St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School are currently in the process of putting together a School Travel Plan, the aim of which is to improve safety, to ease traffic congestion around the school, to promote healthy lifestyles and sustainable methods of travel. As part of this process, the school have introduced a one way system for cars transporting children to and from school, beginning on Monday, 5th January 2007.

All drivers have been asked to enter The Avenue from Walford Road and to park below the school entrance and only on the school side of The Avenue. After dropping off or picking up their children, drivers are asked to continue down The Avenue, turning into Eastfield Road rather than turn around and drive back up The Avenue and on to Walford Road. The school have even provided a map for clarification.

Staff at St. Joseph's hope that people will be patient, supportive and understanding during the initial period of change as the motivation behind this plan is the welfare of the children and care for the environment.

At Ross Lions Bonfire Night last November and during a 'Taster Day' at Y-Zone in January, the Courtyard Community Arts officers Benjamin Peer and Amy Forbes showcased a variety of creative performances and free sessions to give the over 16s of Ross-on-Wye an idea of what new artistic courses could become available to them.

A project, funded by The EU Regional Development Fund and the Arts Council through the Creative Learning Centre working in partnership with Herefordshire Council Youth Services and The Courtyard is finally ready to run some of the courses requested at the two events.

Continued . . .

Based on all of the feedback and information collected on bonfire night and at the 'taster' day, The Courtyard now know what you want and are ready to deliver it. Starting this week, there will be three free sets of creative sessions for those over 16 years old from Ross-on-Wye.

There will be weekly Breakdancing with 'Urban Edge', on Wednesdays at 6 pm, between 7th February and 4th April. Weekly Hip Hop, scratching, mixing and rapping with 'Dubmerge' will take place on Thursday nights at 7 PM between 1st February and 22nd March. And an open studio music production facility (do your own thing or get tutorials) will take place weekly on Saturdays and Sundays, 12.30 PM to 9.30 PM between 10th February and 4th March, at 'Y Zone' in Hill Street.

This is a great opportunity, specifically aimed at young people in Ross so that they can benefit from funding specifically aimed at them. Over 16s will be able to learn a new skill, better an existing interest, train up in an artistic skill they actually care about and fill some of their spare time. And if these workshops aren't quite what you would like to see in Ross, all you need do is get in touch with Amy or Ben, The Courtyard's Community Arts Officers and let them know what you really would like.

For further details, please feel free to contact Amy Forbes on 07866 557 735 or Ben Peer on 07841 501 723.

As part of National Storytelling Week, Ashfield Park Primary School held a literacy event on Tuesday 30th January, giving parents the opportunity to look at the school's new reading scheme, The Oxford Tree. The school is constantly adding to this resource and the scheme has been very popular with both staff and pupils.

Guided reading materials used in class in both key stages were on display for parents to view as were examples of children's writing (by anonymous or past pupils) giving parents a clearer picture of what the levels given in SATs mean.

During the day, storyteller Austin Keenan entertained the children whilst parents were given demonstrations of the type of resources used via interactive whiteboards which showed what and how the children are learning. There were also two after school sessions for parents to participate in storytelling sessions with their children.

Considered by many to be the greatest jazz trumpeter in Europe, Rod Mason and his band, the Hot Five, will be taking a break from touring the international jazz scene to perform in support of the Royal National College for the Blind (RNC) in Hereford, on Monday 12th and Tuesday 13th March, 2007.

'Rod and his band come over from Germany each March to play at a handful of selected UK venues including RNC. Tickets always sell out, so this year we're delighted that he'll be performing an extra evening', said RNC's Marion Lyons. 'Fans can sit back, relax in comfortable café-style seating and enjoy an evening of live classic jazz from Europe's finest.'

The event is being organized by the Friends of RNC to raise funds for a variety of projects involved in the teaching of students who are blind or partially sighted.

Rod Mason's musical career began with his father's band in Plymouth in the 1950s. Since then his cornet and trumpet have featured with Monty Sunshine's Band, Mr Acker Bilk's Paramount Jazz Band and the Dutch Swing College Band, as well as a band co-led in the seventies with Ian Wheeler.

The Hot Five, formed 20 years ago and are today critically acclaimed as Europe's No 1 hot band. Their broad repertoire is firmly rooted in classic jazz, featuring original arrangements from Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Seven, King Oliver's Creole Band and Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers, plus a wide selection of material from other (sometimes unexpected) sources. These are not merely slavish copies - Mason's unmistakable style and undeniable virtuosity create a fresh yet remarkably accurate performance of living classic jazz.

The concert is taking place at 7.30pm, RNC, College Road, Hereford. Tickets are priced £9, concessions £8 and are on sale now from RNC Fund-raising on 01432 265725, e-mail ml@rncb.ac.uk.

Are you looking for fresh air and fun? Why not team up with 'Ross Wild Connections', Herefordshire Nature Trusts' latest project to create wildlife areas in and around the town.

If you enjoy practical outdoor work like cutting back overgrown plants, managing ponds for frogs and newts and creating new wildlife havens, the Ross Wild Connections team will be getting out and about once a month and are inviting you to join them. You could either join in occasionally or on a regular basis.

The fruits of your labours will form the highlights of a new circular wildlife walk due to be launched in 2008. There will be something for everybody, from the strongest to the keenest and for those with experience to share or those who would like to learn about nature.

The 'Ross Wild Connections' project has been has been made possible through funding by Biffaward, a multi-million pound environment fund managed by the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts. It is also supported by Defra's Sustainable Development Fund administered by the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Unit.

If you would like to join in, the first work party will be taking place on Tuesday, 27th February. Please book ahead by telephoning and leaving a message for Jessica Blake on 01432 356872.

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.

Del and Chris would like to welcome you to the Plough Inn, a lovely, traditional pub which is situated in Overross Street at the gateway to Ross-on-Wye town centre. A warm welcome and a friendly atmosphere awaits all visitors, making The Plough a great place to rest and have a relaxing drink after a long day's work or journey.

The Plough is a real local pub with a large regular, friendly customer base who welcome newcomers and visitors. The locals enjoy the friendly banter as they enjoy some of the excellent range of beers available. There is a large car park next to The Plough, which is in a convenient position for both the pub and the town centre.....

For further information, click here to go to The Plough page on Wyenot.com.

If you have a local news item or story of local interest which you would like to appear on Wyenot News you are very welcome to submit it by email, telephone or by post.

Please advise as early as possible if you would like me to photograph your local event so that I can put it in my diary. This service is offered strictly on a first come, first served basis.

Many Wyenot News photographs appear in various local newspapers and magazines. This does not imply that Wyenot News or any other part of this web site belongs to those publications. Wyenot News is a totally independent news magazine.

Contacting Wyenot News:

Email: please click here.

Telephone: 01989 763217 - Mobile: 0779 683 4077

Postal address: Wyenot News, 1, Hillview Road, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire. HR9 7EY

If you would like to order prints from Wyenot News photographs, please click here.

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

Prints of 'people' photographs are only available to those directly involved in the news event covered. i.e. I do not sell prints of people to the general public.