January

♦ A Good Samaritan was left fuming after he was given a parking ticket when trying to feed the homeless.

Matt Pyne, 39, of Marburgh Avenue, Buckley, was giving out hot stew, tea and warm jackets and sleeping bags to the homeless at The Cross in Chester when he was penalised for parking on double yellow lines outside a car park.

Matt said that as he was unloading and it was not busy at the time – at about 10pm – he didn’t think he would get a ticket. But when he got back to his car, he noticed he had received a £35 fine, as had his friend.

♦ A housing scheme was named in honour of a Welsh football icon.

Llys Gary Speed is a development of 21 new homes in Aston Mead, Deeside.

The scheme was named in honour of the former Wales manager at the suggestion of pupils from St Ethelwold’s Primary School in Shotton. Gary, who died in 2011, played for the county’s primary schools’ side and attended Hawarden High School before going on to be Wales’ most capped outfield player as well as captain and manager.

February

♦ A 91-year-old woman was devastated to find heavy rainfall had flooded the outside of her home for the second year running.

Betty Flavell, of Bretton Lane, near Broughton, has lived in her home for 49 years.

Storm Doris brought down trees, closed roads and affected services as winds of up to 80mph battered the region.

Power outages were reported at Flintshire Council’s Streetscene site in Alltami while further fallen trees caused road blockages across the county.

♦ A primary school received a visit from some surprise guests.

Staff, pupils and parents of Ysgol Maesglas, in Greenfield, were shocked to see that sheep from a nearby farm had somehow escaped and made their way to the school gates. A representative from the school said staff had called 101 as they did not know what to do but when the police arrived the sheep had luckily been moved away by their farmer.

March

♦ A teenage moped rider was killed just weeks after celebrating his 18th birthday.

Luke Edwards, 18, of Treuddyn, near Mold, died following a two-vehicle road traffic collision. Luke was a former pupil of Argoed High School and had worked at the Subway store in Mold.

Paying tribute, his family described the teenager as “our beautiful boy Luke” who had “so many dreams”.

His former colleagues went on to raise money for the Wales Air Ambulance charity that valiantly attempted to save his life.

♦ More than 120 jobs were put under threat as an aviation company announced its intention to close.

Marshall Aviation Services LTD in Broughton announced it would shut down should no alternative come to light during a 45-day consultation period.

As a result, 126 employees were put out of work when a buyer could not be found.

♦ A pair of wartime sweethearts whose love has lasted through 14 prime ministers and two monarchs celebrated a landmark anniversary.

John and Ivy Thornton, of Megs Lane, Buckley, toasted their remarkable 70th wedding anniversary in a celebration at their home.

The devoted duo’s first encounter stretches back to a fleeting romance in 1941 before being abruptly cut short when RAF serviceman John was posted to the Far East. Five years later the couple, by then both engaged to new partners, crossed paths again. The pair broke off their engagements and rekindled their love.

John, 93, who is originally from Blackpool, first met Ivy, who is 97, when he was posted to Wrexham during the Second World War and the pair kept in touch by writing to one another when John served in Burma and India.

April

♦ A brave teenager who “fought so hard just for a normal life” after being diagnosed with cancer sadly lost his battle.

Jordan Giddins, 18, of Flint, was diagnosed with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) at just 11- years-old and suffered with Ewings Sarcoma, a type of bone cancer.

He went through gruelling treatment to battle the disease but sadly lost his fight.

♦ Historic tunnels that formed part of a former chemical weapons facility were officially opened to the public.

The Rhydymwyn tunnels at the former Valley Works site on Nant Alyn Road, near Mold, were used for chemical and nuclear weapons research during the Second World War.

In 2016 the Rhydymwyn Valley History Society ran a pilot project to open the tunnels with more than 300 people taken on managed access visits.

The venture was considered by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to be highly successful.

The Heritage Lottery Fund  provided finance for the 2017 season with extensive improvements in lighting and barriers.

May

♦ Labour kept a firm grip on Flintshire Council affairs for the next five years after this year’s local elections.

The party ended up with 34 of the 70 seats available in the chamber at County Hall in Mold – exactly the same number it started out with before the vote.

Labour candidates made gains in seats outside its heartlands – taking one from Conservative Hilary Isherwood, wife of North Wales Regional AM Mark Isherwood, in rural Llanfynydd.

Gladys Healey took the Hope ward by a single vote to join her husband Dave, the councillor for Caerwgrle, on the local authority.

But the party was punished in Bagillt East Ward after deselecting leading Labour councillor Kevin Jones.

His successor Kevin Rush lost out to Independent Rob Davies by three votes.

And the party was denied an overall majority after the Alan and Glenys Diskin husband and wife team failed to hold onto the Mancot ward seats they had occupied for a number of years.

Former banned councillor Patrick Heesom returned in the Mostyn ward but there was no joy for former councillor Klaus Armstrong-Braun in Broughton.

♦ Flintshire held its first ever Pride event in Mold.

The Flintshire Pride parade – run by Rainbow Biz, organisers of Flintshire Diversity Festival – travelled through Mold town centre before arriving at the diversity festival in Mold Rugby Club.

Sarah Way, who cofounded Rainbow Biz along with Sue Oliver, told the Leader she was very pleased with the turnout for the event – which attracted visitors from all over the UK.

June

♦ Labour continued its dominance in Flintshire as the party’s two MPs increased their majorities at a snap general election.

Both Mark Tami and David Hanson were re-elected to Parliament for the Alyn and Deeside and Delyn areas respectively.

Construction got under way on Flintshire’s first crematorium after a lengthy battle.

♦ Memoria, based in Oxfordshire, began the construction of a crematorium in Flintshire, which will be on land off Oakenholt Lane – with the build due to be completed by May 2018.

The company was victorious in a legal battle with Flintshire funeral directors J E Davies and Son to provide the county with a long-awaited crematorium.

That came after the High Court refused the appeals of Edward Davies, who runs J E Davies and Son, to have the planning permission quashed.

Memoria’s original proposal was thrown out by Flintshire Council’s planning committee in 2015, which led the company to appeal against the decision.

Mourners currently have to travel to crematoriums in Chester, Wrexham and Colwyn Bay.

July

♦ Plans for a controversial art installation that attracted a furious online backlash were submitted.

Ken Skates, Welsh Government cabinet secretary for economy and infrastructure, unveiled plans for a £395,000 Iron Ring sculpture that would have been installed at Flint Castle as part of a wider regeneration project.

♦ A petition of more than 11,000 signatures was set up calling for the plans design to be binned.

The seven-metre high and 30m wide Ring was the subject of a pause and review in the summer Assembly recess before eventually being scrapped in September.

Some of those opposing the installation saw the proposed Iron Ring as a symbol of English oppression dating back to the Middle Ages when Edward I conquered Wales between 1277 and 1283.

♦ A former soldier was jailed for 12 years for the historic rape and killing of a teenage girl.

Stephen Hough was convicted of raping and killing 15-year-old Janet Commins back in 1976.

The teenager’s body was found on a school field in Flint, and Mr Justice Clive Lewis told her killer that he had not shown the slightest remorse.

The judge said Hough must have thought he had got away with it for some 40 years, but advances in DNA techniques had brought him to justice.

Noel Jones, 18 at the time, admitted manslaughter and served half of 12-year prison sentence. However, he told Hough’s trial he was made a scapegoat by police because he was a gipsy who could barely read or write.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission confirmed it would investigate how the original murder investigation was handled.

♦ Emotional pupils and staff came together as their school closed its doors for the final time.

The final cohort of pupils at John Summers High in Queensferry waved goodbye to the school following a lengthy battle.

The closure was confirmed by Kirsty Williams AM, Welsh Government cabinet member for education, who upheld the decision of Flintshire Council made last year.

Pupils were moved onto neighbouring schools with the now vacant building to be knocked down next year as part of a multi-million pound upgrade scheme at Connah’s Quay High School.

August

♦ A veteran community leader who represented “a model of what public representatives should be” died.

County Cllr Ron Hampson, also a Buckley Town Council member for 27 years and a former mayor, died at the age of 79 after a short battle with cancer.

Cllr Hampson was survived by his wife Rita, son Stephen, 47, and daughter Michelle, 42.

Mrs Hampson said her husband of almost 50 years had “battled for people” and himself in his final weeks and had planned five more years as a councillor.

Hundreds turned out for the funeral of Cllr Hampson, with many gathering outside Bistre Church in his home town of Buckley to pay their respects.

♦ The dreams of a former McDonald’s worker came true after achieving five A-level A grades and a place at an Ivy League university.

Raphaelle Soffe scored three A*s in maths, politics, and Welsh Bacc, and two As in history and law, after studying at Hawarden High School.

And to top it all off, the 18-year-old from Ewloe was offered a scholarship at Havard University.

She first thought about Harvard when she was 14, but discounted it as an option after realising that no one from her school had ever been awarded an academic scholarship at a US university before.

One requirement of Raphaelle’s scholarship was to do a part-time job on the Harvard campus, which she believes is a “big contrast” to her job at McDonald’s in Broughton, where she worked for two years.

♦ A desperately ill man who took himself off the transplant list following his wife’s death was given the gift of life by his own sister.

Tim Jones, 44, an Airbus worker from Bryn-y-Baal, had taken himself off the transplant list following the loss of his wife, Hannah, to liver cancer as he wanted to protect his daughters from further trauma.

But both Tim’s big sister, Angela, 47, and brother, Chris, 50, stepped in and each offered to donate one of their own kidneys to help their younger brother survive.

And after a mammoth round of tests it was Angela who was chosen as the best match and she agreed to go through with the operation.

Since then, aircraft fitter Tim, who works at Airbus in Broughton, has gone on to celebrate his good health and taken to the track, racing to a 5K bronze medal at the British Transplant Games in Scotland.

September

♦ A family paid an emotional tribute after a promising teenage footballer was killed in a hit and run.

Liam Simpson, 18, of Greenfield, died having been struck by a black BMW on Well Hill in Holywell.

Flowers and messages of comfort were left at the pavement site where Mr Simpson was fatally injured.

Mr Simpson was a defender for Holywell Town FC’s youth-team and had been set to play in a cup match the next day.

Hundreds turned out for the funeral of the popular teenager as school friends and other members of Liam’s friendship group wore red football shirts with ‘Liam’ or ‘Simpson’ printed on the back.

A balloon release was held in his memory while Holywell Town FC set up a fundraising effort to help Liam’s family.

♦ The choice of route for a £200million Deeside road upgrade was confirmed by Welsh Government.

In a statement to the Senedd, Ken Skates, cabinet secretary for economy and infrastructure, confirmed that the Welsh Government will adopt the “red” route as the preferred option for the A494/A55/A548 upgrades.

The plan is the major element of a multi-layered investment into infrastructure in Deeside which includes improvement to the A494 River Dee bridge, a new Deeside Parkway rail station and cash for bus service improvements on the B5129 Deeside corridor.

Mr Skates, AM for Clwyd South, said he had reached the decision of selecting the red route as the preferred option after “taking into account the technical, social, economic and environmental aspects of the Deeside Corridor” plus the outcome of the public consultation held.

The red route involves a new road between the A55 and A458 via the Flintshire Bridge and a new junction to join the A55 near Northop/Flint Mountain.

♦ Plans to ban dogs from marked sports pitches were ratified despite objections from leading animal charities.

Tighter dog control measures were approved by Flintshire Council’s cabinet as it formally ratified a new public space protection order (PSPO).

Within that includes a measure to bar pets from marked sports pitches despite concerns being raised by members of the authority’s environment overview and scrutiny committee that it would lead to a lack of space to exercise dogs.

While agreeing to the tighter controls, cabinet members agreed that discussions would be held with town and community councils over alternative spaces for dog walkers.

October

♦ A town became the ‘Bra Capital of the World’ as 2,000 garments lined the high street.

Saltney was deluged by donations of bras to raise awareness for Breast Cancer Care, with the undergarments turned into temporary high street bunting.

The trail ran more than 700 yards all the way from the social club along the high street to the town’s Anchor pub – with plenty of bras left over. Friends Linda Houghton and Geraldine Crawford, licensee of the Saltney Tavern Social Club, began collecting the bras and they will eventually be donated to under-privileged women in Ghana, West Africa.

♦ Hundreds of pounds worth of cheeses and meat were damaged when thieves broke into a Mold delicatessen.

Owner Richard Howells, and staff member Megan Wainwright, 17, found the Olive Tree Delicatessen “demolished” with all glass counters, fridge and freezer doors left wide open.

Mr Howells reported that his fresh food stock, which includes gourmet pâté, cheese, sliced meats and ice creams, were all deemed unfit for sale as the foods had been exposed and tampered with.

Mr Howells felt that the thieves had “hit” his store with the expectation of cash, and moved on to the Pound Bakery store after they “didn’t find what they were looking for here”.

♦ Tributes were paid to a former Miss Wales who died suddenly, aged 39.

Beauty queen Melanie Hughes, of Thomas Avenue, Ewloe, is survived by husband Rick, 49, step-daughter Taylor, 16, and son Kaden, three.

Mrs Hughes, originally of Holywell, took the title of Miss Wales in 1997 when she was Melanie Jones, and also competed in Miss Great Britain and other pageants.

Paying tribute, her devoted husband said he was “absolutely devastated”.

As well as modelling, Mr Hughes said his wife also featured in small parts in TV series like Coronation Street and Cold Feet.

When she was a teenager Mrs Hughes also trained as a kickboxer with former world and European champion Russ Williams from Caerwys, and they appeared together on a feature for ITV news while she was Miss Wales.

November

♦ Flintshire, Wales and the entire political community were left stunned by the death of Carl Sargeant, Assembly Member for Alyn and Deeside.

Mr Sargeant, 49, of Englefield Avenue, Connah’s Quay, was found dead at home on November 7, just four days after he had been sacked as Welsh Government cabinet secretary for communities and children following allegations made about his personal conduct.

He denied any wrongdoing and vowed to clear his name.

A provisional cause of death for the married father-of-two was given as hanging during the opening of an inquest.

Books of condolence were set up at Connah’s Quay Labour Club – where flowers and scarves were laid at the building where Mr Sargeant’s image adorned the wall – and at the Senedd.

Hundreds turned out at St Mark’s Church in Connah’s Quay for a colourful celebration of Mr Sargeant’s life.

Separate inquiries were set up in the aftermath of his death while his son, Jack, 23, announced he would seek the Labour candidacy in the February Alyn and Deeside by-election. A proposal to charge for garden waste collections in a bid to save almost £1million was met with a fierce backlash.

♦ Flintshire Council’s plans to charge £30 per year for garden waste collections received a fierce response from residents online.

It is thought that if 27,600 households sign up to the scheme, which is not a statutory duty, £828,000 could be brought in through implementing the annual charge from March 2018.

A further £130,000 would be generated through operational savings from the scheme that was adopted in December.

Council officers and cabinet members said “given the current period of austerity and the ongoing financial pressures” it was “necessary” for charges to be introduced.

There was not a dry eye in the house after a schoolgirl’s emotional play about her mum’s cancer battle. Pupils at Ysgol Nannerch Primary School in Mold were busy fundraising and were inspired by Children in Need but have been fundraising for other charities too, including Operation Christmas Child and Share in Mold, raising more than £200.

One pupil, Gracie Gomm, raised more than £120 for Breast Cancer Wales, and produced her own play with help from her friends, telling the story of how she coped with her mum’s own diagnosis.

December

♦ Devastating flames tore through a hotel building in a blaze that caught hold in the early hours.

Around 60 firefighters tackled a fire that destroyed the first floor of the Gateway to Wales Hotel on Welsh Road, Garden City.

Dozens of guests told the Leader how they had lost everything in the fire that took hold just before 4.30am on December 18, damaging 80 per cent of the ground floor.

The cause of the fire is not yet known.

A total of seven fire crews, one each from Flint, Mold, Buckley, Wrexham and Chester, and two from Deeside, together with two aerial ladder platforms from Wrexham and Chester, turned out to the incident.

♦ Such was the scale of heavy snowfall, every school in Flintshire was unable to open its doors.

The impact of the inches of snow was so vast, Ysgol Bryn Gwalia in Mold, which had never had to register a closure in 25 years, had to admit defeat.

Coleg Cambria confirmed its sites in Connah’s Quay and Northop did not open their doors to learners while Deeside Sixth Form had to reschedule mock exams.

Flintshire Council suspended all planned waste collections while household recycling centres were closed for the majority of the day.

Temperatures were reported as low as minus 10C degrees in Rhydymwyn.

A public inquiry into the Redrow housing development on Chester Road, Penyffordd, near Mold, was also postponed.

The authority’s Streetscene winter maintenance operations worked through the night, concentrating on priority one routes.

Bus operators of 10 services also reported changes and diversions of their regular routes owing to the adverse road conditions while train services calling at Flintshire stations ran at a delay.

♦ Workmen restoring a Flintshire church came across a surprise discovery when they pulled up a carpet as part of a £190,000 renovation project.

Tiling in vivid reds, yellows and greens, a beautiful array of fine Victorian mosaics, as well as a wall memorial dated 1732, were all discovered during the work at St Michael’s in Caerwys.

Covered in thick glue, workmen discovered the mosaic when they pulled up the 40-year-old maroon carpet as part of the two-year project.