A young man on a marathon charity run for the Walsall Hospice was so impressed with the five-star treatment he got in the town that he has declared Cllr Holloway as his "Mayor of the Month".

Cllr Holloway is renowned in the town for being very tenacious when she's got a bee in her bonnet about something.

When Mark Dabbs arrived in town after running all the way from Oswestry, there was no way she was going to let him slip away without some good old fashioned hospitality.

As Mark says: "She struck me as a very feisty lady and was extremely talkative to me as a stranger, insisting that I get proper refreshments and drinks as I had run from Oswestry.

"Not only that, but she sat down with me and chatted to all the passers by, as well as giving me a personal donation from her own pocket."

As someone who has been on the wrong end of her straight talking in the past I'm happy to report these compliments, good for Cllr Holloway.

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THE pride of Mid Wales... that's what our young finalists in the national Eisteddfod are.

I've been accused often enough of having a go at our youngsters when they step out of line.

I reserve the right to do so in future, but I really take my hat off to the youngsters who, after countless hours of patient practice, have proved they're among the best in the country at our big festival of Welsh culture.

Read about some of them on Page Five and we'll do our best to highlight some of the individuals over the coming weeks.

While we're on the subject of winners, take a look at our stars on Page three.

Guilsfield Primary School teacher Emma Gethin has been nominated for the Outstanding New Teacher of the Year Award.

And it doesn't end there for Guilsfield as the Guilsfield Amateur Dramatic Society has reached the All Wales Final of the One Act Play Festival with their production of A Dog's Life.

Good luck to them and Miss Gethin in their respective finals, they're the pride of Powys.

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Well that's enough of the pleasantries – sorry I don't know what came over me, must be all this warm weather frazzling my poor old brain.

After reading how two elderley people have come a cropper because of the poor state of the pavements in Newtown I am now afraid it could be me next!

At my age I am not as steady on my feet as I once was, and I think it is disgracful that these paving slabs have been allowed to get in such a poor condition.

I really sympathise with both Mr Leonard Edwards and Mrs Lorraine Livesey, who both fell over broken slabs and ended up looking as though they had gone 12 rounds with Iron Mike Tyson.

Both have since spent a lot of time in hospital and have had to splash out for new glasses, which from my experience I know are not cheap.

It seems wrong that neither of them have been paid a penny in compensation! Shame on the person who put a big red cross next to their name - I wonder how he/she would feel if it was his/her grandparent?

Maybe all that's left for the pair to do is to take further actions and sue the persons responsible.

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A GIANT sized hole has been left in Mid Wales football circles this week with the death of Edgar Jones.

Known throughout Wales as the chairman of Welsh Premier giants TNS and the long serving chairman of the Montgomeryshire Amateur League, he will be sorely missed.

The special service to celebrate his life at the Llansanffraid pitch will be a fitting tribute to a man who dedicated his life at the heart of the sport here in Mid Wales and further afield.