Firstly, I have two apologies to make for this week's edition. One, I used last week's beginning as a template and forgot to remove the 'New Year Edition' from the scrolling text. I guess the main topic is to do with a traditional New Year event though, so that is not overly important. The second apology is for the noise of heavy rain during Tina's narration. We have a very limited amount of time in which we can record this - especially when, as in this issue, events occur on the last day of production. It just happened to rain heavily at the wrong time - stopped immediately we had finished recording, of course!

In this edition of WNTV we cover the traditional New Year Wassail at Broome Farm, including the procession, blessing the old apple tree to ward off evil spirits and some great music from both 'Compost Heap' and 'Chicken Shed Zeppelin'.

Both Jay and Tina sing with Andy Margrett at the Prince of Wales. We speak to 5 year old Ruth Bradford following her Christmas Day performance at the Ryefield Centre, and also 'Able Mabel', who will be 104 next month.

We visit Churchill Place in Tudorville, where the police are introducing 'SmartWater' as a burglary deterrent and Tina talks to Jane Blackmore as an exhibition of botanical art begins at Ross Library.

The programme finishes with a great Cockney song performed by by Chicken Shed Zeppelin.

Get any WNTV News programme on DVD

If you would like a DVD quality version of any of the WNTV News programmes produced so far, a DVD can be purchased at a cost of £5.00 per issue to cover costs plus postage and packing if necessary. Email or call for info.

WNTV will also be available to watch in DVD quality soon at the Heritage Centre. Details to follow (when I have installed the equipment).

A Broome Farm event is always a special occasion and Saturday's Wassail was no exception. We waited in the old orchard to get some footage of the very large procession led by Butler, John Edwards and Proprietor Mike Johnson making their way to the orchard by torchlight.

Once everybody had arrived, John explained what a Wassail is and how the ceremony is carried out. Twelve bonfires were lit around the oldest apple tree in the orchard. Everybody was given some cider to toast the tree and 'Tom Tit' one of the younger members of the crowd, placed cider soaked bread on the branches of the apple tree.

After Compost Heap joined John to sing the Gloucester Wassail Song, and then to the apple tree, everybody was asked to make as much noise as they could, to ward off evil spirits. The noise was deafening!

It was nice to see so many people there and it was especially good to meet Chris Price, a WNTV News fan who lives in Holland. Chris told us that he watches the news every week as it helps him to keep up with what's happening over here. It was in fact how he came to discover Broome Farm.

You can watch some of the Wassail ceremony in this week's edition of WNTV News.

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I have not published the weekly weather for the past two week's and the reason is that Rex and June Swallow from Ross Weather Station both use push bikes as their means of transport. To save them the trouble of riding up Brampton Hill every week, they leave the weekly weather report in an envelope addressed to 'Wyenot News' at the library and I collect it of a Tuesday. The library has been closed for much of the Christmas period, so I have been unable to collect it.

The last two editions of 'Wyenot News' have proved to be extremely popular - especially the WNTV programme, with last week's programme having been watched over 1,000 times within its first three days of publication. People have been passing comment in the street and Tina has even been asked for her autograph as a result of WNTV. However, email feedback we have received over the past two weeks has been fairly sparse - I guess due to the Christmas/New Year holiday. Sparse, that is - other than the mail from dozens of people all over the country, and indeed the world asking, 'What has happened to the weather? Have you stopped publishing it?'

The emails have come from people in all walks of life, ranging from weather anoraks who keep records in a 'little black book' to those working on the national newspapers. I had absolutely no idea until this week how popular publishing Rex and June's weather report has become - nor where the newspapers have been getting their info, when they occasionally mention Ross since the 'Met Office' stopped supplying.

Just goes to show something about human nature though: get something right and few bother to say anything. Miss something out and a million people complain. The past three week's worth of weather statistics can be found on page 4.

'It is more important to know whether there is going to be any weather than what the weather is going to be.' I still remember that quote from the 'Whether Man' in the 'Phantom Toll Booth' - a rather clever (and entertaining) children's book, intended to help children with spelling and arithmetic which I read when I was about 7 years old. I still have that book, which was a present from my late, Auntie Barbara. Thinking about it is prompting me to read it again.

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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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