After much correspondence between Ross Town Councillors, A.R.T and various other bodies with Herefordshire Council, it has at last been agreed for two coach parking bays to be sited at the Red Meadow Car Park in Ross-on-Wye. The bays have now been marked out and are ready for buses and coaches to use.

Councillor Brian Wilcox, Herefordshire Council's cabinet member for highways and transportation said, 'In these difficult economic times, we realize tourists and visitors are essential to the vibrancy of our market towns. By providing specially designated parking bays for coaches, we can get more bus operators to bring people into Ross and spend more money in local shops, cafes and restaurants. Many people love to visit Ross and the surrounding Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Beauty and hopefully, this will bring even more visitors into the area.

Companies have told us they prefer to park at Red Meadow because it makes it easier for their customers to get to and from the town centre, especially if they have shopping to carry, and hopefully they will bring even more people into the area in future.'

Pots and Pieces Tea Shop and Gallery has been selected by Travel Publishing to be a key feature on the Ross-on-Wye page of the Herefordshire section in the seventh edition of 'The Hidden Places of England.

Proprietors of Pots and Pieces, David and Sara Bruce were unaware that a mystery shopper visited them back in April to check out the nine independent recommendations that had been sent to the publishers.

'We were honoured when they told us we had been chosen as the only place in Ross to receive a feature,' said David. 'I had seen the travel books in the shops but had never checked them out. They are really interesting guides to Britain.'

The guide describes Pots and Pieces as 'a 5-star rated tea shop with a gallery of eye-catching gifts at affordable prices.'

The seventh edition of 'The Hidden Places of England' is being published this month and will be available from Rossiter Books, the new independent bookshop in Ross-on-Wye's High Street.

Ross Pre-school Playgroup is supporting Help for Heroes by organizing an It’s a Knockout contest which will take place on the football fields at the rear of Ross Rowing Club this coming Saturday, 24th July. The event promises to be a fun packed, exciting afternoon of entertainment for all the family and the proceeds will be shared between Help for Heroes and the playgroup.

Entrance is via the rowing club and costs £8 for a Family (2 adults and 2 children), Adults £3 and children and concessions £2. Parking is free. The field will open at 11 am with a BBQ, stalls and bouncy castle etc. The “It’s a Knockout” competition starts at 12 noon and teams from Ross Rugby Club, Ross Pre-school, Tudorville Boxing Club, Hertel, Howdens, Hockey Extras, Jackos, Mighty 8, Billies and Ross Rowing Club will compete over a thrilling and very wet obstacle course.

If you would like to have a stall on the field call Iris on 01989 564180 and if you would like to put in a team, there is still time. Please call Vicki on 01989 763249 for further information.

Age Concern Ross-on-Wye held their first joint venture with Sainsbury's on Thursday, 15th July, marking the start of their year long partnership.

The aim of the event was to encourage people to drink more fluids during the warm weather, and of course it rained for most of the day! However, as we know the British weather can change in a flash and Age Concern are keen to raise awareness of the dangers of dehydration, particularly in the elderly. Sainsbury's donated bottles of water to give out in the store and Age Concern gave out tips on how to keep well in warm weather. The morning was a great success with all the water given out as well as over 70 information sheets.

The next session of working together was on Monday, 19th July when Alison Fletcher, Age Concern's Volunteer and Office Co-ordinator, lead a short training session with some of Sainsbury's colleagues. The session highlighted issues that affect older people so that they could have a taste of the sort of support Age Concern offers. On Saturday, 31st July there will be a bag packing day in the store by Age Concern volunteers.

If you would like a copy of the Dehydration in Hot Weather sheet or have any other enquiries, please contact Age Concern on 01989 567165 or 01989 763887.

Ross-on-Wye Golf Club ladies had a great day at the County Fraser Foursomes competition held at Stinchcombe Hill Golf Club recently. Not only were the winners of this 36 hole nett event, Amanda Marshall and Helen Palmer, from Ross, but four of their club colleagues battled for the afternoon best nett prize with Kerry Welding and Jan Armstrong, who just pipped Shan Powell and Anne McArthur on a countback. To complete the picture, the prizes were presented by County President, Di Honey, who just happens to be yet another Ross-on-Wye member!

Rain and wind swept the course, bringing new concerns for the greens staff. A week ago they may have been worrying about the heat and lack of rain, but before play yesterday, they were out with the squeegies clearing the greens.

Gaye Pope of Cotswold Hills didn't need to worry about the greens however, well, not on the par 3 11th hole anyway! There she scored a hole-in-one, the third in her golfing career, but, 'None of us saw the ball drop, which I suppose was a bit sad,' she said.

Almost the entire Junior Academy squad was in action over the weekend at diametrically opposite ends of the country. For the first time the club had four junior crews attending the National championships held this year at Strathclyde Country Park, Glasgow, whilst the rest of the squad was travelling to Molesey, South West London to take part in their wonderful Junior regatta.

Qualifying racing started on Friday in Glasgow and first off was Johan Lai, competing in a year above his age group and for the first time over the International standard 2km course. Johan narrowly missed out on going straight to the final by ½ second and instead had to row again in the repacharge later in the day. By building on his experience from round one, he improved his race strategy to come second, which meant that he had made the final on Saturday.

In Wj16 2x Kelly Morris and Rosie Lindley rowed imperiously in their elimination round to go straight through to the final on Sunday against opposition from Christchurch, Glasgow and Mediterranean Club, Gibraltar. Amy Surman and Ellie Grindle were denied a qualification race due to scratching which meant they had a straight final on Saturday.

In the finals Johan Lai, building on his experience from the previous rounds, came 5th in what was a very strong field. This was a brilliant achievement for such a new and young oarsman. Kelly and Rosie rowed their best race of the season, completing the course in a record personal time only to be beaten into 4th place. Amy and Ellie against tough opposition from Eton Excelsior and Lady Eleanor Hollings (LEH) were battling amongst the places all the way down the course, with LEH setting a strong pace to the 1km mark. With a 100 metres to go, Amy and Ellie were still nearly a length down and in second place when with a tremendous effort they pulled through LEH only to be pipped by Eton by 2 feet, who also has increased their pace. Still this an excellent result for the young scullers. Meghan Rigby and Elle Blackwood who had recently teamed up to race in Wj1 double sculls rowed well only to be eliminated in their semi final.

At Molesey, the draw indicated that the squad would be up against some stiff opposition, with strong representation from other Junior Clubs such as Guildford and Marlow and Wallingford. As it happened the Ross juniors truly excelled themselves on and off the water, amassing 10 wins and retaining the victor ludorum which they won last year.

The first win was by the boys J13 quad scull of Johan Lai, who had travelled from Scotland, Henry Jones, Geroge Probert, Dale Kernot and Olivia Baynham- Williams, who beat opposition from Molesey and Guildford. The next win was from the women's J12 scull of Jess Boon and Megan Jephcote who battled through their semi to meet opposition from another Ross crew. The wins starting stacking up fast as the day wore on.

The Wj13 quad of Morgan Baynham-Williams, Catrin Morris, Molly Phillips, Olivia Baynham-Williams and Jess Crossman battled through 3 rounds to then beat a strong crew from Staines in the final. Wins were also recorded by Will England, J14 single scull, Johan Lai won the J13 single scull, George Probert and Nick Burden in the J13 double Scull, Nick Burden (again!) in the J12 single scull, Pippa England in the J12 single scull, Jess Boon, Skye Jenkins, Christina Stevenson, and Pippa England, with Rhodri Morris coxing won the Wj12 quad scull. Finally Catrin Morris won the Wj13 single sculls in a very close race against opposition from Guildford.

The academy also took the opportunity to take part in some exhibition Octople races against Molesey in which honours were even, with each club winning one race. The plaudits the club gained on the river bank were again very noticeable, with spectators and coaches all commenting on the quality of the Junior Academy performances.

Many thanks must be expressed to Chris Jones and Richard Leach for driving the trailer and the incredible support from parents to make the day so enjoyable for all. The Academy coaching team are very proud of the conduct and performance of the squad.