Work on the stretch of gas pipeline across the A49 between Peterstow and Bridstow villages near Ross-on-Wye is now nearing completion. Many local residents were, understandably, concerned about the possible impact this work would have upon the environment and the community but it would seem that these fears were unfounded. Murphy Pipelines has worked hard to minimize the effect that the laying of the gas pipeline has had and has, in the opinion of many people, gone the 'extra mile'.

Karen Stonadge is a resident of Much Birch who takes her children to school at Bridstow Primary School. When the gas pipeline works were announced, she was initially concerned that, as she travels through Sellack, she would encounter the pipeline works there and there would inevitably be traffic delays and mess. "I was really worried that the journey to school was going to take far longer and the prospect of sitting in traffic queues every morning with two young children was not one I was looking forward to but I have been very impressed at the lack of any major disruption to road users. Of course, there were some minor hold-ups but the workmen were always very polite and cheerful and this made any delay less of a problem.'

Continued . . .

Another person impressed with the way in which the works have been carried out is Rachel Bushell, who lives in Bridstow. 'I have seen a few more lorries going up and down but other than that there has been no disruption at all. In fact, they have made so little impact, that I wasn't aware that the work had actually really got started, let alone finished!'

Rachel is so impressed that she has written to Tony O'Sullivan, Project Manager for the work, to compliment him on how the work has gone. 'The area where the pipe has been laid now just looks like a normal ploughed field,' she said. "They have even replaced the fence! Certainly the people who objected to the pipeline being built have not had their fears realized and residents living near the next stretch to be built need have no worries about the impact this pipeline will have upon them or their surroundings.'

Denise Stevens is a Mum and Childminder living in Bridstow and who has campaigned about road safety on the A49 for some time. She has been impressed with the way in which Murphy Pipelines has considered the safety aspect of children attending Bridstow Primary School, which is the nearest school to this section of the pipeline works. Lorries travelling from the A49 section of the site down to Sellack had to drive down the lane past the school. 'I was really impressed with how the company changed it's work schedules so that the lorries avoided driving down the lane at school dropping off and picking up time,' Denise explained. 'It is not often that a multinational company like Murphy's pays that amount of attention to the needs of the local community in which they find themselves working. Usually what you would get is "we've got a job to do" but Murphy's have gone out of their way to avoid the two busy times of day outside the school.'

Tony O'Sullivan has also done his best to build good relations with the local community by sponsoring a number of events over the summer. One of these was the Strawberry Fair at Bridstow Primary School. Jules King, Chair of the PTFA at he school explained, 'I wrote to Murphy Pipelines, having been driving behind one of their lorries and thought that I'd be cheeky and ask if they would donate a prize for our raffle. I never dreamed that I would get a reply but, a few days later, an e-mail from Tony O'Sullivan arrived, offering us £500 of Tesco Vouchers! You can imagine what a prize of that size can do for a small school event! We had already been incredibly lucky with some wonderful prizes from local businesses and Tony's generosity was the icing on the cake. We were able to use the vouchers both for prizes and to buy prizes for the games at the Fair. The result was that the PTFA raised over £1,500 and this despite heavy rain on the day of the Fair.'

Most people when seeing a kingfisher for the first time are surprised at how small they are but the kingfisher cannot be confused with any other bird. They fly fast, at approximately 45 miles per hour and, despite their vivid colour - red underneath with an electric blue back - they are quite difficult to see. Diving from a low perch or sometimes from a hover, they catch a fish, fly to (usually) a different perch and devour it head first.

I have discovered that they are even more difficult to film than see. This short film is just 2 minutes long but it took forever and a lot of patience and frustration to make. The part with the bird killing and eating a fish took no less than 30 hours over a period of 10 days to capture, and this is where the 'frustrating' bit came in. The first time I caught it visually on the perch I had been watching, I changed the camera battery midway through hiding and waiting, and forgot to switch the recorder back on. I dare not think how long it took to capture the dive, which in real time is over in 2 seconds. I have run the dive twice, slowing it down the second time so that it can be seen a little more clearly.

The still photos at the beginning and the first bit of moving film were shot in 2006. The first bit of film was shot with a hand held camera as the bird arrived just after I had packed the tripod to give up and go home and I did not have time to get it ready again, so the first few seconds are shaky. I have included it because it shows the bird's red underside. If you turn the sound up, you will hear the kingfisher's high pitched song as it lands, and the sound of the fish being slapped against the branch - he (I am pretty sure it is a male kingfisher - the underside of the female's beak is red) certainly makes sure that the fish is dead before swallowing and going for a second dive.

If your broadband is slow, click the left hand image to view in low resolution. If you have fast broadband (8 Mbps), clicking the right hand image will give slightly higher quality video but it will still take MUCH longer to buffer.

A special cricket day was held at Goodrich Cricket Club on Monday, 27th August. The event was held in memory of Matt Beddard who died of a brain tumour at the age of 14. Matt was a very popular boy who loved sports and lots of his friends turned out on Monday to take part in the fun and fund-raising.

The cricketers each paid £10 to take part in the tournament and with money raised from a raffle and £500 donated by HSBC, approximately £1,800 was raised. Half of the money will go to the much needed teenage cancer ward fund at Birmingham Childrens Hospital and the rest will go to Goodrich Cricket Club.

Matt's family are delighted with the result and would like to thank everybody who helped and took part in this very special way to remember Matt.

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