Flooding of the River Wye at Ross reached a peak on Wednesday, 6th December. Levels were not the highest they have ever been by a long way but with horrible wet, blustery conditions persisting over England and Wales for several days last week, levels are likely to remain high for a while.

Below the two night shots, which were taken on Wednesday, 6th December you can see virtually the same scene the following morning. Water levels had dropped about ten inches over night and the picture does not look anything like as pretty without the moon lighting the clouds and a couple of stars poking through the gaps. The red life buoyancy aid to the bottom left, can be used as a gauge, showing how much the water level dropped over night.

Levels had dropped further by an inch or two on Friday and several feet on Sunday but had risen to the previous Wednesday's levels again by the morning of Tuesday, 12th December.

Continued . . .

Two days running last week I was woken early in the morning by a phone call from the BBC asking me if I would go down to the river and do a live flood report on the radio. I hope they came across OK because on both occasions I had only had about four hours sleep due to collecting Tina from work during the early hours. It was a pleasure all the same.

Since I wrote the paragraph above, I have broadcast the BBC live flood report a couple more times and will continue to do so during high flood risk periods. It feels quite weird standing by the river and chatting to Howard on the phone live on the breakfast show. I'm half asleep just minutes before hand, thinking, 'suppose I can't think of something to say' and I never remember to turn the radio on on the way down to the river, so cannot place what I do eventually say in context with the rest of the show. I have been stopped in the street several times though since last Thursday and told that it comes over well. The Beeb telephone me later in the day and tell me the same thing so it can't be all that bad.

Free Stuff:
Taking the top photo of this series was not an easy task with the camera and tripod being buffeted about in the high winds but I think the effort was worthwhile. I have made this picture available for use as 'desktop wallpaper'. I am currently using it on my network computers and it looks pretty good - especially on the high resolution monitor used for graphics. If you click here or the photo itself, a larger version will open in a separate window for free download. Please stick to the terms and conditions though and don't change it or publish it.

Santa will be coming to Ross-on-Wye this coming Saturday with an advance party of elves to give all the Children in Ross-on-Wye who go to visit him at Ross Market an early Christmas present. The fun will begin with a torchlight procession along Brookend and Broad Street by Cubs, Scouts, Brownies and Ross Phoenix Majorettes at around 4:00pm and presents will be given out at the market a little later.

On Saturday morning last, I met Santa in the Maltings who, along with members of Ross Carnival Committee helped him raise some money towards the enormous cost of providing these extra presents for the lucky children of the town.

Santa took time out to pose for a photo with local children, Cassie and Maisie Tucker and Molly Brine. Sharon Heaven also joined in for the photo shoot and so did Colin Gray of the Carnival Committee.

A very special disco has been arranged for Friday 29th December in memory of Matt Beddard, who died of a brain tumour in his early teens. Matt was a very brave and popular boy, who's friends have often taken part in fund raising events to help support the Brain Tumour Trust, the Teenage Cancer Trust and Birmingham Childrens' Hospital. The disco is being organized by Matt's mother, Mel Beddard and Kim Parsons and will take place at The Royal Hotel, Ross-on-Wye from 7:30 pm until 11:30 pm. Mel and Kim hope that the event will raise a lot of money for these charities.

The dress code is fancy dress i.e. come as your favourite pop star. There will be a bar available, nibbles and lots of great raffle prizes, so dig out your best dancing gear and head to the Royal Hotel on Friday 29th. Mel and Kim will be very pleased to see you.

Tickets are available from Ross Health and Fitness Centre and cost £8.00 per adult and £4.00 per child.

The Bull's Hill road was closed to traffic due to an Alder tree which fell in gusty winds on Thursday, 7th December. With the help of Councillor Simeon Cole, Gary Symmonds and Dennis Watkins of Herefordshire Jarvis Services, the road was later reopened.

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.

At Wye Angling you will find much more than just a hook, line and sinker - Wye Angling can satisfy all of your fishing requirements. As well as stocking some of the biggest names in equipment and accessories, such as Preston Innovations, Daiwa Cormoran, Fox and Chubb to name but a few, they also have an extensive range of both fresh and frozen baits, floats and clothing etc. In fact they can cater for all of your angling needs, from tuition and season or day tickets for lake or river fishing to information on matches, fun days and open days.. . . . .

For further information, click here to go to the Wye Angling page on Wyenot.com.

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