Powys wins haul of medals at record-breaking Urdd Eisteddfod
The Eisteddfod yr Urdd bowed out on Saturday (May 31) after another record-breaking year, including more Welsh learners than ever, enjoying and competing in over 400 competitions at the Welsh youth festival.
Across the three Pavilions, children and young people from Powys competed and won a total of 15 medals, including first places for Llangadfan's Ysgol Cwm Banwy, Ysgol Pontrobert, Newtown's Ysgol Penygloddfa and Machynlleth's Ysgol Bro Hyddgen.
Ysgol Cwm Banwy headteacher Betsan Llwyd said: "Considering that we are such a small school and have won nationally, we are so proud especially after last year's successes as well."
Among the Powys winners were Ysgol Pontrobert siblings Ani and Jac's Cerdd Dant duet, Ysgol Penygloddfa's Welsh learners choir, Ysgol Bro Hyddgen's recitation group and Ysgol Cwm Banwy's folk dance.
Montgomeryshire won more than 30 medals in the arts and craft competitions earning north Powys seventh place in the Eisteddfod medals table.
Ysgol Dafydd Llwyd pupil Isabelle Foskett, 10, won first and second place medals for her textile and print artworks.
"I feel really happy," the 10-year-old Newtown pupil said.
"When I found out I had won again I was very shocked. It's amazing.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scotsman
10 minutes ago
- Scotsman
Edinburgh Book Festival round-up: Ruth Jones Leor Zmigrod Gabriel Gatehouse
From a Gavin and Stacey star reading from her latest novel set on a Scottish island, to talk of shutting down the internet to save the planet with Amitav Ghosh and the psychology of extremism with Leor Zmigrod, it's been another varied few days at the Book Festival for David Robinson Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... It's good to have expectations challenged, so when Ruth Jones – as Welsh as the red dragon tattoo on the arm of Nessa, her character in Gavin and Stacey, read from her latest novel, By Your Side, largely set on a Scottish island, and with a Hamilton-based first person narrator, I wouldn't have been the only one in the audience to be mildly surprised that she not only sounded like Lorraine Kelly but looked a bit like her too. Ruth Jones | Contributed After a bit of faff over feedback at the start, this turned out to be a very enjoyable event as she spilled some of the behind-the-scenes stories from Gavin and Stacey (there'll be more in October the book she and James Corden have co-written), and traced her writing career from Fat Friends onwards. Most of us, though, were there for Vanessa Shanessa, and she didn't disappoint, slipping into character at the end to tell us that she and event chair Val McDermid were collaborating on a novel, When Bryn Found The Barry Body. 'I have been mentoring her,' she said, 'and I'm not going to lie, it's going to be quite dark.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Most writers who come to this book festival tend to say nice things about the Scottish Enlightenment, so it was refreshing to hear Amitav Ghosh tear into it as the font of every bad idea around. In fairness, the Dutch East India Company also got a kicking for pioneering genocidal capitalism, but Adam Smith is clearly a Ghosh bête noir. 'Free trade was the whole justification for poisoning millions of Chinese and Indians in the Opium wars of the 1830s', he said, where the 'mainly Scottish opium traders operated like a mafia'. His solution for the world's present-day ills? Back to nature, support indigeneity and vitalism. Give rivers and mountains legal rights, live in greater harmony with nature (yes, fine) and if you really want to stop the illegal migration, shut down the internet. Er, not too sure about that one. Political neuroscience is new to me, and so is psychologist Leor Zmigrod, so I'll start with Jacob Chansley instead. If you don't know who he is, you've forgotten all about the bare-chested spear-wielding QAnon shaman wearing a racoon fur hat with bison horns who stormed the US Capitol on 6 January, 2020 along with 6,000 other conspiracy theorists who refused to believe Donald Trump had lost the US election. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Zmigrod's fellow-panellist Gabriel Gatehouse, then Newsnight's international editor, had a sinking feeling when he saw those scenes on television. He had, he realised, just missed a scoop. Back in November, he'd talked to Chansley but not filmed him. Pleasant chap, apparently, but what with believing all that stuff about the US being ruled by Satan-worshipping paedophiles, obviously crazed. This is where Zmigrod comes in. When we look at political extremists and conspiracy nuts, she says, we shouldn't look at things like their age, education, class, race – or bison-horned headdresses. We should look instead at their minds. If we do that, and give them a few card-game psychological tests, it's easy to work out who will be a dogmatic, possibly extremist thinker, and who won't. Apparently, this works with leftists, rightists – and even dogmatic centrists. The roots of conspiracy theories are varied and Gatehouse explored them engagingly in his two events on Tuesday. Social media spins more of us into them than newspapers ever did, and children are increasingly prey to them – though education can promote the kind of flexibility of thinking that doesn't allow them to seed. Creativity helps too, said Zmigrod. And so, I suppose, do book festivals.
Daily Mirror
41 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Wrexham owner wants to WIN the Premier League as fan concerns shared – 'Not laughing now'
Wrexham's Hollywood co-owners have disclosed their lofty aim to win the Premier League someday, while also stressing the need for the Welsh club to grow sustainably Rob McElhenney has revealed an audacious new goal for Wrexham to win the Premier League. The Welsh side have enjoyed unprecedented success under the co-ownership of the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia creator and fellow Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds. Since being bought by the two actors in February 2021, Wrexham have been propelled from the National League into the Championship after achieving three promotions in a row. The A-list pair have made it clear from day one that they want to take the Red Dragons all the way to the top flight. McElhenney, who recently filed to legally change his name to Rob Mac, has now said that their ambition stretches even further than that as they aim to one day lift the Premier League title. However, while the 48-year-old is eager to reach that target as soon as possible, he stressed in an interview with Welsh broadcaster S4C that it would need to be done in a sustainable manner. When asked whether he still thought Premier League status was achievable, McElhenney said: "That's the way the pyramid is set up and why not us? Why should that be reserved for other towns, for other cities? "It doesn't mean it's going to be easy and it doesn't mean that it's just going to happen quickly. It could take many, many years for it to happen. We're going to make a push to do it as quickly as possible, because we don't know any other way to do it, but we're going to do it the right way." While many fans might welcome the prospect of pushing for the top tier, McElhenney disclosed how some Wrexham supporters had expressed concerns to him. He said this was due to the impact it would have on their club, which has never played in the Premier League, and a lack of supporting infrastructure. Wrexham's home stadium, the Racecourse Ground, has a reduced capacity of around 10,000 this season while work to build a new stand takes place. Meanwhile, the club is still without a permanent training facility after previously losing ownership of its old base at Colliers Park near Wrexham. "We're going to do it [reach the Premier League] in the same way that we've been doing it from day one, which is asking the town," said McElhenney. "I sort of jumped the gun early on and just assumed that that's what the people of the town wanted for their club, and that that wasn't necessarily the case. "I had a lot of very long conversations with people that said, 'Well, we might not be ready for that. The town might not be ready for that and the club might not be ready for that.' "We have to make sure that we're always checking in with the community to make sure that this is what they want. It was a crazy pipe dream four or five years ago where we got laughed at by the media and by the world, but I don't think anybody's laughing anymore." He added: "We don't want to build something that's unsustainable. As glorious as it might be to be promoted to the Premier League, it would be equally as tragic to be relegated again, because that can very quickly create that spiral downwards. "Is the ultimate goal the Premier League? Yes, of course. Is it winning the Premier League? Yes, of course. But that actually isn't the number one goal. The number one goal is building something for the next generation and leaving something behind that is sustainable for the rest of its existence." Sign up to our newsletter! Wrexham is the Game is great new way to get top-class coverage Wrexham AFC is the arguably the fastest-growing club in the world at the moment thanks to a certain Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. The Dragons have achieved two consecutive promotions and are cheered on by crowds from not only North Wales but also from all over the globe, thanks to the success of the Disney+ documentary 'Welcome to Wrexham'. But does it have a dedicated, quality source of information piped through to your inbox each week, free of ads but packed with informed opinion, analysis and even a little bit of fun each week? That's where Wrexham is the Game steps in... Available every Wednesday, it provides all the insights you need to be a top red. And for a limited time, a subscription to 'Wrexham is the Game' will cost fans just £15 for the first year.
Western Telegraph
an hour ago
- Western Telegraph
Llandissilio music teacher wins prestigious Eisteddfod medal
Eilyr Thomas, from Llandissilio, was awarded the Sir T.H. Parry-Williams Memorial Medal at this year's Wrexham National Eisteddfod for her outstanding contributions to her community. The award, presented annually to individuals who make a significant impact in their local area, particularly through work with young people, recognises her decades of service. Ms Thomas said: "When I found out, I was completely speechless – I couldn't think of any words at all. "I'm not someone who wins competitions or anything like that, but this – I just couldn't believe it. "Of course, it's an honour, and I'm very proud to accept it." A teacher and headteacher in primary schools across Maenclochog and Mynachlog-ddu, Ms Thomas has also been deeply involved in music from an early age. She achieved success as a soloist and as part of choirs in eisteddfodau large and small, and has inspired generations of young people to pursue singing. Seven of her former pupils, now professional singers, took to the stage during the ceremony to pay tribute to their former teacher. Ms Thomas said: "I was fine until I saw them come on stage. "I wasn't expecting them. "Some had said they weren't coming to the Eisteddfod but it was nice to see them and hear them sing." Her influence extends beyond vocal training, helping young people become confident performers. Ms Thomas said: "The family was musical, and I suppose I showed some kind of desire to sing, even though I was incredibly shy. "Every time someone came to the house and asked me to sing, I'd go behind the curtains – I could never face them." Her voluntary work in the community is also widely recognised. She has served as conductor of Cantorion Cleddau and is an active member of Nebo Chapel in Efailwen. She was honoured with the White Robe in Gorsedd Cymru and has previously served on the Eisteddfod Council. The Sir T.H. Parry-Williams Memorial Medal commemorates the life and contributions of Sir T.H. Parry-Williams, a passionate supporter of the National Eisteddfod.
