Popular Fairy Freckled Cow trail race cancelled at short notice.

By Don Hale

Popular Fairy Freckled Cow trail race cancelled.

Report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com

www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk

The popular Denbigh Harriers organised Fairy Freckled Cow Trail Race around the Alwen Reservoir for 2023 has sadly had to be cancelled at short notice! 

An event official confirmed on Monday (19/6/23) that Natural Resources Wales (The leaseholder from Welsh Water of land around the Alwen) is not willing to issue a permit to use the tracks and footpaths used during the race. 

Without this permission the race cannot be held this year and all participants who have already registered and paid for the race will be refunded their entry fee. This race was scheduled to be part of the regional North Wales trail championships.

For next year Denbigh Harriers are confident of meeting Natural Resources Wales’ stricter criteria and that permission to run the race will be granted for 7th July 2024.




 

Don Hale is a former award winning investigative journalist and now a best-selling author who has created a very popular blog post linked to numerous social media sites. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025.

Comments

Post a Comment

Your comments are welcomed

Most recent posts

Festive demands and the weather kept numbers down at NW parkruns.

By Don Hale
Image
*Pictured above - Run Directors Richard Peevor and Dougie Graham at Rhos. Festive demands and the weather kept numbers down at NW parkruns... Report by Don Hale. Rhos parkrun photos courtesy of Pat Finnie. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025   It was a cool, damp morning at most of the local parkruns last Saturday, with numbers down at the majority of them, probably due to festive demands and the problematic weather conditions, with some flooding on numerous 5k courses. Conwy may have suffered the most, with entrants down for the third week on the trot, and only 80 determined athletes – including 24 visitors – who completed the swampy riverside route at the RSPB, whilst Nant y Pandy’s event was cancelled altogether! The new  Llandrillo yn Rhos parkrun  still remains a novelty but entrants were down from last week’s launch of 501 to 345, and the stats were very interesting with 240 first timers, and nearly half of the previous week’s entrants recorded new PB’s this week! *S...
Read more

New Llandrillo-yn-Rhos parkrun celebrated an amazing launch event with over 500 athletes from across the UK

By Don Hale
Image
*Pictured above and below - hundreds of runners listen intently to the instructions given by run director Richard Peevor at the launch of the new Llandrillo-yn-Rhos parkrun New Llandrillo-yn-Rhos parkrun celebrated an amazing launch event...with over 500 athletes from across the UK. Exclusive report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk What a fantastic turn-out for the very first Llandrillo-yn-Rhos (Y Promenade) parkrun last Saturday, as over 500 mixed ability athletes travelled from near and far to help create and enjoy a spectacular occasion. Run directors  Richard Peevor, Sharon Hughes, Dougie Graham,  and Chris Spillane , together with their hard working support team of new volunteers and marshals, worked their socks off to produce an excellent event on a near perfect day - weatherwise - after recent storms had deposited a load of sand along the promenade course at Rhos on Sea.     *Above left - Run director Richard Peevor...
Read more

What being a teacher is really like: YEAH, BUT YOU GET LOADS OF HOLIDAYS THOUGH: By Bill Simon.

By Don Hale
Image
Coast and Country spotlight book feature:  donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025 What being a teacher is really like: -  YEAH, BUT YOU GET LOADS OF HOLIDAYS THOUGH:  By Bill Simon. Now available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4pS1PP0 Synopsis:  As children we are oblivious to the inner workings of teaching and school life. Leaving the impression that teaching is easy, with short hour days, high pay, no pressure and all the holidays you could ever want. What really happens in the safety of the staff room? When stepping into the job you are met with a barrage of challenge, responsibility, accountability, reward, politics, abusive children, delightful children, stress, and anxiety. All of which you had no recollection of from your own school days, and never fully anticipated when posing in your cap and gown upon completing teacher training. Yeah but you get loads of holidays though, is a record of the typical highs and lows of being a teacher. Exposing the frustrations of being go...
Read more

Mental Elf 2k and 5k races proved a huge success at Eirias Park, Colwyn Bay, last Sunday.

By Don Hale
Image
*Pictured above and below - some of the fun runners at the Mental Elf events. Mental Elf 2k and 5k races proved a huge success at Eirias Park, Colwy Bay last Sunday... Report by Don Hale. Pictures by Caitlin Faye Photography. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025 John Hatton, who was one of the charity event organisers at last weekend’s Mental Elf races at Eirias Park, was delighted by the fun frolics and the great public response, plus the generous funds raised for such a worthy cause. Sponsored by Jennings , participants were told that they could either walk, jog, skip or run whilst soaking up the festive spirit, and whilst supporting Conwy and the Vale of Clwyd Minds, with a Mini Elf 2k fun run, and 5k event. After the event, John confirmed:  “A massive thank you to all the volunteers last Sunday at the Mental Elf 2k & 5k, held at Eirias Park, Colwyn Bay.  What a day, and it began at 8am setting up the course. It was white everywhere, and a hailstorm was incredible. “The weathe...
Read more

Dave Hughes ran 100-miles for the Pancreatic Cancer charity.

By Don Hale
Image
*Pictured above - joint restaurant owner and athlete Dave  Hughes with his family at Conwy parkrun after completing his 100-mile fundraising race for charity. Joint restaurant owner Dave Hughes ran 100-miles for the Pancreatic Cancer charity.. Report by Don Hale.  donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025   Well done to popular local athlete and restaurant owner Dave Hughes who has completed an amazing 100-mile ultra running challenge to help raise funds for Pancreatic Cancer in memory of his father-in-law Alun Yu. Dave, who jointly owns the  Paysanne restaurant at Deganwy , finally achieved his mileage target at Conwy parkrun, where he was welcomed by family members on the finish line, with the exciting news that his sterling efforts are now close to raising nearly £1,000 via his JustGiving charity for this worthy cause. On his fundraising page he confirmed the reasons for his gallant efforts and explained:  “ This year, I lost someone special - my father-in-law – and it w...
Read more

North Wales duo completed the gruelling Sea to Summit Challenge.

By Don Hale
Image
*Pictured above and below - Cheryl Frost and Kay Hatton North Wales Road Running duo completed the gruelling Sea to Summit Challenge... Report by Don Hale.  donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025 Two top veteran female athletes from North Wales Road Runners completed the gruelling Sea to Summit Offa’s Dyke Challenge on Sunday. This was a very demanding race for Welsh international, club colleagues and friends  Cheryl Frost  and  Kay Hatton , as the event covered 14-miles and some 3,700ft of ascent, and took the pair 3 hours and 40 minutes! After the event, Kay said:  “Cheryl and I have just finished the Challenge. It was a race, but most of us either ran/walked as there were numerous steep gradients and was very muddy! ”        
Read more

Rhos parkrun launch and North Wales parkrun results round-up

By Don Hale
Image
Llandrillo-yn-Rhos parkrun launch and North Wales parkrun results round-up.. Report by Don Hale https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   What a fantastic turn-out for the very first Llandrillo-yn-Rhos (Y Promenade) parkrun last Saturday, as over 500 mixed ability athletes travelled from near and far to help create and enjoy a spectacular occasion. Run directors  Richard Peevor, Sharon Hughes, Dougie Graham,  and Chris Spillane , together with their hard working support team of new volunteers and marshals, worked their socks off to produce an excellent event on a near perfect day - weatherwise - after recent storms had deposited a load of sand along the promenade course at Rhos on Sea. *Pictured above - three of the four new Llandrillo-yn-Rhos parkrun run directors (l-r): Dougie Graham Sharon Hughes and Richard Peevor, and (*below) some members from the 5k Your Way, Move Against Cancer Group at the start of the parkrun. The parkrun also welcomed m...
Read more

MALLARD - How the Blue Streak Broke the World Speed Record

By Don Hale
Image
MALLARD - How the Blue Streak Broke the World Speed Record by Don Hale. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025 JUST over eighty years ago on the East Coast main line, the streamlined A4 Pacific locomotive Mallard reached a top speed of 126mph a world record for steam locomotives that still stands. Since then, millions have seen this famous locomotive, resplendent in her blue livery, on display at the National Railway Museum in York. Here, Don Hale tells the full story of how the record was broken: from the nineteenth-century London Scotland speed race and, surprisingly, traces Mallard's futuristic design back to the Bugatti car and the influence of Germany's nascent Third Reich, which propelled the train into an instrument of national prestige.  *The book is now available on Amazon:     https://www.amazon.co.uk/shop/perryscope21/curation/5fbfda6b-ed53-4e19-8526-378b30b4f429 *An abbreviated second book - MALLARD - The railway marvel that beat the world is also available via Amazon:...
Read more

50TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL - MURDER IN THE GRAVEYARD - 50-years since a brutal murder, a wrongful conviction and a 27-year fight for justice

By Don Hale
Image
A GRIPPING TRUE-CRIME INVESTIGATION INTO THE LONGEST MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE IN BRITISH LEGAL HISTORY - NOW BEING LINKED TO YORKSHIRE RIPPER PETER SUTCLIFFE. * The book and campaign was featured on the Mark Dolan show on GB News on 10/2/24. This is the link:  https://twitter.com/GBNEWS/status/1756443424654233978 *Don Hale’s campaign and incredible story were also featured by ITV’s Judge Robert Rinder on his recent true crime series. *Read Don Hale's revised and thrilling true-crime  book –  MURDER IN THE GRAVEYARD , published in 2019 by Harper Collins.   https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com In September 1973, Stephen Downing was convicted and indefinitely sentenced for the murder of Wendy Sewell, a young legal secretary in the town of Bakewell in the Peak District. Wendy was attacked in broad daylight in Bakewell Cemetery. Stephen Downing, the 17-year-old groundskeeper with learning difficulties and a reading age of 11, was the primary suspect. He was immediately arrested...
Read more

THE LIBERATION OF JERSEY & WARTIME SECRETS: Some compelling wartime memories from three remarkable men...by Don Hale.

By Don Hale
Image
  THE LIBERATION OF JERSEY & WARTIME SECRETS:  Some compelling wartime memories from three remarkable men...by Don Hale.   donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025 New paperback book. Available on Amazon:   https://amzn.to/3Keb4Jw The Jersey Boys and Liberation!   Some compelling wartime memories from three remarkable men...  Now available from Amazon in paperback, ebook or audio versions: Special Coast and Country online magazine feature... Amazon audio book:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2HQ2VN4 Paperback:  https://amzn.to/3Keb4Jw Kindle ebook:  https://amzn.to/46ew7TP This is the true story of two remarkable Jersey Boys, and an eventual Liberator, who were all teenagers at the start of World War Two, but soon became embroiled in a variety of dramatic events following the Occupation of Jersey in the Channel Islands by German Forces during 1940-45. Joe  Miére  (* pictured above ), was a constant thorn in the side of the Nazi invaders and ...
Read more