The annual Kempley Daffodil Weekend has been running successfully for the last thirty three years and despite the heavy rain on Saturday, this year proved to be no exception.

Many people turned up to take part in the walks and support the event which was originally put together to raise money for the church. John Fishpool, Chairman of the festival told us that Saturday was the first time in thirty three years that the weather had been poor and that the event had only ever been cancelled once. That was due to the foot and mouth epidemic in 2001.

There was a lovely exhibition at St. Edward's Church, with a seasons and celebrations theme. Some of the craft work on display was excellent. The village hall was packed with people enjoying tea and cake or some of the good lunches that were available, before looking at some of the stalls there and Chris Bligh gave us an insight into the hard work involved in protecting the wild daffodils that people travel so far to see each year. You can see more of this event in this week's WNTV News programme.

Ross Childminding Support Group (left to right) Debbie Rudge, Jo Gilmour, Sally Heggie, Manda Phillips and Elaine Redding enjoyed a walk on the daffodil trail in Kempley on Tuesday morning. They meet up every Tuesday morning for craft activities, walks, support and a cup of coffee of course! All the children really enjoyed their morning out.

Herefordshire Council has closed a footpath near Walford because of safety fears.

A member of the public contacted the council's public rights of way officers to say building works had started near to Footpath Walford 50 and land had been excavated away from the side of the footpath leaving a sheer vertical drop of around five metres.

Public rights of way officers inspected the footpath, which is not part of the Wye Valley Walk, and decided it was unsafe. An emergency closure notice has been placed on the footpath and will be replaced by a temporary closure which will allow for the path to be closed for up to six months.

Rob Hemblade, Herefordshire council's Public Rights of Way Manager, said, 'Our only option now is to instruct the contractor to pay for this closure order on the footpath which is due to expire on 13th September.

Works should be completed before this date and once we are assured the footpath is safe for the public we will open it at the earliest opportunity'

Ross Community Pride put forward a grant of £600 towards the cost of a bridge across the stream in the Goodrich Greenspace project and on Thursday, 13th March, representative Debbie Griffiths came to inspect the finished article. The bridge was designed by David Owens as part of the Greenspace project and has taken a year from first drawings to completion.

Children from years 5 and 6 at Goodrich Primary School were asked to design a tree as part of the balustrade on the side of the bridge. David's background is in teaching Design and Technology so he gave a lesson in the school and sent the pupils home with blocks of wood and a design sheet. Pupils and parents then set to work and designed and completed the trees. 36 trees adorn the bridge 23 of which were done by the pupils the rest by David and each tree has the initials of its pupil carver worked into it.

'The result is stunning,' said Debbie Griffiths of Ross Community Pride 'I think it looks wonderful and their involvement in the project gives a sense of ownership and pride to the pupils .'

Designer Dave Owens is really pleased with the result. 'I think the kids did really well,' he said. 'The bridge installation has been a team effort all round with other members of the project helping to put it in and the icing on the cake is the involvement of 18 families in Goodrich doing the trees.'

Goodrich Greenspace is a project set up to convert an area in the middle of Goodrich into a recreational space for all the village. The conversion of the area involves landscaping the site, improving paths for access, seating areas, play area, bridge, a wildflower meadow and planting of trees and shrubs. The official opening of the project will be in July of this year. The project has been funded with grants and generous contributions from the local community.

The Community Pride scheme is funded by the Advantage West Midlands' Market Town Initiative Programme via the Ross Area Partnership. For further information contact Lawrie Lowe on 01600 890457.

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