LEOMINSTER MP Bill Wiggin has opened talks with the Depart-ment of Health after receiving complaints over the running of Ledbury Community Hospital. Mr Wiggin said he has been approached by 12 people, some of whom are former employees of hospital operator
THE chairman of Ledbury Independent Traders Association has put the case for more police on the beat. Len Huff raised the issue of vandalism and theft at a meeting with Inspector Sue Thomas. A number of shops have suffered broken windows recently and
A £25,000 sports facility catering for tennis, football and basketball is set to be built in Tarrington. The multi-purpose sports court will be built just outside the Lady Emily Community Hall. The hall committee has now approached Herefordshire Council
RAMBLERS taking part in this year's Herefordshire Walking Festival are being encouraged to take in some of the county's finest food and drink. Organisers of the 2003 event, which is taking place in June, are hoping to sign up local food producers to lead
A burglar was caught after an alert schoolboy saw his car parked near the targeted premises. He gave his parents the registration number and police arrested Robert Parsons, Worcester Crown Court heard on Friday. Parsons had twice raided the outbuildings
A NEW hall is to be built at Bromesberrow CE School to give pupils more space for PE, assemblies and lunch. Judy McCarthy, chairman of the governors at the school, said the present hall was not really big enough for the school's 46 pupils. The new facility
A GOVERNMENT minister took a ride on a Ledbury fire engine on Saturday. Christopher Leslie MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, had dropped by to meet Ledbury's retained firefighters. He was accompanied
DOGS could be banned from Bishop's Frome sports ground if owners do not clean up after their pets. Parish council chairman John Pudge said the amount of dog mess left on the field was unacceptable. Although a ban is being considered, he added that if
CAMPAIGNERS fighting to save a Broom's Green pub have joined forces with another group also battling to save their local. The Horseshoe Inn Companions (HIC) met up with the Cradley Crown Crusaders on Saturday (February 1) to compare notes over a few drinks
LEDBURY Arts Society threw open its doors to the public on Tuesday when it hosted a presentation by celebrated professional artist David Birtwhistle. The Worcester-based watercolour specialist entertained and informed a gathering of the public, society
A group of Donnington householders are to club together and buy a £3,000 water purification system, because the well they rely on is contaminated and poses an E-coli bacterial risk. The nine properties at the Donnington Farm estate, near Ledbury, form
GLOUCESTERSHIRE County Council has said it is not going to get as much money from the Government as it first thought. Figures announced in December showed the council would get a 7.2 per cent rise in direct Government grant to £309.638 million in 2003
AN epic 250-mile mountain bike ride across Cuba has just been completed by a Ledbury man. Peter Webb raised £2,300 for the Douglas Bader Foundation through sponsorship during the trek, returning to his New Street home on Monday. The 34-year-old said he
There has been an huge response to a stop smoking scheme being piloted in Ledbury. Barbara Bennett, organiser of the Herefordshire Stop Smoking Service, said since mid-November, when the scheme was launched, some 70 Ledbury residents had registered for
LEDBURY visitors to the United States are promised a warm welcome at a restaurant in San Francisco. Thirteen-year-old Jay Rich, the grandson of Ledbury Tourist Information Centre officer Sue Stone, was admiring the paintings on the wall in the Pinecrest
The St Michael's Singers are celebrating their first anniversary with an open choral workshop. The event will be held at St Michael and All Angels Church, Ledbury, on Saturday, February 22, from 9.45am to 5pm. Choir spokesman Martin Palmer said: "The
baby and children's clothes and toys, baby equipment and maternity wear will all feature at a nearly new sale being organised in Ledbury. The National Childbirth Trust will be running the event at St Katherine's Hall tomorrow (Saturday) from 10am to noon
AN expectant crowd of over 100 witnessed a highly entertaining match on Saturday which saw Ledbury overturn their higher-placed visitors and gain revenge for a heavy 44-10 loss earlier in the season. LEDBURY 26pts, OLD COVENTRIANS 18pts Ledbury needed
LEDBURY and District Swimming Club had an illness depleted 'B' team at Droitwich in the first round of the PGL Junior League in what proved to be an exciting fixture with Cheltenham and Droitwich. Building on the success of the unbeaten nine year old
LEDBURY Thirds travelled to Luctonians with a side which was a little light on experience, but with loads of youthful exuberance. LUCTONIANS III 50pts, LEDBURY III 0 The home pack dwarfed the visitors' and from the first scrummage, Ledbury realised that
LEDBURY & District Harriers, based at Ledbury Rugby Club on Ross Road, meet every Tuesday at 6.30pm and are looking for fun runners, joggers and serious runners to join them. So if you are interested, why not go along and run a few miles with them
GRAHAM Turner is sweating on the fitness of star performer Tony James ahead of Hereford United's Nationwide Conference clash with Nuneaton Borough at Edgar Street tomorrow (3pm). The Bulls ace picked up a kick on the calf during the midweek draw at Farnborough
THE long awaited re-opening of the Live and Let Live in Bringsty has been delayed until at least the summer. The couple who came in to rescue the 250-year-old pub from permanent closure in October had hoped to open it by Easter but the renovation work
A NEW Bromyard centre that will store and exhibit historical archives is taking shape. While a Lottery grant of £92,000 paid for major construction work to convert the old County Cookers building on Sherford Street, about 20 volunteers from Bromyard Historical
CRIMINAL damage was caused to a property in Highwell Lane, Bromyard between Friday, January 31 and Saturday, February 1. Police were unable to give more details.
POLICE believe a catapult was used to throw stones at the windows of the Conquest Theatre in Bromyard's Tenbury Road last Saturday afternoon (February 1). Two windows were broken.
AN old milk parlour and cattle shed in Much Cowarne can be converted into one detached and two semi-detached houses. Approval was granted to Mrs J Keenan by Herefordshire Council to convert buildings adjacent to Pauncefort Court last week. Because planning
IN Division One of the Whatley Recordon sponsored Malvern Table Tennis League Grosvenor Eagles hold a five point lead at the top of the table. They consolidated their position with a 7-3 win over CSSC Ramblers, but were held to a draw for the second time
SATURDAY FOOTBALL WEST MIDLANDS LEAGUE Premier Division: Malvern Town v Dudley Town, Little Drayton Rangers v Bromyard Town. Division One South: Ledbury Town Reserves v Hinton, Mahal v Malvern Rangers. WORCESTER AND DISTRICT LEAGUE Premier Division: Bromyard
NEWENT'S annual Onion Fayre, which attracts thousands of visitors every year, is to be used as a platform to promote neighbouring towns. David Blick, entertainments organiser for the event, said he would be asking tourism officers from Ledbury and Ross-on-Wye
The Rector of Newent, the Rev Robert Simpson, is busy writing to trusts and other organisations to find the extra £8,000 needed to pay for the restoration of St Mary's Church organ. In the last three years, The Friends of St Mary's have put £10,000 into
A "SHOPWATCH" scheme which allows Newent shopkeepers to alert each other to the presence of suspicious characters is to be re-launched. Russ Green, chairman of the Newent and North Forest Crime Reduction Action Team, said the scheme needed to bring all
A FREE meeting giving information on service as a parish councillor is being organised in Newent. It is aimed at getting people to stand for election to town and parish councils at the forthcoming local government elections on May 1. The meeting will
A VOLUNTEER is needed to fill a vacant parent governor's post at Newent Community School. Candidates must have a child presently at the school, and must agree to put themselves forward for election by fellow parents. More information and nomination forms
A QUIZ night is being staged at the Glebe Infant School tonight (Friday). Doors will open at 7.30 for an 8pm start, and entry is £4 per person. Tickets are available by ring ing 01531 820700.
A COMMUNITY-based organisation set up to fight crime has changed its name. Newent crime prevention panel will be known as the Newent and North Forest Crime Reduction Action Team from now on. The group, which meets twice a month, is also appealing for
A LIST of locations for Led-bury's new library will be unveiled next month by Herefordshire Council. A public meeting is being held at Ledbury Primary School on March 19 from 7pm. The present library, in the Elizabeth Barret Browning building, will not
rushing off to a house blaze halfway through the event did not prevent Ledbury's firefighters from raising more than £1,000 for good causes on Sunday. The crew were busy washing cars in Tesco car park when the call came, but they returned with both engines
PLANS for work at the Grade II Listed Stretton House have had to be put on hold. The building, to the east of Stretton Grandison, is the subject of two planning applications, to build a three-bay garage, hobby room, driveway and new balustrades and to
CHAIRMANSHIP of the Ledbury branch of Amnesty International is to be passed from member to member in the wake of the death of founder Jim Absolom. The first person to take over the post left vacant by Mr Absolom's death last month will be Anne Roberts
GENEROUS donations from as far afield as Birmingham look to have saved a village church from collapse. An emergency appeal was launched when large cracks were found in the west wing of Hollybush Church in November. The parochial church council could not
A SINGLE-storey house is to be built on a site in Wellington Heath despite the concerns of nearby residents. The new home will be built on Floyd's Lane, which is three metres across at its widest point and has no passing places. Objectors said the road
A NEW play about one of the Dymock Poets is to be staged in Ledbury in October following a sell-out run in Cheltenham this month. Tickets for performances of Robert Frost in England, playing on February 21 and 22 at the Everyman Theatre, have all gone
Local charities will benefit from a pancake night at Dymock Parish Hall. The event is being organised by the Dymock Fundraisers group on Tuesday, March 4, from 7.30pm. Tickets and further information on 01531 890243.
FIVE minutes before kick off in this U15s league game, Swifts found that they were supposed to be in Presteigne rather than at home - a hasty journey and a late kick off resulted. PRESTEIGNE U15s 4, LEDBURY SWIFTS U15s 0 Swifts' side had been hit by the
THREE games were postponed in the Soccer Site Malvern Football League Division One on Sunday and both games in the U18 Youth Division were also called off. Dynamo Ledbury extended their winning league run to four games after an impressive victory over
LEDBURY TOWN 0, TIPTON TOWN 4 LEDBURY Town's hopes of a title challenge were dashed on Saturday when they were beaten 4-0 at home by second-placed Tipton Town. Tipton controlled the game for long periods especially after the home side had lost Stuart
A HOST of internationals will take to the field at Ledbury Rugby Club to honour Rob Chapman's 30 seasons with the club. On Easter Monday (April 21) a Trevor Bethell Invitation XV will play Public School Wanderers, captained by former England prop Jeff
COLWALL made the long trip to Bournemouth and deservedly earned a 3-3 draw. BOURNEMOUTH LADIES 3, COLWALL 1ST XI 3 An injury-hit Colwall made a solid start in an action packed first half and took the lead after a goal mouth scramble, Emma Twigg well placed
Bromyard teacher Emma Brice, who left for a six-month voluntary aid trip to Tanzania on Monday, is thanking residents for helping her raise £5,500. The 27-year-old St Peter's primary school teacher will leave electricity and running water behind during
PRACTICAL ways to achieve conservation will be explored at an event for farmers at the Hop Pocket in Bishop's Frome on Thursday, February 13. It is the first of two events looking at the various grant schemes available to fund environmental work on farms
AN attempt was made to break-in to an outbuilding at Stoke Lacy between January 27 and 28.
APPROVAL has been given for the building of five new bungalows and four semi-detached houses at 34 Old Road, Bromyard. PEP Developments, of Hereford, was granted permission by Herefordshire Council for five two-bedroom houses and four three-bedroom houses
BROMYARD entertained the runaway North Midlands One league leaders Solihull who left Bromyard with a victory but they knew they had been in a battle. BROMYARD 8pts, SOLIHULL 36pts The first half was an even contest as Bromyard forced Solihull back into
NEW rural learning centres are to be set up in Ledbury and Colwall, but doubt already hovers over their future. The centres aim to make learning available to those affected by economic decline in isolated rural areas and are expected to be up and running
THE stout crew of the Colwall Players will boldly go where they have never gone before next week, when they launch their new production. Dazzle, which also features the Young Colwall Players, follows the adventures of Captain Sam Galactica and the crew
land to the west of the Malvern Hills could be opened to limited public access. The Malvern Hills Conservators have recently bought The Hacketts, part of the prominent ridge between Brockhill Road and Mathon Road, north of Colwall. Members have now approved
COLWALL church is the venue for a service in celebration of marriage on Sunday, February 16, at 10.15am. The service, to coincide with National Marriage Week, is for anyone who wants to say "thank you" for their relationship. "At a time when we are told
THE newly-formed Guide company in Colwall will meet in the village hall on Tuesdays between 6pm and 7.30pm Any girls aged 10-14 interested in taking part can call Joy Conlon on 01684 633561.
COLWALL'S Christmas post scheme raised £181.01, which will go towards the running of the Millennium Room attached to the village library. More than 1,750 cards were delivered by the volunteers, who ran the scheme for two weeks in December.
LEDBURY DUPLICATE BRIDGE CLUB IN the weekly duplicate competition held at the club on January 29, the N/S winners were Derrick McClelland & Ray Miller who scored 58.81. The other leading pairs were: Joy & Ray Morgan, 56.09; Marjorie Archer &
THIS was Magpies netball team's second match after a long Christmas break. MAGPIES 18, SMART CUT 15 Magpies won the toss but failed to take advantage with Smart Cut scoring the first two goals despite being a player down. Magpies then started to settle
LEDBURY entertained local rivals Bromyard for this mid season reverse and what a contest it proved to be. LEDBURY U11s 0, BROMYARD U11s 7pts A momentary lapse in the opening two minutes was the only real difference between the sides when the visitors
A LITTLE corner of France in Newent may be lost because of lack of support for the sport of boules. Newent Boules Group will disband unless new blood can be found to look after the court by Newent Lake. Boules player Mel Jones, aged 80, of Craddock Road
A SPRING show will be held at Pauntley Village Hall on Saturday, February 22. It is being organised by Castle Tump Women's Institute, and will start at 2.30pm. Competitions will be held for flower arrangements, bulbs and plants, cookery and preserves,
A SEVENTIES and Eighties revival night is being held at Picklenash Junior School next Friday (February 14). It will start at 8pm. There will be a bar and tickets, priced £2.50, are available on 01452 790499.
PLANS for a puffin crossing with signals on the busy B4211 Ross road in Newent have gone on display at the town's library. The proposed crossing is aimed at increasing safety for parents and children travelling to and from nearby Picklenash Junior School
AN appeal for ex-pupils to come forward and help show how career paths take shape has been launched by Newent Community School. Head of careers Chris Germaine wants to put together a series of posters featuring past students to illustrate the options
