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Vale Reporter goes Top Gun

Posted by David Simister on May 13, 2008 3:25 PM

In an adrenaline-fuelled addition to our new Visitor's Got Talent series, I've been sent up in a glider thousands of feet into the skies above Ruthin.

Thanks to the help of the North Wales Gliding Club, I've been able to film the flight in its entirety for your amusement.

I apologise in advance if some of the camera work is slightly patchy, but then conducting an on-flight interview is never easy when you're being fired hundreds of feet into the air at the same time (it seemed like a brilliant idea in the office at the time).

Read all about it in this week's Vale Advertiser, out on Friday, May 16.

I don't look at all scared, do I?

Mocking the afflicted.

Posted by David Rutland on May 13, 2008 11:08 AM

WE at the Visitor office had a fine time watching street comedy yesterday afternoon.

We all lined up in the window to watch the impromptu performance of a PCSO, a store detective and a drunk as they stumbled down Rhyl High Street together.
To be honest, we couldn’t hear what was happening, but even with just the pictures we were able to waste 15 minutes laughing at their antics.

The drunk was in his 50s and he wasn’t just drunk. He was hammered.
The store detective was bald and holding shopping bags.
The PCSO looked out of his depth.

Oh how we chuckled as the drunk tripped over his own feet and landed on his backside in the middle of the road.
Cars swerved around him, but didn’t stop. People crossed the street to avoid the scene but gawked from the other side of the road.

Eventually, he was pulled onto the pavement by the PCSO and sat propped up against a bin until the ambulance arrived.
The ambulance crew donned rubber gloves before they even touched the guy.

And then something weird happened - he vanished.
Honestly, I was watching the whole time. He didn’t get into the ambulance. He didn’t go round the corner. He just disappeared.

It was ace. A magic show to round off the performance. Entertainment doesn’t get much better.


That boy Giggsy...

Posted by Andy Davies on May 12, 2008 2:45 PM

He won it ten times!
Firstly on behalf of all the players at Prestatyn Town, I'd like to thank the volunteers who gave up so much of their time to help transform our Bastion Road ground into what is now a fantastic stage for our team to play in Wales top division next season.
At presentation night last Friday, it was fantastic to see the club pay tribute to those who helped out as well as praising the efforts of all three teams over the season. If last Friday proved anything, it was that Prestatyn Town are becoming a terrific club with a reserves and youth side pushing for success and developing future players for the first team.

And to United...
I've been a nightmare to be around these past couple of weeks as the league reached its nail biting climax. I've always put the league ahead of Europe and I probably celebrated Tevez's last gasp equaliser more loudly than I did Scholes' superb winner against Barcelona. To be able to clinch the league ahead of Chelsea, outright, is a fantastic boost going into Moscow although Chelsea have proven they can bounce back already this season.
For Cristiano Ronaldo, who came in for criticism in my column during my post City defeat strop, its been a fantastic season filled with unbelievable goals and a presence United supporters haven't seen since Cantona. I still stand by what I said after City in that he can still offer more at times in terms of workrate. In my opinion, where Ronaldo has basked in the praise heaped on him this season, I believe there is another player who is equally important to United's success. He's the man who tore Arsenal to shreds in a cup-tie from which they never recovered from and the man who won the penalty and set up Ryan Giggs despite not being fully fit.
He goes by the name of Wayne Rooney!

It's only rock and roll, and I probably won't like it

Posted by David Simister on May 12, 2008 9:59 AM

Last night I had an awful dream where I’d been drafted in as singer of Eighties icons Dexy’s Midnight Runners.

Perhaps I should lay off the Red Leicester at night, but the prospect of singing Come on Eileen leaves me in a cold sweat. If you actually know ALL the lyrics to 1982’s best-selling single, you’re either Kevin Rowland or a liar.

It’s the only thing I can find more nerve-racking than my challenge next month for our Visitor’s Got Talent series, which last week began with Martin Williams putting his best foot forward as a line dancer.

My contribution was to strap myself into a glider and get fired a thousand feet into the air. You’ll be able to read all about my airborne antics in Friday’s Vale Advertiser, but what I can tell you now is a) I survived, and b) it’s actually jolly good fun.

Yet I’m more terrified by my next feature, where I’ll turn up at a Denbigh gig and show everyone that being in a band is not as easy as Noel Gallagher makes it look.

My sole contribution to rock ‘n’ roll was as frontman for a dreadful college band called Prikembody, and all that involved was hanging around in seedy Southport bars trying to look arty. I’m hardly qualified to take the mic with The Excuse, the brave band who’ll be joining me.

I was almost hoping I’d crash the glider and die, because that would have saved me the scarier scenario of having to show hundreds of gig-goers and thousands of Youtube viewers what a terrible musician I am.

In the office we know how much you love seeing us making complete prats of ourselves in the name of journalism, so if you have any of your own suggestions, please write in and let us know.

Apart from joining Dexy’s Midnight Runners, that is.

Sell, sell, sell

Posted by David Simister on May 7, 2008 9:26 AM

Considering I got mugged last year in one of Bristol's dodgier parts, I'm amazed that I'm still not scared of street gangs.

If anything, I go for a walk around Rhyl almost every night and virtually everyone, no matter how shady they look, is always lovely. The only chap who decided he was going to pick on the fact I was wearing glasses actually took the time to apologise to me for being a bit drunk!

Nope, the only street gangs who terrify me are the ones with leaflets and clipboards, and I doubt I'm alone on this one. OXFAM infamously pulled its street sellers not long ago because - quite rightly - it discovered all their teams did was annoy just about everyone unfortunate enough to want to go shopping in a town centre (perish the thought).

Last night I was pounced on by a healthcare company in the White Rose and was absolutely staggered by their arrogance. Usually when I get grabbed I'll just tell them I'm from locations from the Enid Blyton books to confuse them, but last night I was too tired to say "Kirrin Island" or "Peter's Secret Treehouse".

After the pair of city slickers had told me about how great it is to leave the NHS, they didn't bother asking me if I was interested in joining up. They just took it as read and started to sign me up anyway! I hadn't even told them my name, and already they were hellbent on condemning me to a lifetime of monthly payments and glossy newsletters.

Does anybody else in Denbighshire have this problem? If so, let us know about your experiences, and any suggestions you might have.

My personal solution would be to have them all shipped to the dodgier parts of Bristol and let them pitch their wares to the street gangs...

Visitor video: News and reaction from the Denbighshire County Council elections on Friday

Posted by Martin Williams on May 6, 2008 1:29 PM


See our video from the Denbighshire County Council election count at Ruthin last Friday.
We bring you the news from the election day and some reaction from successful councillors.
Video by Martin Williams.