Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

You wouldn't believe it in this weather, but Carmarthen v Porthmadog -- MATCH ON - KO 2:00pm

Join the I Love Cwrw Facebook page today - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1592839463#/group.php?gid=50707548683&ref=ts

Award-winning brewer Evan-Evans was voted the top Welsh drink at the True Taste of Wales Awards at Abergavenny last night (Nov 19). The award is the second major prize for the company’s brands in the last 12 months. The company was voted the third best brewer in the UK in the Best Bitter Category at the Great British Beer Festival, the UK’s leading consumer Beer Festival. Chief executive Simon Buckley said: “This year my family celebrate 240 years of family brewing in Wales. “We have had a record year for winning awards. “Cwrw has been voted the best beer in Wales for draught beer, and now for the bottled version. “I am extremely proud to win this award in this very special year for us as a family. “I am also very proud to be carrying on the tradition of brewing great beers. “We hope that Cwrw will now become the National Ale of Wales. “This award is a huge credit to our brewing team in Llandeilo, and they are now unquestionably the best brewing team in the specialist market in Wales. ...

Gold award for Cwrw beer last night. See pics - http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/robertapvincent/TrueTasteOfWalesAwards2009#

True Taste of Wales awards in Abergavenny tonight. Cwrw nominated for an award. I will post later on the big match verdict!

A launch event was held in Carmarthenshire to kick-start the new MOBI youth facility. The MOBI vehicle, delivered in partnership by Carmarthenshire Youth Service and Plant Dewi, aims to provide young people between the ages of 11-25 years living in isolated, rural communities throughout West Wales with access to youth information, advice and activities. Activities have included self-defence classes, go-karting trips, cooking competitions, DJ workshops, wall climbing and much more. The ceremony was conducted jointly by the Chairman of Carmarthenshire County Council, Cllr. Tyssul Evans, the Director of Education & Children’s Services, Vernon Morgan, and Rev. Philip Johnes on behalf of Plant Dewi. Pupils from Ysgol Gyfun Emlyn and from Ysgol Gyfun Pantycelyn (Llandovery) – two of the schools visited by the project - were also present to lend their support. The new vehicle replaces an older one – a converted horse-box – which has been serving remote villages throughout West Wales since...

The renowned South Wales author Catrin Collier will be visiting Carmarthen Library next Wednesday (November 25) to talk about her writing career and the novels that she has published to date. Catrin Collier was born and raised in Pontypridd and the area has provided the backdrop and the inspiration for many of her novels. Her novel Hearts of Gold, the first in a series of eight books set between 1930 and 1946, was made into a mini-series and televised on the BBC in 2003. She has also written a trilogy set in Swansea in the 1950s and a series of historical novels set during the Tonypandy Riots of 1911. Catrin has published eight crime novels under the pseudonym of Katherine John along with three modern romps published as Caro French and three novelisations of TV drama productions written as Katherine Hardy. She now lives on Gower with her husband and their cats. The evening starts at 6.30pm for 7pm with light refreshments. Tickets, priced at £1, are available from Sharon Morgan at Carma...

"Hopefully he'll watch the show and realise what a decent person I am. The girl he married, not the monster that's been created in the press" - I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! contestant Katie Price, aka Jordan, on her ex-husband Peter Andre. Groan!

A council which reported jewellery as stolen five years ago has called off the search after finding the items during an office move. Powys County Council in Mid Wales called in the police when rings, brooches and necklaces bequeathed to it disappeared after being taken to county hall for cataloguing. An investigation by Dyfed-Powys Police determined there was no evidence of a theft and the five-year mystery was finally solved when council staff found the jewellery in a strong-room at the Gwalia offices in Llandrindod Wells.

Pembrokeshire's young hockey players have excelled themselves, with 11 being selected for the South West Regional Academy in Swansea which starts this month. Nine girls were selected in new Performance Development Centre (PDC) competitions run by the Welsh Hockey Union (WHU). They are U15s Charlotte Harries, Chloe Sinnott, Sarah Martin, Meg Evans and Hannah Lewis, and U17s Sophie Rees, Llawela Scale, Ceri Jenkins and Stacey John. Goal keepers Angharad Jenkins and Zoe Daye have been invited to attend a goalkeeping selection day on 22nd November. The venue for the U15 and U17 girls PDC competition was Swansea, where more than 150 young players from Mid and South Wales PDCs took part. The competitions followed weekly coaching sessions at Performance Development Centres across Wales, with expert coaching from a team of qualified and experienced coaches. Two U17 boys were selected for the South West Academy directly from the PDC coaching sessions - Alex Alderwick and Steve Cristofana. ...

Carers in Pembrokeshire are invited to Carers' Rights Day 2009 at Haverfordwest Rugby Club on Friday 4th December from 10am to 3pm. When giving up work to care, a carer's first thought is not about their pension, but about managing care and making ends meet. Without the right advice, carers could be missing out on: * vital contributions to their state pension which could affect long term finances * claiming entitlements to extra financial support Carers are urged to come along and find out more information on how they can maximise their income or pension. Organisations which provide information, advice and services to carers will be at the day to offer advice and support. "We would also like to hear your views at the Carers' Forum," said Councillor Sian James, Cabinet Member for the Voluntary Sector, Health and Well-being. * For more details and to book a place on the day please contact Nicole van Schie, Carers Development Worker on 01437 771196 or nicole.vansch...

Creating an inspirational outdoor environment for the well-being and learning of young children was the focus of a conference led by Jan White at Trinity University College. The Conference was part of a training day for 150 early years workers from around Wales, including – teachers, learning support assistants and childminders – who are students on the Geiriau Bach project run by the School of Early Years Education at Trinity University College. Geiriau Bach is the Welsh Assembly Government funded project run by Trinity to extend the use of Welsh through good practice in early years provision throughout Wales. The project enables those working with young children to extend bilingual practice and most of the students have very little Welsh or are very unconfident in their use of Welsh. Sian Wyn Siencyn, Head of Early Years Education at Trinity said “We were very pleased to welcome Jan to Trinity. "She is internationally known and a highly regarded trainer in early years and althou...

A Llanelli woman has been sentenced to community punishment for benefit fraud. Dana Wookey pleaded guilty at Llanelli Magistrates Court to offences of dishonestly failing to declare changes in circumstances under Section 111(A) (1) (c) Social Security Administration Act 1992. The court was told that 32-year-old Mrs Wookey claimed housing benefit and council tax benefit on the basis that she was a single parent and also in receipt of Income Support at a private tenancy. A joint investigation was conducted by Carmarthenshire County Council with the Department for Work and Pensions Fraud Investigation Section into an allegation that Mrs Wookey’s estranged husband had returned to live with her. She admitted in interview that they had reconciled for a period. As a result she was overpaid £789.70 in council tax benefit and £5,408.07 in housing benefit. The Income Support overpayment was £3,376.69 making a total of £9,574.46 overpaid benefit. Wookey, of Christopher Street, Llanelli, was sente...

"It is boring. Deeply, mind-numbingly, soul-scarringly, eye-gougingly boring. And utterly pointless too" - Broadcaster John Humphrys discussing tweeting, to which he has now succumbed.

An Antarctic team will drill through ice in an attempt to recover two cases of vintage Scotch whisky lost a century ago. The McKinlay and Co whisky was abandoned by British polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton when his 1909 expedition hit trouble. Whyte & Mackay, the drinks group which now owns the brand, has asked for a sample of the 100-year-old Scotch for a series of tests that could decide whether to relaunch it.

This year’s Cardiff Half Marathon was brimming with fit, energetic and highly-trained Trinity University College staff members from Carmarthen. Eight members of staff sporting university running vests lined-up after months of training to run the gruelling 13 mile course. “Despite the strapped and taped ankles and knees all eight managed to complete the course in very respectable times” said Karin Thomas, one of the runners from the School of Sport, Health and Outdoor Education. The other runners included Development Unit staff Duncan Gardner in his first race who raised £260 for Tŷ Hafan and Gary Clifford who raised £300 for Lupus, Dorian Rees from the Halliwell Centre, who raised £650 for Marie Curie Cancer Research, Alison Connaughton and Bill Beynon from the School of Sport, Health and Outdoor Education, Catharine Bleasedale from the School of Initial Teacher Education and Training who at 1 hour and 48 minutes was the first female home out of the Trinity group and Jack Tremlett from...

Carmarthen’s St Catherine Street will re-open to traffic at 5pm on Friday December 4. The road was due to re-open at the end of next week but this has been delayed for three weeks due to unforeseen circumstances. The road was closed on August 24 for an estimated 12 weeks to enable the final stage of the £74million Carmarthen Mart Development, St Catherine Street, to be carried out. The closure has enabled a major push on the development by the Simons Group. Work has included traffic calming measures creating a 20mph loop round the development formed by Pentrefelin Street, Water Street and Barn Road. This involved the installation of vertical traffic calming measures, a total of seven speed reducing cushions. County head of transport and engineering Trevor Sage said: “The major re-construction of St Catherine Street will allow pedestrian access to the northern side of the development. “St Catherine Street will open to traffic again on December 4 at 5pm to cater for Christmas shopping. ...

Carmarthenshire County Council is moving forward with plans to remodel flexible care and independent living choices for older people in the county. A joint Health & Social Care and Housing scrutiny committee is set to launch a three-month consultation period to gather the views of service users, stakeholders and the wider public, before moving forward with a programme to deliver a range of flexible care and housing options. The initial programme for development, to meet the needs and expectations of older people in Carmarthenshire, was approved by full council in July 2003, following extensive consultation. It brings together the development plans for local authority care homes and proposals for the development of sheltered housing into a coherent programme, which will be delivered through social care, health and housing resources. The underlying theme is to enable people to live independently with a wider range of community services to support people to continue living at home, wi...

A new heritage centre supporting traditional sustainable building, landscape and history of the Tywi Valley will be launched in Carmarthenshire this week. The centre, a centrepiece of the Tywi Afon Yr Oesoedd project, is housed in two converted barns at Dinefwr Home Farm, on the outskirts of Llandeilo. It will provide an invaluable resource to the area, offering a range of traditional sustainable building information services and education and community resources. It will also offer a range of subsidised courses for builders, building professionals and homeowners, in a bid to help locals conserve the area’s historic homes and buildings. The Welsh Assembly’s Minister for Rural Affairs, Elin Jones, will officially open the centre on Wednesday, November 18, at 10am. Tywi Afon Yr Oesoedd (Tywi a River Through Time) is a £2.4million project, led by Carmarthenshire County Council, which is aimed at conserving the area’s landscape, biodiversity and history, and creating a legacy for future ge...

Carmarthenshire County Council is urging people to throw their weight behind a Llanelli community as it competes to win funding for a new splash play area. Morfa Residents and Tenants Association have been whittled down to the final eight of the ITV Peoples Millions, a Big Lottery competition which takes place annually. They need people to vote for their project to support their bid to win £50,000 for the scheme. If successful, the lottery funding would mean the ‘Morfa Spray and Play’ project could go ahead. The project aims to regenerate Havelock Park with a bright, colourful water play area that would be open to all people, of all ages. Impressive designs have been drawn up to illustrate the scheme, and now all the community needs is support to win the lottery funding. Carmarthenshire County Council has supported the scheme through its leisure department, and has also supported the community through its Communities First initiative in the Glanymor and Tyisha ward. Cllr Clive Scourfie...

Sustainability commissioner Peter Davies (pictured fourth from left) has commended Carmarthenshire County Council for its success in gaining the Platinum Corporate Health Standard Award. The standard, run by the Welsh Assembly Government, is the quality-mark for workplace health promotion in Wales. Carmarthenshire has already been awarded bronze, silver and gold standards in the past, and has exceeded all levels of expectation to achieve platinum status this year. Pictured with Mr Davies is Carmarthenshire County Council chief executive Mark James, council chair Cllr Tyssul Evans, council leader Cllr Meryl Gravell, and special projects director Robert Sully. Pic Jeff Connell See earlier blog - http://sirgarblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/minister-praises-carmarthenshire.html

Residents of Carmarthenshire are being asked for their views on how they would like the county to look in 2021. The Pre-Deposit Preferred Strategy represents the first important stage of the Local Development Plan (LDP) process. Developed following consultation and participation, the Strategy sets out the direction of the LDP and provides the strategic framework for future stages of the Plan. It details the social, economic and environmental issues and trends within the county and the Plan’s Vision and Objectives. The Pre-Deposit Preferred Strategy sets out the key issues facing the county; the Vision and Objectives - how the County wants to look in 2021; and key strategic growth and spatial options – how much growth is needed and broadly where it should go. The Pre-Deposit Preferred Strategy is available for public consultation until January 4, 2010, and the council is inviting comments on its content. Detailed policies and proposals are not included within the Preferred Strategy an...

Tastebuds are tingling to the delights of a new winter menu in primary schools across the county. Several delicious home made dishes have been added to the daily specials for the 2009 winter term. Pupils are tucking in to a healthy variety of meals including lamb and apricot meatballs - a unique product for Carmarthenshire schools which is being produced by the authority’s meat supplier Welsh Bros Foods Ltd, based in Newport. Welsh Bros have sourced the lamb from Cig Calon Cymru, a company based in Cross Hands. And those wise enough to leave room for dessert are licking their lips to the delights of Rachel's' Organic Yoghurt, which is produced in Aberystwyth. The new menu forms part of Carmarthenshire County Council’s commitment to provide healthy, low cost meals that have a good nutritional balance. The council produces seasonal menus with emphasis on traditionally cooked, fresh food, with reduced additives, salt and sugar. Locally sourced produce is used wherever possible as ...

With the support of the Prince’s Trust and Communities First, the Morfa Youth Forum, in association with the Carmarthenshire Youth Service is embarking on a venture to achieve a Motorbike Scrambling Project in Llanelli. Through interaction with local young people, it has become clear to youth work practitioners that motorbike scrambling is a pursuit that young people are passionate about and they continually enquire about the opportunity to partake in this activity. The young people in question often have experience of the activity through maybe owning a bike of their own or through using their peer’s bikes. However, the activity is seldom done through official channels – the young people in question are often ‘scrambling’ illegally on land which they have no permission to ride on. The implications for this sort of activity raise issues over the young people’s safety and wellbeing while partaking in what can be a dangerous pastime. There is also an anti-social behaviour issue as the sc...

Anyone who needs a helping hand to get to grips with the latest technology is being invited to take part in a skills share workshop in Ammanford. The workshop is being organised by Pantyffynnon Communities First, a Welsh Assembly funded initiative being led by Carmarthenshire County Council. Young volunteers will be on hand to help older people learn how to send text and picture messages, upload pictures from a camera to a computer, or simply stay in touch with friends and family online. The workshop is being held at Ammanford Library’s ICT Suite on Thursday, November 26, from 5.30pm-7pm, with light refreshments provided. Emma Martin-Jewell, Pantyffynnon Communities First development officer, said: “This will be a good workshop for anyone who is lacking confidence with new technology, but also for those who would like to use mobile phones and computers to stay in touch with friends and family. “Places are limited, so early booking is essential.” Pantyffynnon Communities First, based in...

Residents and visitors to Llandeilo are being invited to learn all about the Exploration Tywi Project, as part of the town’s Festival of the Senses. The festival, taking place on Friday, November 20, will see hundreds of local people and tourists flocking to the town centre to kick start Christmas celebrations. And as part of the evening, Dyfed Archaeological Trust is throwing open its doors so that people can learn all about the new historical discoveries of the Tywi Valley. Exploration Tywi, or Chwilota’r Tywi, is one of the four themes within Tywi Afon yr Oesoedd project and is run by the archaeological trust. The project aims to provide an opportunity to take participants of all ages on an exploration of the Tywi Valley’s past through the excitement of geological, archaeological and historical discovery. Project officer Hazel Williams said: “During the evening visitors will have a chance to learn what has been achieved so far on the graveyard survey at Sant Teilo churchyard, the he...

A leading hotel chain is banning garlic from its Christmas menu, saying the move will increase workers' chances of stealing a festive kiss from colleagues. Holiday Inn said its Fresh Breath Menu, available at 70 hotels across the country, will be completely garlic-free - no garlic bread, sausage or sauces. Spokeswoman Jane Bednall said: "With the party season fast approaching, we saw now as the perfect time to introduce a garlic-free menu to boost people's chances of a kiss at their work Christmas party."

"I've got a soft spot for Robert Peston - a swamp outside Birmingham" - Lord (Digby) Jones who said that Peston declined an invitation to visit firms flourishing despite the recession.