Ross Live! presented a performance of the St Luke Passion, composed in 1728 by George Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) in St Mary's Church on Palm Sunday, 1st April, . This wonderful work, by the most prolific composer of all time, was the second 'not-by-J S Bach' Passions to be performed in Ross, following that by Reinhard Keiser last year.

Ross Live! makes a speciality of finding and presenting unusual works, usually with the collaboration of Martin Perkins of The Musical and Amicable Society whose Baroque Orchestra played for this concert.

The soloists were the young tenor Nicholas Mulroy who sang the Evangelist role with great sensitivity, Andrew King tenor who sang the Narrator, William Burn bass baritone, the Jesus role and Alastair Merry baritone, Joseph. The Ross-on-Wye Baroque Singers directed by David Backhouse gave a sparkling account of the frequently testing choruses, taking the complex tempi and demanding entries in their stride.

Wyenot News Opinion

It is a great shame that this concert was only advertised by way of an article written for a Parish Magazine. Had I known in advance about it, I would have gone to the performance, as I suspect would many other ordinary people in Ross-on-Wye. George Philipp Telemann happens to be one of my favourite composers but I was totally unaware of the event until a day before, when I was asked to photograph the rehearsal and had already arranged something else for the evening.

If 'Ross Live!' really is for the benefit of Ross and not just for the select few, it would be nice if the organizers were to let the local people know when events are taking place. It does not have to cost anything - the Wyenot News 'What's On?' page is free to use for example.

My daughter, Sarah Wood and her boyfriend, James Palmer were pleased to meet with their heroes, Danny John-Jules, who played 'The Cat' in Red Dwarf and Steven Dall of 'Friday 13th' fame during their visit to the 'Memorabilia' exhibition at Birmingham's NEC on Sunday.

Below are the photos they took with their mobile phones.

Last week I published an article stating that I had recently made a decision to stop supplying news and photography to the printed media. I am very well aware that this decision has not been taken well by some. However, I intend to hold my ground on this decision as my photos appearing in newspapers and magazines is holding back readership of my own publication, locally.

I made the decision due to lack of credit for my photographic work but I must stress that this is absolutely not because I want personal fame as a photographer. I do not particularly enjoy seeing my personal name under photos in the local and other press. All I ever wanted was the name 'Wyenot News' under the photographs. I feel strongly that the only way I will ever get 'Wyenot News' to work for me as well as it does for the local community is to stop supplying all newspapers and magazines with my work, allowing Wyenot News more exclusive material.

Below are scanned copies of two full pages from the latest 'Herefordshire Life' magazine which show a prime example of why I have stopped supplying the printed media. 'Herefordshire Life' is a glossy magazine serving the whole of Herefordshire, Monmouthshire and Powys and a friend of mine, 'Ken, the Pie Man' recently asked me if he could send some photos I had taken of him to the magazine for an article about his business. At first, I was not sure whether to allow this or not because, although I like Ken a lot, 'Herefordshire Life magazine have asked to use my photography on several previous occasions but each time they have not wanted to pay me. I had recently refused to send them my photos of the Ross Country and Western Festival because they wanted them but were not willing to pay.

For the sake of Ken, I allowed the use of my 'Medieval Pie Man' photos free of charge but on one condition - that they must credit them with a by-line to 'Wyenot News - www.wyenot.com'. I know that Ken informed 'Herefordshire Life' of this condition - it is they who have not stuck to the one condition I set for their use. They have used images of mine - not only for a full page article about Ken but in a half page advertisement as well (which I am sure did not come cheap to poor old Ken) and there is not a single credit to 'Wyenot News' or indeed, any personal credit in sight.

Why is it that the printed media seem to find ways not to credit 'Wyenot news'? Could it be that they are frightened by it, or is it that they just want to take the credit themselves for somebody else's work?

I saw this 'Herefordshire Life' article for the first time yesterday morning and I am still spitting blood and seething about it. I'm sorry but my anger may well have come across in this article.

Top team of the table played the second on Saturday in what looked like a title decider as Ross travelled to Dursley who were one point clear at the top. A victory would almost guarantee Ross the 2nd division title and a second promotion in as many years. A big crowd had gathered with both Dursley and Ross well represented.

As kick off neared, what had been a sunny afternoon took a turn for the worst and as the wind and rain came in from the East, Ross lost the toss and had to play against the elements in the first half. With the wind at their backs and buoyed on by their supporters, Dursley started the brightest. After less than 5 minutes into the game, they opened the scoring as their fullback cut through the Ross defence to score. The try was converted and Ross were 7-0 down. With the wind and rain in their faces, Ross struggled to gain any territory or momentum in their game and Dursley were content to keep Ross pinned down in their own half. As the pressure built into the second quarter, Dursley stretched their advantage with a second converted try, giving them a 14-0 lead. Ross, however, continued to defend valiantly and with the advantage of the elements awaiting them in the second half, a 14 point deficit was definitely retrievable. However, with the first half drawing to a close, Dursley crossed for their third try, leaving them at 21-0 ahead at half time.

Ross needed to respond quickly in the second half if they were to give themselves a chance of overhauling Dursley's lead. With the elements now in their favour, they began to exert pressure and camp themselves in Dursley's half. However, they they were not able to convert the half chances they created and as the clock passed the hour mark, Ross were still 21-0 down. With time running out, Ross redoubled their efforts with the forwards starting to dominate a tiring Dursley pack. Two penalties in a row enabled Ross to get a lineout 5 yards out from the Dursley line. Nick Rawlings found Ashley Nelms and the forwards set up a driving maul. Dursley managed to pull it down a yard from the line but from the back of the ruck, Simon Gwynne crashed over from a yard out to score. Ross were revitalized by the score and were straight back amongst the Dursley forwards with both Wayne Williams and Dave Mince putting Ross on the front foot in the forward exchanges. It was from this driving play that Ross scored their second try. First Matt Redman, then Wayne Williams carried the ball into the Dursley twenty two. From the ensuing ruck, Tim Hanks picked up and the ball was driven over by Dave Mince. Ross were now 21-10 down but their revival had come too late and Dursley held out for the last 5 minutes to secure victory. Ross still remain on course for promotion but the title now looks beyond them.

Ross 's next home game is against Cheltenham Saracens on 14th April. Kick off is at 3 PM at Ross Sports Centre.

Ross-on-Wye Weather Station is located by the tennis courts and bowling green at 'Crossfields' and is one of the important stations around the country which regularly sends data to the Meteorological Office. This is why Ross-on-Wye is sometimes mentioned on the BBC weather reports. It is currently still a manually monitored station and readings are taken twice per day by husband and wife team, June and Rex Swallow.

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