each of the four films will be screened at the Coliseum at a later date. Francine will be using clips from the films to illustrate points which she wishes to make during her talk.

“For the sixties I have chosen The Ipcress File which stars Michael Caine. It is a brilliantly downbeat alternative to the cheesy Bond films of the time. Based on a Len Deighton novel it won a BAFTA in 1965. The two remaining films are less known today but were very popular in their day; the fifties being represented by ‘Mogambo’ and the forties by ‘In Which We Serve’.”

For more details on these films you will have to attend the evening, when Francine will reveal why she believes they are so representative of those periods in our history.

Ceredigion Museum’s Curator Carrie Canham said, “We’re delighted to invite Francine Stock to look back on her favourite films whilst hearing more from Jamie Terrill looking about the history of the old Coliseum Cinema, this will be a truly engaging and interesting evening, especially for anyone for a passion of classic, iconic films.”

The evening is hosted by Ceredigion Museum, in association with Hay Festival.

For more information about Ceredigion Museum and what’s on, contact Ceredigion Museum 01970 633088 or visit the Museum’s web site.

Photo: The Coliseum in Aberystwyth opened as a cinema in 1932.

Links:

Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies
https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/tfts/

Ceredigion Museum
http://www.ceredigionmuseum.wales/

Rangers at Pembrey Country Park are enforcing a temporary ban on barbecues, camping stoves and camp fires to limit the risks of grass and forest fires.

A small fire broke out at the Park on Saturday afternoon after a barbecue ignited trees and bushes near to the visitor centre.

It was kept under control by rangers and extinguished by Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service, but sparked evacuation of the nearby campsite.

Ground conditions have been extra dry following the intense heatwave which, whilst great for camping conditions, mean extra hazards for park rangers to deal with.

A temporary ban has now been put in place until ground conditions dampen.

Signage has been placed around the park and information has been shared on the Park’s website and social media channels.

Visitors are being encouraged to bring picnics and pre-cooked foods.

Ian Jones, Head of Leisure, said: “We don’t want to spoil anyone’s enjoyment of the Park but we have to put safety considerations first. We had previously advised people to exercise caution with lit barbecues and disposal of waste but until conditions improve we are now enforcing a ban.

“We hope people will understand our reasoning behind this move and respect the ban.”