REVIEW OF 2011: July and August

July 12:

NEWPORT’S Richard Parks completed a world-first adventure, by reaching the summit of Mount Elbrus in Russia, to mark the end of his epic £1 million charity expedition.

Mr Parks, 33, of Ridgeway, became the first person to climb the highest mountain on each of the world’s seven continents, and to reach the North and South Poles, within seven months.

The former Newport Gwent Dragons and Wales rugby player completed his 737 Challenge by topping Elbrus at 8.53amUK time.

Speaking fromthe peak, he said the reality of his achievement had not sunk in, but he had never stopped believing he could triumph.

The obstacles he encountered included battling fuel strikes in Antarctica, getting frostbite on Everest and cheating death after plunging down a glacial crevasse on Mount Denali in Alaska.

“Physically,mybody has just about held up,” said Mr Parks, who also scaled Mounts Vinson, Aconcagua, Kilimanjaro, and Carstenz Pyramid, in addition to his Pole treks.

Apunishing fitness regime, involving living at high altitude, days of immersion in water during which his body was taken almost to hypothermia and starved of oxygen, and 200 miles of running and cycling every week, during 2010, had prepared him for the testing times ahead, and he began his challenge late in December.

“I knowI have put everyone through the wringer. Iamjust grateful to have done it,” he said, describing family, friends and sponsors as “absolute rocks.”

“Hopefully nowI’ll get back in one piece safe and sound and be able to share it with everyone.”

The former Rougemont and Monmouth Schools pupil returned to Wales, and a hero’s welcome, a couple of days after scaling Mount Elbrus.

Mr Parks decided to take on the challenge after being forced to retire early from professional rugby with a shoulder injury in 2009.

But after its completion, the reason for doing it in the first place, to raise £1 million for the charity Marie Curie Cancer Care, loomed large.

He chose the charity to benefit from his efforts because family members died of, or battled against, the disease in its varied forms.

First however, there was an opportunity to bask in his achievement and take the many plaudits he earned, not least at the Senedd in Cardiff Bay, where family, friends and around 200 other supporters gathered to give him an emotional welcome home.

July 7:

LITTLE Cairon Whatley was back home after winning a life-threatening battle against meningitis.

FEELING BETTER: Cairon Whatley and his mum Katherine

On June 22, at just 10 days old, he was rushed into hospital, beginning another ordeal for mum Katherine Whatley, of Ringland, Newport, who lost her son Leo Jones, four, to kidney failure in 2010.

Miss Whatley had been monitored closely during her pregnancy after she was discovered to have developed Group B streptococcus, a bacteria found naturally in the body but which, if passed on to babies, can cause life-threatening illness, including meningitis.

Miss Whatley, who gave Cairon the middle name Leo, after his brother, praised the wonderful hospital staff who had worked so hard to prevent another tragedy.

July 9 and 12:

FREE parking at Newport council’s city centre multistorey car parks was extended for a year because of its success in attracting shoppers - and in Monmouthshire, drivers, businesses and residents lobbied to keep free parking in council-run car parks.

More than 18,000 extra cars used Newport’s car parks in the first five months of 2011, compared to the same period in 2010. The cost to the council of the free parking scheme was put at £850,000, but doing nothing to help the city centre was seen as unacceptable.

Charging proposals for Monmouthshire varied from town to town, but the public wanted free parking maintained, either completely, or for the first couple of hours, to help shoppers and traders.

July 13:

BLAENAU Gwent council was deemed to have failed its children after an inspection report revealed shocking levels of pupil performance, with the area the worst in Wales in terms of children leaving school without qualifications.

GONE: Steve Bard

GOING: Des Hillman

An investigation by Wales’ school inspection body Estyn detailed major failings in the area’s education provision and graded it ‘unsatisfactory’ - the worst available.

Welsh Government intervention and special measures were recommended, and the damning conclusion began three months of political infighting that led initially to executive member for education councillor Steve Bard, resigning. Meanwhile, calls began to mount for council leader Des Hillman to follow him out.

July 25:

THE Argus revealed that no decision would be made until at least the autumn over the much-delayed Ebbw Vale- Newport rail link, prompting calls for the process to be speeded up.

CALLED FOR REPORT: Carl Sargeant

Transport minister Carl Sargeant ordered an updated report on figures and projections for the proposed service, the subject of almost a decade of campaigning by the Argus.

A feasibility study into the infrastructure required remained under revision, with transport priorities unlikely to be revealed before the autumn.

Newport council leader Matthew Evans said he hoped “this is not just another delaying tactic” while South Wales East AM William Graham said the problem was now acute for Newport, with people used to going to Cardiff.

July 26:

THE M4 and roads in Newport were brought to a standstill by an horrific fire in the Brynglas Tunnels, the second to close the motorway this year.

HORRIFIC: The scene in the Brynglas Tunnel after the fire.

A lorry explosion caused extensive damage to the westbound tunnel and shut both tunnels for hours, though remarkably no-one was injured.

Twenty-five firefighters took four hours to bring the ensuing blaze under control.

SHUTDOWN: The deserted motorway at the tunnels

Car driver Ashley Hall was later credited with saving the lorry driver’s life, urging him into his car and driving away seconds before the first and largest of several explosions.

July 29:

OLYMPIC silver medal-winning rower Tom Lucy told the Argus how he had passed up the opportunity to go one better at the London 2012 Games, to pursue his longheld dream of becoming a Royal Marine.

HEARTS AND MINDS: Tom Lucy greets a small Afghan boy during his tour of duty

The 23-year-old former Monmouth School pupil, brought up near Raglan, was a member of the Great Britain eight-man crew beaten into second place at Beijing 2008.

But Lucy had since completed arduous Royal Marines training and was serving in Afghanistan, patrolling with the country’s army and police, and covering other security duties.

August 6:

AN 85-year-old and a 15-year-old were among 1,702 Gwent people arrested for drinkdriving in the past two years, new figures revealed.

One person stopped had drunk almost six times the legal alcohol limit, having produced a breath test reading of 201 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 micrograms per 100ml.

An Alcohol Concern spokesman said the figures revealed that messages about drink-driving are not hitting home, and that more needs to be done to change social attitudes.

August 9:

THE number of pupil exclusions for assaults on Gwent school staff had nearly doubled in five years.

In 2004/05 there were 202 exclusions for violence against staff across all schools in Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent, Newport, Monmouthshire and Torfaen, compared with 388 in 2009/10.

Assembly figures obtained by the Conservatives showed Caerphilly with the highest number of exclusions in Gwent and the second highest in Wales, with 135 in 2009/10. Newport was third highest with 112.

August 15:

TESCO and Morrisons were set to create 650 new jobs at stores due to open within a mile of each other in the autumn, it was revealed.

The battle for shoppers south of the river Usk was due to hot up, with Morrisons at Lysaghts, and a redeveloped Tesco Extra at Spytty, opening in October.

Morrisons was set to create 250 jobs at its Lysaghts store, with Tesco adding 400 new posts to the 350 it had employed at its old Spytty store.

While welcoming the new jobs, Alway councillor Ray Truman acknowledged that smaller businesses would be affected, but hoped large and small stores could exist together.

August 19:

GUN terror came to Newport as Darren Williams shot and injured his estranged wife and also injured two others in a city hairdressing salon.

Williams, who fled the scene, and whose body was found later that day in woodland, burst into Carol Ann Hair Salon on Malpas Road at around 2.20pm and shot Rachel Williams in the knee.

Two other women, one aged 92, were injured by rebounds.

CCTV later released, revealed terrified people fleeing the scene and surrounding area.

August 23:

NEWPORT Gwent Dragons were set to provide a regional record of five players to Wales’ squad for the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand in September and October.

Back row forwards Dan Lydiate and Toby Faletau, hooker Lloyd Burns, second row Luke Charteris, and wing Aled Brew were named in coach Warren Gatland’s 30- man squad for the seventh global tournament.

Lydiate, Faletau and Charteris had already established themselves in the Wales squad, and Burns was tipped some weeks prior to the squad being named. But Brew’s inclusion was a surprise, generally and to the player himself, despite him having picked up seven caps previously.

August 24:

THE remains of a 2,000-year-old Roman port were uncovered by archaelogists working in Caerleon.

ROMAN PORT: An artist’s impression of port complex at Caerleon

A team of volunteers and academics from Cardiff University had spent five weeks working on the unveiling of a suburb of monumental buildings outside the known Roman fortress, uncovering the port remains on the bank of the river Usk in the process.

MASSIVE FIND: Archaeologists excavating the harbour

The port was only the second known from Roman Britain, its well-preserved remains including the main quay wall, and landing stages and wharves.

“What we have found exceeds all expectations,” said Dr Peter Guest, excavation leader, and senior lecturer in Roman archaeology.

“The port or harbour adds a new dimension to our understanding of Caerleon, as we can start to think about how the river connected the fortress and Wales to the rest of the Roman Empire.”

August 29:

PRIMARY schools in Newport were revealed as top of the class in Wales, according to Welsh Government figures.

Seven-year-olds in the city were among the top performers in the country, with schools boasting the highest percentage of pupils attaining the top grades in all three core subjects of maths, science and English - or Welsh in Welsh medium schools - in 2011.

Newport pupils’ showing was 88.7 per cent, up from 87.5 per cent in 2010. But performance in Blaenau Gwent was at the other end of the scale, being the worst area in Wales at key stages one and two.