TO MARK the end of a year like no other, of dramatic changes to daily life and tremendous efforts by communities all over Conwy, the Pioneer will share some of its top stories.

The Year in Review begins with January and February.

Thursday, January 2, ‘2020 market confidence’: The year started off with huge optimism for traders in Conwy after planning permission was granted for the Colwyn Bay Market to be held weekly another three years. There were hopes the market could take place four or fives times a week instead of two and that new ways could be found to grow and develop it. Cllr Chris Hughes, of Glyn ward, said: “It has been my ambition to have the market grow and have food stalls and craft stalls and from time to time themed stalls.” It was not foreseen that traders would have no choice but to close for much of the year.

Thursday, January 9, ‘Man dies in home blaze’: A 52-year-old man tragically died in a house fire on Greenfield Road in Colwyn Bay. The man, later named as Christopher Andrew Cargill, was found in his first-floor living room by firefighters after three crews were called to the incident just after 10.15am on Tuesday, January 7. Mr Cargill was identified by his tattoos and documentation.

Thursday, January 16, ‘Post office blow to town’: The closure of the only post office in Conwy was confirmed with two weeks’ notice following the resignation of the postmaster and the withdrawal of the premises for Post Office use. Conwy councillor Joan Vaughan said the closure was a “huge blow” to Conwy after a number of banks had shut, but the post office owners had been “hanging on year on year” due to a fall in revenue.

Thursday, January 23, ‘Town festive fayre is axed’: Organisers of the Llandudno Christmas Fayre pulled the plug on the trading event after 15 years. Directors of the community interest company said that ‘circumstances outside their control’ meant the Christmas Fayre incurred a loss in 2019. The popular event had come under fire in recent years for its entry charge of £4.50 entry fee, which organisers defended as “very little profits were made in 2018”.

Thursday, January 30, ‘Go-ahead for homes plan’: A controversial plan to add 22 houses to the 76-property Bryn Y Mor development in Old Colwyn was given the go ahead by Conwy planners. Planning applications for the site had been met with protests from residents for four years due to nearby primary school Ysgol Bryn Elian and Llanelian Road GP surgery being fully subscribed. “These constant planning applications for housing developments on green fields are putting huge strain on our already overburdened doctors, emergency services, schools and infrastructure,” said Cllr Cheryl Carlisle. “This is eating away at our natural village boundaries.”

Thursday, February 6, ‘Llandudno man catches coronavirus’: A 25-year-old from Llandudno was believed to be the first Brit known to have caught coronavirus. Connor Reed, who working as a school manager in Wuhan, China discovered said he initially thought he had a bad case of the flu. The former Ygsol Bro Gwydir pupil was diagnosed with coronavirus by doctors in December and tried to shook off the deadly illness with a ‘hot toddy’ after refusing antibiotics.

Thursday, February 13, ‘Rydal to be revitalised’: Rydal Penrhos School confirmed that a prep school and nursery plus upgraded science laboratories were in the pipeline. The Colwyn Bay independent school, which has 400 pupils, said it would also introduce a second all-weather sports pitch, modernised pavilion and refurbished swimming pool. John Waszek, the school’s executive principal, said the redevelopment was an example of how the schools ensures its pupils are “ahead of the curve”.

Thursday, February 20, ‘New school’s poor rating’: The £11.7m ‘super school’ Ysgol Awel y Mynydd was dumped into special measures because of poor standards, management and not improving outcomes for vulnerable students. Estyn rated the leadership and management at the Llandudno Junction school as “unsatisfactory” following an inspection in December. Standards were also classified as not good enough. All other areas of the flagship school were deemed “adequate” but in need of improvement. The report concluded that school leaders had not used its recent pupil development grant “towards improving the outcomes or wellbeing of the school’s vulnerable pupils”.

Thursday, February 27, ‘Skiing pupils in isolation’: In a sign of things to come, the Pioneer reported that 20 pupils from St David’s College had to self-isolate following a school trip to the Italian Alps. None of the pupils had shown symptoms for coronavirus, however they were told to stay at home as a precautionary measure. This was in the first weeks of the coronavirus pandemic reaching the UK and three weeks before the UK would go into lockdown. “All the children were either taken home in transport provided by the school or collected by their parents; they were not sent on public transport,” said headteacher Andrew Russell.