Once upon a time there were three young men who decided over a pint at the Hope & Anchor that they would like to do something to help St. Michael's Hospice, a very important local charity close to the heart of many local people. St. Michael's offers specialist care to individuals who have a life limiting illness and also their families and friends. St. Michael's is an independent charity and all of their services are given free but are reliant upon 90% of their funding to come from the local community.

Shane, Rod and Mark decided to get friends, family and anybody else whose arm they could twist to sponsor them to do the Offa's Dyke walk, a distance of 180 miles, which they recently completed and have raised somewhere in the region of £1,500 for the charity. The walk itself is around 180 miles, then there was the walking from camp to the starting points and after a hard day's walk, funding somewhere else to pitch up, so in reality they covered many more miles than that.

The guys enjoyed the walk despite getting very sore feet and they met many good people along the way who contributed to their cause. The tired trio arrived back at the Hope & Anchor on Saturday, 23rd July to a huge round of applause from those enjoying a beer in the garden and a very welcome pint or three, courtesy of landlady, Debbie. A raffle was held at the pub on the following evening which also helped to boost their funds.

Shane, Rod and Mark would like to thank all of their kind sponsors for their generosity and especially wish to thank Clive Parkes of Wye Premier Travel for not only taking them to their challenge but for also returning them back to the pub. Well done guys.

There is something special about Peterstow Village Fete. It is an event that Alan and I always enjoyed covering as the whole community seems to pull together to make a brilliant afternoon out for the whole family. This year this lovely annual event took place on 23rd July and as ever, the common was filled with cake stalls, plant stalls, Tombola and lots of good, old fashioned side shows such as skittles, the Wheel of Fortune and a coconut shy amongst other attractions.

Fortunately for me there was a Broome Farm cider tent on site and one of my favourite local bands, Double Barrel were performing some great live music during the event. As well as bringing all the locals out together, the fete gives local organizations a chance to boost there funds and from what I saw, most of them appeared to be doing very well. I'm looking forward to next year's event already!