Please forgive me if this week's news appears very rushed and thrown together. It has been a very busy week with a very nice but, at the same time, extremely tiring weekend. As I do the final photo prep and text edit, I am feeling unwell from total exhaustion and an insect bite on my leg which has turned septic and is now making me sick and feverish. A rare trip to the doctor is in order tomorrow morning.

I think there must be a new kind of insect around over the past couple of years which I seem to be susceptible to being bitten by and, at the same time, allergic to. Exactly the same thing happened last May and the May before that but to a lesser degree. This year's is particularly nasty and it is now very painful to walk.

I'm afraid that I am going to rush the rest of this week's issue, shove it all up on one big page and get to bed. I have to go to Manchester tomorrow evening to collect something Matt bought on Ebay and need rest before the trip. Sorry for the download time of the one long page. I promise to try and do better next week.

A.W.

Visitors from Betzdorf, Ross-on-Wye's German twin town arrived safely on Friday evening at approximately 22:00 hrs, tired but glad to be visiting old friends in Ross again.

We were hosts to Marc Rosencranz, a young journalist who also does simiilar work to Wyenot.com. Marc stayed with us during the 2003 visit and expressed a wish to do so again this time and we were glad to welcome him back.

Over the bank holiday weekend our guests and their host families enjoyed several activities, as you will see from the photographs below. The first of these was a Civic Reception, which was held at St. Mary's Church Hall. Councillor, Phil Cutter gave a welcoming speech to the people of Betzdorf, which was translated by one of the visitors, Dominik Wichmann. Bernd Brato, Burgemeister of Betzdorf then addressed the assembled company and made a presentation to the town of a set of gardening tools made by Wolf Tools. This, he told us would make looking after the oak tree that had been presented on a previous occasion much easier.

Ross-on-Wye Town Mayor, Derek Bedford later arrived to give a short speech of welcome.

Continued....

After the reception of Saturday morning the twinning associations were given a guided tour of Ross by Mary Sinclair-Powell. After picking up some very interesting facts about the history of the town, the participants were treated to a cream tea at The Friends' Meeting House.

A 'Welcome' dinner was held in the evening at Upton Bishop Millennium Hall, where geusts were entertained with songs sung by the Ross-Betzdorf singers.

Sunday was a schedule free day so Marc and I, at his request attended the morning service at Henry Street Evangelical Church. It was nice to see everybody there again. I'm afraid that the last time I went was during Marc's last visit in 2003. After the service we took Marc to lunch at the White Lion, then feeling rather full went home for a while. As you may remember, the weather was appalling on Sunday but after a couple of hours chilling out and listening to music we decided to show him Symonds Yat East and enjoy a cream tea at Rose Cottage, then a beer at the Saracen's Head. Even in the pouring rain Symonds Yat looks beautiful.

I had to work on Monday and Alan had work to do, so Marc boarded the coach with the other twinning members and visited Gloucester Cathedral and then Eastnor Castle. Marc said that he really had enjoyed his day out and was tired but wanted to take a short walk down to the river before going to bed for the last time in England until he visits again. We had to be up at six the next morning as the coach to Betzdorf was to leave at seven. We waved everybody goodbye and headed home to start work on this week's issue of Wyenot News.

In last week's issue of Wyenot News I published a article advertising a charity car wash which was to take place at the Ross Labels car park on Sunday, 27th May. During the morning I received a telephone call from one of the students organizing the event who told me that due to the terrible weather they were forced to cancel. Don't be disheartened, however, as they intend to hold the car wash on Friday, same time, 8 am until 6 pm and same venue, so you can still get your car washed and help the JKHS Uganda fund after all.

Saturday was a busy day in general and so I had trouble getting to all of the events I had intended. Following a very tiring and stressful few days and having to borrow Tina's son, Russell's car to get around during a very busy daytime on Saturday because my new clutch - fitted at Christmas broke again. (Something about which I am very angry because I had to pay twice for the labour - £282! For something which should have been fixed in the first time around!) And having walked miles on a tour of Ross, I was totally knackered by evening time, fell asleep in my armchair and only made it briefly to two events.

At the Barrel Inn, Hazy Ray played. I did not make that one unfortunately but have seen them before at the Cross keys, where they were extremely good. Little Sister played the Prince of Wales. Although good at what they do, they are not my 'cup of tea' so I missed that one out, making it briefly to the Old Court Hotel at Whitchurch, where 'Dog Nozzle' were providing an evening of entertainment dressed as characters from 'Baywatch'.

I have to confess that I have never watched a single episode of 'Baywatch' and when Tina later saw my photos, she had to explain to me who Pamela Anderson is. (I'm a bit dim when it comes to actors and actresses). The band, which had 'Pamela Anderson' twins on guitar and bass, was great though. The music was brilliant and the audience, in fancy dress, were having a great time!

Brilliant! What else can I say? I stayed for 10 minutes, spent a further 10 chatting with a nice young lady whose name now eludes me - a fan of the band - in the Old Court garden and then off to the next gig - the Betzdorf dinner in Upton Bishop.

Police have issued an E-fit picture of a man they want to trace in connection with an attempted distraction burglary in the village of Glewstone, near Ross-on-Wye.

At around 2.20pm on Wednesday, May 16, three men attempted to gain entry to the home of an elderly woman. One of them claimed that there had been a massive water leak in the village and they needed to enter the house to turn to the water off. At this point, the men were disturbed by the householder’s daughter, who had just walked into the garden of the house. She challenged the men and they fled the scene, leaving the area in a silver coloured estate car.

As they left, one of the men threw a pebble at the householder’s daughter, which hit her on the arm and caused bruising. He is the man pictured in the E-fit image. He is described as white, aged around 20 to 30, 5ft 8ins to 5ft 9ins tall, with a clean shaven round face and short fair hair. He was wearing a white shirt under a dark zip front jacket.

A second man was said to be white, again aged between 20 and 30, and taller than the other men. He was slim, with very dark hair, cut short but wavy on top. He wore a light-coloured long sleeve shirt and dark trousers.

No description is available of the third man involved.

Police have repeated their warnings about distraction burglaries, especially those concerning bogus ‘water board’ officials. There have been a number of incidents in recent weeks in Herefordshire and similar offences have taken place in north Worcestershire.

PC Mark Herbert from the Burglary Investigation Team at Hereford CID said: “People need to be reminded that if anyone calls claiming to be from a utility company they should produce valid identification. If there are any doubt people should not be afraid to check with the company concerned and not let them in until satisfied they are who they say they are. Alternatively if people are suspicious about callers they should contact us.“

Distraction burglaries are despicable crimes which are very distressing for the victims. The criminals involved, who can be very convincing, are picking on the most vulnerable members of our community.

“I would also urge people to keep an eye out for their neighbours. If people see callers going door to door and they are not happy with the circumstances then they should not hesitate to call us as we would rather check it out than deal with another offence of this kind.”

Anyone with information relating to this incident should call PC Mark Herbert on 08457 444888 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

Crime prevention advice and details of the Force’s ‘Knock Knock’ campaign is available online at www.westmercia.police.uk

STROUD HOUSE . 30 GLOUCESTER ROAD
ROSS-ON-WYE . HEREFORDSHIRE HR9 5LE

Tel: 01989 768320

Around fifty young people attended a special Scout camp on a wet weekend, which had been deemed by Scouting headquarters as the weekend for all Scouts in the country to have the opportunity to camp.

The Ross on Wye, Walford, Aston Ingham and Whitchurch Cubs Scouts and explorers camped and were joined by Beavers on the Saturday, making almost 100 people, who all took part in Scoutcraft activities. These activities are still enjoyed just as much by young people today as they were 100 years ago with Robert Baden Powell.

Activities included cooking, tracking, plaster casts and knotting as well as more modern fun tasks such as putting a nappy on a monkey [a toy one of course].

The campfire on Saturday evening was led by Robin Shaw and Jane Ayres, leaders from Ross and Aston Ingham and was attended by not just the campers but also many parents along with ex-scouts and leaders. The fire was lit by the oldest and youngest active members of the district, Basil Pilgrim and Luke Darwin.

Two new leaders were presented their warrants before the fire was lit, Anthea Hamilton and Fiona Law-Eadie from Aston Ingham Cub Pack.

New District Commissioner Dave Bennett said "Its great that so many people have come to celebrate with us despite the rain and we hope to see them again at future events." Assistant District Commissioner Mrs. Bundy added "The Beaver Scouts had a great time mixing in with the older children and look forward to going on to Cubs when they are old enough."

For more information about Scouting locally, please contact Dave Bennett on 01989 768062 who can direct you to your nearest group.

The next Public events to celebrate the Centenary of Scouting will be on Wednesday August 1st, the actual day that Robert Baden Powell opened the first experimental Camp on Brownsea Island in 1907. This will be celebrated all over the world at 08:00 local time. At this time there will be nine Explorer Scouts from Ross-on-Wye at the World Jamboree at Hylands park in Essex, along with about 40,000 other Young People from all over the world.

Visitors to Ross on Holiday Monday were able to see a display of both vintage and more modern motorcycles, which was arranged by Gordon Lucas of Lucas Motorcycles.

I spoke to Gerald Payne (second photo down) who told me the story of his 1963 BMW R69s with Steib sidecar combination.

In 1963, Gerald saw the machine for sale in 'Little and Hall's' (now 'Revolutions') and used to drool over it, thinking, 'One day I'll have a bike like that'. Forty years later, he bumped into the brother of the man who purchased it originally and told him his tale. The two men talked and Gerald eventually persuaded him to sell the machine, which had been owned by the same family for the full forty years.

Pictured below: Year Six pupils at Bridstow Primary school take to the road during four days of Cycling Proficiency training from instructor, David Holmes and Teaching Assistant Fiona Turner.

A 'Jessica' manicure/pedicure evening to promote the new products and nail systems was held at Ross Health and Fitness, who are now using the products in the salon. Throughout June and July Ross Health and Fitness are holding a special promotion with these beauty treatments on offer at £18 instead of £25.

Approximately 25 ladies attended the special evening, watching the treatments being carried out and they enjoyed an evening of free wine and snacks. Some were lucky enough to have a free file and polish.

A new 'drop zone' initiative is part of Gorsley Goffs School Travel Plan, the aim of which is to improve safety for children arriving at school by alleviating the parking problem on the narrow lane to the school.

Parents can drop off their children right outside the school gate, where they will be met by either a member of staff or parent volunteer, and then supervised into the school premises.

Over half of the school's children are using this facility regularly in the mornings and both parents and staff agree that the scheme is a great success.

Next half term a 'walking bus' is planned for the end of the day, and it is hoped that some 'Travel Plan grant money will be spent on a 'waiting shelter'.

Thanks go to Gloucester Building Supplies, who have donated high visibility bibs for the drop zone supervisors to wear.

In the photo, Liz Fishpool - school crossing patrol, Sarah O'Neill - parent helper, Head Teacher, Richard Humphrey and Karen Cole - teacher and Travel Plan Co-ordinator can be seen supervising Isobel, Paige, Nathan, Ollie, Daniel and Andrew at the Drop Zone.

Zum offiziellen Empfang der Betzdorfer Partnerstadt Ross-on-Wye (England) hatten die Verantwortlichen vor Ort am Samstag, dem 26. Mai 2007, um 10 Uhr in die St. Mary`s Church Hall geladen. In der Zeit vom 25. Mai bis 30. Mai 2007 besuchten etwas mehr als 60 Deutsche ihre Freunde in der englischen Stadt. Bürgermeister Bernd Brato, der zum ersten Mal mit seiner Familie am Austausch teilnahm, begrüsste die englischen Gastfamilien und bedankte sich für die herzliche Aufnahme. Auf der Seite der Engländer sprach der vorherige Bürgermeister Phil Cutter zu den Anwesenden. Der neue Partnerschaftsvereinsvorsitzende, Dominik Wichmann, sorgte für die notwendige Übersetzung der Reden. Natürlich hatten die Betzdorfer ihren Freunden als Geschenk etwas mitgebracht; Gartenarbeitsgeräte einer Betzdorfer Firma. Unser Foto zeigt von links nach rechts: Bürgermeister Bernd Brato, Ken Riches, Phil Cutter, David Ravenscroft und Anne Gray. Ein ausführlicher Bericht folgt.

'A. C. Travel' would like to thank Mrs. Joyce Thomas MBE DL for opening their new shop in Crofts Court on Friday afternoon. The new shop can be found in the unit which used to be Ross Records.

Barclays has come to the aid of Ross Juniors Football Club by donating a complete set of coaching kit. The award to Ross Juniors, will benefit all ages from age 6 to 13, has been made as part of the £30m grassroots sports programme, Barclays Spaces for Sports.

The donation is one of 1,200 packs being awarded each year to ensure teams across the UK will benefit from the three year scheme.

Chairman Jim Loftus said 'Ross Juniors committee and players are very grateful to Barclays for their support and for providing this excellent coaching kit. The quality coaching pack from Barclays will be an aid to the coaches and players in the training sessions'

Michelle Smith, Head of Community Sports Sponsorship, said 'Barclays are delighted to be supporting Ross Juniors and hope this coaching kit will encourage their interest in football and lead them to greater success'.

Barclays Spaces for Sports, a partnership between Barclays, Football Foundation and Groundwork, will create sustainable sports sites and provide coaching kit and equipment to communities in most need of help across the UK.

Jackie Crane, the Ross-on-Wye Barclays branch manager is pictured making the presentation to some of the members of Ross Juniors Football Club. She commented 'I am thrilled to make this presentation to a well run and enthusiastic local football club'.

If you wish to join Ross Juniors Football club or would like further information on how the club is run, please contact the secretary Mrs Cindy Payne on 01989 - 568933.

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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