“The scaffolding poles are coming down and our refurbished buildings are being shown off to their former glory giving a very clear message that Abergavenny is not just open but it is ready for business,” said newly elected town mayor Councillor Chris Woodhouse.

Taking to the stage at the traditional ‘Mayor Making’ ceremony held at Abergavenny’s Borough Theatre, Councillor Woodhouse scotched rumours that Abergavenny was in decline, saying that confidence in the town was growing with footfall at its highest for eight years and the number of empty shops at its lowest for eight years.

“This wonderful town of ours has a long history of which we are all very proud and which we delight in sharing with visitors, but we are also a town that is not afraid of the future and what it may hold,” he said.

“We have one major development yet to come and when that does come I know we’ll be even more successful,” he added in a thinly veiled reference to the long-awaited Morrisons development of the former cattle market site.

As Councillor Woodhouse and his wife ‘and organiser’ of 43 years Sheila took the reins of office, he spoke of his delight at taking the helm during an exciting year for Abergavenny which would see the National Eisteddfod ‘coming home’ after a gap of 103 years and he called on the town to ‘get behind’ the event and support it.

“A huge event like this does not happen by chance and there are people who have striven for years to bring Britain’s greatest cultural, literary and musical festival to Abergavenny.

“The town council has been delighted to help with sponsorship with this event...and the local committee ably led by Frank Olding has worked its socks off and will continue to do so until the last tent peg has been pulled out of the Maes,” he said.

“We who live in Abergavenny will now have to ask ourselves ‘what am I doing for the eisteddfod?’. We must not just go to events but encourage neighbours and family from far and wide to attend because we will not have another chance in our lifetimes,” said Councillor Woodhouse,

“As a boy I grew up in Skirrid road and around the corner lived an elderly gentleman known as John Owen y Fenni, who worked tirelessly to promote the Welsh language in what I might call its barren years when it seemed it may be restricted to the west and north of the country.

“How delighted he would be today to see the National Eisteddfod in this town and I am delighted to hear that he is to be honoured during the eisteddfod week.

During his installation speech Councillor Woodhouse also paid tribute to the people who work so hard to make Abergavenny a success.

“We are very grateful to the people who show the enterprise, the enthusiasm and the vision to invest in our town - we are so lucky to have them,” he said.

“Abergavenny retains its tradition of mayor making in a public ceremony not only to satisfy a tradition which is more than 100 years old, but also to publicly thank many of the people who have made major contributions to the town and its residents,” he said.

Councillor Woodhouse also paid tribute to the outgoing mayor, Councillor Maureen Powell and her husband John, praising the ‘excellent manner in which they carried out their duties’ in a year which had seen them both suffer with their health.

Presenting the former mayor’s medal to Councillor Powell, Councillor Woodhouse said that rarely had it been more richly deserved.

Tribute was also paid to recently retired town clerk Peter Johns for his eight years of ‘loyal service’ and to members of the town council who worked so hard for Abergavenny.

“People often say they don’t know what the town council does well we support organisations like the CAB and the TIC, we work with Wales in Bloom to make our town attractive, we provide the Christmas lights and support the food festival, the jazz festival, our local eisteddfod, and the cycling events.

“We directly fund the street sweepers who keep our town clean and provide a summer playscheme for children during the holidays.

“We also work closely with MCC to maintain our public toilets, and we give financial support to countless other local organisations which ask us for help.

“This year we will be drawing up a medium and long term plan for the town to ensure the health and well-being of its residents and will be inviting many local groups to our meetings to not only hear about their work but see how we can help them achieve their aims.

Councillor Woodhouse’s deputy mayor for the coming year will be Councillor John Prosser, who said that he looked forward to working to as a team to steer the council during a busy year.

The mayoral charity for the year will be the local branch of the Alzheimer’s Society.

The evening also saw town awards presented to some of Abergavenny’s ‘unsung heroes’.

In her final duty as mayor, Councillor Maureen Powell said that there had been some outstanding nominations this year and that the judging panel, made up of her, Abergavenny Chronicle editor Liz Davies and town clerk Peter Johns had found it ‘extremely difficult’ to reach a decision.

After lengthy debate awards were presented to Sara Chicken, Jenny?Barnes and Rosemary and Tony Aurelius.

“Sara has worked tirelessly to support young people with disabilities despite her own illness this year and is a founder member of the MAGIC group,” said Councillor Powell.

“Jenny Barnes has worked with the disability group CAIR for many years and is an unfailing advocate for people with disabilities. She is always there and has always got something to say,” joked Councillor Powell.

The final award of the evening went to Rosemary and Tony Aurelius, former landlords of the Hen and Chickens pub, who Councillor Powell described as ‘true unsung heroes’.

“They help so many people quietly and without fuss getting on with their good works,” she said.

As she prepared to hand over the chain of office Councillor Powell said that she and her husband had had an unforgettable year and had attended more than 150 events.

“We have loved them all but the ones which have given us the most pleasure have been those involving young people,” she said.

“For me the most memorable came almost at the end of the my year when I had the honour of presenting Queen’s 90th birthday coins to more than 800 primary school children in Abergavenny.

“They we so delighted to receive them and some actually thought I was the Queen,” she laughed.

“In fact when I returned to Our Lady and St Michael’s for an event a week later, I heard one little lad shout down the corridor ‘look, the Queen’s come back!’.

Councillor Powell thanked all those who had supported her during the year of office and all those who had helped with her fundraising efforts for the Wales Air Ambulance and Velindre Cancer Care.

She also paid special tribute to her husband John and to fellow councillors laughing that despite their different political views they hadn’t ‘caused her too much trouble’.