Latest news with #Anglesey
The Sun
a day ago
- Business
- The Sun
Top cider brand pulled from UK supermarket shelves, pubs & restaurants forever in ‘huge loss'
A POPULAR cider brand based in the UK has officially ceased operations. The company made the announcement after just eight years in business. 2 Jaspels was set up on the Welsh island of Anglesey in 2017 by Janet and Adrian Percival, a trained bio-chemist. The pair initially put out a call on social media for apple donors to help launch the business. Jaspels went on to thrive, with the company taking on a production unit in Amlwch. Their cider was served up at pubs, restaurants, and stores on Anglesey and mainland Britain. Company statement In a recent statement, the company cited seasonality challenges, lease issues, and a change in personal circumstances as the main reasons for closure. "Jaspels has closed for a number of reasons," Janet wrote in a Facebook post. She went on to discuss the "unfair lease conditions" her company had encountered. "The estate went back on the initial agreement terms and we were only offered 12 months lease," she said. "This made a significant impact on the future planning of the business and impossible to make the cider on those terms." After already changing locations once, Janet explained they "could not possibly move the business again". Scotland Lifts 44-Year Football Booze Ban: Inside Ayr United's Historic Pilot Scheme She continued to say "seasonality challenges made it unviable in the end". "A change of personal circumstances also meant we could not continue as myself and Ade separated due to stress," Janet added. While she left the business in November 2024, it officially ceased operation this month. She closed out her message by thanking Jaspels' loyal patrons over the years. "I would like to say that we loved every moment of Jaspels and will miss the barn and bar massively," Janet said. NHS guidelines on drinking alcohol According to the NHS, regularly drinking more than 14 units of alcohol a week risks damaging your health. To keep health risks from alcohol to a low level if you drink most weeks: men and women are advised not to drink more than 14 units a week on a regular basis spread your drinking over 3 or more days if you regularly drink as much as 14 units a week if you want to cut down, try to have several drink-free days each week If you're pregnant or think you could become pregnant, the safest approach is not to drink alcohol at all to keep risks to your baby to a minimum. You read more on the NHS website. "It is very sad for the island and ourselves." Jaspels Anglesey Craft Cider is an award-winning brand, with a Sustainable Business Award, a Silver Medal, and the Best Newcomer award at the Welsh Perry and Cider Society Championships among the accolades. Customer reaction Customers shared their sadness at the news, with locals offering fond farewells to the location. "That is sad news, as quite often I'd cycle past and pick up a bottle or have a refreshing glass of cider there. I hope they reopen somewhere," wrote one fan. "Very sad news indeed. A lovely venue on a sunny day," said another person. A third commenter described the news as a "huge loss" to the island and drinks industry. More on drinks Plus, the supermarket own-brand prosecco that's been dubbed "better than Selfridges". And Tesco has slashed the price of a popular and award-winning liqueur. A round-up of the 24 best acohol-free drinks currently available. Plus, an award-winning Caribbean rum that makes the perfect cocktails. And the best rose deals you can nab for the perfect summer treat.
Times
2 days ago
- Times
The fun Welsh wellness retreat — for people who hate wellness retreats
I've no truck with restrictive diets, my liquid intake is roughly 95 per cent coffee and red wine and I loathe camping. So I'm not a likely candidate for one of those hardcore boot-camp retreats I keep seeing on Instagram, where you're doing burpies on gravel from the second you arrive, caffeine isn't an option in the low-cal fasting regime and it's £950 for two nights in 'a vegan-friendly yurt' that may or may not have been constructed from bin bags. When it comes to wellness my passions are yoga and walking and I'd like somewhere cosy to sleep once I've kicked off my trekking boots. It had felt impossible to find the reset I was after — something doable in a weekend that wouldn't involve dollops of self-denial or wrestling with tent pegs — but then I found Zest Life's small-group hiking and yoga retreat in Anglesey, north Wales, on social media. There is no booze and meals are vegetarian, with the ethos being about embracing mental and physical wellness through a combo of seasonal outdoor activities and yoga. I was drawn to a weekend on Anglesey in May, but other options included wild swimming in Norway in summer and breath-work and cold-water swimming in November. The plan was straightforward: get to Anglesey for Friday evening, do an hour's yoga, get up early on Saturday to trek up Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) and have a post-walk yoga session. Then on Sunday there would be a short local walk and lunch before leaving feeling virtuous and refreshed, no self-flagellation needed. Indeed the only hellish part was an eight-hour drive from London to north Wales, until my friend Jo and I turned onto the A55 and the hilly Gwynedd coastline facing the Irish Sea unspooled. The sun was shining and the mercury set to gloriously warm for the weekend. Our digs for two nights was Plas Cadnant Hidden Gardens, a mini country manor house with holiday cottages and 200 acres of grounds in a valley outside the town of Menai Bridge, just a hop over Robert Stephenson's Britannia Bridge and 35 minutes from Eryri National Park (Snowdonia). The drive up to the traditional Welsh stone-walled buildings past neat lawns was promising, and inside — once I'd decanted a car boot's worth of my overpacking — things got off on an instantly cheerful footing. First things first, refreshments of cherry cake and apple and elderflower kombucha were served and there was an introduction to our course leader, the yoga teacher Katy Stylli. We were shown to our room, which had an en suite (some of the lower-priced rooms have a shared bathroom), and while it wasn't five-star, the duvets were super-soft, the beds as cosy as I'd hoped and there was a homeliness to the antique dark-wood furniture you wouldn't get at a hotel. Just after 5.30pm we met the rest of the group; 13 of us, all women, with ages spanning from 30s to 60s. Stylli broke the ice with a variation of the shopping list memory game; we had to say our names and something we like that begins with the same letter. I went for lemons, Jo Jack Russells. It was a surprising success and gave our group an instant in-joke that was called back to throughout the weekend; we chatted about Tanya's choice of tango (she'd never actually done the dance) and Sonia's genuine love of a sunset. • Discover our full guide to Wales At 6pm it was time for the first yoga class and I was jangling with nerves as we walked across the gardens to Plas Cadnant's visitor centre, which doubles as the studio. While I love yoga, I started doing it only four years ago, aged 39, and I'm far from bendy. My crow pose involves genuine corvid-style squawking and my downward dog is modelled on a recalcitrant labrador. I need not have worried. Stylli took the first class gently (somewhere between the vinyasa and hatha styles I'm used to), starting with breathing exercises that moved into a flow of poses. Everyone worked to a pace they felt comfortable with, no contortions needed. The focus was on loosening the legs before the next day's big walk and feeling present in the moment. • Now's the perfect time to visit Wales. Here's where to stay Later, dinner was in the upstairs dining room of the house, which looked like a Plantagenet king's banqueting room. The long, heavy table was set with candles and the high-backed chairs gave off a grand air. We were all thinking it: 'It looks a bit like the Traitors' castle — where's Claudia Winkleman and which one of us is going to get banished at the end of the night?' Jo joked, as we sat down to proper portions of Sri Lankan beetroot curry with tofu, heaps of salad and sambal, and, after, a chia seed pudding. Our chef for the weekend was Cathy Whitfield, who popped out from the kitchen to explain that her dishes are inspired by her travels and her love of fermentation. Aware of the 6am start, we all hit the (very comfortable) hay by 10pm. The following day was the big hike and by 5.45am it was that rare thing in Wales — shorts weather. I was glad I'd brought enough water bottle capacity, three litres, plus an SPF 70 sun cream I'd bought in the Caribbean. I'd been up Yr Wyddfa once before, 20 years ago, on the Llanberis Path, effectively the easiest route, approaching from the northwest. This time we were taking a more strenuous trail: Rhyd Ddu, a quiet pathway known for its views, which approaches Yr Wyddfa's summit from the southwest. We took taxis to the car park of Rhyd Ddu train station, where the trail starts. There was time for a breakfast of tea and banana bread (homemade by Whitfield) as we were introduced to our guides, Iona Pawson and Amy Fox from RAW Adventures. The ascent is taken seriously: both are qualified mountain leaders, and there was a short safety briefing, radios, and an equipment check. I'm not a fast walker — I lingered near the back, and I knew from the off it would take me the full six hours. As Pawson said: 'You've come to terms with your pace on the mountain and that's all good.' The first part of the walk was easy strolling, with views up to Pen ar Lon and down to Llyn y Gadair, where hills and yawning valleys covered in grass the colour of the Starbucks logo lay ahead when I turned to admire the views. Two hours in and there was a shock for me. Yr Wyddfa's southern ridge involved some significant scrambling. There was a moment when I wasn't so grateful for the sparkling sun after all. If it had been foggy I wouldn't have been able to see the terrifying sheer drop either side of me. My pace dropped to sloth-like over the small cliffs of steep uneven rock. It was properly challenging and I was puffed out — this isn't a climb for the faint-hearted or unfit. At the summit, though, I realised that for the first time in months I was untroubled by the constant noise in my head: thoughts of work, an impending remortgage and my recurring paranoia of whether I've left the gas on back in London all simply stopped. Sorry to say it, but the summit of Yr Wyddfa wasn't as much fun as the ascent itself. There was a whiff of sewage around the back of the café and the queue to check in at trig point 10684 on the man-made plinth was at least an hour. We didn't join it. I was troubled by the fact I didn't see a single bird up there, other than chonky gulls. But it's a truth universally acknowledged that a sandwich at the top of a mountain tastes better than it does at the bottom, and Whitfield's packed lunch of a cheese and chutney roll proved the point again. After 20 minutes or so we all agreed to head back down. We took the Llanberis Path and with the summit done, we chatted more deeply. Sonia Rowbotham, 30, had come from Hartlepool: 'I wanted to do this because I just love hiking, and yesterday I did a circular walk around Conwy, finishing at the Smallest House in Great Britain, to extend the weekend,' she told me. 'My next project is more Munro-bagging in Scotland.' That ambition is something that Laura Bell, who founded Zest Life in 2001, understands well. Her experiences are why Zest Life's retreats are grounded in a holisitc approach to wellness and fitness. 'I had an eating disorder in my twenties and very low self-esteem,' Bell explained. 'And I started Zest with what I love, which is being out in nature and feeling in tune with the seasons. 'But I also want these retreats to be luxurious, with delicious food and an opportunity where everyone can push themselves and have a laugh.' We reached the bottom around 3pm and there was an option to go to the wood-fired Sawna Bach next to the National Slate Museum, which faces Llyn Padarn. I had my swimsuit in my backpack, but I was too exhausted to get changed — all I could do was lie on the ground and wait for the feeling in my feet to return. Back at Plas Cadnant, the gentle, hour-long yin-style yoga session led by Stylli was most welcome, holding leg poses including baddha konasana (butterfly pose) and kapotasana (pigeon pose) for several minutes at a time to help us stretch. The yoga session on Sunday at 8am was the most strenuous of the three, designed to iron out any walker's tension. After the hard work came a breakfast of spinach tart, great wedges of bread (no carb bans here) and a berry kefir smoothie. Then we were off for an hour's guided walk with Stylli around Menai Bridge. All the mountain hiking, yoga and eating meant I'd inadvertently saved seeing the gardens at Plas Cadnant for Sunday afternoon. Beyond the formal section of perfectly trimmed lawns and pyramid-shaped hedges was a steep valley. A maze of pathways edged by ferns, rhododendrons, late tulips, hibiscus and roses about to bud led to a secluded waterfall. Zest Life had done exactly what it promised: I felt stretched by nature in all the best possible Jackson was a guest of Zest Life, which has two nights' full board from £695pp, including yoga, guided walks and accommodation at Plas Cadnant, departing on October 3, 2025 (
BBC News
3 days ago
- General
- BBC News
RAF Valley jets in near miss with small civilian aircraft
Two RAF jets narrowly missed a small, civilian aircraft, according to a new investigators' two Hawk Jet pilots from RAF Valley on Anglesey were within two miles of an unidentified C42 microlight aircraft when they were told of its presence, the UK Airprox Board (UKAB) report started a gentle turn to the south, spotted the two-seater and passed above and in front of it, the report report added that crew estimated the jets were 150ft (46 meters) above the aircraft and approximately 100ft (30m) to its side during the incident in January. Low cloud on the day meant the two RAF jets could not increase their height to 2500ft over the Menai Strait following a low level exit as the RAF Valley Flying Order Book recommends, according to the report. Air traffic control contacted Caernarfon Aerodrome to enquire who was operating the aircraft in question, and were told it was not local to report said the unidentified pilot had not been in communication with Valley air traffic control or Caernarfon airport air traffic control."It is likely that if even one of the above was different, the (incident) would have been more distant and the probability of a collision reduced substantially further," the report report said the civilian pilot "could not be traced".
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Glory days back at sandy Anglesey beach invaded by unwelcome visitors
A much-loved beach on Anglesey has been returned to its glory days after becoming overrun by a 'dreadful' invasive weed. The small patch of weed-infested sand by Beaumaris Pier was considered unsightly in an attractive seaside town popular with visitors. For years, attempts by locals to hand-pull the knee-high weed had been a losing battle, leaving the shoreline dubbed the 'Little Beach of Horrors'. Though small, it was seen as the town's only family-friendy beach and its demise was labelled an 'absolute disgrace'. Beaumaris residents identified the weed as either a salt-tolerant halophyte or a sand-loving psammophyte. Like bindweed, both are highly invasive, capable of surviving long periods without water. READ MORE: 'Vampire fish' that predate dinosaurs thrive on North Wales river after weir removed READ MORE: Drivers caught out by new prom charges as last oasis of free parking on seafront to disappear Once established, they are difficult to eradicate as the plants will re-emerge if the smallest piece is left in the ground. The local theory is that fragments washed up at high tide. Located opposite The Bulkeley Hotel, the Little Beach was once regularly replenished with sand to cater both for residents and tourists. Last year, after lobbying by local people, Anglesey Council sent in mechanical diggers to clear the beach for the summer holidays. Sign up now for the latest news on the North Wales Live Whatsapp community However, the weeds soon returned and by this summer they were as bad as ever. Cllr Gary Pritchard, who represents the Seiriol ward at Anglesey Council, was asked to intervene by a constituent. 'The beach is popular in the town but in recent years it had become unsightly and was looking more like a village green,' said Cllr Pritchard. 'I approached Anglesey Council and the local authority arranged for it to be cleared again in time for the school holidays. 'Hopefully, a maintenance plan can now be put in place to ensure we don't find ourselves in the same position next year.' An estimated five tonnes of weed were dug out from the beach. Residents are still pushing for a long-term solution to prevent annual re-emergence and to stop it spreading along the town's entire foreshore. Not everyone wanted the weed-covered beach cleared, prefering its contribution to local biodiversity. But many are delighted to see it looking something like its halcyon period in the mid to late 20th century. 'Looks absolutely beautiful,' sighed one woman online. 'I do miss the place.' Get the best island stories from our Anglesey newsletter - sent every Friday Another is looking forward to seeing buckets and spades back on the beach. A third added wistfully: 'It looks like it did when we were growing up.' See what's on in your area
The Guardian
12-07-2025
- Science
- The Guardian
Country diary: Enter dolphins, stage left, ripping apart the limpid sea
Eventide, and calm waters were slowly departing the warm sands of a small Ynys Môn (Anglesey) bay. The dark igneous rocks that bound the bay had retained some midsummer heat, providing a comfortable vantage point to enjoy the sunset. In the shallows, a lone spectator watched the deep pink of the sea. My eyes followed hers and landed on two grey seals, their heads implanted in the iridescent waters. They watched, we watched, then they lazily slipped below, hardly a ripple raised. Enter the Risso's dolphins. A pod of four surfaced stage left, injecting the scene with breathtaking energy; their stout, torpedo-shaped, pale grey bodies surging forth, tall dark dorsal fins ripping the limpid sea apart. One after another, they breached clear of the water, their power and scale full blown, heightened by the intimacy of the bay. A thrilling display – but also, scientifically, a purposeful, non-verbal signal of their intrinsic fitness to potential mates and competitors. In midsummer, Risso's migrate from the pelagic deeps into the relatively shallow shelf waters of the Celtic Sea, perhaps providing more opportunities for social interactions. Within moments it seemed the pod had motored beyond the compass of the bay, leaving its waters calm again. You might care to imagine, however, to what degree those leaps of nature perturbed the ocean, and briefly brought additional wavelets to the shore, swashing the sand in pearly, tingly froth and the sound of shell upon shell. Dolphin energy bathing the spectator's feet and sounding the maritime air with echoes of sea creatures. The spectator and I wandered home across the dunes. In the half light, the parabolas of marram grass loomed large. In the slacks, a midsummer night's dream: thousands of marsh helleborines, their pale pink and cream blooms waxing in the waning light, their frilly lips as light as tissue. Research has demonstrated that helleborine flowers attract diurnal pollinators – solitary wasps, bumblebees, hoverflies – in part due to aromatics in their nectar, such as vanillin. But few if any researchers appear to have wandered these dunes at night in search of nocturnal pollinators such as moths – they should; it might help unlock some of the remaining mysteries of pollination. Under the Changing Skies: The Best of the Guardian's Country Diary, 2018-2024 is published by Guardian Faber; order at and get a 15% discount
