Work to begin on new homes in Boys’ High

ROLL UP, roll up, for a stake in the former Oswestry Boys High School, which is being transformed into 10 spacious and luxurious apartments in my old learning den.

It was eerie to enter the portals for the first time in nearly 60 years to meet enterprising MD of Primoris Homes Ltd David Howell, who is creating ‘Holbache Court’.

With planning permission in the bag, work starts next week both on the one to three bedroom apartments plus 10 new mews type houses being slotted behind it where the old sixth forms and the art and woodwork block stood.

It’s a mimic of the excellent transformation of Oswestry Girls High School – so how wonderful to have a local boy at the helm of what could have been sensitive development. The old classrooms and gym are so spacious, and the whole block so central, the apartments and homes should fly off the shelf.

Early Christmas gift

A NEW generation of train, with a whiff of the London Underground, comes into service on the Wrexham to Bidston line just in time for Christmas, Transport for Wales (TfW) has confirmed. The train company has five of the new Class 230 D-Trains – which once plied their life on the Underground.

The square-fronted trains should have been operational by August, but suffered ‘slippage’. Now it will make a timely Christmas present for travellers, with fully accessible toilets, power sockets, electronic passenger information, Wi-Fi, bike racks, three carriages and 293 seats plus air conditioning. After spending a life underground TfW reckons they will look and feel like new.

Gyles’ return to town

SWEATER man Gyles Brandreth – of who predicted would easily win Chester over as an MP – is coming to The Lion Quays Hotel a week today to sell his poetry book.

The sole journalist in forecasting Gyles would top the poll against all the predictions saw me ending up in the index of his political book Breaking the Code, slap next to Camilla Parker-Bowles!

Now an old friend, he will be at the Lion Quays at 7.30pm next Wednesday with a far gentler tome Dancing by the light of the Moon, exercising his passion for poetry. Tickets at £15, include a signed copy and are available at Oswestry’s Booka.

Keep street closed

PLEASE ‘task forcers’ don’t mess around with our daytime closure of Cross Street, by opening it full-time. Check for yourselves the huge number of folk who walk it traffic-free in its closed state, while still giving time for deliveries at either end of the day!

Next round is on me!

FINALLY, did you know that Shropshire’s been deemed to be the cheapest county in the UK to buy a pint of beer - at an averages £3.46 which is £1.11 cheaper London.