Friday 4th December 2009 Restaurant with a view to open in Swansea
Diners in Swansea will soon be able to enjoy a view with their meal
when the five-star Penthouse restaurant opens. The restaurant will be
situated on the top three floors of the landmark Meridian Tower in
Swansea. The 300ft high tower is the tallest residential building in
Wales and offers panoramic views of the Bristol Channel, Gower
Peninsula and the Brecon Beacons.

Built at a cost of around £70m and delayed by a dispute between
developers and contractors, the building contains 123 apartments.
Sited in the city’s maritime quarter the building towers above the
rest of the city and forms part of Swansea’s £1bn waterfront
development. South Wales

Friday 13th November 2009 Flooding causing disruption
Wales has been hard hit by recent rain, bringing destruction, delay
and road closures in its wake. Two tonnes of rock fell onto the
railway line near Chepstow, causing the closure of the Newport to
Gloucester stretch of the line. Roads have also been blocked in parts
of west and south Wales. Pembrokeshire has been particularly badly
effected.

A Network Rail spokesman said a rock slide of large boulders had
fallen onto the line and initially conditions were too dangerous for
engineers to asses the situation. The slide happened about a quarter
of a mile away from Chepstow station on the Newport side at a section
where the line runs next to an old quarry. South Wales

Wednesday 4th November 2009 'Nemo' found in Swansea
The BBC are known for the quality and accuracy of their brilliant
television documentaries on nature. The popular show narrated by Sir
David Attenborough, ‘Life’, is no exception. However, the film crew’s
dedication to getting the right shot on film doesn’t go as far as
disturbing rare and valuable wildlife.

The ‘Life’ team hit a snag when they were trying to get footage of a
baby clownfish, like the one that starred in the film ‘Finding Nemo’.
They had all the sequences they needed from filming under the sea,
except for those of newly born fish. Eventually they decided this was
impossible without disturbing the fish. Instead the BBC turned to the
University of Swansea and their Sustainable Aquaculture Research
(CSAR) where they were able to film newly born clownfish under
controlled but natural looking conditions, without threatening the
endangered fish in the wild. South Wales

Wednesday 21st October 2009 Welsh village in historic watch bid
Residents of the Welsh village of Senghenydd in Caerphilly has clubbed
together in to buy a historic watch presented to the first rugby
player from the area to be capped for Wales. Rugby star Llew Jenkins
was presented with the gold watch and chain in 1923 by village
residents at an event in a nearby hotel.

The village heritage group stumbled upon a brochure detailing the
event in 1923 and then managed to track down Mr Jenkins’ son, David.
Unfortunately, following initial contact from the group where they
explained their desire to exhibit the items, Mr Jenkins junior placed
all the items in auction with Bonhams in Chester. This has left the
group having to raise the bid price, plus auctioneers fees if they
wish to retain the items for exhibition. We wish them luck in their
quest! South Wales

Monday 12th October 2009 Welsh town campaigns for war memorial
Give us a war memorial sited at Llantrisant is the simple demand of
Campaigners trying to raise thousands of pounds to remember the fallen
from in and around Llantrisant, Rhondda Cynon Taf.

The monument would honour those who died from Llantrisant, Cross Inn,
Penygawsi and Talbot Greennot . It will commemorate the two world wars
and also those who have fallen in subsequent conflicts. The campaign
plans to raise between £25,000 and £30,000 to fund the works. A war
memorial committee made up of local residents has been established and
it is working with researchers to compile a list of names to be
inscribed on the monument.

Local councillor Glynne Holmes told the press: "Llantrisant has a very
proud military history which spans almost a millennium and yet it
astounds me that we do not have a war memorial in the old town to
commemorate those brave souls that lost their lives in conflict." South Wales

Thursday 8th October 2009 Red Squirrel fight back planned for Gower
The Red Squirrel may be set to make a comeback on the Gower peninsula
thanks to the plans of conservation groups. The native red squirrel
population of Gower died out over 30 years ago, largely due to the
competition of the more aggressive, imported grey squirrel. The grey
squirrels aren’t going to like the scheme to re-introduce the reds as
it includes a plan to cull the greys!

Dr Shuttleworth oversees the Anglesey red squirrel conservation
project spoke to the press about the pans for the return of the reds
and said; "It would be an exciting but hard proposition. There's a lot
of ground work to be done but it is something that we're looking at.
The culling of greys may start next year. The reds would be introduced
some years afterwards. You have to have successful removal of the
greys first.” South Wales

Friday 18th September 2009 Mindless yobs kill ducks at Cwmbran boating lake
Many of us enjoy a quite stroll in the park and, traditionally, the kids love to feed the ducks. Sadly, it seems the bond between child and duck has broken as youths have been deliberately running down ducks and wounding and killing them at Cwmbran boating lake in Wales.

£250,000 has recently been spent on the construction of a new boathouse to replace the one burnt down in 2007. A further £170,000 is earmarked for further work at the site, which will also have increased patrols to try and fight vandalism and anti-social behaviour.

The executive member for operational services, Councillor John Cunningham, said: "I'm disgusted that people would do something like this when we are doing our very best to provide improved facilities for the local community.” South Wales

Thursday 25th June 2009 Steel bunker to be garden
An old concrete basement formerly part of the Ebbw Vale steelworks is to become a concept garden as part of a £350m regeneration scheme. The former steel manufacturing facility is now known as ‘The Works’.

The bunker will now be filled with elevated allotments, seed nurseries and ‘green chimneys’ using reclaimed steel.

Leighton Andrews, deputy minister for regeneration said he was looking forward to seeing the regeneration taking place over the coming months.

When it is completed the entire scheme will play host to the National Eisteddfod when it comes to Blaenau Gwent in August 2010. South Wales