Charity concert for Tŷ Gobaith Hope House
HALEN Môn has become the first business in Wales to offer traditional seaweed baths to visitors to their saltcote on Anglesey.
Customers will be able to soak in fresh (cleaned!) seaweed and wonderfully warm water, in their own individual upcycled whiskey barrel.
For hundreds of years, people have been bathing in seaweed for its nurturing, restorative and healing properties. Seaweed baths were common in Europe at the turn of the 19th century, with Ireland boasting 300 or so traditional ‘bathhouses’, and there are still a handful today.
In warm water, seaweed releases its mineral-dense oils. The company on the banks of the Menai Strait says it offers rich relaxation, “soothing tired muscles and encouraging escape from the everyday”.
Halen Môn’s brand director, Jess Lea-wilson, said: “It’s such a beautiful spot here overlooking the Strait and Eryri, and I can tell you first hand that the oils the seaweed releases make your skin feel absolutely amazing.
“We’ve been talking about opening the barrels for a good five years, since I first read about some of the bath houses in Ireland. The team here have worked hard to make this idea come to life, and we’re really excited to open to the public.’’
Halen Môn co-founder David Lea-wilson said: “It’s certainly one of our more unusual ideas, and some people I know think we’re a bit mad, but that’s probably a good thing.
We’ve got a healthy waiting list already of people wanting to try them out. It makes a brilliant gift for someone looking for something local and a bit out of the ordinary.”
Seaweed is incredibly sustainable – it doesn’t require soil, fertiliser, or fresh water to grow, and when harvested at the right time it encourages even more regrowth. The firm will use pure distilled water generated as a by-product of their sea salt harvesting process.
The recycled barrels are insulated and “wonderfully warm”, and are outside to make the most of the elements and the famous panoramic view.
The bathing area is situated in its own private cove of fencing, looking directly out to sea.
A male voice choir that went viral online are teaming up with TV tenor Wynne Evans to celebrate their 90th anniversary and support a children’s hospice charity.
Internet sensations Côr Meibion Trelawnyd, whose moving rendition of the iconic Welsh love song, Myfanwy, clocked up nearly 500,000 hits on You Tube, will be staging their big birthday concert at the Pavilion Theatre in Rhyl at 7.30pm on Saturday, July 1.
Television and radio presenter Wynne (inset), best known these days as Gio
Compario from the Go Compare TV ads, says he’s looking forward to helping the choir celebrate its momentous milestone and boost the funds of Tŷ Gobaith/hope House with a raffle to raise money for the charity.
The organisation, which has hospices in the Conwy Valley and Morda, near Oswestry, provides a vital service for children, young people and their families across most of North Wales and into Shropshire.
The choir, whose members range between 93 and 15, was founded in 1933 and has won seven times at the National Eisteddfod, as well as performing in the USA, Canada across Europe and the UK.
Other famous venues where the choir has sung include the Royal Albert Hall and the Wales Millennium Centre.
Although he’s best known these days for Gio Compario, Wynne is a trained opera singer. After studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the National Opera Studio, he went on to perform regularly for English National Opera, Scottish Opera and Welsh National Opera. Wynne made his Royal Opera House debut in 2009, as Vakula in Tchaikovsky’s Cherevichki. He has also sung at the BBC, and in 2011 released his debut solo album, A Song in my Heart.
The Trelawnyd Male Voice Choir’s 90th Anniversary Concert takes place at the Pavilion Theatre in Rhyl on July 1, at 7.30pm when they will be joined on stage by Wynne Evans and soprano Tesni Jones, from St Asaph. Tickets at £25 from rhylpavilion.co.uk.