Have you a question that you would like to put to Ross Town Councillors? Have you any comment to make on their achievements in the past year, or concerns about their future plans? If so, then go along to Ross-on-Wye Town Meeting at the Larruperz Centre on Monday, 21st April.

Ross Town Council welcomes feed back from it's residents, so why not go along and have your say? The meeting starts at 7pm. For further information, contact the Town Clerk by email on clerk@rosstc-herefordshire.gov.uk.

Last week I received a telephone call from Peter Le Quesne in New Zealand. Peter is looking to trace and reunite with the Lewis family, who were at Blakemore Farm, Longhope in 1956.

Peter stayed in the UK between late 1955 to early 1957 whilst taking courses in Radar with the then 'Decca Radar Ltd'. One Saturday in November 1956, along with an engineer from Decca, Peter ended up staying at the New Inn, Gloucester and decided to go to a dance in the country. At the dance, he met up with some of the Lewis Family. Soon afterwards however, he was sent to a Decca navigation station near Llantwit Major in South Wales.

Peter kept in communication with the Lewis family whilst he was away and they invited him for Christmas. After travelling by train to Hereford, he was met at the station and he stayed several days with his new friends, being shown around by the daughter, Beryl Lewis. Peter stayed in touch with the family into the 1960s.

'One of the daughters, either Gwen or Molly, was married in the early 1960s and I was sent photos of the wedding,' said Peter. 'I have a feeling the farm was involved in sugar beet, though I am not absolutely sure. I do not remember many animals around. The house did not have power from the national grid but did have a telephone. I went to see "The Great Locomotive Chase" with the family at the cinema, the 'Gloucester Palladium'.

'I would like to locate any of the Lewis family members. I have a feeling that the children would not have moved far from the area. I have no idea if the farm still belongs to them. In 1956, the family consisted of Father, Charlie (56), Mother (49), Molly (19), Albert (15), Gwen (18), Francis (22) and Beryl (16 or 17)'.

Peter left the UK in late January 1957 but has been back twice and will be returning again in October to visit both Ross and Hay-on-Wye. He would dearly like to meet up with the Lewis family, if they can be contacted before then. If you are able to help put Peter back in touch, he can be contacted either by email at: paleq@clear.net.nz or by writing to Peter and Anne Le Quesne, 23 Oriel Place, Napier 4112 New Zealand - phone: +64 6 843 8212.

Peter sent me the photos below, which may help . . .

Coincidentally, having spoken to Peter on the telephone, it turned out that he and I, as well as another of Peter's friends in Bewdley, who also telephoned me about this article, share the same hobby of amateur (ham) radio and we are all licensed. If time ever allows me to set the equipment up again, maybe we will all meet up for a chat on the short wave.

Some time ago, Doreen Ravenscroft asked if it would be possible to use Alan's photograph of the famous view of Ross for a cross stitch pattern for her own use. Alan of course agreed, and asked if he could take a photograph of the work once it had been completed.

Doreen invited us round to see her work on Saturday and Alan took this photograph of it. Whilst we were there, she showed us some of the many other beautiful cross stitch pictures she has produced. They are just amazing.

Andi McBurnie provided some great entertainment at the Red Lion, Peterstow on Friday evening. Andi plays a great range of covers, without the aid of either drum machine or backing tracks and is often joined by great blues harpist, Toby Lovell when playing the blues.

Andi was performing at the Red lion to help the landlady's daughter, Emily Rapson to celebrate her 18th birthday. It was nice to see you again, Andi and we look forward to seeing you again soon. You can see some of Andi's performance in this week's WNTV News programme

With Division 1 Rugby secured for next season, Ross entertained the already league champions Bristol Saracens on Saturday. After a poor first half display, Ross fought back in the second half but they had left themselves too much to do and Saracens prevailed deserved winners in an entertaining encounter.

From the kick off, The Saracens looked the more cohesive unit. Dominating possession and territory for the first quarter, they besieged the Ross twenty two for the first twenty minutes. However the Ross scramble defence showed up admirably, denying a Saracens score on numerous occasions.

Initially, The Saracens turned down kicking for the posts, deciding on kicking penalties to touch looking for that first try. However, after twenty unsuccessful minutes, Saracens changed tack and opened their account with a penalty. After the amount of possession, Ross could be satisfied with only a three point deficit as they entered the second quarter.

What Ross needed now was a bit of possession and a sprinkling of luck in an effort to hit back. From the kick off they secured possession. Initially Ashley Nelms, then Matt Redman made ground. Scrum half, Andy Hunt moved the ball quickly right and some quick hands in the backline sent Winger, Luke Gray outside his man out on the right and he chipped the fullback. At this moment Ross needed that lucky bounce. Unfortunately the ball bounced kindly for Saracens and they were able to clear the danger. The rest of the half saw Saracens dominate possession and they added two late tries to go into half-time 13-0 up.

The second half was a more even affair, with Ross showing more aggression. This resulted in Saracens spilling more ball and Ross worked hard to take advantage of these turnovers. However, apart from a try from Chay Brine halfway through the half, Ross were not able to close the gap and Saracens ran out 20-7 victors.

The SFC Personnel man of the match was Chay Brine.

Ross have two matches this week. On Wednesday, 16th at 6.15pm they have a semi final against Bredon Star at the Ross Sports ground and on Saturday, 19th they are away to Tewkesbury for their final league match.

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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