Construction works are due to start on a £7 million flood alleviation scheme for Ross-on-Wye in September. Major works needing to be carried include the construction of a 350 metre long, 2.1 metre diameter tunnel running between Homs Road and Kings Acre car parks. This tunnel, termed an inverted siphon, will be 10 metres below ground and construction of it will take place between September 2007 and April 2008.

Other works include general channel improvements to Rudhall Brook at the Rope Walk Meadow. Here excavation will take place to widen the brook to take the higher water flows caused by flooding. A 3.5 metre by 1.5 metre by 150 metre long culvert will be erected below the railway embankment at Chatterley Brook and a culvert will be constructed at the caravan park. A water storage area will be created to the east of the A40 by the construction of a 1.7 metre high earth bund.

Councillor Brian Wilcox, Herefordshire Council's cabinet member for highways and transportation, said: "I am delighted work is now going ahead on this important scheme which will bring great relief to residents who have been affected by floods in the past. Some major construction works are involved in the scheme and short-term management measures will be required at certain periods so I would ask motorists to be patient as the long-term benefits will certainly outweigh any short-term inconvenience'.

Continued . . .

Councillor Wilcox chaired a meeting in Ross-on-Wye last Thursday (5th July) which was attended by the Mayor, Derek Bedford, members of the Chamber of Commerce, businessmen, media and local county councillor's. Those present heard from the council's project manager and representatives from the consultant engineers and contractors as to how the scheme was to be progressed and then responded to questions about the proposals.

Traffic management measures during the works include the construction of a temporary access of A40 east bound carriageway near the caravan park. Long-term road closures are not planned. Rights of way will be temporarily diverted at Homs Road car park and at the A40 eastwards at the caravan park. Homs Road car park will be closed and the number of spaces in Kings Acre car park will be reduced from early September to enable the construction of the tunnel.

Halcrow has designed the scheme, consultant engineers Owen Williams will be managing the project and Edmund Nuttall are the contractors. Work will be undertaken to a high environmental standard. Both the Environment Agency and English Nature have been consulted and will be involved throughout the construction period. Preparatory work for the scheme is being undertaken at present with main works due to start in September. It is aimed to complete the whole scheme by July 2008.

. . . Plus a couple of others in between.

What a busy weekend it has been! It began with our spending Friday evening at a party in Bromsgrove to celebrate the Golden Wedding Anniversary of Tina's parents. I was worn out before leaving home that night.

With Tina working during the day on Friday, having swapped shifts to get the evening off, I was sent on the errand of buying a 50th Anniversary card. Being male, I usually I get that sort of thing completely wrong but I asked in the shop what metal or mineral 50 years of marriage equated to and they helped out with, 'Golden'. When the evening came and Tina asked for the card, I went to the car, got it out of the boot and on handing it to her prepared myself for the worst. 'That's lovely,' she said, to my utter amazement. 'The verse is beautiful'.
That's when I spoiled it. 'What does it say?' I asked, without thinking first.
Oops. I had just looked at the colour and size of the card, neatly wrapped in plastic, as any normal male would. Didn't think about reading it as well. Just sometimes, being a complete idiot can pay off though.

Continued . . .

I slept through that precise moment in the history of the Universe on Saturday, when the time was exactly 07/07/07 07:07:07. May catch its equivalent next year but 8 is not a prime number, so it won't be anything like as exciting. I didn't sleep through the sevens by much though and I don't think I missed anything by doing so. I dragged myself out of bed at 08:30, having only had six hours sleep, to prepare for the busy weekend ahead.

Tell you the truth, I was dreading the day ahead with a vengeance, simply because I have been so very tired just lately. I spent the day dodging between two main photographic jobs plus a couple of small in between ones. The main ones were the wedding of Sue and James Howard and the 5th Ross-on-Wye Country Music Festival.

I don't often photograph weddings as wedding photography is not my thing and I get very nervous but it went well and Sue and James, the 'happy couple' seemed to be just that - very happy. Hopefully, getting married on 07/07/07 will be a good omen for them. My lifelong friends, Glynn and Kim, who met at my 21st birthday party and were married on 07/07/77 are still very happy together - in Japan. Happy Pearl Anniversary! (I Googled that one.)

Continued . . .

As for the Country Music Festival: Tina loves 'Country' but I'm more a Giant Redwood man myself. It was great though. I am really not a country music fan and only play the records backwards so that the dog recovers, the truck is returned by the bailiffs and the wife comes home but the festival atmosphere was brilliant!

Many, many people in the audience told me they had come because they found it on 'Wyenot News' and Tina even bumped into two cousins and their husbands, whom she had not seen in 30 years. They had gone to the festival having seen it on the news, having no idea of the family connection with the publication. Coincidentally, they had also been at the huge party in Bromsgrove the night before but none of us met there.

Due to this, that and the other - mainly people, I have felt maniacally down of late. My morale was lower than a newt's knackers on Wednesday, but the Broome Farm event of later that same day, and the great atmosphere at the Festival has renewed my faith in humanity as a whole.

It is St. Swithen's Day on Sunday. Let's hope it doesn't rain as I think we've seen enough water this year.

Hopefully, there's some good stuff throughout this week's 'Wyenot News'. Whether you are a blues fan, country music fan or just interested in what is going on locally, I hope you enjoy the issue.

Five Buddhist monks visited Cloisters Thai Restaurant and Wine Bar on Sunday to give their blessing to the restaurant and to owners, Rung and Mark Gardner on the first anniversary of their business venture.

Invited by Rung, the monks travelled from Kings Bromley, near Lichfield to perform the blessing ceremony, part of which can be seen in the short film clip below. The Buddhist monks only eat once per day, before twelve noon and performed the ceremony for Rung and Mark in return for their daily meal.

The blessing was sung in Pali, which is an ancient Indian language still used for religious services and in their literature, similar to the way in which we still use Latin.

Mark and Rung later held a celebration wine tasting party for invited guests, which was apparently a huge success (judging by the time Tina's son, Russell arrived back home). Sorry I did not make it to the wine tasting in the end, Mark and Rung. I just could not keep up with everything over the busy weekend but thank you for your very kind invitation.

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

Tel: 01989 768320

The absolute deadline for Wyenot News stories and other items is 12:00, midday on Tuesday, for inclusion in the following day's edition.

PLEASE NOTE HOWEVER: This is an absolute deadline and not the time I am asking for articles to be sent in. Mondays and Tuesdays here at 'Wyenot News' are Hell with by far, the most events I cover occurring at the weekend. The photography that the public sees happening is only one tiny part of the whole picture (please excuse the pun) of running this weekly news publication and the bits of prep that people do not see, are actually the most time consuming part of getting the story out.

If at all possible, please send your story in as early as you can, rather than wait until the very last minute, so that I can have at least a fighting chance of getting to bed before 3:00 am every Tuesday and Wednesday morning after what has lately become two 18 hour working days on the trot.

Thank you very much for your understanding and help.

Alan

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