DESPITE a heavy cold, it was fantastic to be able to attend the official opening of Crownbridge School.

Crownbridge is a special school for children aged between three and 19. I remember the frustration about how their old facilities really held them back, so it was great to see them in their new multi-million- pound school, complete with the facilities pupils and staff need for a first-rate environment in which to learn. The wide corridors make the building practical for wheelchair access and the therapy facilities, sensory development room and hydrotherapy pool were particularly impressive.

Good luck to all those involved with Crownbridge. I wish them every success at their new site.

Pubs are an often overlooked community facility. A good, well-run pub is the life and soul of a community, providing its customers with much more than just a drink.

That’s why I took the time to go to the All-Party Save the Pub Group on Wednesday with local publican Phil Jones, from the excellent Open Hearth in Sebastopol.

Phil has been at the forefront of the campaign against the unfair Beer Tie, where large pub companies place unfair terms on tenant publicans.

Hard-working publicans deserve a fair share of the profit their work generates, yet evidence shows the imbalance of power between individual publicans and large ‘Pubcos’ means regulation is needed to get a fair deal.

Successive select committee reports have shown self-regulation to be failing and called for action. It is high time the Government listened, before our communities lose countless more pubs unnecessarily.

A big thank you to all those who attended Torfaen Labour Party’s annual dinner in Blaenavon last Friday. It really was standing room only in Blaenavon RFC.

At the dinner, I was very grateful to receive a memento to mark my 25 years as Torfaen’s MP. The speeches from Rhodri Morgan and Owen Smith brought back some very fond memories.

Following in the footsteps of the great Leo Abse has always been an honour, and I would like to thank all those who’ve supported me in that time.

I’m particularly grateful for the patience and backing of constituents while I was a minister in Northern Ireland.

That job often took me away from the Eastern Valley, but I rarely heard complaints, as people here appreciated the importance of the job at hand trying to end bloodshed in another part of our islands.

Lastly, as this is my last column of the year, I’d like to wish all Argus readers a happy Christmas and a peaceful new year.