The Corris Craft Centre is celebrating its 40th birthday as new owners take up the helm at this leading Mid Wales visitor attraction. Brothers Pete and Danny Cameron, who established the award winning Dyfi Distillery at the Corris Craft Centre six-and-a-half years ago, have now purchased the whole site, which is 40 years old this year. Located near the village of Corris, north of Machynlleth, the centre was first developed by the former Development Board for Rural Wales, who reclaimed the old slate mine workings. It was further developed by previous owner, the late Ian Rutherford. “The site now comprises nine independent artisan businesses where you can meet the makers and see them at work,” said Pete. “We call it the best high street in Britain. “Also starting from the craft centre are two spectacular underground experiences – King Arthur’s Labyrinth and Corris Mine Explorers.” Danny added: “We already have the convenience of accessibility, parking, a great café and so on, but it’s a rare place that can offer multiple wow-factors. “We won’t be resting on our haunches, however. We want to continually improve what’s here as well as provide changes to keep our regular visitors wanting to come back.“ Special 40th anniversary events are planned including an exclusive prize draw, offering prizes that money just can’t buy. Prizes include a tailored one to one pottery throwing workshop and behind the scenes tour with the Quarry Pottery which is also celebrating 40 years at the Corris Craft Centre this year. Sammi Wilson Art has recently moved into the centre where the other businesses are Agau Jewellery, Chocablock, The Candle Studio, Delyn Glass, Hyde and Sheep and Taran Eco Designs. Corris Craft Centre opens daily from 10am to 5pm.
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A special event is to be held in the Senedd on May 12 to honour the contribution of late Welsh journalist Gareth Jones who reported on the genocidal Great Famine in Ukraine, mid-1930s tensions in Europe and the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany.
Jones’ exposé on the Holodomor in Ukraine, which was made deadlier by a series of political decrees and decisions, was based on his own eyewitness testimony after travelling in the region. He revealed the scale and horror of the Holodomor to an international audience. Th Senedd event, organised by the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, is being held to honour the contribution made by Jones to journalism and international affairs. It will also celebrate the conclusion of the digitisation of much of his archive held at the National Library. Key to completing this digitisation project was generous financial support provided by the Ukrainian National Women's League of America, Temerty Foundation, the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Foundation, the Holodomor Research and Education Consortium (HREC) and Russ and Karen Chelak. Jones was a gifted researcher, journalist and author who was murdered by supposed Chinese ‘bandits’ in Inner Mongolia in August 1935, on the eve of his 30th birthday. A selection of his papers is now digitised and can be viewed at https://www.library.wales/garethvaughanjones Following the murder, former British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, for whom Jones previously worked as Jones Private Secretary for Foreign Affairs, told the London Evening Standard: “That part of the world is a cauldron of conflicting intrigue and one or other interests concerned probably knew that Mr Gareth Jones knew too much of what was going on. “He had a passion for finding out what was happening in foreign lands wherever there was trouble, and in pursuit of his investigations he shrank from no risk... I had always been afraid that he would take one risk too many. “Nothing escaped his observation, and he allowed no obstacle to turn from his course when he thought that there was some fact, which he could obtain. He had the almost unfailing knack of getting at things that mattered.” Pedr ap Llwyd, the library’s chief executive and librarian, said: "I am very grateful for the financial support we received to digitise Gareth's archive as part of the library's digitisation strategy. “It is an extremely important archive and can now be shared with historians and researchers across the world. We also owe a great debt to Gareth's family for depositing the papers with us in the library." Lubomyr Luciuk, Professor of Political Geography at the Royal Military College of Canada, added: “Gareth Jones paid with his life for being a truth-teller, one of the first journalists to break the story about the genocidal Great Famine of 1932-1933 in Soviet Ukraine, the Holodomor. “This brave Welshman's commitment to reporting on the horrors of what was happening, even as the Soviets, their fellow travellers and even Western governments covered up the truth, needs to be remembered and hallowed, particularly at a time when Ukraine is again a victim of war, invasion and the genocidal agenda of Vladimir Putin and his KGB confederates." Oksana Lodziuk Krywulych, officer-at-large of the Ukrainian National Women's League of America (UNWLA), said: "The UNWLA is honoured to be a sponsor of the digitisation of Gareth Jones’ diaries. “The UNWLA remains steadfast in its commitment to be a vehicle of awareness and education about the Ukrainian genocide, known as the Holodomor. The Ukrainian nation owes a debt of gratitude to Gareth Jones, a great man who was not afraid to accurately report on the horrors of the Holodomor. “He deserves to be honoured and remembered for documenting the truth when it was denied by many in the west. His reporting is especially telling today as Ukraine is once again suffering a genocide at the hands of the same perpetrator, while the world watches in real time." Sponsored by Mick Antoniw MS, the event will include presentations by Professor Lubomyr Luciuk and journalist Martin Shipton, together with readings of extracts from Jones’ diaries and letters by Julian Lewis Jones. The National Library of Wales’ chief executive and librarian Pedr ap Llwyd has been elected a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, the national academy for arts and sciences.
Pedr is one of 66 newly elected Fellows, half of them women, which the society says show that Wales has the solutions to many of today’s challenges. Academics, researchers and public figures join the society from across academic and civic life in Wales and beyond. Specialisms run from aerospace engineering to the history of African Europeans, ceramic microstructures to the Baroque violin, women in surgery to the National Trust and much else in between. Pedr said: "It is a privilege to be elected as a Fellow of the Learned Society that exists to celebrate, recognise, defend and encourage excellence in all the scholarly disciplines. “As Wales' leading research centre, the home of the nation's memory and a leading institution in the field of digital scholarship, the National Library of Wales has a unique role to play in all scholarly areas and I am very much looking forward to highlighting the richness of our collections and services through the society." Professor Hywel Thomas, society president, said: “The expertise of our new Fellows is outstanding. The range of research shows that Wales is well-placed to meet the environmental, technological, social, cultural, political and health challenges we face. “The society’s ability to bring together this talent allows us to initiate and influence important debates about how Wales, the UK and the world can navigate the turbulent waters we are in today. “I am most pleased that 50% of our new Fellows are women. This shows we are starting to meet our commitments on equality, diversity and inclusion. There is further to go, as we work to make the society reflect Wales’ diversity, but this is an important step.” The society has also admitted four new Honorary Fellows who come with a world-class reputation and status in their field. Baroness Brown of Cambridge Professor Julia King is an engineer, one of the UK’s most respected voices on climate change and chairs the UK Climate Change Adaptation Committee. Charles Burton is one of Wales’ leading artists, whose work has an international flavour but captures in particular the landscapes and qualities of the Rhondda, from where he comes. Dame Sue Ion is an engineer who has become a leading advocate for, and government advisor on, energy policy and the safe and efficient use of nuclear power. Sir Karl Jenkins, born in the Gower, is a cross-genre musician and composer whose music is amongst the most performed in the world today. Picture caption: Pedr ap Llwyd, elected a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales. Volunteers are making some components for Corris Railway’s new Falcon steam locomotive which is progressing after a temporary pause in January while more money was raised for the new build project.
Ross-on-Wye based engineering company Alan Keef Ltd has made sections of the footplate for locomotive number 10 which are being fitted prior to the mounting of the smokebox. The handbrake screw has also been machined and connected up to the rest of the mechanism to complete that part of the brake assembly and mountings are being made for the air brake cylinder. Volunteers have made the firebox doors and the opening mechanism and a wooden ashpan for trial fitting before the steel one is produced. The new locomotive will be the second to enter service on the revived section of the oldest narrow gauge railway in Mid Wales, situated in the beautiful Dulas Valley between Machynlleth and Dolgellau. The Falcon is a 21st century evocation of a trio of engines built in 1878 at the Falcon Works in Loughborough. One of these is now Sir Haydn on Talyllyn Railway. The new build will differ from the originals in some respects, most visibly a higher cab to accommodate drivers and firemen who are taller than their Victorian predecessors. Subject to continued fundraising support, the first steaming of the locomotive is scheduled for September 24 as the centrepiece of a charity open day at Alan Keef Ltd’s workshops. Further work, including painting, will follow with a further target of entry into service at Corris early next year. Donations for the new engine, which are needed to help the railway meet its targets, can be made online at www.corris.co.uk or cheques, payable to Corris Railway, can be sent to Peter Guest, 38 Underwood Close, Callow Hill, Redditch, B97 5YS. Picture caption: Corris Railway’s new locomotive number 10 under construction at Alan Keef Ltd. |
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