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Last updated
01 November, 2009

Save Plas Dulas from Demolition

An application has been submitted to Conwy County Council to demolish Plas Dulas and clear the grounds to make way for a new residential development. Local residents, local and National amenity societies and our Trust are all working towards it being rejected and this historic house and its gardens preserved.

A Public Meeting has been arranged at Llanddulas Community and Youth Centre, Beach Road on Wednesday, August 26th at 7pm. Please try to attend, if possible, or alternatively send any objections in writing. To see how, click here.

Christmas Dinner Menu 2009

The Menu for the 2009 Annual Christmas Dinner is now available! The date for the dinner will take place at 7pm on Saturday the 5th December at North Wales Golf Club, Llandudno. Seating is limited to 90 and places are always taken up quickly so please book early! Advanced bookings only. Please e-mail the Trust office.

Annual Christmas Dinner & Entertainments

£17.00 Per Person

6.30pm ~ Bar Open for Guests

7.00 pm Commencement of the Meal

 Please contact the Trust Office for any Special Menu Requests

Starter

Cream of Mushroom Soup with Croutons

Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Roulade

Chicken Liver Pate with Brandy & Herbs served with warm Toast

Main

Traditional Roast Turkey Dinner

 Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers with Rice

Welsh Lamb with Mint Jelly 

All served with a selection of vegetables of the season

Dessert

Apple & Cinnamon Crumble with Vanilla Custard

Christmas Plum Pudding with Brandy Sauce

Festive Citrus Torte 

Complimentary Tea or Coffee with Cream, Traditional Mince Pies and After Dinner Mints

The evening also includes an after dinner speaker, raffle, an update on the Gwrych Castle Trust & progression of plans for the Castle and a Classical Christmas Carol Musical Recital

Donation Raffle Prizes would be very much appreciated.

Walkers’ Castle Route

An extract from an article taken from the Rhyl, Prestatyn and Abergele Journal by Andrew Boyd, August 12th 2009:

The first health walk in Abergele saw a multi-cultural group enjoy the delights of the town.

Newly qualified walk leaders Simon and Amy Yau led the party of 17 as they set off from Gwrych Castle, with organisers hoping to make the walks a regular occurance in Abergele.

As the walks are health walks they are ideal for people who are new to walking or feel that they want to walk at their own pace without worrying that they aren’t keeping up.

Simon and Amy are part of a 14 strong Chinese team trained by Let’s Walk Cymru to enable residents of the area to participate in walking activities that are both enjoyable and social.

The team are part of the Black Ethnic Network, which received a grant from the Sports Council of Wales earlier this year to train and promote walking in the Chinese communities in North Wales.

Caroline Moncrieff, team trainer and mentor, said: “That the walks are growing from strength to strength and are very popular with everyone in the community.

“So far we have held walks in Pwllheli, Bangor, Abergele and Menai Bridge. We like to theme the walks so that we can talk about the local history and wildlife along the way.

“It is an opportunity to get to meet new friends, find out what is going on in the community and talk. I hear the walkers swapping ideas on gardening, cooking and travel to name just a few things.”

For more details on health walks and nordic walking in the area, contact Caroline Moncrieff on 07980 538811 or email carolinemoncrieff@yahoo.com.

Gwrych Medical Centre

‘As those who travel past the North Wales Business Park will know, the construction of the new Primary Care Centre for Abergele is now well underway. I am pleased to report that the project is on schedule to be completed before Christmas with the Centre on target to become fully operational towards the end of January. I am working with Conwy County Borough Council and the Abergele Surgery Action Group to ensure that the new Medical Centre is adequately served by local buses and that pedestrians are also able to access the Business Park safely.’

Darren Millar, AM

Gwrych to Feature in New Documentary

The documentary is called ‘Time May Change Me’ and is set to be aired on Monday December 1st, 7.30pm, BBC2 Wales.

An extract from an article taken from the North Wales Weekly News by David Simister, November 20th 2008:

An Abergele landmark will be the focus of a new documentary on the BBC.

Gwynedd-based production company Chwarel say the half-hour documentary on Gwrych Castle, located near the town, is the most exhaustive film ever made about the historic site.

Producer Sioned Morys said: “I’ve been trying to get the BBC to feature Gwrych in a documentary for years so when I heard the site had been sold to its current owners I decided to film it off my own back for this series.

“The series features people and places which have been shown in previous BBC programmes, and, using footage recorded of the site from a series made in the 1970s, you really get to see how it’s gone into its present derelict state.

“It’s a full-on history of a site that’s very important to the people of North Wales.”

A team from Chwarel spent more than a year filming progress on the site, under new owner Clayton Hotels, for the show Time May Change Me, a 10-part BBC series which explores people and places featured in the broadcaster’s previous documentaries.

Gwrych Castle had in previous decades fallen into a state of disrepair but saw a resurgence last year when Yorkshire-based firm Clayton Hotels bought the site for £850,000 under plans to turn it into a five-star country house hotel.

Historian Mark Baker, an Abergele resident who has written several books on the site and was involved in a campaign to save the site during the 1990s, is also featured in the programme and is pleased the castle is being featured.

“It’s going to bring the restoration of Gwrych to the public eye so I’m really pleased Chwarel and the BBC have decided to make this documentary,” he said.

ABERGELE’S HISTORIC GWRYCH CASTLE TO
BECOME FIVE STAR COUNTRY HOUSE HOTEL

Ambitious plans by Yorkshire-based Clayton Hotels to transform one of Wales’s major historic buildings into a five-star country house hotel have been welcomed by Welsh Assembly Culture Minister and Clwyd West Assembly Member Alun Pugh.

Gwrych Castle – a Grade I listed building and a structure of national importance – has fallen into disrepair over the last 17 years. However it will soon be restored to its former glory accommodating over 90 luxury rooms, a world-class health & beauty spa, a fine dining restaurant and banqueting, wedding & conferencing facilities.

Clayton Hotels purchased Gwrych Castle for £850,000, and the company is anticipating that the entire project will require a total investment of £6m.

Mr Pugh said: “Local residents have witnessed a unique historical building slowly falling down as a result of years of neglect under overseas ownership. In my meetings with the company I have received assurances that Clayton Hotels’ plans will fully respect the unique architectural features of Gwrych Castle. It is anticipated that the new hotel will also directly and indirectly create over 100 quality jobs, boosting the local economy.

“Clayton Hotels has both the vision and financial backing to ensure that the castle once more becomes a focal point for local, national and international visitors to the area.”

Clayton Hotels is a sister company of Clayton Homes, a property and construction company based in Elland, near Halifax, which is renowned for sympathetically restoring and developing former mill buildings. Gwrych Castle is the first property in the Clayton Hotels portfolio and will be the company’s flagship hotel.

Kris Clayton, chairman of both companies, added: “I formed Clayton Hotels to provide people with the ultimate country house hotel experience and Gwrych Castle will enable us to set those new standards.

“The castle is a superb example of romantic architecture, and we are hugely excited about the restoration project we are about to undertake. Not only will it breathe life back into the building, but it will also provide the area with the very best that the hotel & leisure industry has to offer. I will personally oversee the restoration project and also select the management team to ensure that Gwrych Castle becomes synonymous with excellence.”

Although Gwrych Castle is the first hotel in Clayton Hotels’ portfolio the company is already looking at a number of other possible country house locations throughout the UK.

The restoration and development project by Clayton Hotels at Gwrych Castle is subject to planning and is anticipated to take two to three years to complete. For further information visit www.claytonhotels.co.uk