Having been missed the previous year, New Year's Eve celebrations at Ross-on-Wye Market House returned to the more traditional type of event in 2003. Mel Hodges entertained the many party revellers with music, commentary and relayed the chimes of Big Ben, closely followed by Auld Lang Syne at midnight.

Excepting one incident involving a shop window, the party was great fun with a brilliant atmosphere. In the absence of the Christmas tree, which had been taken down prior to the event, the lamp post became a close substitute for those wishing to prove their male prowess by imitating there 'distant' ancestors. There was one subtle difference between the lamp post and the Christmas tree however - it's light had not been vandalized.

Thanks to Mel Hodges, Gordon and Margaret Lucas, Mary Sinclair-Powell and many others of the Carnival Committee, Ross in Bloom, the Rotary Club and Ross Lions etc. for working tirelessly all year round to keep Ross-on-Wye an attractive, interesting and entertaining place in which to live or visit.