Herefordshire Council's archaeology service celebrated its 100th historic landscape walk at Much Marcle, with guests enjoying a glass of cider or apple juice thanks to hosts Weston's Cider. The walks, which take place all over the county, have been held continuously on a monthly basis for the past nine years, even during the foot and mouth crisis.

Led primarily by Tim Hoverd, Herefordshire Council's archaeological projects officer, the walks have taken place at weekends, evenings and their more usual weekday afternoon slots, and most of them have been blessed with good weather.

A first for the 100th event was a choice for walkers of two different walks, one around the village of Much Marcle and the other around an old mill in the area. Around 40 walkers, all of whom have taken part in the monthly historic landscape walks before, turned up for the special celebration.

Mr Frank Cook, speaking on their behalf, said: 'We are proud of what Herefordshire's archaeology service does and these walks are an excellent way for us all to learn more about the county's heritage.'

Dr Keith Ray MBE, county archaeologist, paid tribute to Tim Hoverd for leading and organizing the majority of the popular walks. He said: 'The purpose of the walks is for them to be a direct window on our current view of the landscape and how it has evolved. We deliberately chose not to go to areas because they have particular features, but instead to explore places we do not know so much about.'

Michael Hainge, Herefordshire Council's director for the environment, said the 100th walk was a considerable milestone and one for the service to be proud of. He added: 'Archaeology has been very much in the news in Herefordshire over recent weeks and, wherever people stand over the pros and cons, I feel it is important we are debating the subject as it is so important to the county's appeal.'

Looking to the future, Tim Hoverd said he was looking forward to the next milestone of 150 walks. 'If we can deal with foot and mouth, we can deal with anything,' he added.

For more details about future historic landscape walks contact Jacky Denovan on 01432 260470.

Herefordshire Council wants to remind residents that help is at hand to ensure they can make excellent compost and that they don't give up if things go wrong.

A common complaint is that compost bins have become a slimy smelly mess. During the summer months extra grass cuttings go into the compost bin which can be problematic when added in one go. If people add too many grass cuttings to the bin it will become a slimy smelly mess because there is no air available. This is a common mistake and can be easily rectified.

In order to solve this problem people need to add more browns (carbon rich, tougher materials) such as scrunched up cardboard, some leaves reserved from the autumn months, shredded woody waste, egg boxes, toilet roll tubes and tea bags. These will add structure to your compost bin and thus add air to the mixture, enabling the composting process to work effectively.

Laura Preece, Herefordshire Council's recycling officer, said: 'Sometimes people experience problems with their composting, especially when they are new to it. I'd like to remind people that help and advice is available if required and often there is a simple solution available to solve common composting troubles.'

Compost bins are available from as little as £8, if ordered online from www.recyclenow.org.uk/compost. To order over the phone call 0845 077 0757. For more advice on home composting visit the website www.wastemissionimpossible.org.uk or call the Mission Impossible hotline on 01905 766883.

Ten year old Harriet Williams from Kington knew her parents were planning to have a new kitchen installed, so when she saw a competition to win a food waste disposer at Herefordshire Council's stand at the Three Counties Show, she couldn't resist the chance to enter. Luckily for Harriet, hers was a winning entry, and now her family has one of the biggest names in food waste disposers, an InSinkErator, ready to install in their new kitchen.

To win the prize, Harriet correctly answered the quiz on what items of kitchen waste can be put into a food waste disposer. She correctly ticked potato peelings, egg shells, fish scraps, cooked food leftovers and chicken bones, which won her the prize. Using a food waste disposer in the kitchen means Harriet's family won't need to empty their kitchen bin so frequently, thanks to the food waste they'll be able to put down the sink.

Harriet's mum, Sally, said: 'We compost as much of our waste as we can but there are things like fish bones and cooked food leftovers which we don't put in the compost. This is why I think Harriet's food waste disposer will be so convenient. We didn't really know much about food waste disposers before but now I know that once the bits and pieces have been ground into small particles, they go into the waste water system and into our septic tank.

I am told that for people on mains drainage, the wastewater treatment works use it to make bio-gas which they use to generate to electricity. Waste disposers are a fantastic way of recycling waste food that can't be used for compost,'

Herefordshire residents can claim up to £80 cashback from the council towards the cost of a food waste disposer under the 'Sink Your Waste' scheme. At the moment Herefordshire Council and Worcestershire County Council are the only two councils in the UK promoting this waste reduction measure and they are encouraging other councils to do the same, in order to minimize the amount of food waste sent to landfill sites.

To make a claim, people can ring 01905 766 883 or download a claim form at www.sinkyourwaste.com Caption: Harriet Williams from Kington being presented with her prize by Jeremy Howell-Thomas of Worcestershire County Council who encourages residents to install food waste disposers in their kitchens.

Herefordshire Council's dog warden service has launched a new internet based service to help reunite lost dogs they have collected with their owners. The council's dog wardens will now be taking photographs of all the stray dogs they find and these will then be posted on the council's website together with some basic details about where the animals were found.

Anybody who has lost a dog can log onto the website at www.herefordshire.gov.uk to see if their dog has been found. Even out of normal council working hours, they can see their dog's photograph and be reassured that the dog is being well cared for.

A link to the photographs of current stray dogs can be found in the Spotlights box on the front page of the website www.herefordshire.gov.uk The web page also contains contact details for people to get in touch with the dog wardens and be reunited with their pets.

Herefordshire Council charges fees for any stray dogs it keeps in kennels and the cost of these is also explained on the website. Councillor John Jarvis, Herefordshire Council's cabinet member for the environment and strategic housing, said: 'As more and more people log onto the Internet on a daily basis, it seemed a good idea for us to embrace the technology for the benefit of the public and to help reunite lost dogs with their owners. If this service can give peace of mind to just one dog owner, then it is well worth setting up the service and it may prove particularly helpful where dogs have been lost while their owners were on holiday in the area.'

Mike Higgins, Herefordshire Council's animal health and welfare manager, said: 'It is a legal requirement for owners to ensure their dog is identified with a disc or engraved tag on the collar but many of the stray dogs we find do not have this. It would be even better if every owner had their dog microchipped as this is a permanent form of marking which will help us to reunite the dogs with their owners more quickly. The quicker we reunite the dog with its owner, the better, not just for the dog but also the owner's pocket as the fees charged for kennels are calculated on a daily basis.'

The Stray Dogs web page also includes a link to the Hereford and Worcester Animal Rescue website where anyone interested in offering a good home to an abandoned dog can find out more information.

Volunteer Master Composters have notched up 1,000 hours in promoting home composting throughout Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

Herefordshire Council and Worcestershire County Council, in association with the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and the national charity for organic growing, Garden Organic, set up the voluntary scheme to promote home composting.

Volunteers take part in a number of promotional activities, some of which include attending events, making school visits, giving composting demonstrations and generally spreading the composting message in their local communities.

Herefordshire Master Composter, Sarah Blenkinsop said: 'I have spoken to lots of people at the Three Counties Show and National Trust events and told them about the wonders of compost. I've also helped my local primary school so that all of the children know what they can compost, how to compost and what to do once they have made compost and this week we have harvested the vegetables which we have grown with the compost made at school. She added: 'It's surprising how interested most people are about composting and what a good conversation starter it is. Everyone always has comments and tips to give you.'

Sarah's top tip is to compost your till receipts and bank statements to prevent identity fraud.

The recent adverse weather conditions resulted in Herefordshire Council having to cancel yesterday afternoon's planned visits to the Rotherwas Ribbon.

Nearly 1,000 people have so far visited the site of the Bronze Age pathway of cracked stones that were discovered during an archaeological investigation prior to the construction of the Rotherwas access road.

It is not possible to go onto the site at the moment for fear of causing damage to the archaeological find. The council is contacting as many people as possible who had booked for a visit for yesterday afternoon, with a view to offering them a chance to see the Rotherwas Ribbon at a later date when the site has fully dried out.

The launch of Hereford's Nappaccino Mornings at the new venue of The Courtyard Café proved a great success with lots of parents-to-be, mums, dads and even a granddad popping in to see all the new styles of real nappies.

Kathy Gundy of Herefordshire Council's Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership also supported the scheme and is hoping to attend future Nappaccino Mornings and spread the word about modern funky real nappies and the new Real Nappy Incentive Scheme.

The mornings will take place on the third Monday of the month except during the month of August, when The Courtyard is closed. The next Nappaccino Morning is being held on 17th September from 10am until noon and anyone interested is welcome to attend.

Herefordshire Council in conjunction with Worcestershire County Council is giving parents and guardians even more of a reason to use real nappies by offering a new Real Nappy Incentive Scheme that tackles the bottom line. Cathy Hines, project assistant, said: 'It was wonderful to see so many people at our new venue which is more centrally placed and has better car parking facilities. The mornings aim to encourage parents to use real nappies and are generally cheaper than disposables and reduce the amount of waste being sent to landfill. Disposable nappies can take 500 years to decompose.

The average spend on disposables can be as much as £922.74 per child over two and a half years whereas real nappies can be used again and again'.

The Real Nappy Incentive Scheme gives parents the chance to either receive £30 cash back when they buy £50 worth, or more, of real nappies, excluding accessories. Alternatively, they can claim a free pack of 'pre fold' nappies, worth around £15 from Green Nappies, a social enterprise based in Ross-on-Wye.

To take advantage of the scheme parents must be a resident of Herefordshire or Worcestershire and can only take advantage of one scheme per baby. Application forms to take part in the incentive scheme can be obtained from Nappaccino Mornings, nappy events or the Mission Impossible team.

For more information on real cloth nappies, Nappaccino dates and the Real Nappy Incentive Scheme visit www.wastemissionimpossible.org.uk or call 01905 766883.

Herefordshire Council continues to improve its environmental performance and last week a team of independent environmental auditors carried out a surveillance visit on the council's GEM system. They were happy to ratify the council's certification under the international environmental standard ISO 14001.

The intention of ISO 14001, the most well known environmental standard in the world, is to provide a framework for organizations to improve their environmental performance and then test them on their commitments. The council manages its environmental impacts through GEM (Good Environmental Management) which makes sure all of the council's activities are assessed for their impact on the environment and then managed and improved wherever possible.

GEM has been operating across the council's administration departments since 2002 and has now been extended so that all council services and directorates are included. This makes Herefordshire the first shire county in the country with ISO14001 certification for all its services.

Initiatives under the GEM scheme have already seen offices use recycled paper and then recycle waste to reduce the amount sent to landfill. A car sharing scheme, 'twoshare' has also been implemented as well as schemes to encourage workers to use public transport and cycling.

The council has also launched an energy saving scheme called MY Energy that encourages staff to switch off lights, computers and other office appliances when they are not in use, aiming to reduce the council's energy bills by 10 per cent over a 12 month period. By carrying out these measures, Herefordshire Council aims to protect the environment by saving resources and reducing pollution, to save money by becoming more efficient and to provide a lead to others over environmental matters.

Councillor John Jarvis, cabinet member for environment and strategic housing, said: 'Herefordshire Council takes the environment very seriously and this award shows we are very much leading by example and carrying out measures to save money as well as helping to save the planet. I would encourage all of the county's residents to keep on recycling and take on board other energy saving tips such as switching off lights when they are not needed and not leaving appliances on standby, because if we all work together then we can really make a difference.'

As part of ratifying ISO 4001, independent auditors spent three days at Herefordshire Council and they visited several sites, including highways and transportation, Aylestone Country Park and the relief road, complete with Rotherwas Ribbon. The auditors also paid considerable attention to the council's carbon reduction programme with visits to property services, a look at MY Energy, integrated transport and the LTP and were given an update on climate change awareness raising. Auditors were complimentary about the many areas of good practice they saw and the commitment of Herefordshire Council's officers.

The consultation on radical proposals to bring together how the primary care trust and the council plan and purchase public services in Herefordshire is drawing to a close.

On Tuesday, 31st July 2007 the consultation will end, so people are being urged to make their views known. Seven public meetings have taken place across the county to discuss how the move might improve local services, provide better value for money for taxpayers and safeguard services in Herefordshire for people in Herefordshire.

Now the best way for people to take part is to visit a special consultation web site, with extra information on the public service trust proposal, to post your views online.

The address is: www.publicservicetrust.info. People can also obtain a summary or full consultation document by calling 01432 383515.

Consultation documents have been placed in libraries and info centres and information forwarded to general practitioners, pharmacists, dentists and other community health facilities.

Children at Riverside Primary School were getting their hearts into shape last week and learning how to save lives. Eighty ten and eleven year olds plus three members of staff learned how to give emergency life support under the national heartstart scheme.

The training involved learning about recovery and resuscitation techniques including mouth to mouth, calling the emergency services, dealing with an unconscious patient and helping resuscitate a patient who has stopped breathing. Everybody managed to pass their training and will join the 1.4 million people nation-wide to receive a Heartstart Award.

Heartstart UK is an initiative co-ordinated by the British Heart Foundation to teach members of the public what to do in a life threatening emergency: simple skills that can save lives.

The school was invited to participate and the scheme was so successful that the school plans to role this training out to the rest of the school's 7-11 year olds pupils. They have received a number of adult and baby mannequins from the British heart Foundation to help the children practice.

In a bid to prevent heart problems occurring in the first place and to extend the theme of looking after our hearts, more than 120 six and seven year olds took part in a huge hour long skipping event, while the older children were receiving their emergency life support training. They skipped and jumped around a number of different exercise stations for sixty minutes, exercising their heart muscles and raising more than £400 for charity at the same time.

Jim Preston, Head teacher, said: 'We're very proud of our children for taking this training so seriously and managing to achieve so many awards. The health of our children and their families is very important to the whole school community so we are keen to promote healthier lifestyles and make sure children understand the importance of good diet and physical activity.

Not only did our key stage one children managed to raise money for the British Heart Foundation, but they learned about exercise and looking after their hearts. Thank you to all of the children and to everyone who sponsored them.'

Herefordshire schools are embarking on a huge clean up campaign after this weekend's floods caused some of the worst damage experienced since 1947.

Herefordshire Council has brought in contractors to repair damage to Almeley, Bosbury CE, Colwall CE, Ivington CE , Ledbury and Holmer CE primary schools. The cost of the clean up will be met by insurers but is expected to reach over £1million.

Holmer school in Hereford is one of the worst hit, with damage to ten classrooms, stores, offices, the main hall, library and resource areas. Bosbury school has also been badly hit with damage throughout the whole school to flooring, electrics, boilers, fixtures and fittings.

In Colwall school, classrooms, offices, toilets and stores have been damaged in the main school building and the mobile classroom. Ledbury Primary School has ceilings, floors and fittings damaged in three classrooms and a reception area. Almeley has a classroom, office and store area to repair and they have lost some furniture and IT equipment in the floods. At Ivington school, offices, store areas and reception will need to be repaired, although it could have been much worse if the school caretaker hadn't moved resources to higher ground on Friday evening.

As the water began to rise on Friday afternoon, the staff at Holmer school began moving books, equipment, classroom materials and anything else they could carry to higher ground. At Ivington, the school didn't begin to flood until the evening when all the children and staff had gone home, but the school caretaker worked into the night moving as much as she could to protect equipment from the rising water.

Cabinet member for children and young people, Councillor Jenny Hyde, said: 'The council is working with school staff to clear out and dry the affected schools so that new flooring can be laid, equipment replaced and buildings redecorated for the children's return in September. We are extremely grateful to all the staff who have worked long and hard over the last few days to protect school resources and help clear some of the destruction caused by the flooding. Without their help, the damage could have been much worse. Their dedication is admirable, particularly as this has happened at the beginning of the school holidays.'

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

There is no charge for publishing either news items or What's On Events
This is a Free Service for the local community!

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.