At the March Executive Meeting of Ross-on-Wye Chamber of Commerce, Robert Brain was appointed President in place of Nigel Maud, who was elected President at the Chamber's AGM on 15th November. Nigel has had to withdraw from many of his business commitments.

Rob said, 'I am honoured to be appointed as President of the Ross Chamber of Commerce and will do my best for Ross. I will endeavour to follow the strong lead of immediate past presidents Jo Ashman and Nigel Maud and to build upon current initiatives, to help consolidate the Chamber's role and activities to help take us into what we hope will be a more vital economic era in Ross.

I urge all current members to rejoin and look forward to new members joining to give a boost to our campaign for a better Ross.

Partly as a result of lobbying by this Chamber, Ross is recognized as a natural focus for the county's economic development. In the next few weeks we will be discussing and adopting a Chamber "business plan" with key objectives and targets for the short term future. I appeal to all businesses to get on board and help us formulate this plan and help implement it. Together we can make a difference.

Recently we have done excellent groundwork. But in the next 2-3 years I believe we have an opportunity to make real strides forward to exploit some of the natural and strategic assets of Ross without killing the environmental goose.

Working in conjunction with the Hereford and Worcester Chamber of Commerce, the Herefordshire Partnership which includes Herefordshire and Ross Councils, with the Market Towns Initiative and with Advantage West Midlands we hope to become truly representative of the economic profile of the area.

By teamwork and consensus we can significantly raise the bar and open up new economic horizons for Ross.'

Wyenot is what the web should be . . .

Hello Alan,

I just thought I'd write and say what a nice friendly website you are running. My wife and I are thinking of selling our London home and down-sizing to somewhere nice - that's how I bumped into your site. Ross looks like it might fit the bill.

This is the first time I have ever written to a site this and I've been on the web since '95. Wyenot.com is what the web should be like.

Thanks.

Geoff

Thank you for that, Geoff. I hope you manage to find somewhere locally and if you do move to the area, please introduce yourself. Alan

Audrey's Fish Bar . . .

Hi Alan,

I just wanted to thank you for reminding me about Audrey's Fish Bar in the Wyenot News recently. You do tend to forget about it, living the other side of town, but the detour round the houses is most certainly worth it, as you say.

I have been there after my last three Spanish lessons in Hereford (I can say hola and adios - don't laugh), and not only is the food superior, it is nice not to be served by spotty teenagers who can barely speak to you.

Changing the subject, it was really good news to hear about Matt's wellbeing - fingers crossed!

Best regards,

Dave Nicholls

I missed Tudorville Chippy myself this week as I had been invited to dine at the Royal with Ross Rotary Club to see how things work as I am their guest speaker next week. It was a lovely meal but I'm already suffering the TC withdrawal symptoms - weight loss, constant hunger pangs and a craving for curry sauce. Can you get the patches on the NHS?

Falté Tudorville Chippy mismo esta semana pues a me habían invitado que cenara en el real con El Club Rotatorio de Ross para ver cómo las cosas trabajan pues soy su locutor de la huésped la semana próxima. Era una comida encantadora pero estoy sufriendo ya los síntomas del retiro del TC - cargue la pérdida, punzadas constantes del hambre y anhelar para la salsa de curry. ¿Puede usted conseguir Los remiendos en El NHS?

Alan
PS. I cheated and used Babel Fish.

King Arthur's Cave . . .

There I was delighted in having discovered images of the Biblins suspension bridge when I remembered King Arthur's Cave and discovered your photos and text.

I have no theories about forest lights but just had to contact you since my brothers, sister and I used to roam the woods and caves on the Great Doward back in the late 50's and early 60's when visiting our grandfather.

As children, of course, we found much that felt mysterious, but we never did find Excalibur.

Stephen Lacey

Thank you Stephen. King Arthur's cave was one of the very first places I decided to cover photographically when planning to build 'Wyenot' back in May 2000 and as such, has memories for me of visiting regularly at all times of day and night with my sons and daughter. It's a great place to visit at night, especially if you like bats.

Scouts looking for local historian . . .

Alan

Is there anyone local who has a knowledge of the history of Ross? This year is the 100th anniversary of the Scout Association and I would like someone to come and tell the Cubs about how Ross would have been when Scouting started in 1907.

A map of the area at the time would also be useful, we could then look round the town at what is still in existence and what is new.

If you are able to help, please contact Akela [Robin Shaw] on 01989 762876

Thank you

Robin Shaw

Below are some more photos taken at the Mayor's Charity Ball. All photos taken at the event can be viewed in the gallery.

The subject for the this year's annual Rotary Club lecture is both provocative and topical: 'Climate change and Political Change: how will it affect you?' The speaker will be Sir Ben Gill CBE and the event will take place at The Chase Hotel, Ross-on-Wye on Friday, 20th April at 6.30pm. Admission costs £10 per person and proceeds will be going to Rotary Charity Trust Fund No 1012843.

Sir Ben farmed for many years in Yorkshire, and is an internationally renowned expert on agriculture. As President of the National Farmers’ Union from 1998 to 2004 and as deputy President from 1991 to 1998 he represented the interests of Britain’s 50,000 farmers on the national and international scene. During this time we went through the BSE scare, the beef wars with France, the Foot & Mouth epidemic and difficult negotiations over the major reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. As president of the Confederation of European Agriculture he was involved with the enlargement of the EU from 15 to 25 member states and more recently 27.

After his time as NFU President, Sir Ben headed a task force advising the Government on Biomass as a sustainable source of renewable energy. He assumed the role of Chairman of Westbury Dairies Ltd (Europe’s largest and most efficient milk drying facility) from 2004 to 2006 following the failure of the previous company United Milk plc. Sir Ben was knighted for his services to agriculture in 2003.

DO YOU HAVE A STORY FOR WYENOT NEWS?

If you have a local news item or story you can submit it here
or call Alan or Tina on 01989 763217

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).

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