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

Father Christmas is making a welcome return to Llanelli Rotary Club's Grotto this weekend. The grotto is based at the BHS store in Trostre, Llanelli. Last year, the Rotary Club Grotto raises more than £1700 for local charities. 'Santa' is flying down from the North Pole to sit in the special Rotary Grotto at the BHS store on eight days in the run-up to Christmas. He is being accompanied by some specially-dressed Rotary Club 'elves'. Rotarian Alison Evans said last year's Grotto was such a hit with children that opening hours have been extended this year. Alison said: "Santa is full of the joy of Christmas and most of the young visitors who call in to see him at the Grotto are delighted with the experience. "We are, of course, grateful to Linda Ryan and the team at BHS in Trostre for being such great hosts for Father Christmas." Charities being supported by the Rotary Grotto this year are - Bobath cerebral palsy centre treating new...

The link road into Llanelli from Trostre Roundabout to Farm Foods will be closed for five days in March for tree felling work. Commuters are advised to plan an alternative route in advance for the week beginning Monday, March 16. The closure involves about three-quarters of a mile of tree-lined carriageway. Carmarthenshire County Council executive board member for engineering and transport services , Cllr Colin Evans, said: “There were issues last year when high winds felled trees on this avenue causing major disruption to traffic while emergency removal work was carried out. “To prevent similar disruptions there is a need to thin and remove older trees with preventive maintenance to make sure that future storms do not cause further disruptions.” The alternative route for north-west bound traffic will be to travel in a northerly direction along the A4138 to its junction with Glyncoed Terrace. At the junction, turn left and continue in a north-westerly direction along Glyncoed Terrac...

Snooker legend, Llanelli hero and ‘active pensioner’ Terry Griffiths was the guest of honour for the grand opening of the new Age Cymru Sir Gâr offices in Trostre, Llanelli. Mr Griffiths OBE, 67, also helped launched the charity’s new ‘advocacy service’ in Carmarthenshire. “It was very much a double scoop for us at Age Cymru Sir Gâr,” said the charity’s chief officer Ann Dymock. “We managed to celebrate both the launch of our new advocacy project called ‘Help to be heard’ and the opening of our new premises at the LEC Workshops in Trostre Road. “And, to put the icing on the cake, we had a true local hero and sporting legend to do the honours for us. “Terry Griffiths is greatly admired by young and old in Carmarthenshire and it was a delight to have him cut the ribbon on what was a big day for Age Cymru Sir Gâr. “This is a wonderful start to the year for us, letting people across Carmarthenshire know where we are when they need us, but also celebrating our new offices in our 20...

Terry Griffiths OBE, snooker ace, West Wales legend and winner of the World Snooker Championship, the Snooker Masters and the UK Snooker Championship. will officially open the new offices and the new Advocacy project of Age Cymru Sir Gâr. Age Cymru Sir Gâr, the older persons charity serving the over 50s of Carmarthenshire will be launching two of their latest developments on Friday, January 30: the Help to be heard advocacy project funded by the Big Lottery Fund. and their new offices in Trostre  The Advocacy project is to help older residents in Carmarthenshire to secure their rights, understand situations they are, in as well as ensure that their voices are heard and respected. Staff and volunteers will be on hand to promote advocacy for older people and explain how the already popular service can benefit more people across the whole of Carmarthenshire. Age Cymru Sir Gâr will be hosting a day of events from 10.30am to 3pm, including opportunities to learn new crafts, pu...

Father Christmas has helped Llanelli Rotary Club raise more than £1700 for charity. 'Santa' was kind enough to come down from the North Pole to sit in the special Rotary Grotto at the BHS store in Trostre, Llanelli, on five days in the run-up to Christmas. He was accompanied by some specially-dressed Rotary 'elves'. It was a big 'first' for Llanelli Rotary - the first time the club has managed to secure the services of Santa in the run-up to Christmas. "It was very much a team effort between Santa and his North Pole team and members of Llanelli Rotary Club," said Rotarian Alison Evans, who was one of the organisers. "Santa was full of the joy of Christmas and most of the young visitors who called in to see him at the grotto were delighted with the experience. "Fingers crossed, we will be able to secure Santa's services again next year and repeat the whole exercise. "Members of Llanelli Rotary Club thoroughly enjoyed...

Two talented cake-makers from the Jenkins Bakery have won a place in the National Cup Cakes finals. Cake department manager Sarah Williams and trainee Alex Cowell were picked out of 350 entries nationwide for a place in the finals. The event is organised by the British Baker magazine and website. The ‘live’ finals will take place at the National Exhibition centre (NEC) in Birmingham in November. Jenkins Bakery operations director Russell Jenkins said: “It’s already been very successful year for us in terms of awards, but we are delighted with this latest success. “We believe in competing against the very best in the baking and cake-making industry. Competitions like this one help our staff hone their skills to a very sharp level. We wish Sarah and Alex all the very best in the heat of the kitchen in the finals.” There were four categories in the competition: ‘Classic’, ‘Themed’, ‘Free-from’ and ‘Made with Alcohol’. The judges whittled down the entries, based on recipe, appearance, in...

The Jenkins Bakery rolled out the welcome mat for Radio Wales yesterday. Kathryn Chadwick from the Wales At Work show visited the bakery's main HQ in Trostre. "It was a very enjoyable interview," said the Jenkins Bakery's operations director Russell Jenkins. "We gave Kathryn the full tour and she was very interested in the bakery's proud history as a family firm in Llanelli." The Wales At Work show will be broadcast at 7pm on Thurday - http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/radiowales/sites/walesatwork/ Pictured: Kathryn Chadwick interviewing Russell Jenkins.

Piano Bridge in Lower Trostre Road, Llanelli, will not reopen until June 1. Continuing wet weather conditions have caused a delay to the bridge strengthening works. A spokesman for Network Rail said: “We could not have anticipated the wettest April and early May in more than a 100 years which has specifically held up essential waterproofing work to the bridge deck. This type of work is reliant on favourable weather conditions.” There has been widespread disruption for commuters, commercial deliveries and visitors since the necessary bridge replacement works started in January. The double bridge spans the main London to Fishguard rail line and a bank of disused sidings. It is the widest rail crossing Road Bridge in Carmarthenshire. It was not possible to carry out the work piecemeal leaving one lane open because the whole of the two bridge spans, one over the main line and the other over the sidings, has had to be replaced. The bridge reconstruction works was completed on time in la...

Llanelli’s famous Jenkins Bakery has plenty to celebrate for the forthcoming Royal Wedding. The bakery scooped two prizes at the national Bakers’ Fair at Newbury Racecourse – with one of the awards being claimed for the best celebration cake to mark the marriage of Kate Middleton to Prince William. “It’s a big achievement as this was a nationwide competition held by the National Association of Master Bakers,” said Jenkins Bakery director Russell Jenkins. “It’s also very significant as we plan to mark the Royal Wedding in some style. “We won the competition for the best single tier cake inspired by the Royal Wedding. The cake was created by Sarah Williams, our professional cake decorator. It is now on display at our Trostre HQ in Llanelli. “Meanwhile, we will be launching special mini wedding cakes to mark Prince William and Kate’s wedding. These feature the happy couple and are traditional wedding cakes designed to help everyone get into the wedding spirit. “They will be on sale in our...

A Llanelli man has been fined for leaving his rubbish outside the Household Waste Recycling Centre at Trostre. The black bags had been fly-tipped at the entrance to the site. The council’s environmental enforcement officers found evidence amongst the rubbish linking it to a man living in the Llwynhendy area. He was issued with a fixed penalty notice of £75 for littering. It is hoped this fine will now act as a warning to others that this type of behaviour will not be tolerated. Executive board member for the environment Councillor Philip Hughes said: “It is unacceptable to leave rubbish at the entrances of our Household Waste Recycling Centres. I accept that the resident involved may have good intentions but this is fly-tipping and it encourages more people to do the same. “We are asking residents to please regard the opening times and to act responsibly.” Fly-tipping not only spoils our quality of life and enjoyment of the environment but can cause serious pollution of the environment...

Essential road maintenance works are to be carried out in the Trostre area of Llanelli. The works on the W5598 Trostre retail roundabout to the B4304 Lower Trostre Road roundabout are due to start on Monday, October 25 and are being carried out by Carmarthenshire County Council. The works are being undertaken to alleviate flooding in the area. They will be undertaken during normal weekday working hours with restrictions on weekend working to avoid disruption during this busy time. The scheme will be undertaken in two phases. Phase one is expected to last approximately seven weeks and will hopefully be completed before Christmas. Phase two will start following the Christmas period and January sales to avoid disruption to the general public. Area manager Mario Cresci said: “We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused to the general public as a result of these works, we will endeavour to keep delays and disruption to a minimum.”

The Household Waste Recycling Centre in Trostre, Llanelli, will be closed on Wednesday for essential maintenance works. The centre will be closed for one day only and will reopen on Thursday. However, there may be further minimal disruption to services for a time on Thursday. CWM Environmental Ltd and Carmarthenshire County Council would like to apologise to the public for any inconvenience caused as a result.

The bus lane by Trostre Retail Park in Llanelli is to be opened to taxis. Carmarthenshire County Council’s transportation and engineering division has put in place traffic orders to change the lane to dual bus and taxi use. Council traffic management and parking services manager John McEvoy said: “On Friday December 11 the lane will be opened to taxis and appropriate signs will have been erected. “It is the first phase of a bigger scheme for the bus lane. We have plans to put in a bus shelter, pavement and more lighting.”