TALES of Good Samaritans in Mid Wales never surprise me, but I’m always delighted to report on them.
Our Radnorshire reporter was rescued from the snow earlier in the month when her car came off the road.
French motor engineering was no match for snow and ice on the Radnorshire roads, and our reporter's Renault Clio came a cropper on a particularly icy bend when she was on her way to Shrewsbury Crown Court on Friday, January 7.
The car spun several times and ended up on the side of the A483 just past Llandewi near Llandrindod Wells. The car was well and truly stuck in a pile of snow and mud, when our reporter spotted a passing 4x4 and flagged it down.
Many thanks to Dave and Owain Jarrett from Llandewi who rescued the poor car - and the reporter – from their snowy fate.
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OUR roads are in a diabolical state. They’re absolutely riddled with potholes.
I drove over to the coast at the weekend and was amazed how bumpy the ride was.
The recent icy weather has again taken its toll on our roads.
There must be a better way of keeping our roads in a reasonable state of repair that doesn’t break down as soon as we’ve had a cold snap.
I agree completely with county councillor Russell George who this week said: “As repair works to damaged roads now get under way, it’s time we had a change in road maintenance in Mid Wales and an end to the culture of continuous short-term fixes for potholes.”
Mr George calls for a similar strategy to South Wales, where councils invest in preventative measures to stop pot holes forming rather than simply patching up the damage after-the fact.
He suggests investment in the short term would save money in the long run and potentially lives.
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ONE thing I’ve never really enjoyed doing is talking in public – as you may have noticed I prefer to remain in the ‘shade’. I prefer to heckle from there!
Our editor came back this week full of praise for youngsters from around Montgomeryshire who had put themselves forward for the Welshpool Rotary Youth Speaks competition.
Nick Knight was one of the judges at the event in Welshpool Town Hall on Monday.
He says: “Top marks to them all for putting themselves forward to speak in public. They all spoke so well and on such a wide range of topics. It made for a very interesting evening which made it so hard to judge.”
Good luck to the team from Welshpool High School in the next round of the competition at Mold next month.
And good luck to the younger team from Caereinion High School who will represent the area at Mold in the next round of the intermediate competition.
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I’M really sorry to see that more of Powys’ schools are under threat.
As you’ll have already seen, the council has put forward seven primary schools in Montgomeryshire and three schools in Radnorshire for possible closure.
I appreciate that money is tight, cuts must be made etc and pupil numbers are dwindling, but we really do have to think about the knock-on effect of these schools being closed in small communities across the county.
We’ll obviously have a large round of ‘consultations’ before any decisions are made, but cuts are obviously going to be made.
The County Times promises to report on all threats to any of our schools and will give its support to parents, teachers and community councils wanting to put up a fight.