As part of these changes, there will be new services on Sundays, which could be a big boon to locals and visitors alike.

From 1 September, the TrawsCymru T12 bus service will be replaced by two new services – the X85 between Machynlleth and Newtown and the X76 between Newtown and St Martin’s.

Passengers on the new X76 service will benefit from an hourly service Monday to Saturday, with one bus every two hours via Berriew and one bus every two hours via Kingswood and Montgomery.

There will be a new Sunday service between Newtown and Oswestry via Kingswood and Montgomery.

According to TrawsCymru there will be improved connections at Newtown to and from their TrawsCymru T4 service to Llandrindod Wells. Any passengers wishing to travel onwards to Wrexham can utilise Arriva Buses Wales services 2/2A from Oswestry to Wrexham.

The service is being run by Tanat Valley Coaches and the new timetable can be found on their website here.

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Maona Cinema will be more than just a place to watch films. It’s a vision to create a community hub where everyone, from families to film buffs, can come together and enjoy everything from the latest independent gems to beloved classics. The new cinema will cater to all tastes and ages, offering a welcoming environment for locals and visitors alike. Whether you’re seeking an afternoon out with the kids, a date night, or a chance to catch up on international cinema, Maona Cinema will have something for everyone.

In the months ahead, the cinema will feature a wide variety of programming, with independent films taking centre stage, alongside big-budget blockbusters and a curated selection of international cinema. Special screenings will also be held for children, schools, and senior citizens, ensuring the cinema is as inclusive as it is accessible. The team behind Maona Cinema is dedicated to offering a diverse slate of films that truly reflects the tastes and interests of the community.

However, Maona Cinema’s aspirations extend far beyond just film screenings. The cinema is set to become a vibrant cultural hub, hosting everything from community talks and educational workshops to live theatre performances. With a focus on fostering creativity and community engagement, the cinema will offer a range of programs designed to inspire and educate. Local schools and organisations will also benefit from a series of film workshops aimed at sparking creativity and providing new opportunities for learning.

The vision for Maona Cinema is rooted in the building’s history. Originally a Chapel, then a community centre, and later a cinema, this historic space has long been a place for people to gather. The Maona team is committed to continuing that legacy, ensuring that the building remains a place of connection and cultural exchange for years to come. With your support, Maona Cinema will not only revive Oswestry’s love of cinema but also contribute to the town’s vibrant cultural life in exciting new ways.

The journey to opening Maona Cinema and continuing on from the 14 year legacy set by Kinokulture is just beginning, but the goal is clear: to create a space that fosters creativity, brings people together, and ensures that Oswestry has a thriving cinema for generations to come. This isn’t just about movies—it’s about building a home that the whole community can enjoy, share, and be proud of.

Said Tatenda Jamera: “As we embark on this exciting journey to bring Maona Cinema to life, we need your help to make it a reality. We’re launching a £50,000 fundraising campaign to fund the final stages of the cinema’s development—ensuring it’s fully equipped and ready to welcome the community.

“Whether you’re a local film lover, a supporter of the arts, or simply someone who believes in the power of shared cultural experiences, your contribution will play a vital role in shaping Maona Cinema’s future. Every donation, big or small, brings us one step closer to reopening the doors to a space where creativity, education, and community thrive. Join us in making Maona Cinema a cornerstone of Oswestry’s cultural revival—your support will have a lasting impact for generations to come.”

Added Tatenda: “Our plan for access is to have permanent accessibility in the building. As it’s a listed building that is going to require some time for us to achieve this but the plan is to have a lift in the building.”

Fundraising link : https://www.spacehive.com/oswestrycommunitycinema

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Dilys attended primary and secondary education in Birmingham. She graduated as a teacher at Leicester College of Education. As a student teacher Glyn was her mentor for her final teaching practice in 1969. This was a very fruitful arrangement which led to Glyn proposing marriage to her on St Valentine’s Day 1969 and their ensuing marriage in 1970.

During her final teaching practice, the two of them took a school party by train to the coast near Inverness as part of their outdoor pursuits work.

Setting up camp and digging latrines were part of the syllabus. When setting off on their return trip there was a signal workers’ strike. Their first train took them to the top of Shap – where it waited for an age and then reversed for several miles. The following train journey involved many changes on local lines aiming for Leicester.

As the party had not been fed for several hours, it was decided to buy snacks – mainly Mars bars. Dilys was the only one with any spare cash, so this was commandeered for the common good. The party arrived back in Leicester some 24 hours late. No mobile phones or credit cards in those days.

Dilys joined the teaching staff at Stonehill High School in Leicester and left in 1970 to get married and move to Wales. She did supply work at Cyfronydd, special school for girls, Montgomeryshire, until 1973. Cyfronydd is currently the home of William Haigh, another special person.

Dilys and Glyn set up their first home at a rented cottage between Guilsfield and Meifod. Rent was a punishing £3 a week. Sarah was born there on Boxing Day 1971 and then David and Huw, undiagnosed twins, in April 1974. This meant the family had grown from two adults to a total of five individuals in a couple of years. Their cottage was wanted by the landlord so the young family had to move. The old head teacher’s house at Chain School Cottage Maesbury Marsh was bought and the young family moved in. The cottage was a two-up and two-down with a lean to corrugated iron structure which housed the kitchen and bathroom.

When the floor of one upstairs room had to be replaced, due to rot, living space was at more than a premium. Glyn replaced the floor with second hand / previously used timber providing a new-found wealth of living space. In 1974, Isfryn, the current family home, was purchased. An Edwardian, three-bedroomed semi, which felt like a palace. The house was bought with all the contents right down to a full coal shed and well-stacked pantry. The tin of Fray Bentos steak and kidney pie was treated with suspicion and it was some time before it was consumed.

Dilys became a local councillor by a process which reflected equality at the time. The then chair of the Parish Council came and knocked on the door of her house. Glyn answered and was asked – would he allow Dilys to stand for the Parish council. His response was to please ask Dilys herself. This she did, and Dilys stood for election.

Having been elected in 1991, she quickly became involved in working with the Clerk, who was also the Community Regeneration Officer for the Borough. This led to undertaking a Village Appraisal for Llanymynech and Pant, which in turn developed into 20 Projects over many years.

Some of the memorable occasions during that time were winning the Village of the Year competition for Shropshire, then the following year becoming runner up in the national competition, with a presentation ceremony in London, publishing Village Memories books, winning an award in the British Urban Regeneration Award for the Llanymynech canal side stables, against entries such as the Falkirk Wheel, connecting two canals in Scotland, and London’s Canary Wharf.

She then stood for election to Oswestry Borough Council in 1999 and it was obvious that her role there would be high profile. As a Borough Councillor she never missed an opportunity to get the A483 mentioned in the Council Chamber. In any discussion she would speak to raise the subject of the A483 and the need for a Bypass of the villages. Getting many press campaigns, visits of Government Ministers and MPs and national television, which resulted in a memorable photo of the newly elected MPs kneeling in the middle of the road, shaking hands across the border.

In 2001 she was elected as a Shropshire County Councillor. Whilst serving on those authorities, her efforts led to large grants being awarded for the Parish, such as the project undertaken at the Limeworks Heritage Area.

The aim was to preserve and transform the valuable industrial site and its history as a visitor attraction, as well as restoration of the Montgomery Canal wharf and stables. This was followed by funding for a Heritage Economic Regeneration scheme in Llanymynech, enabling historic buildings to be given grant aid for preservation, as well as lectures in the village hall by conservation experts, and study courses at Ironbridge Gorge Museum.

Dilys was an enthusiastic champion for the area, always willing to get involved and do her best. Dilys died on 14th February 2023 and this has meant the areas has lost an energetic and dedicated friend to the community. She will be greatly missed.

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Pant is a very popular village with many fantastic areas for cycling nearby, but how convenient would it be to commute by cycling from Pant to Oswestry?

The A483 is a very busy road and gives direct access to both Oswestry (and Welshpool) but is certainly not an inviting road for cyclists, especially at night.

In an ideal world, roads would be welcoming to all road users but, as most were established long before the advent of the motor engine and large lorries, pedestrians, horse riders and cyclists have been ‘pushed’ off main roads, even though they are just as entitled to use them.

Luckily, there is a fairly direct route from Pant to Oswestry that follows Cycleway 55 which is less busy and fairly flat.

As can be seen from the map, the route suggested takes you onto Penygarreg Lane in Pant, across the Montgomery Canal onto Long Lane towards the Knockin Road.

Crossing (carefully) the B396 the route goes through Morton and then takes a left turn to join Ball Lane, which will take you onto the Maesbury Road. After crossing the traffic lights towards Oswestry, you have a couple of choices depending where in Oswestry you are heading. You can either keep going along Maesbury Road through the industrial estate or turn left off Maesbury Road onto Weston Road and then Weston Lane towards Morda.

Why not post your experience of cycling from Pant to Oswestry in the comments below and also why not let us know how you would commute towards Welshpool?

If we want to reduce our dependence on cars, bikes are an important part of the solution – along with improved bus services – but people are only going to switch to their bikes if motorists let them feel safe on the road.

Find out more about getting outdoors in Shropshire. http://www.shropshiresgreatoutdoors.co.uk

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Unfortunately, it can take some dedication to use the bus in Shropshire. Buses after 6:30pm are rare sightings, buses on a Sunday even rarer – not even Shrewsbury fares much better on a Sunday.

Although Pant is in England, we are dependent on the Welsh government subsidy for the buses we do have.

For the last year, the only service has been the Trawscymru T12 service, averaging every two hours or less. As of April 2021 it again does the full journey from Machynlleth to Wrexham – although the free Saturday bus is probably a thing of the past. From Pant it is 10 minutes to Oswestry, half an hour to the Orthopaedic hospital and an hour to Wrexham.

Want to catch a train? The 74 goes once a day to Shrewsbury, there are no services to Gobowen, although you could catch a train from Welshpool or Ruabon using the T12. So much for integrated transport!

The Welsh government also subsidises the 72 service from Llanfyllin which, it has just been announced, is due to restart in July and will serve Pant. The timetable is available here and, dovetailing with the T12, gives us a bus to Oswestry at least once an hour in the morning.

Interestingly, the Welsh government have put a freeze on all new roads for a consultation period, and are considering a 20mph speed limit through all residential areas. These measures would greatly improve our village for all residents – perhaps Highways England and/or Shropshire Council will do the same.

According to a recent report by CPRE, the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England, every village in England could have an hourly, free bus service by redirecting just a portion of the funding planned for the government’s £27 billion road-building schemes.

You also need some local knowledge to catch our buses. Going towards Oswestry there are marked stops at the Cross Guns, bottom of Tregarthen Lane and bottom of School Lane, as well as Llynclys crossroads. Travelling away from Oswestry? Stand opposite the other stop and wave the bus down. Timetables can be found online with a bit of effort – try searching for the bus companies or the service numbers and don’t rely on printed timetables.

We are warned that the 72 is a ‘use it or lose it’ service – to keep our bus service, take the bus if you can.

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The number 72 bus, which stops in Pant, has been cancelled, with Tanat Valley Coaches citing reduced passenger numbers due to the Covid-19 pandemic as a cause.

According to media reports, the service receives no public funding and so is reliant on passenger income and is now “unsustainable”.

On Facebook, Llanfyllin Town Council posted: “We have had conversations with Powys County Council to identify other routes in the area that may be adjusted to add the 72 route into theirs. This may provide a service on certain days of the week. We are in conversation with another bus company who is considering a service which would be limited but would include a Saturday.”

This cancellation reduces the options for travel into Oswestry for the residents of Pant and the surrounding area. Luckily, the T12 service links Oswestry and Welshpool (and other towns) via Pant and the 74 service will continue.

We will bring you any updates if we have them. Does this cancellation affect you? If so, please leave a comment below.

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The acquisition was organised following discussions between the Chester Shrewsbury Community Rail Partnership and Porterbrook CEO Mary Grant.

Sheila Dee, Community Rail Officer for the Partnership, explained that during conversations some months ago Mary was interested in the range of projects we were involved in and the Partnership’s support of the reopening of the line between Gobowen and Oswestry that was being promoted by Cambrian Heritage Railways (CHR).

Sheila said: “Our work with Cambrian Heritage Railways has focused on assisting them on the bid to the Department for Transport’s Restoring Your Railways project earlier this year and introducing a community rail service.

“We have also discussed arranging a community rail working party involving Porterbrook and local volunteers interested on working on the Pacers when the conditions allow.”

Speaking about the donation Mary Grant said: “I was really excited when Sheila told me about the plans for the heritage railway linking Gobowen and Oswestry. Porterbrook is always keen to work with community rail groups and I am delighted that we have been able to make available some of our retired Pacer trains for this very worthwhile project.

“I very much look forward to visiting Cambrian Heritage Railways to see these trains as they embark on a new life serving both local people and visitors to this beautiful part of Shropshire.“

Cambrian Heritage Railways Chairman Roger Date said: “We are immensely grateful to Porterbrook for all their help in allowing us to acquire these units and to the Community Rail Partnership for making the introductions and working with us so positively over the past 12 months. Being a part of the Community Rail Partnership has assisted us with our aspiration to deliver a community rail service and bring economic benefits to the area.”

According to Cambrian Heritage Railways, timescales for a possible reopening of the line to Gobowen are hard to predict and are subject to government funding, but local people can support the proposals by keeping up pressure on their local and national politicians.

Local people are also being urged by CHR to become members to present a stronger voice to funding agencies. Here’s the link to their membership form: http://www.cambrianrailways.com/html/join_online.html

To see how you can help support the railway during the COVIS-19 pandemic, please visit https://www.cambrianrailways.com/html/covid-19.html

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