Knighton

3:45pm Thursday 14th August 2008

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ROAD RALLY – Knighton Motor Club held its annual road rally, The Pacemaker Rally, which this year was sponsored by Naughton’s Motors of Knighton. The rally was a qualifying round of the Welsh, West Midlands and Welsh Border Road Rally Championships. The event attracted 72 starters for the 110-mile route in the Bishop’s Castle and Knighton area.

The event was won by Richard Jerman and Iwan Jones in a Ford Escord Mk2. The rally also raised a considerable sum for the County Air Ambulance.

KNIGHTON PACT MEETING – If you are a resident of Knighton or work in the town you are invited to come and have your say about your community at the next PACT (Partnership And Communities Together) meeting to be held at the St Edwards Church Hall, Church Street, Knighton, at 7pm on Thursday, August 28.

Your local Knighton neighbourhood officer, PC 407 Bill Cowan, will be there and you can have your say about how your community is policed.

The idea behind PACT is to give you a chance to ask your local bobby to deal with the top policing priorities in your area. The attendees at the last PACT meeting identified three areas for the police to tackle, namely: boy/girl racers in the main Knighton car park by the community centre and around the town; illegal town centre parking – vehicles left on double yellow lines or causing an obstruction; speeding along the Presteigne B4355 road, within the Knighton 30mph speed restriction zone, and along the Knucklas B4355 road in the 30mph zone.

If you would like to influence the next set of priorities, this is your opportunity. If you can’t make it, please feel free to contact PC Cowan on 0845 330 2000, or by e-mail on knightonnpt@dyfed-powys.pnn.police.uk FULL FATHOM FIVE – An exhibition will take place at Knighton Library from August 19 to September 6 showing the work of Knighton artist, Islwyn Watkins. The exhibition will be officially opened by David Moore. This event is the brainchild of Jean Salt who lives near Knighton. Jean was introduced to the writings of German philospher, Walter Benjamin, by her German daughter-in-law, Andrea.

She saw that the work of Knighton artist, Islwyn Watkins, had much in common with Benjamin’s concerns with collecting and storing of fragments of experience and material. Another link was Watkins’ 50-year interest in the work of Kurt Schwitters, a German artist whose works of collage and assemblage informed and stimulated him.

Schwitters was a member of the DADA group working in Germany between the two world wars and he and other members of the group were championed and written about by Benjamin.

In the 1940s, after internment on the Isle of Man, Schwitters lived and worked in London and then Cumbria before his death in 1948. It was near Ambleside that he created his last Merzbav in a stone shed. This was unfinished and the existing wall was transferred to Newcastle University.

Having been stimulated by seeing a small collage including tram tickets in 1957, Watkins made a pilgrimage to the Cumbrian Merzbav in 1964/65 before its removal. In the last six years he has attended the annual conference on Schwitters in Cumbria and at the Tate Gallery, London.

Watkins’ work derives from his collections of found material, material that man has discarded by intent or accident. This in turn has been modified by the power of nature before being selected and used in a new context relating to colour, texture and form of the pieces in the structure of the work.

The exhibition title is taken from a quotation by Shakespeare where the sea creates new identities and forms. The work on display will include sea worn and modified wood, plastics etc and will cover a number of years.

MORE MUSIC ON THE SHOW DAY – At the last meeting of Knighton Show and Carnival committee, president John Brunt took the chair in the absence of chairperson Christine Branford. He reported that the preparations for the show were well in hand. Sandra Davies confirmed that there would now be more bands in both processions and music in the streets.

Secretary Rob Barton reported on a recent meeting when members of Knighton Show committee met with members of Knighton Community Centre committee and the police to discuss the annual disco following the carnival at the community centre.

The police told the members what the centre’s alcohol licence rules were and that they should be adhered to. The following rules will apply: teenagers who wish to attend the dance will be asked to produce proof of age (identity validate cards to be used – these are available in shops). Coloured bracelets will be used to identify 16 to 18-year-olds. No one under the age of 16 will be allowed in and no one under the age of 18 allowed in the bar. Anyone leaving the disco before 2pm will be charged for re-entering and there will be no admittance after midnight.

Both committees thanked the police and licensing officer for attending the meeting and Sgt Wheatman assured them that there would be a police presence in the town to control under-age drinking and unruly behaviour.

LLANBISTER – A whist drive has taken place at Llanbister Community Centre. MC for the evening was Mr Gwyn Morgan. Pat Allen thanked the MC, everyone who attended the event and all those who contributed in any way. Proceeds from the event will go to Llanbister Church.

CHARITY FUNDRAISING EVENT – Knighton fundraisers, Val Hinton and Sally Ann Rowlands, have been asked by the Knighton Royal and Ancient Order of Buffaloes to help organise an event to raise funds for Knighton and Presteigne junior football teams. The pair are in the process of organising the fundraising event which will take place on Saturday, August 23. The day’s events will include an on-foot treasure hunt, followed by a barbecue and Family Fortunes competition in the evening. They have also set a quiz, available from Spar, the RAFA Club, and other local businesses. There will also be a lucky squares competition. The first prize will be a DVD recorder. For more information or to buy a lucky square, contact the RAFA Club.

The Buffalos, who raise money for good causes, meet at the RAFA Club Knighton every Monday night at 8.30pm and are looking forward to welcoming new members.

SAVE THE PLAY PARK CAMPAIGN – As lots of children were playing in the park at Radnor Drive in Knighton, council contractors entered the park area and promptly started to dismantle and take down play equipment. No fences were put up or signs to keep children out of the park while a large drill and saw tool were used to take down the seesaw. The park will also lose its bouncer and slide. The only thing that will be left is the swings which PCC recreation officer Steven Geally said will be given new seats and ropes. Steve told Brenda Melling, one of the main campaigners to save the park, that he would tarmac the rest of the park area. Brenda pointed out that there were more than 70 children living on the estate and there were very often 30 children in the park especially in the evening. He agreed to put a basketball hoop and ball wall in the park. Steve also told Brenda that they would be putting a new fence around the area which would cost £6,000 but he had such a small budget to work with.

Brenda and the rest of the parents agreed that it was terrible that the work had to be done in the summer holiday and that it would be far better to do the work in September.

The park was built in the early 1990s for the children of Radnor Drive. Since then a lot more houses have been built.

Powys County Council wrote to Knighton Town Council asking if they would take the play area on. They said no. Council contractors only managed to take the seesaw away on that day. Brenda said that Kirsty Williams AM had been contacted and she was working on it.