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Los Angeles Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Doomscrolling is a disease in ‘Eddington,' a fever dream about COVID conspiracies
Ari Aster's 'Eddington' is such a superb social satire about contemporary America that I want to bury it in the desert for 20 years. More distance will make it easier to laugh. It's a modern western set in New Mexico — Aster's home state — where trash blows like tumbleweeds as Sheriff Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix) stalks across the street to confront Eddington's mayor, Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal), whom he is campaigning to unseat. It's May of 2020, that hot and twitchy early stretch of the COVID pandemic when reality seemed to disintegrate, and Joe is ticked off about the new mask mandate. He has asthma, and he can't understand anyone who has their mouth covered. Joe and Ted have old bad blood between them that's flowed down from Joe's fragile wife Louise, a.k.a. Rabbit (Emma Stone), a stunted woman-child who stubbornly paints creepy dolls, and his mother-in-law Dawn (Deirdre O'Connell), a raving conspiracist who believes the Titanic sinking was no accident. Dawn is jazzed to decode the cause of this global shutdown; there's comfort in believing everything happens for a reason. Her mania proves contagious. Bad things are happening in Eddington and have been for decades, not just broken shop windows. Joe wears a white hat and clearly considers himself the story's hero, although he's not up to the job. If you squint real hard, you can see his perspective that he's a champion for the underdog. Joe gets his guts in a twist when a maskless elder is kicked out of the local grocery store as the other shoppers applaud. 'Public shaming,' Joe spits. 'There's no COVID in Eddington,' Joe claims in his candidacy announcement video, urging his fellow citizens that 'we need to free our hearts.' His earnestness is comic and sweet and dangerous. You can hear every fact he's leaving out. His rival's commercials promote a fantastical utopia where Ted is playing piano on the sidewalk and elbow-bumping more Black people in 15 seconds than we see in the rest of the movie. Ted also swears that permitting a tech behemoth named SolidGoldMagikarp to build a controversial giant data center on the outskirts of the county won't suck precious resources — it'll transform this nowheresville into a hub for jobs. Elections are a measure of public opinion: Which fibber would you trust? Danger is coming and like in 'High Noon,' this uneasy town will tear itself apart before it arrives. Aster is so good at scrupulously capturing the tiny, fearful COVID behaviors we've done our best to forget that it's a shame (and a relief) that the script isn't really about the epidemic. Another disease has infected Eddington: Social media has made everyone brain sick. The film is teeming with viral headlines — serious, frivolous or false — jumbled together on computer screens screaming for attention in the same all-caps font. (Remember the collective decision that no one had the bandwidth to care about murder hornets?) Influencers and phonies and maybe even the occasional real journalist prattle on in the backgrounds of scenes telling people what to think and do, often making things worse. Joe loves his wife dearly. We see him privately watching a YouTuber explain how he can convince droopy Louise to have children. Alas, he spends his nights in their marital bed chastely doomscrolling. Every character in 'Eddington' is lonely and looking for connection. One person's humiliating nadir comes during a painful tracking shot at an outdoor party where they're shunned like they have the plague. Phones dominate their interactions: The camera is always there in somebody's hand, live streaming or recording, flattening life into a reality show and every conversation into a performance. The script expands to include Joe's deputies, aggro Guy (Luke Grimes) and Bitcoin-obsessed Michael (Micheal Ward), plus a cop from the neighboring tribal reservation, Officer Butterfly Jimenez (William Belleau) and a handful of bored, identity-seeking teens. They'll all wind up at odds even though they're united by the shared need to be correct, to have purpose, to belong. When George Floyd is killed six states away, these young do-gooders rush into the streets, excited to have a reason to get together and yell. The protesters aren't insincere about the cause. But it's head-scrambling to watch blonde Sarah (Amélie Hoeferle) lecture her ex-boyfriend Michael, who is Black and a cop, about how he should feel. Meanwhile Brian (Cameron Mann), who is white and one of the most fascinating characters to track, is so desperate for Sarah's attention that he delivers a hilarious slogan-addled meltdown: 'My job is to sit down and listen! As soon as I finish this speech! Which I have no right to make!' The words come fast and furious and flummoxing. Aster has crowded more pointed zingers and visual gags into each scene than our eyes can take in. His dialogue is laden with vile innuendos — 'deep state,' 'sexual predator,' 'antifa' — and can feel like getting pummeled. When a smooth-talking guru named Vernon (Austin Butler) slithers into the plot, he regales Joe's family with an incredulous tale of persecution that, as he admits, 'sounds insane just to hear coming out of my mouth.' Well, yeah. Aster wants us to feel exhausted sorting fact from fiction. The verbal barrage builds to a scene in which Joe and Dawn sputter nonsense at each other in a cross-talking non-conversation where both sound like they're high on cocaine. They are, quite literally, internet junkies. This is the bleakest of black humor. There's even an actual dumpster fire. Aster's breakout debut, 'Hereditary,' gave him an overnight pedigree as the princeling of highbrow horror films about trauma. But really, he's a cringe comedian who exaggerates his anxieties like a tragic clown. Even in 'Midsommar,' Aster's most coherent film, his star Florence Pugh doesn't merely cry — she howls like she could swallow the earth. It wouldn't be surprising to hear that when Aster catches himself getting maudlin, he forces himself to actively wallow in self-pity until it feels like a joke. Making the tragic ridiculous is a useful tool. (I once got through a breakup by watching 'The Notebook' on repeat.) With 'Beau Is Afraid,' Aster's previous film with Phoenix, focusing that approach on one man felt too punishing. 'Eddington' is hysterical group therapy. I suspect that Aster knows that if we read a news article about a guy like Joe, we wouldn't have any sympathy for him at all. Instead, Aster essentially handcuffs us to Joe's point of view and sends us off on this tangled and bitterly funny adventure, in which rattling snakes spice up a humming, whining score by the Haxan Cloak and Daniel Pemberton. Not every plot twist works. Joe's sharpest pivot is so inward and incomprehensible that the film feels compelled to signpost it by having a passing driver yell, 'You're going the wrong way!' By the toxic finale, we're certain only that Phoenix plays pathetic better than anyone these days. From 'Her' to 'Joker' to 'Napoleon' to 'Inherent Vice,' he's constantly finding new wrinkles in his sad sacks. 'Eddington's' design teams have taken care to fill Joe's home with dreary clutter and outfit him in sagging jeans. By contrast, Pascal's wealthier Ted is the strutting embodiment of cowboy chic. He's even selfishly hoarded toilet paper in his fancy adobe estate. It's humanistic when 'Eddington' notes that everyone in town is a bit of a sinner. The problem is that they're all eager to throw stones and point out what the others are doing wrong to get a quick fix of moral superiority. So many yellow cards get stacked up against everyone that you come to accept that we're all flawed, but most of us are doing our best. Joe isn't going to make Eddington great again. He never has a handle on any of the conspiracies, and when he grabs a machine gun, he's got no aim. Aster's feistiest move is that he refuses to reveal the truth. When you step back at the end to take in the full landscape, you can put most of the story together. (Watch 'Eddington' once, talk it out over margaritas and then watch it again.) Aster makes the viewer say their theories out loud afterwards, and when you do, you sound just as unhinged as everyone else in the movie. I dig that kind of culpability: a film that doesn't point sanctimonious fingers but insists we're all to blame. But there are winners and losers and winners who feel like losers and schemers who get away with their misdeeds scot-free. Five years after the events of this movie, we're still standing in the ashes of the aggrieved. But at least if we're cackling at ourselves together in the theater, we're less alone.
The Irish Sun
13-07-2025
- The Irish Sun
Ditch the Vegas strip for Nevada Wild West getaway with ghost towns like Western films, alien encounters & famous parks
The spirit of the Old Wild West will never die as long as there are towns like Pioche in Nevada, I can tell you! This is a little part of Advertisement 10 Ann visited Cathedral Gorge on her Wild West adventure in Nevada Credit: Journalist Collect 10 She also encountered the Extraterrestrial Highway that leads to Area 51 Credit: Alamy 10 The Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada is a must-visit attraction Credit: Alamy We made our way there after spending a night in Setting off, our elderly driver, Earl, advised: 'Buckle up, you are in for some ride,' and he wasn't wrong as we set off across the Mojave Desert. Here we visited ghost towns where the silver miners fought it out with guns on the streets in scenes reminiscent of the old Western movies like High Noon, They Died With Their Boots On, The Gun Fighter and many more. As I stood on the main street of Pioche I expected to see the tumbleweed coming towards me and the ghosts of those who died by the gun emerging to play out the violent scenes again. Advertisement READ MORE IN TRAVEL This once prosperous and thriving silver mining town gained its deadly reputation when the word spread in the 1800s that none of the first 72 people to die there passed away from natural causes. A visit to this town with its nice friendly community makes it hard to believe that it was once one of the roughest and toughest mining towns in the Old West - attracting thousands of fortune seekers who believed they would hit a rich vein of silver. This ghost town in Lincoln County - and believe me there are ghosts aplenty here attracting supernatural hunters from all over the world - was one of the highlights of our road trip along the Great Basin Highway. Having been a fan of the great Western movies since my younger days, I was drawn to exploring the little town. Advertisement Most read in The Irish Sun Exclusive And there I found the Overland Hotel and Saloon, which on the Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures was deemed to have provided some of the most successful interactions with spirits. So pro tip, if you want to stay there but don't want any interactions with the spirits, avoid room 10, where others have reported doors mysteriously slamming and being awakened from a deep sleep by something supernatural. Beneath The Strip This was the town where the gunslingers let their guns do the talking because there was no law and order - life was cheap and the many saloons all led to the lawlessness for which Pioche became famous. As a reporter who covers courts, I was fascinated by the Million Dollar Courthouse where many of those caught ended up. Advertisement Boothill Cemetery also exists to this day with some fascinating headstones - including one stating that the occupant of the grave was shot in an argument over a dog. 10 The Million Dollar Courthouse building is now a museum Credit: Alamy 10 There are several State parks across the area to visit Credit: Journalist Collect 10 Ann laid her eyes on the 4,000 year old Petroglyphs etched into rock in the Valley of Fire Credit: Journalist Collect Advertisement 10 The Overland Hotel and Saloon featured on the Travel Channel's Ghost Adventure Credit: Getty Images If it's phenomena of a different kind you want, we swapped ghosts for aliens. The mysterious Area 51 is synonymous with tales of We even stopped under the sign to see if our presence could attract even the smallest of spaceships, but alas it was not to be. Advertisement You may not automatically think of Las Vegas, 'THIS IS A PLACE FOR EXPLORING' It gets its name from the way the sandstone formations combine to give an image of a valley on fire. When you stand and gaze at so many different shapes and sizes of rock formations and realise you are looking at 150 million years in time with the maze of canyons, domes, ridges and towers carved from sand deposited back when dinosaurs walked the earth, it is truly awesome. As we joined the queue to gain entry I was very taken with the sign which said 'Heat warning. You might die.' Advertisement And seeing as it was late May, we were very lucky that the heat was not overwhelming, meaning we could spending hours there. When it is too hot, the park can often close, which happened the day after we visited. But be warned. Do not venture alone as people have been known to get lost and some have died. CROWN JEWEL Among the State Parks clustered around the towns of Caliente and Pioche is Cathedral Gorge, which many regard as one of the State's crown jewel. Advertisement This is thanks to spectacular slot canyons, spires, and other erosional features. This is a place for exploring and is a hiker's paradise, which was once completely underwater. As we drove along the highway with the Mojave Desert as our backdrop, we passed amazing sand dunes and forests of Joshua trees, but even more fascinating is the number of farms along the route, something you wouldn't expect in the dry desert. It is truly nature's beauty in its very rawest form. Advertisement An interesting fact about the Joshua trees, apart from the GO: NEVADA GET THERE: I flew with Aer Lingus to Las Vegas, who operate a seasonal service three times weekly from October to May with prices starting at €450 return STAY THERE: Stay in Prospector Hotel and Gambling Hall in Ely, a really unique and very Wild West hotel for €112 for two sharing a room. EAT THERE: Dining out was not a gourmet experience and very often it was grab-and-go at gas stops. But the Historic Silver Cafe in Pioche provided good food and great service. MORE INFO: Visit to find out more info on the US state. Then we went to the Great Basin National Park which stretches from California's Sierra Nevada to Utah's Wasatch Mountains. They say 'half the park is after dark', the reason being that this is designated an International Dark Sky Park by DarkSky, and has its own amphitheatre for looking at the most amazing star-filled skies. I was just blown away by the sight of so many stars against the very black backdrop and could never have imagined the sheer beauty and magnificence I was viewing. Advertisement In the park, too, are some of the oldest living trees on Earth. The ancient Bristlecone pine groves throughout are believed to be almost 5,000 years old. The best place to see these ancient trees is along the Bristlecone Trail, which is accessed from the Wheeler Peak Campground. MUST-VISIT SPOT And you just can't leave the park without a visit to the Lehman Caves, with marble roofs and limestone formations. This is Nevada's largest cave system, but remember you must book in advance as visits require guides. Advertisement There was so much crammed into our trip, like the scenic drive up Wheeler Peak, or popping into towns like Ely, home to railroad museums and beautiful murals. One thing is for sure, it made me see a whole new world in Nevada away from the slots and the lights of the city. 10 Eroded sandstone cliffs are visable at Cathedral Gorge State Park Credit: Getty Images 10 Visitors might even bump into an alien around the state, just like Ann did Credit: Journalist Collect Advertisement 10 There is plenty to see away from the bright lights of the Vegas strip when visiting Nevada Credit: Getty Images
San Francisco Chronicle
19-06-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
How the new CEO behind Two Buck Chuck plans to ‘win' the wine crisis
Dom Engels has got to have one of the toughest jobs in California wine right now. In November, he became CEO of Bronco Wine Co., which produces an estimated 3.5 million cases annually of some of the country's most famous bargain-priced brands like Crane Lake, Salmon Creek and Charles Shaw, a.k.a. Two Buck Chuck. Engels has arrived at a moment when the wine industry is in a tailspin. The sub-$10 category, Bronco's bread and butter, is experiencing some of the sharpest sales declines. Since the beginning of the year, Bronco, which is owned by the Franzia family, has laid off 227 employees from its Central Valley headquarters. But Engels claims to relish the challenge. 'I love the complexity of trying to win in a difficult environment,' he said. 'Because there are always winners.' The vision he has for Bronco runs counter to much of the industry's conventional wisdom. Engels believes that 'premiumization,' the march toward ever-higher prices, did a 'disservice' to consumers. That the fast-growing ready-to-drink category, which encompasses canned cocktails like High Noon, is overrated. That organic wine will always remain a 'niche.' His perspective is largely one of an outsider. Although Engels worked at the Wonderful Co. when it acquired Paso Robles' Justin Vineyards and Sonoma's Landmark Vineyards, he has mostly worked in other fields. Before joining Bronco he served as the CEO of the school-lunch producer Revolution Foods, and before that as CEO of Stone Brewing, a behemoth of craft beer. Looking at the wine industry, 'honestly, I draw a lot of analogs from the craft beer dynamics over the last eight or nine years,' Engels said. When he joined Stone in 2016, craft beer was consistently seeing double-digit annual growth. That changed somewhat abruptly, a couple of years before the wine industry's own wake-up call. The luxury tier is way outperforming the value tier right now: Sales of wines over $50 increased 1% last year, according to the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America, while wines priced $8-$10.99 dropped 12.7%. Many of Bronco's best-selling products are under $5. But Engels is undeterred. 'We firmly believe that the value segment is very important for creating lifelong loyalists,' he said. The premiumization trend completely ignores 'the funnel of new 21-year-old consumers.' That said, Bronco is also inching up, a little bit. 'We are probably overindexed in value,' Engels admitted. Without abandoning Two Buck Chuck, he hopes to also play more in the $15-$20 range. In February Bronco acquired Wine Hooligans, a Santa Rosa winery whose bottles sell for $12 and up. Recognizing that Bronco's value-priced wines have been treated 'more like labels than as true brands,' Engels is building out his brand marketing teams. Crane Lake Chardonnay, $4.49 at a local Total Wine, may not have seemed like a strong branding opportunity in the past, but Engels believes wines like these could benefit from a bigger social media footprint. He also plans to open more tasting rooms — a priority informed by his time working with beer taprooms. Of the more than 100 brands Bronco owns, the only public space in California is Rosenblum Cellars in Oakland. He imagines opening something at Wine Hooligans, in a Santa Rosa industrial park, and at the home winery in Ceres (Stainslaus County). 'I think we should have a couple of billboards on the 99, really invite people to see what we're doing here,' Engels said. Does that mean we can expect a Two Buck Chuck tasting room? Engels laughed. 'Not sure about Charles Shaw,' he said. More likely is a 'multi-brand specialty store,' spanning the Bronco portfolio. At the same time, like many of its peers, Bronco is contracting. The company has removed some of its vineyards, a response to California's grape surplus, and 'moth balled' others — pruning them short and letting them lay dormant until the company has the need for the acreage again. Bronco is a major California landholder, with the capacity to farm 'a significant five-digit number of acres,' Engels said, but is currently farming 'in the middle four digits.' All of the grapes Bronco farms are 'sustainable,' Engels said, a term that adheres to certain environmental standards but still permits the use of synthetic herbicides like RoundUp. A small amount of Bronco's vineyards are organic, and Engels doesn't have plans to expand that. Organic farming requires such high costs that it necessitates higher-priced wines, in his view, 'and I don't think the market necessarily always rewards that premium price,' he said. The company is also contracting its workforce, new brand marketers notwithstanding. The 227 workers laid off in Ceres included mechanics, lift truck operators and viticulturists. 'It's hard, but I don't think the winery's ever really adjusted its workforce in the 50 years before I joined, and I think there are a lot of wineries like that,' he said. 'You go on a diet first before you reach the lifestyle change phase.' In Bronco's case, that lifestyle change will not involve ready-to-drink, the ultra-fast-growing category of beverages that encompasses canned cocktails and hard seltzers. The space is too crowded. 'They're churning very fast and it's very difficult to build something there,' he said. 'We're not seduced.' He is intrigued, however, by half-bottles and boxed wines. (Despite being owned by the Franzia family, Bronco does not own the boxed-wine brand Franzia.) Tough as his job may sound, don't feel bad for Engels. He's having fun, he swears. 'When the tide is ebbing, that's what really separates great operators from folks that participated as a passenger in the category growth,' he said. 'I love that.'
Miami Herald
17-06-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Major alcohol distributor quits California, signals warning
If you think everyone's still obsessed with craft beer and California cabernets, the stats say something else entirely. Americans are rethinking their relationship with booze, and the numbers don't lie: Beer and wine sales are sliding. Wine, in particular, is at its least popular point in 30 years. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter Beer is not doing much better, especially craft beer. For four consecutive years the number of new brewery openings declined, with 434 new breweries opening and 501 closing in 2024. Why? People are more health-conscious, especially after the pandemic years when alcohol consumption was at concerning levels for many people. Now, "mindful drinking" is trending, and younger people are leaning into moderation or skipping alcohol altogether. Related: Coca-Cola doubles down on growing new category "Why would I put that toxin my body?" my daughter's boyfriend mused recently. He's a personal trainer and takes his fitness and nutrition very seriously. I had a few good comebacks but I didn't share them. Perhaps a discussion best had over a cold IPA? Anyway, the "California sober" lifestyle, where people ditch alcohol but might still enjoy cannabis or just drink less, has gone mainstream. Maybe in part due to the drink-less trend, one of the biggest names in alcohol, and in wine distribution in particular, just announced it's pulling out of California. For a state that's basically synonymous with wine, this is a big deal. Republic National Distributing Co., the nation's second-largest alcohol wholesaler, announced last week that it will not do business in California after Sept. 2. The news sent more than 2,500 beverage brands, including hundreds of winemakers, scrambling to find a new distributor in the state, as reported in The San Francisco Chronicle. While the Grand Prairie, Texas-based Republic National has not suggested that politics played a role in the decision, the news may be resonating so widely in part because of the narrative it presents: A Texas company wants nothing to do with California. Related: Coca-Cola makes controversial move to win customers Republic CEO Bob Hendrickson cited "rising operational costs, industry headwinds, and supplier changes as reasons for the move," per the Chronicle. Recently Republic National Distributing Co. also reportedly lost the rights to sell popular spirits like Tito's vodka, High Noon, Cutwater Spirits, and Jack Daniel's, among others, which was likely a big financial blow to the company, according to VinePair. VinePair also called the news "corporate catastrophe basically without precedent in the United States' typically stable beverage-alcohol distribution business." The VinePair story further quotes Republic National employees as saying the Texas owners of the company were both arrogant and incompetent and thought they could do business in California the way they do in Texas. So, what does this shakeup mean for California's booze business? It is seen as a wake-up call for the whole industry. California's wine business has been hit hard by slumping sales and a new generation that's reaching for canned cocktails, which are often lower in alcohol than beer or wine. Spirits are definitely having a moment, so the party isn't totally over. Ready-to-drink (RTD) canned cocktails are everywhere, and even companies like Coca-Cola are jumping in. RTDs are convenient, lower in alcohol, and fit right in with the new, chill approach to drinking. As for the companies being left behind in California, many wineries in California and distilleries will now try to jump onto the lists of the other two big distributors, Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits or Breakthru Beverage Group. Related: Las Vegas Strip adds food hall of famous names The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Wales Online
01-06-2025
- Automotive
- Wales Online
people watch on as rows erupt on infamous 'Swearing Bridge'
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info For best views of the action, locals recommend the Tu Hunt i'r Bont tearoom or the Eagles beer garden. From here, there's a reasonable chance of seeing a 'hilarious' row erupting on Llanrwst's 17th Century bridge over the Afon Conwy. For as long as anyone can remember, High Noon showdowns have been taking place on the apex of a humpback bridge that's a Welsh icon. When drivers approach the single-lane bridge, there's no way of knowing if a vehicle is also crossing from the opposite direction. A recent video shared online showed the inevitable outcome: two motorists gesticulating, each insisting they have right of way. A few hours later, an almost identical scenario played out, this time involving a truck and a queue of cars. Some residents shake their heads sadly, others draw up their seats and watch the unfolding dramas. 'Who needs Netflix...?' noted one man online. Another added: 'We used to sit on the bridge watching them argue, it was fun!' Impasses on Pont Fawr bridge are part of local folklore – so much so that it's been dubbed Pont y Rhegi (The Swearing Bridge). One celebrated individual used to arbitrate disputes and for a while the bad language dissipated. Attempts to find a solution have done little to ease the problems. Sensors embedded in the bridge asphalt near the A470 trigger a flashing amber light on the other side of the bridge, warning oncoming drivers to stop. But by then it's often too late: two or more drivers are trundling towards each other en route to yet another Mexican stand-off. Regular users have long lived by the rule of 'first to the top wins' – first to the apex has the right of way and the other motorist must reverse off the bridge. 'I've reversed 6 times in a row before now,' sighed a local woman. 'Saves arguments.' Join the North Wales Live Whatsapp community now It's not a perfect system and increasing numbers of tourists not familiar with the local rule means the number of stand-offs is on the rise. There are other issues too: as well as endangering pedestrians on the bridge, drivers reversing onto the A470 are contravening Highway Code rule 201, which advises motorists not to back up onto main roads. Aberconwy MS Janet Finch-Saunders has asked the Welsh Government to intervene on 'numerous occasions'. 'Our understanding is that Conwy Council was working with the Welsh Government to find solutions for the A470 side of the bridge,' said a spokesperson for her office. 'But in the last 12 months we've heard nothing, so Janet will be raising further questions in the hope of reducing the risk of bridge stand-offs in the future.' (Image: Wayne Thorley) A joint project between local and national government was announced in February 2024 by Lee Waters, the former deputy minister for climate change. Its main aim was to assess new A470 and pavement markings to prevent turning vehicles from scraping the bridge parapet. The study, which would also examine traffic priorities, was 'subject to prioritisation and funding'. Former Llanrwst mayor Cllr Mostyn Jones, now chair of the town's finance committee, would prefer a solution involving three-way traffic lights – one on the Trefriw side, the other two on the A470. The latter pair would need to be sited so as to give sufficient room for traffic turning on and off the bridge. It follows years of bridge strikes by long-axis vehicles: the most recent involved a coach said to have sent mortar tumbling into the river last week. (Image: Google) Worried about constant repairs to a listed structure and a scheduled ancient monument, Cllr Jones has been lobbying heritage body Cadw for action. While Pont Fawr's 18-stone limit can accommodate two-axle HGVs and coaches, its narrow nature means slight misjudgements can have serious impacts. 'For the last two or three years I've been complaining to Cadw about the poor state of the bridge,' he said. 'With the high volume of traffic now seen in the Conwy Valley, a sustainable solution needs to be found urgently. 'Pedestrians use the bridge and we've seen that funding can be sourced for active travel schemes. A list of potential ideas must be drawn up and put out for public consultation.' Booming tourism in Eryri has brought more traffic into the Conwy Valley and its road infrastructure can struggle to cope. Notoriously, all four river crossings between Conwy town and Betws-y-Coed involve either single-lane bridges (Pont Fawr and Pont-y-Pair) or single-lane approaches (Talycafn and the Conwy town wall arch). 'There needs to be a more strategic approach to getting traffic across the river from the west side of the valley,' added Cllr Jones. Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox See what's on in your area
