Having hidden themselves away from canoes, dogs and people during the main tourist season, I am pleased to report that the River Wye otters are back by the White Lion Inn at Wilton.

Tina Jones and Dave Newman saw them first on both Tuesday and Wednesday mornings but I was unable to get there with a camera on those occasions. I was with Matt in Cheltenham Tuesday and Hereford Wednesday for his treatment. On Thursday though, I dropped Tina at work and then waited around with both still and movie cameras at the ready to see if they would make an appearance. I kind of got lucky but I shall have another go when I'm a little less stressed. This week has been one of those weeks of early mornings and late nights, during which I have literally not had a moment to rest. I have struggled to keep up with all the photography and have been falling asleep involuntarily whilst writing. Looking for otters for two hours was a welcome break from dashing here, there and everywhere.

WNTV footage below . . .

Above is the one still photograph that I took on the day but I did also manage to capture some movie film. It is not the best possible and I will try to improve on it later in the season. I am no expert when it comes to filming nature movies but the short clip will at least prove that the River Wye Otters do exist, and that they are back for the winter months. Apologies for my description of the seagull - my narrative is not exactly David Attenborough. I was just so engrossed in what I was doing and was not particularly thinking at the time about the film being watched by others. If you know me well, you will be aware that it could have been much worse! When I am really stressed I can fit expletives between the syllables of expletives. You may have to turn the volume up quite a bit as the sound was only being picked up by the camera's built in microphone.

[Click here to view the November Wye Otters on WNTV]

Right click the above link to download to your own computer (11.51 Mb). Unlike the still photographs on this web site, permission is granted to freely distribute any WNTV video, as long as the films remain unaltered.

Students at John Kyrle High School recently had fun holding a fancy dress event to raise funds towards the £3 million needed to build a new Charles Renton unit for the treatment of cancer patients at Hereford County Hospital. This was reported in Wyenot News, Issue No. 116. As a result of this day of dressing as nurses and packing bags at Morrisons, they raised over £2,000.

During a school assembly on Monday of this week, a cheque was presented by sixth form students to Mrs. Joyce Thomas MBE DL, Patron of Ross Macmillan.

Mrs. Thomas gratefully accepted the cheque on behalf of Macmillan, saying, 'As a patron of Ross Macmillan/Renton Group, I would like to congratulate the students and staff at the John Kyrle High School & Sixth Form Centre for their excellent fund raising effort at the school, raising a magnificent £2,361.94.

Particular thanks go to Nigel Griffiths, Headteacher, Mark Croad, Assistant Head, Sue Vinall, Head of Department, Gwyneth Gill, Head of Year, Paul Deneen, Teacher and Sue Jones. We appreciate their efforts very much indeed.'

In the photo below at the presentation are Mark Croad, Sue Vinall, Sam Clement, Amber Williams, Steph Vinall, Joyce Thomas and Nigel Griffiths

Bridstow childminders, parents and children have been taking part in Brake's road safety week this week in a bid to make drivers along the A49 aware of the problems pedestrians experience when crossing the road to and from school. They have erected a poster at the side of the road asking people to drive safely and children are wearing reflective jackets etc. to draw attention to their presence on the road.

The A49 in Bridstow gets busy during peak times and visibility for pedestrians crossing between the bus stop and the war memorial is poor. The situation is made more difficult because drivers caught behind vehicles waiting to turn right towards the school often use the junction with Bannutree lane to 'undertake'. This can be very dangerous for people crossing the road as drivers don't always look ahead to check for pedestrians.

The problem affects not only those crossing to get to school but also older children crossing to get to the John Kyrle Bus and residents walking to the Parish Hall, Church and the local Mother and Toddler group.

If you are a regular driver along the A49 through Bridstow please look out for people crossing to get to the school, bus stop, Parish Hall etc. Above all please keep your speed down and please don't undertake into the junction - after all the minute or so added to your journey could be all that's needed to save a child's life.

Marie Curie Cancer Day at St. Weonard's School was spent gardening. Local Member of Parliament, Paul Keetch visited the children and pupils also made a live radio broadcast on BBC Hereford and Worcester.

Usually the school holds a big gardening day in either spring or summer but this year they decided to hold an autumn gardening session instead. The children planted daffodils, shrubs and bulbs in the school grounds to help raise funds for a Cancer Support Unit.

St. Weonard's School also recently received an award from 'Flavours of Herefordshire' for their school dinners.

Below, Paul Keetch MP helps Matthew O'Leary, Tom Fletcher, Olivia Davies, Thomas Drew, Bobbie Hains and Ethan Coihrum with the gardening. In the bottom photo, Tom Williams, Dan Craig, Amy Grant and Lottie Ward stop for a photo with Paul Keetch MP and Headteacher, Mr David Thomas whilst planting a shrub.

Professional musicians, Julia Lynch, Jane Irwin and Paul Keohone visited Goodrich School on Friday, 3rd November to sing to the children, giving them a chance to hear how real opera singers sound. The operatic trio are from Glasgow and visited the school on the same day that they performed 'Music by the Wye' at Wyastone Hall.

In the photo with the opera singers are Lara Naomi, Ali Banks, whose mum and dad organized the school visit, Beccy Swithenbank, Ollie Owens, James Watson and Jack Whittaker.

As a free additional benefit to those local businesses supporting Wyenot.com, every week Wyenot News chooses one local business at random to feature in the current issue of the weekly on-line news magazine.

Perez Enterprises is a small business in Sellack, Herefordshire. Proprietors, Rob and Clare Perez specialize in the design and building of bespoke, sturdy play towers, exciting swing sets, climbing frames, Wendy houses, tree houses and other garden toys, as well as timber garden furniture, such as sheds, patio furniture and fencing. All play systems are built to extremely high standards, with your child's safety being foremost in their minds. They are versatile in that they can be adapted as children grow, by adding towers, bridges, climbing nets, swings and rock walls etc. . . . .

For further information, click here to go to the 'Let's Explore' page on Wyenot.com.

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Prints are only available for photographs taken by Wyenot News (Not of those which have been sent in by readers).

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