Recently started at Nature's Choice café in Ross, 'Open Art Surgery' is a community event which brings together local creative people for an evening of raw entertainment. People are invited to take their turn upon the chair to 'let their art out''. So far, the night has proved to be a great success, attracting musicians, poets, thespians, story tellers and even quiz masters.

You do not have to perform if you go along to one of the fortnightly events. You can simply relax and enjoy the show and good company The interval gives everybody a chance to chat and to take part in an original, collaborative game.

I went along to last Thursdays, 'Open Art Surgery' and had a very nice evening. Pictured below you can see female guitarist and vocalist, Beth Richardson 'letting her art out' and if you watch Tina's newscast on page one of this week's edition, Nik and Chris Thiessen can be watched performing the 'Topsy Turvy Tango'

Local authors, Heather and John Hurley are well known for their books on Herefordshire and the Wye Valley and on Saturday morning they held a book signing at Ross Heritage Centre, where many people visited to get a book signed and to look at the three new books that they have just had published, Recollections of Ross, Tracks and Turnpike's and a new book on pubs.

Heather and John's books cover a range of subjects from local history and information to wine tasting and a couple of novels. They also painstakingly research and provide records for Ross Civic Society's Pink Publications.

My personal favourites are the series Heather has done on pubs, past and present, in Ross and the Forest of Dean and I can't wait to read her latest one on Monmouth and Chepstow.

Jenny Harrison, pictured here with Emmanual Jal are taking part in a three hour sponsored walk to raise funds for Gua Africa's Child Sponsorship Programmes and also for the Leer rehabilitation, education and medical centre.

All of the walkers will be Gua Africa volunteers who are dedicating their time and leg power to the plight of some of the world's poorest, most desperate children.

The walk takes place this Saturday 1st December 2007 and starts at Ye Hostelry, Goodrich at 11.30 am.

Emmanual Said: 'I first held a gun when I was seven, when you shoot you get that strength. What young people don't know is that you can die at once. I can make a bigger difference by keeping out of the war'.

Emmanual Jal Gua Africa aims to address the issues of poverty and war through providing education, rehabilitation and health centres for local communities, which will be self-sustainable, leading to a developed society that cares for itself.

Having escaped the conflict raging across Africa, Emmanual is being heard globally through music. His

passion for people and his advocacy of peace has landed him the roles of ambassador for Make Poverty History, Amnesty International and Oxfam. With this same passion, energy and conviction he has founded and continues to push for the success of Gua-Africa. Emmanual has been sponsoring children through their education in Kenya for over eight years and this amazing work is now continued by Gua Africa through their Child Sponsorship Programme.

If you would like to join the walk or sponsor the walkers, please telephone Ian on 01989 565599.

Children and families in Ross on Wye are to enjoy new services at the Ryefield Centre, Grammar School Close, Ross-on-Wye, following the opening of a new Children's Centre by Herefordshire Council.

Children's Centres provide services and information for families with children under five years of age which include child and family health services, antenatal and post natal services, family support, such as home visiting and group activities and support for children and parents with special needs. Each children's centre tailors its services to local need.

Some have links with Jobcentre Plus to help parents and carers retrain and / or return to work and all offer good quality early learning through play activities. A crèche facility may be available dependant on demand to support meetings and training. The centres also provides a base for childminder support teams.

Carole Harris, Ryefield Children's Centre Manager, is currently working with organizations in and around Ross-on-Wye to assess local needs, see what services are already in place and build on services that are needed locally. 'We have formed a service delivery group which consists of local agencies and parents so that we can get to the heart of the local community and make sure that what we provide is what people need,' said Carole. 'We know there are already a number of services being provided and we don't want to duplicate these. We want to make sure all local families have access to a wide range of support and activities and it makes sense to do this from one central point.'

To celebrate the opening of the Ryefield Children's Centre and talk to families about the services they will be able to access, the council is planning an open day on Wednesday, 12th December between 10am and 2.30pm. Local families and their young children will be invited to a family fun day at which cabinet member for children and young people, Councillor Jenny Hyde will formally open the centre.

Ross knew they had a fight on their hands on Saturday. Tewkesbury were second in the league and unbeaten since the opening game of the season. After what can only be described as a battle, Ross prevailed, winning the game 20-15 and continued their impressive state to life in Gloucester Division 1.

Tewkesbury started the strongest looking full value for their league position and with the game only 15 minutes old, were already two tries to the good and 12-0 up. The game was now in the balance. If Tewkesbury had scored next, the game would have been over. Ross however, refused to be bowed. Through some hard work from the forwards they forced a penalty. Ross refused an easy three points and Chris Gage kicked for the corner. Nick Rawlings found Ashley Nelms from the ensuing lineout. The Ross pack set up a driving maul that was controlled superbly, which enable Gavin Oates to flop over to score, seeing Ross close the gap to 12-5.

Ross continued to wrestle control of the game from Tewkesbury and began to dominate the proceedings. With less than five minutes to half time, Ross scored again. Once again the Ross pack made ground on the right, pulling in the Tewkesbury defence. Quick ball from Simon Gwynne created the overlap. Mike Davies drew the last defender before sending Wayne Bishop clear to score in the corner, which brought Ross within two points at 12-10. However, from the ensuing kick off, Ross infringed and the Tewkesbury fly half added three points to leave Ross 15-10 down at half time.

The score line did not protect Tewkesbury in the second half. Ross continued to dominate up front and the majority of the half was played in Tewkesbury territory. During the third quarter, their defence held firm. However, with the game sixty minutes old, Ross finally took the lead.

After a barrage of strong tackling from Ross, the Tewkesbury fly half was rushed into a clearance kick. Chay Brine charged down and collected the ball to canter under the posts. Chris Gage converted, to put Ross 17-15 ahead. The Ross pack continued to dominate the remainder of the game, which enabled Chris Gage to convert a penalty to ensure Ross ran out winners 20-10.

The Terrys Digital Man of the match was the whole of the Ross pack.

Next week Ross travel to Bristol to take on the league leaders Bristol Saracens.

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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