Abergavenny Town & Villages Llanfoist Govilon Gilwern

JUNE 2019 ISSUE 144

A B E R G AV E N N Y

FOCUS

YOUR FREE COMMUNIT Y MAGAZINE, PROMOTING LOCAL BUSINESSES

Colour!

ABERGAVENNY TOWN & VILLAGES LLANFOIST GOVILON GILWERN

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Dear Readers,

Contents

FOCUS

When I decided that a good feature for this month’s magazine would be ‘Colour’, I didn’t really consider the number of ways the theme could be interpreted, and I’m excited by the spectrum of articles we’ve been able to put together for you. I do hope you enjoy them.

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Editorial & Contents

Weather: June’s Outlook

Puzzles! Next Month: Summer Fun! The Focus Directory

Publisher: Focus Magazines Ltd

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Tel: 01873 856614

Editorial & Advertising:

Hannah Hill: [email protected]

Graphic Design & Accounts:

Pete Hill: [email protected]

This month is a busy one. Now that the warmer days are upon us, more and more events are happening from open gardens, arts and music festivals, to the Carnival, Abergavenny Pride and loads more. Keep up to date with what’s coming up this month on our events pages and, of course, online at www.thefocus.wales. As a London girl born and bred, I’m continuously surprised that we seem to have more events going on locally than ever took place where I lived in London. It shows just how vibrant and active our community is, and how willing people are to organise events and reach out to other members of the community in doing so. I say it often, but we really are very lucky.

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Contributions:

Abergavenny Town Council Jenna Badjan

EVENTS

Raglan Festival

Paddy Beynon Kay Blackwell Liz Cantelo

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Amanda Chard Anneliese Cheadle Sue Collins

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Abergavenny Arts Festival Crickhowell Open Gardens Cantref Open Gardens Brecon Jazz Festival 2019 Pilgrimage Walk

David Collyer Emma Corﬁeld-Walters Debs Hancock Emily Lewis

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Hannah Mlatem Helen Morgan Marion Pearse Jonathan Powell Eleri Rosier

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I’m thrilled to be including an article this month about the Market – it’s long been my intention to do so, but time has often run away with me. This month I managed it, thanks to the help of Liz Cantelo who owns Fizzyville in the Market, (a wonderful shop. Go.) and helped rally traders and gather information. Big thanks to her. I don’t like to preach, but I’m making an exception to urge you all to support the Market in any way you can – it gives our town a point of diﬀerence and should be celebrated and frequented regularly so we don’t lose it! Aside from that, it’s just a great place to be!

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Janet Thomas Andy Timpson

Whilst every care is taken with materials submitted to The Abergavenny Focus, the publisher cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage to such materials. Opinions expressed in articles are strictly those of the author. This publication is copyrighted and may not be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. Prices and details are subject to change and conditions and the publisher can take no responsibility for ommissions or errors. The inclusion of an advertiser in this magazine is not necessarily a recommendation.

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Kapow! Superhero Challenge Events Calendar

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COMMUNITY

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Abergavenny Community Centre Abergavenny Concertgoers Gilwern U3A

Next month we’ll be celebrating Summer…let’s hope the sun shines…

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Enjoy the Read,

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www.thefocus.wales

COLOUR

[email protected]

TheFocusMagazine

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Tel: 01873 856614

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Can colour help to sell your home?

JUNE 2019 ISSUE 144

JUNE 2019 ISSUE 62

Abergavenny Pride

FOCUS

A D V E RT I S E W I T H U S !

Crickhowell, Brecon & The Usk Valley

FOCUS

YOUR FREE COMMUNIT MAGAZINE, PROMOTING LOCAL
BUSINESSES Y

Colour and Vibrancy at Abergavenny Market Team Pink or Blue?

YOUR FREE COMMUNIT MAGAZINE, PROMOTING LOCAL BUSINESSES

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Our Magazines are monthly, A5 sized, full colour publications, delivered solus, door to door for free. We oﬀer cost eﬀective advertising rates which start at just £21 per month. Your advert will appear in full colour, we provide a free, professional design service and big discounts for bookings of 3 months or more. Call
Hannah or Pete today on 01873 856614

or email [email protected]

A Town in Colour Hair Colour Abergavenny Hockey Club

Colour!

Barricade Boys

at Theatr Brycheiniog (pg. 11)

Circulation 5,500, which is hand delivered, solus, to homes and businesses in Crickhowell, Brecon, Llangattock and Talgarth, with additional pick-up points in the following villages: Bwlch, Cwmdu, Glangrwyney, Llanfrynach, Llangorse, Llangynidr, Talybont-On-Usk, and Tretower.

Circulation 8,000, which is hand delivered, solus, to homes and businesses in Abergavenny, Llanfoist, Gilwern and Govilon, with additional local pick-up points

LIFESTYLE & CULTURE

Book Review: Those Who Are Loved Local History: A People’s Diamond

Photography in Focus: Colour Jazz in Abergavenny

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TO ADVERTISE CALL HANNAH ON 01873 856614 OR EMAIL [email protected]
VISIT THE FOCUS ONLINE: WWW.THEFOCUS.WALES

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EVENTS

be supporting a whole host of local acts including The Whiskey River Boys, Jim Ramsey, Don’t Tell Johnny and Wyld Bird Seed. Talgarth Male Voice Choir will perform this year too and promise to raise the roof at St Cadoc’s church whilst Friday night’s highlight will be The Greatest Showman Sing-along family cinema event.

choirs, Live Wall art with Philth, Artisan Village and Arts Market, A Showcase Exhibition of artists including John Petts, the renowned Stained Glass artist, Interview with John Brandler, owner of Port Talbot’s famous Banksy, followed by an auction of a limited Banksy print, plus a wealth of fringe events.

Abergavenny Arts Festival

Raglan Festival

romoting fab music in the heart of Monmouthshire the

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the village and provide entertainment for all ages and groups. The Street

Get close to art with workshops in painting, printing, drawing, writing and other activities across the weekend. Immerse yourself in dance and music in our town centre streets.

2019 will see two fantastic festivals taking place in Raglan village. As well as the Music Festival, Raglan Day will also take place on Bank Holiday Monday 26th August. If you’d like to take part in the carnival parade or operate a stall at this event then please get in touch.Celebrating local musical talent, supporting up-and coming Welsh acts whilst fostering a welcoming village community ethos, both Raglan Festival and Raglan Day 2019 promise to be two great events! Visit our website www. raglan-festival.com and follow us on both Facebook and Twitter for music festival programme and Raglan Day

Raglan Festival will take place, Party will be during the afternoon

from further aﬁeld and enabling

as always, throughout the second weekend in June: 7-9th June.

of Sunday, 9th June from 1.00pm to 8.00pm featuring Brothers of Blues, Catch 22 and Ella James

Saturday and Sunday, June 29 & 30, 2019

and inspiring the community to enjoy the experiences and learn new skills. We hope to encourage our young people through a variety of speciﬁc performances and activities, including a“Find the Art!” treasure hunt, workshops for circus skills, photography, and crafts.

The boutique music festival takes place across the whole village and will host many varied and exciting gigs, open mics and activities for all ages throughout the weekend; many of which are free, so save the date in your diary and come along and enjoy! on the main stage with Big Mac’s Wholly Soul Band headlining. A kid’s zone including bouncy castle and entertainment from magician Simon Sparkles will ensure that this is truly an event for the whole family!

bergavenny Arts Festival
Acelebrates the arts in their broadest sense - art, sculpture, artisan crafts, music, dance, poetry, literature, photography.

Find out more by visiting our website:

www.abergavennyartsfestival.com email. [email protected]

It aims to be as inspiring, inclusive and as aﬀordable as possible, with free entry to the majority of venues, activities and performances. We are community based, showcasing amateur and professional artists from the locality as well as some

Again this year we host our everpopular kids’music workshops encouraging kids to try a myriad of diﬀerent musical instruments. Highlights include music

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This year’s festival is a celebration of the Arts. It’s a blend of performances, demonstrations, exhibitions, speakers and much more. Highlights include: Exhibition of Josef Herman’s work, Signing

Janet Thomas

Based on the huge success last year Raglan Festival is very pleased to announce that they will host another street party in Raglan High Street, keeping the Festival in the heart of performances by Raglan VC Primary School, and during the weekend we’ll information.

Eleri Rosier

UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT

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EVENTS

As well as the gardens there will also be refreshments available at Christ Church in North St. and at several of the other gardens that open on the day. While the church is the focal point of the day with a plant stall, puppet theatre and tombola as well as refreshments, there is also scope for a gentle amble or a vigorous walk to one or two of the gardens that are well of the beaten track.

EVENTS

The gardens will be open from 11 am to 5 pm on the two days. Tickets with all details will be sold at Crickhowell’s Market Hall from 10.30 am to 4 pm. Admission is £5 for one day, and £7.50 for two days. Disabled parking spaces can be found in the main town car park (parking charges apply). Free shuttle bus available (not wheelchair friendly).

be the seventh consecutive year that local gardeners have opened their gardens to the public and over that period of time they have succeeded in raising about £25 thousand for the charity.

This year there will be sixteen gardens available to view, ranging in size and at various stages of development. Andy Timpson, one of the organisers, explained that their philosophy was‘’to welcome any gardener[s] – they usually but not always come in pairs! – irrespective of their experience’’. He said‘’We have a wide variety of gardens on show this year, several opening for the ﬁrst time and some that have opened every year. Some of our gardeners are very experienced but others are just starting out after taking over gardens that have lain dormant for some time’’. He continued by saying that they were hoping for good weather on the day so as to encourage as many people as possible to attend.

Crickhowell Open Gardens

NEW GARDENS FOR 2019!

Cantref
Open

Crickhowell Open Gardens is

spectacular views across the valley organised for the beneﬁt of

15th & 16th June

and the surrounding mountains.

the community. Funds raised will be used to support local good causes. Any enquiries: telephone 01873 811625 or email

[email protected].

The gardens are open between 11.30am and 5.30pm on Sunday 9th June and the cost of a ticket to all 16 gardens is £5.00 with under 18s free of charge. Tickets and a map are available on the day from the church or at any participating garden. ‘’Please put this date in your diary to support a very worthwhile local community activity – see you on the day’’

rickhowell was recently reported to be a ‘magical

A great variety of diﬀerent gardens have again entered this year – a huge Thank You to all Gardeners willing to open their own little Eden! Plus, new gardens opening for the ﬁrst time and the welcome return of some old favourites. The gardens vary not only in size but also in plant selection, layout and design - depending on the motivation, ambition and imagination of the garden owners.

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place to live’and with such a great community spirit, it was no surprise that the town has also been voted winner of the British Best High Street award. And it’s this community support and

Gardens

Every garden and every garden owner will be geared up for the event - all they need is good weather for a great weekend out! Come rain or shine though, they will be open! So, come into the garden Maud, where you will be very welcome!

he Open Gardeners of Cantref ward in

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Abergavenny will once again be opening their gardens in 2019 in support of Target Ovarian Cancer, a recognised national charity committed to funding research into this disease. This will

friendship that extends to our next event- the Open Gardens weekend where there will be a garden size for everyone - from the small walled cottage garden to the large extensive gardens with

Andy Timpson

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