The scaffolding-clad Automobile Palace in Llandrindod Wells The National Cycle Museum has announced that it will remain open to visitors whilst building restoration work continues at the Automobile Palace, Llandrindod Wells. Located inside the property, which is likely to be covered with scaffolding for several more weeks, the museum is open on Mondays and Tuesdays from 10am-4pm and Saturdays 10am-2pm. An extension to the car park at the rear of the building has been recently completed and is for staff and visitors to the building only The museum is home to more than 250 cycles, representing the historical development of cycling from the early 1800s to the present day. A copy of an 1818 Hobby Horse, the first type of cycle made by Johnson of London, is displayed alongside a Victorian solid-tyred machines and the latest carbon fibre racing models. The museum is a member of MWT Cymru, an independent organisation representing more than 600 tourism and hospitality businesses across Powys, Ceredigion and Southern Snowdonia.
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Preparations are well underway for the Royal Welsh Winter Fair at Llanelwedd on November 28 and 29. As one of the finest prime stock shows in Europe, the winter fair draws crowds from far and wide to enjoy two-days packed full of competitions, festivities, food and drink, and shopping. Livestock schedules are available at www.rwas.wales/winter-fair/ and exhibitors can enter competitions online until October 19. This year’s event will be officially opened at 10am on November 28, following which there will be presentations of the John Gittins Memorial Award 2022, the RWAS Oxford Farming Conference Bursary 2023 and the Nuffield Farming Scholarship 2022. New to this year’s event is a Bacon, Burger and Sausage Competition which will be judged by Men Behaving Badly and Bob the Builder star Neil Morrisey, along with Steve Morgan of Morgan Family Butchers and multi-award-winning writer and director, Phillip John from Cardiff. There will also be new cattle breed classes including the Aberdeen Angus and Shorthorn competitions and a Steer and Heifer Section for each breed. As well as livestock competitions, the Winter Fair hosts a huge variety of different classes and competitions, including horses, the hound show, dressed poultry, butchery, meat hampers, cookery, produce and handicraft, horticulture and floral art. The event offers shoppers the perfect opportunity to pick up unique and original Christmas gifts from the hundreds of trade stands across the showground. Visitors will be able to enjoy live music, carol singers and meeting Father Christmas! The renowned Food Hall, which attracts producers from all over Wales and further afield, will be packed full of culinary delights, demonstrations, perfect Christmas gifts and tempting tasters. Honorary Winter Fair director, William Hanks said: ‘We are very much looking forward to welcoming visitors to the showground for one of the largest events in the agricultural calendar. “The Winter Fair celebrates Welsh produce and showcases some of the best prime stock in the UK. It also gets everyone in the festive spirit, with the vast array of trade stands, food and drink and entertainment on offer.” The Winter Fair opens its doors to the public at 8am each morning and trade stands will be open throughout the evening on November 28 for late night Christmas shopping and a fireworks display. Tickets are £20 for adults and £5 for children, with discounted tickets for RWAS members. Member’s tickets must be purchased before November 14 to redeem the discount. As a festive treat, adults will be able to enter for £5 and children for free after 5pm on Monday, with tickets purchased at the gate only. Ffestiniog Railway, voted the most scenic European rail journey. Image by Chris Parry. The chief executive of an independent Mid Wales tourism organisation has congratulated three Snowdonia railways for being named in the top 10 most scenic European rail journeys. In a survey by consumer advice magazine Which?, 1,400 rail passengers were asked to rate their favourite rail journeys, scoring each for scenery, comfort, facilities, cleanliness, food and drink, service and value. Ffestiniog Railway, which runs from Porthmadog to Blaenau Ffestiniog, came out top, scoring 91% and Talyllyn Railway and the Welsh Highland Railway from Porthmadog to Caernarfon shared sixth place with 86%. Val Hawkins, chief executive of Mid Wales Tourism (MWT Cymru), congratulated all three Welsh railways and welcomed the international spotlight on the picturesque region. “To not only have Ffestiniog Railway recognised as the most scenic rail journey in Europe but also two other railways in the top 10 is fantastic news for the region,” she said. “It really puts Southern Snowdonia and Wales on the international map. “More visitors are discovering that this beautiful part of Wales has so much to offer as a destination in its own right.” Stretching 13.5 miles between the harbour at Porthmadog and the slate mining town of Blaenau Ffestiniog, Ffestiniog Railway is the world’s oldest narrow-gauge railway. Clare Britton, commercial manager for the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways, said: “We are thrilled to have both railways in the Which? top 10 against very stiff competition. “We already know that Snowdonia is a beautiful place, but it now seems Which? readers have arrived at the same conclusion. I think it’s great for Ffestiniog Railway to come out on top because it’s iconic and one of the oldest preserved lines. “We are also delighted that the Welsh Highland Railway has been recognised because it also travels through the most beautiful scenery.” Talyllyn Railway, the world’s first preserved railway. Talyllyn Railway is a narrow-gauge railway which opened for goods traffic in 1865 and for passenger services soon after. Trains have run every year since between Tywyn, on the Cambrian Coast and Nant Gwernol, seven miles inland. In 1951, operation of the line was taken over by Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society and became the world’s first preserved railway. The line is operated primarily by volunteers, with a small paid staff. Stuart Williams, the railway’s general manager, said: “We are delighted that the world’s first preserved railway has been recognised as a great attraction for a global audience. For a little railway like ours to be named in the top 10 scenic rail journeys in Europe is amazing.” Welsh Highland Railway, rebuilt by volunteers at a cost of £28 million. Image by Chris Parry. Welsh Highland Railway, which runs from beneath the castle walls in Caernarfon to the foot of Snowdon before dropping again to sea level at the harbour in Porthmadog. The original railway closed in 1936 and has now been completely rebuilt by volunteers at a cost of £28 million. With the 25-mile line now complete, together with a new £1.25 million two-platform layout at Harbour Station, Porthmadog, it is now possible to connect with the Ffestiniog Railway and experience 40 unbroken miles of spectacular narrow-gauge steam. Charlie Ross with Cloverlands Model Car Museum trustees Max Tomlinson, Bruce Lawson and John Nunn. A Mid Wales museum, which is home to a collection of around 5,000 model cars, is to feature on the popular BBC One TV antiques series Bargain Hunt.
Show presenter Charlie Ross, an antiques expert and auctioneer, paid a visit with the film crew to the Cloverlands Model Car Museum at its new home in Llanfair Caereinion recently. Ross, who is also well known from BBC’s Antiques Road Trip and Flog It, set a new USA record in 2018 when he sold a 1935 Duesenberg SSJ, formerly owned by actor Gary Cooper, for $22 million. His visit to Cloverlands Model Car Museum, which moved from Montgomery to Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway’s base earlier this year, was part of filming for a new series of Bargain Hunt, having previously stopped off at Oswestry Antiques Fair. He quizzed the Cloverlands trustees about cars in the collection as diverse as a Delahaye, Rolls-Royce, Fiat and Benz. The Benz was driven 50 miles in Germany by Bertha Benz in 1886, nine years before the first car was seen in Wales. The Bargain Hunt episode featuring the museum, which Ross described as “a wonderful collection with so many memories”, will be broadcast in the next six months. Museum trustee Bruce Lawson said: “Charlie was very knowledgeable and quite taken aback by the rarity of some of the models we have in the museum. For filming, we highlighted six or seven models, some dating to 1911.” The museum opened in its new home in June and has increased footfall tenfold, with up to 50 visitors daily. Opening hours are 11am to 4.15pm at weekends and group visits are arranged by appointment. A selection of more than 1,000 replica models is for sale at the museum for visitors who wish to take away a memento. Originally established at Montgomery Institute in 2015, the museum began with a collection of around 2,000 models amassed by late motoring historian and model maker Gillian Rogers, of Trefnanney, near Welshpool, who sadly died on December 27 last year. Ten other collections have since been loaned or given to the museum, including one from Canada, 1,000 Grand Prix and touring cars and a fine display of American cars. Mr Lawson provides the narration for a video film about the museum - https://youtu.be/51rjrfCXJ8g - which was produced as a tribute to Gillian and all the sponsors and friends at its first home in Montgomery. Both Cloverlands and the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway are members of MWT Cymru, which represents more than 600 tourism and hospitality businesses across Powys, Ceredigion and Southern Snowdonia. For more information about the museum, visit https://www.facebook.com/cloverlandsmuseum or contact Mr Lawson at [email protected] or on Tel: 01686 668004. The museum’s website is in the process of being updated.
The new Falcon 0-4-2ST steaming in public for first time. Jobs still to be done include fitting buffers, couplings, an air brake pump and, finally, taking the machine apart and painting and reassembling it, which requires further fundraising. The new locomotive, a 21st century evocation of a design dating from 1878, will then be ready to enter service on the revived section of Corris Railway which runs between Corris and Maespoeth Junction in the Dulas Valley, north of Machynlleth. Donations can be made online via www.corris.co.uk or by cheque payable to Corris Railway which should be sent to Peter Guest, 38 Underwood Close, Callow Hill, Redditch, B97 5YS. An exhibition at the open day traced Keef’s history over the last 50 years and visitors could also see ongoing projects including work for Talyllyn Railway. Talyllyn Railway has been awarded a prestigious ‘Red Wheel’ plaque from the National Transport Trust.
The trust created the Red Wheel Scheme to recognise the most significant sites of historical importance to transport heritage in the United Kingdom. The Transport Heritage programme commemorates Britain's rich and globally important legacy in the development of transport. The most significant of these locations are marked by erecting a Red Wheel plaque on the site. There are now more than 120 Red Wheels around the UK. Talyllyn Railway’s Red Wheel plaque was unveiled at Tywyn Wharf Station watched by representatives of Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society (TRPS), Gwynedd County Council, Tywyn Town Council, National Transport Trust and local Member of the Senedd Mabon ap Gwynfor. Tom Rolt played a pioneering role in the canal and railway preservation movements. In the summer of 1950, he wrote to the Birmingham Post newspaper suggesting the rescue of Talyllyn Railway . A meeting of interested enthusiasts followed on October 11, 1950, in Birmingham where a committee was formed to try and acquire the railway. The committee met for the first time on October 23 and, following negotiations with Haydn Jones' executors, the railway’s owners, the transfer took place on February 8, 1951, when the newly formed TRPS took control of the railway. The railway re-opened on May 14 1951, with trains running between Wharf and Rhydyronen stations. Regular trains began to run on June 4 and continued through the summer. Based at Tywyn, the railway runs for more than seven miles and has a workshop and museum, with the oldest working steam locomotive dating to 1875. As part of TRPS’ 50th anniversary in 2001, a major new project was launched to extend and improve facilities at Tywyn Wharf station. The new station and museum were officially opened by the Prince of Wakes and The Duchess of Cornwall on July 13, 2005. The railway has seen a steady increase in passengers since the turn of the millennium, with nearly 95,500 passenger journeys recorded in 2006, although this figure is still only around half the peak carried in 1973. Picture caption: Unveiling the Red Wheel plaque at Wharf Station are (from left) David Mitchell, Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society president, Stuart Wilkinson, National Transport Trust chairman, Councillor Elwyn Jones, Gwynedd Council chairman, Councillor Eileen Jones, Mayor of Tywyn and Tywyn Town Council chair, Mabon ap Gwynfor, Member of the Senedd, Stuart Williams, Talyllyn Railway’s general manager and David Ventry, Talyllyn Railway Company Board chairman. Image: Credit Luke Ryan. Registration is now open for the Visit Wales online session where businesses will have the opportunity to hear about marketing activity over the autumn and winter period.
The session will take place via MS Teams on 13 October 2022 from 10.30am to 12pm. "Join to hear us running through our “above the line” (ATL) marketing activity, introducing the Themed Year for 2023 - carefully chosen to enable every destination and product in Wales to take part and work together in promoting Wales – and taking attendees through our industry guide, which will be available online." The session will also include updates and overviews of:
Resources will be available to all those attending including a breakdown of audience types and an industry guide for the themed year 2023. Please register to join by 3:00pm, 7 October on: https://wales.business-events.org.uk/en/events/visit-wales-marketing-industry-update/ Places will be allocated on a first come first served basis and all attendees will receive a meeting link prior to the event. The Chancellor today (Friday 23 September) unveiled his Growth Plan.
Mid Wales tourism leaders are calling on the Welsh Government and local authorities in Wales to delay consultation on a controversial tourism tax proposal. The leaders have warned that the tax is the last thing that the tourism industry needs with the UK now in a recession and businesses facing huge energy price rises, a cost of living crisis and the continuing legacy of the Covid-19 pandemic. Fears have been expressed that speculation surrounding the proposed tax, which would be introduced in 2024 at the earliest, could already be damaging business and consumer confidence. The Welsh Government, on Tuesday, launched a public consultation on proposals to give councils the powers to introduce a visitor levy, or tourism tax, a fee paid by people staying overnight in accommodation in Wales. A series of regional consultation meetings for invited guests will be held by the Welsh Government later this year. The consultation period ends on December 13 and individuals, businesses and organisations can respond online at https://gov.wales/node/49802/respond-online . Val Hawkins, chief executive of Mid Wales Tourism (MWT Cymru), said: “The Welsh Government and local authorities really need to consider if this is the correct time to be pushing ahead with this consultation. “The industry is very concerned about the timing of this tourism levy proposal. The country is in the grip of a cost of living crisis with high inflation, and tourism businesses are still recovering from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. “At this point, we don’t have important details about the proposed tourism tax, how and when it would be implemented and what impact it would have on businesses and visitors. It’s all conjecture. “With the Welsh Government announcing the consultation period on Tuesday, the conversation has already started at the worst possible time. My fear is that all the media speculation about how much extra families might have to pay to stay in Wales will negatively impact business investment and consumer confidence. “Using the Welsh Government’s own figures, visitors already contribute £6 billion to our economy. Would a tourism tax raise more money or would visitors, who are working to a budget, just spend less while they are staying in Wales? “One outcome could be that local authorities receive more money towards local services at the expense of businesses and communities that rely on visitor spend. Here in Mid Wales, farming and tourism are the two most important sectors, so why are we risking undermining them in the future? “Neither the Welsh Government nor local authorities have any idea what the cumulative effect will be on the wider visitor economy.” Steve Hughson, chair of the Mid Wales Regional Tourism Forum, also questioned the timing of the consultation, describing it as a “double whammy” for businesses. “Anybody who thinks that the tourism sector has returned to normal after the pandemic is very mistaken,” he said. “There are many challenges within the tourism sector - the cost of everything has gone up and is likely to increase further, and many hospitality businesses are having to curtail their offer because they can’t get staff. “Then you have the whole issue of how local authorities are going to use the money raised by the tourism tax. I have written to both Powys County Council and Ceredigion County Council and both have said they don’t know how they would use the money. “How can the Welsh Government create a business case to justify a tax on the tourism sector when they don’t know what the outcome is going to be? You cannot have an impact assessment if you don’t know how the councils will use the money.” He revealed that the four regional tourism forum chairs in Wales, together with industry bodies, are planning their own tourism levy consultation exercises in Cardiff and Llandudno - and maybe Mid Wales - to ensure that the industry’s voice is heard. “We are organising our own events to get a balanced view,” added Mr Hughson. Other Voices, Ireland's internationally acclaimed music festival and live music television programme, is returning to Cardigan from November 3-5.
The festival will present another inspirational programme of live music and compelling dialogue that champions Ireland and Wales' longstanding cultural and musical ties both live and online. It's been three years since the first edition of Other Voices Cardigan took place. Last year saw the event move online to a digital platform, but the organisers are delighted that audiences and artists can finally come together again in person to celebrate the close relationship between Wales and Ireland. This years' audiences can look forward to three days and nights of fantastic music from emerging and established musicians from Wales, Ireland and beyond. A Music Trail will take place in multiple venues around Cardigan, with over 80 events across three days in intimate and atmospheric spaces around the town, hosted by Huw Stephens and presented in partnership with Mwldan, an independent arts centre and cinema based in Cardigan, and Triongl. Headline sessions in St Mary's Church will be simultaneously screened to Mwldan and live-streamed worldwide on the night online via Other Voices’ YouTube and other social channels. Exclusive content from the weekend will be captured for later broadcast on S4C and RTÉ. The festival will see the return of the Clebran sessions - a curated series of carefully prepared talks with artists, journalists, creatives and politicians sparking enriching, lively conversations about how they perceive our world, language, culture and future. These events will take place in the daytime across the three days. Now in its 20th year, Other Voices is a glorious celebration of music in all its diversity. From its beginnings as an intimate musical gathering in a tiny church in Dingle, Ireland's iconic festival has hosted a series of global events in Austin, London, Belfast, Berlin, Derry, New York, with a further 35 million people experiencing the festival online. Other Voices digital 'Courage' series gained more than 9.6 million views in 2020, bringing live music safely back into people's lives with performances from Lisa Hannigan, Fontaines D.C. and more. In 2019, the tiny West Wales town of Cardigan joined the Other Voices family, uniting with Dingle, two Celtic communities who live, work and play on the wild westerly coasts of their respective countries. In 2021, Other Voices Cardigan saw a digital edition take place on the BBC Platform as part of Gŵyl 2021. Wristband registration is now open via mwldan.co.uk or othervoices.ie . Wristband enables audience members entry to the festival across three days, including the Music Trail, Clebran events and inclusion into the draw to win much sought after admission golden tickets to the live performances at St Mary's Church and other prizes. Early bird wristbands cost just £20, increasing to £25 on October 13. An Open Call is now open for musicians interested in taking part in the Music Trail. Submissions can be made via www.othervoice.ie before the closing date of September 23 Full details of the festival will be released in the coming weeks. Follow the festival and sign up now for more information: @OtherVoiceslive othervoices.ie @TheatrMwldan mwldan.co.uk Other Voices Cardiga, staged with the support and investment of Welsh Government and The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, is produced by South Wind Blows in partnership with Mwldan and Triongl. The event will be filmed by Triongl for later broadcast on S4C and RTÉ. Philip King, founder of Other Voices, said: “We are delighted to be bringing Other Voices back to beautiful Cardigan this November and to see the seeds of partnership sown in 2019 deepen and strengthen. “This event will build on the conversation we began with our partners at Mwldan and Triongl back in 2016. The joint statement by the Irish and Welsh Governments commits to the continuation and strengthening of this creative engagement and will build a powerful cultural bridge between Ireland and Wales over the next four years (2022-2025). “The music will be wonderful, celebrating, as it will, some of the most remarkable emerging voices in Ireland and Wales in the beautiful setting of Saint Mary’s Church.” Dilwyn Davies, chief executive of Mwldan, said: “It’s a great honour for Cardigan to be the Other Voices location in Wales. It reinforces the sense of Cardigan’s resurgence as a place where art, culture, creativity and environment form the very foundations of our community. “We are looking forward to welcoming our friends from Ireland, and to three days of truly magnificent music.” |
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