The Orles Barn Hotel and Restaurant was the venue for a fantastic Jazz Lunch on Sunday afternoon. The place was packed as lovers of traditional jazz dined whilst enjoying the sounds of Liberty Street Jazz band.

The event was so successful that proprietors Richard and Kelly have arranged three more Summer Jazz Afternoons. The first will take place on Sunday, 27th July, the next on Sunday, 31st August and the last will be held on September 28th. To book, please contact Richard or Kelly at Orles Barn on 01989 562155.

The CHaOS Science Roadshow will be returning to Ross market house again this year. Chaos (Cambridge Hands On Science) are a group of Cambridge students - plus a couple of skeletons - who spend a month travelling around the country in a minibus, with a van full of hands-on science experiments aimed at children aged between 8 and 14. Their aim is to introduce children to the joy of practical science, outside of the classroom - a free, travelling science museum - just more hands-on and fun!

Last year's event went down extremely well with local children as can be seen below. It was attended by many, despite last year's awful weather.

If you would like to enjoy this year's Chaos Science Roadshow, make a note in your diary to head for Ross Market House on Wednesday, 23rd of July between midday and 5 o'clock and join in with some of the fun scientific experiments.

NICK KISS & SON
PLASTERERS AND GENERAL BUILDERS

All types of plastering work undertaken
Clean and Tidy - Free Quotes

Telephone: 01989 763441
Mobile: 07810 174670

PAUL AND STEVE RANDELL
GENERAL BUILDERS

Extensions - Renovations - Brickwork
Stonework - Floor Laying - Roofing

Telephone Paul on 01989 564112
Mobile 07812 564112
Steve on 07971 535064

The St. John Ambulance organization held their annual St. John's Day Service at Ross Baptist Church on Tuesday, 24th June, combining it with a Cadet Enrolment Ceremony.

The service was conducted by the Reverend Tim Shelly and was attended by Ross Town Mayor, Councillor John Davies, the Mayor and Mayoress of Hereford, the Deputy Mayor of Ledbury and Councillor Phil Cutter, along with officials of the St. John Ambulance.

Poppies are my favourite wild flower and I 'cultivate' my own here at Wyenot HQ. I took these photos on Monday, whilst the flowers were blowing about in the breeze.

Poppies are extremely easy to grow. For that perfect result, all you have to do is get yourself a patch of garden and then neglect it. Nature will take care of the rest.

Ross-in-Bloom are once again inviting all children up to the age of eleven to enter their annual 'Garden on a Tray' competition. This year, not only will the overall winner be presented with the Ross Gazette Shield, Ross Garden Store are also sponsoring this popular event by donating prizes to the winners of each of the two age categories. These are for children aged 7 years and under and those aged between 8 and 11.

Due to the amount of entries last year and to the variety of tray sizes that were entered, the rules have been changed for the 2008 competition in that containers, trays or boards must be no larger than an A4 piece of paper. Group entries, however, for those aged up to 5 years are allowed to enter a larger tray, similar in size to that of a lap tray.

If you are stuck for inspiration for your entry, there is no need to panic. A special activity day for those wishing to enter is being held at Ross Heritage Centre on Saturday, 19th July between 10:30am and 12:30pm. Materials will be available for tray gardens, however, a small donation will be greatly appreciated. Children are also welcome to take along their own materials if they wish. All entries must be in by 1pm on this day.

Winners of the competition will be notified by telephone on Sunday, 20th July. Entries will remain at the Heritage Centre until 23rd July so that the Heart of England in Bloom judges can see them. Trays can be collected after this date.

For further information on the competition, contact Sue at Ross Heritage Centre or telephone 01989 563956 before 8pm.

Work on the Ross Flood Alleviation Scheme is making good progress again, following difficulties with the tunnelling works. The contractor started work on site last September and since then the completed work includes the construction of two bridges, installation of 150m of precast concrete culvert and general watercourse improvements, all to the Rudhall Brook.

The major work outstanding above ground is the earth bund situated east of the A40 and this is now well on the way to completion in August. Works will continue through to the end of the year to make the scheme fully operational.

The 350 metre long by 2.1 metre diameter tunnel, running between the Homs Road and Kings Acre car parks, and forming an integral part of the flood alleviation scheme, is now also making good progress. The tunnel boring machine, with all its fittings is a sophisticated item totalling 50m in length and requiring significant skill and expertise to set up to meet the prevailing conditions.

The rock through which the tunnel has to be bored has been more challenging than anticipated. Initial changes to the tunnelling machine centred on changing the teeth to improve the machine's ability to cut the rock, but difficulties remained. Further changes were then made to the method of dealing with the material that is removed from the tunnel and this is now done by a conveyor system. In order to regain some of the delays, the contractor Morgan Est has decided to adopt 24-hour working between Monday and Friday for the tunnelling work.

The council appreciates that this working arrangement does cause some inconvenience to residents and is working to minimize these affects. Measures have been taken to reduce noise, including toning down alarms on the crane as far as safety will permit and keeping vehicle movements on the surface to a minimum. An acoustic fence has been erected alongside the brook to further attenuate noise. Noise levels are monitored for compliance with contract limits. The tunnelling machine has a further 220m to travel to reach breakthrough at Kings Acre car park.

Bollitree Castle (near Weston-under-Penyard) will be the setting for an informal concert and picnic in aid of the Friends of St. Mary's on Friday 18th July at 7.30pm. The grounds will be open from 6.30pm. This is a fantastic opportunity to enjoy the grounds and admire the architecture of this intriguing property. The earliest buildings date from the 15th century and a later castle section, complete with moat, was built in the late 1700s as a gothic antiquity.' It's a fabulous venue for an outdoor concert and we are hugely grateful to Penelope Johnson for agreeing to host this event.

Ross-on-Wye Parish Church Choir will be providing light entertainment in the form of "Captain Noah and his Floating Zoo". This amusing piece has become a favourite among sacred and secular institutions alike and, although originally intended for children, the work has been successfully adapted to include adult performers. Accompaniment on this occasion will be provided by Michael Payne, regular accompanist to the choir and organist at St. Mary's. Their Musical Director, Mark Sanderson, is hoping that this choice of work isn't a bad omen, given the torrential downpours and flooding that heralded the beginning of the summer holidays last year!

'Captain Noah and his Floating Zoo' light-heartedly chronicles the story of Noah as he attempts to preserve mankind and all the creatures of the Earth. The work opens with God voicing his displeasure with man and commanding Noah to build an ark of gopher wood and fill it with pairs of animals. Aboard the ark, forty days and forty nights of ceaseless rain take their toll (not unlike British summertime!) but the mood changes both dramatically and musically when the rain finally stops and the work closes with a joyful waltz to celebrate the appearance of a rainbow overhead.

Members of the Herefordshire Youth Concert Band will be providing further entertainment to accompany your picnic. The band consists of some of the county's most talented brass and woodwind players between the ages of 14 and 19 and has achieved a reputation for a very high standard of performance over the years. A notable achievement for the band, and their director of 28 years, Peter Gittins, was a performance at the Royal Albert Hall to open the last night of the Schools Prom in 2004 - an amazing experience for all concerned. The band for this concert will be comprised of the 40 players (out of the regular 60) who are eagerly looking forward to a Swiss concert tour during the summer holidays. They will be performing pieces from a wide range of musical genres including films, shows, traditional favourites and big band numbers.

Bring your own food or treat yourself to a pre-booked picnic (£6.50 standard or £9.50 deluxe) from Truffles by contacting them directly on 01989 762336 or by email: truffles@wyenot.com.

Tickets cost £10 (£5 for children) and are available from The Church Office, The County Collection, Truffles, by phone 01989 565386 or by email: admin@stmarysfriends.org.

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