An electrical fault may have started a blaze that killed 9,000 chickens and destroyed a 14,000 sq ft building. The cost of the fire at Hill House Farm, Ross Road, Ledbury, has been estimated at more than £100,000. Poultry farmer Alistair Young called
A TEENAGER who raped his 93-year-old great-grandmother before strangling her to death has been detained in hospital under the Mental Health Act. Jamie Limbrick was given a 12-week interim hospital order after being assessed by a team of psychiatrists.
navy veteran Robert Cosh has criticised a Government decision not to grant a medal for service on the Arctic convoys during the Second World War. The Government this week announced that a badge will be awarded to survivors instead of a full medal. Mr
DAFFODILS will be the star attraction in Dymock tomorrow (Saturday) and Sunday. The annual daffodil weekend offers walks to see wild daffodils on both days, starting at 2.30pm from Wintour's Green, outside St Mary's Church. Light refreshments will be
A group of Dymock residents, including parish councillor David Prout, attempted to buy a piece of land already earmarked for a village car park. The bid, which has failed, was made public at Monday's Dymock Parish Council meeting at the Ann Cam School
Police Inspector Paul Tanner, a former John Masefield High School pupil, has received his Gallantry Medal from the Queen at Buckingham Palace. In December 2001, Insp Tanner was stabbed in the chest and arm at London's Finsbury Park Underground Station
Concerns about the poor condition of Wintours Green have been expressed by Dymock Parish Council. At this week's council meeting at the Ann Cam School, questions were asked as to whether joy-riders had been driving vehicles across it. Although there are
A Ledbury businessman is asking for something to be done about the pot-holed road to his premises, alongside Ledbury Youth Centre, off Bye Street. Tim Clarke, of the property group Clarke Roxburgh, said the state of the road does not affect him personally
Ledbury parish officer Leatte Clarke has carried out a study into the standard of parking in Mabel's Furlong. She has praised the conduct of parents dropping off and collecting children from John Masefield High School, after concerns were raised about
Ledbury's job centre in Bye Street will definitely close by next year and claimants seeking face-to-face help will have to travel to Malvern or Hereford. An electronic 'Jobpoint' and customer access phone has already been installed at Herefordshire Council's
MORE than 2,000 tickets have been sold for the Ledbury Mystery Play, which composer John Frith says may be the biggest ever show staged in the parish church. He said with the stage installed at St Michael and All Angels', the church resembles a film set
Shortwood Family Farm, in Pencombe, served up a hearty breakfast to raise funds for Hereford Hospital. It was one of dozens of farms in Herefordshire taking part in the recent Farmhouse Breakfast Week. The event, organised by the NFU and Herefordshire
A PEG doll competition, stalls, coffee and tombola were among the attractions at a table-top sale run by the Friends of Guiding in Bromyard on Saturday. The event, at the Bromyard Centre, raised £450. Organiser Enid Colquitt said it was a great success
LEDBURY Rugby Club continue their Midlands Three West (South) campaign tomorrow (Saturday) with a visit to fifth from bottom Silhillians (2.30pm). Although the away side, Ledbury will be looking for a result that could move them out of the bottom two
LEDBURY Town slumped to a humiliating West Midlands premier division defeat at Lye on Saturday despite the heroics of goalkeeper Craig Humphries. LYE TOWN 7, LEDBURY TOWN 0 The hosts gave fourth-placed Ledbury a footballing lesson with energetic play,
LEDBURY swimmers are celebrating a double win following a weekend of competition with a PGL Junior League gala on Saturday night and a Wyvern League gala on Sunday afternoon. The PGL team faced tough opposition from Ludlow, Stourbridge and Fourshires.
COLWALL Women's Hockey Club are celebrating their 75th anniversary tomorrow (Saturday) at the Full Pitcher in Ledbury. The event starts at 4pm following the club's league match against Yate & South Gloucestershire at the Ledbury Leisure Centre, John
BROMYARD Seconds did the double over their local rivals with a well-earned victory in this surprisingly well-mannered affair. BROMYARD II 19PTS, UPTON II 5PTS The experienced Bromyard pack were to the fore in this victory as they managed to stifle Upton's
LOCAL organisers for the charity Water Aid sent off cheques worth £1,113 this week to help people in India. Run by Kevin and Ruth Walton of Colwall, the participants donate a penny for each pint of water they collect from springs around the Malvern Hills
Song will fill St James Church, Colwall, during a special Palm Sunday event. The Cradley Singers and Colwall Church Choir and Orchestra will combine their talents to perform Faur Requiem on Sunday, March 20, at 6.30pm. Featuring soprano Jenny Marsden
FOURTEEN teams took part in the monthly competition at the club on March 2. LEDBURY DUPLICATE BRIDGE CLUB The winners, with a score of 48, were Mary & Paul Clayburn with Francis & John M Davies. The other leading teams were: Joy & Ray Morgan
LEDBURY Seconds travelled away to Ludlow and with the ongoing problem of player availability, a 15-man squad made the trip. LUDLOW II 25pts, LEDBURY II 12pts Ledbury started with the wind in their faces and Ludlow adopted their style of play to optimise
LEDBURY entertained the Elms School on Friday night on the 1st XV pitch under floodlights, hence joining the Ledbury elite for this rare treat. LEDBURY U13S XV 7PTS, THE ELMS U13S XV 17PTS A full-sized pitch allowed for plenty of free running and it was
Only a handful of creditors will get anything from the collapse of Ledbury giftware firm Stuart Houghton Ltd, according to receivers. In a report to creditors, Baker Tilly of Bristol said it had paid out to the Royal Bank of Scotland Commercial Services
A planning application that could secure up to 50 new jobs for Ledbury has been recommended for refusal by town councillors. Amcor Flexibles, on the Lower Road trading estate, wants to a new warehouse extension and to raise the roof of its existing warehouse
Conservationist Eddie Booth gave a talk about the Master's House to around 30 members of the Ledbury Civic Society and guests at the Burgage Hall on Friday. Mr Booth, a partner in The Conservation Studio, travelled from Cirencester to give a slide-show
Valerie Butcher from The Mews Barbers Shop in Ledbury has supported Comic Relief since it first began in 1985. This year is no exception, because not only will the hairdresser be wearing the red nose and wig today (Friday), she will also be contributing
Ledbury looks set to get its dedicated coach park at the Countrywide store by early summer. Herefordshire Council plans to start work in April or May and it should take no more than three or four weeks to complete. Four coach spaces will be created by
Tackling drugs in the Ledbury area will be the subject of an open meeting next week. The venue for the Ledbury Area Drugs Forum event will be the Burgage Hall, Church Lane, on Tuesday (March 15) from 7.30pm. One of the key areas of discussion will be
Ledbury architects Stainburn Taylor and Michael Reardon have played a key role in the £1m restoration of historic Wilton Castle, near Ross. The Church Lane practice was appointed architect for the privately-owned fortress in 1996. It was then on English
WITH neither of the top two in division one of The Soccer Site Malvern League in action last Sunday, the spotlight fell on the tight contest at the top of division two. After the games were played, the battle for the title was even closer with only three
SWIFTS U14s finally managed a win after a poor run of form and in doing so gained some revenge against a Colts side that had edged a thrilling 5-4 victory three weeks earlier. LEDBURY SWIFTS U14s 3, LADS CLUB COLTS U14s 0 Swifts started brightly and soon
A grant of £65,000 has been awarded to St John the Baptist Church in Whitbourne. The money from the Heritage Lottery Fund will help pay for repairs to the bell tower. "All churches get an inspection every five years and at the last inspection the architect
"Outstanding" is how Pencombe Primary School is described by Ofsted inspectors. Their report praises headteacher Chloe Evans for her excellent leadership and management, which enables the school to provide a "very good curriculum, enhanced by excellent
n A ball bearing gun was used to cause damage of £1,500 to four cars at Top Garage, Bromyard, between 6pm on Wednesday, (March 2) and 8am the following day. n An Easter bingo takes place at 7.30pm tonight (Friday) at the Bromyard Centre. Proceeds to Bringsty
FORMER world number one darts player Ronnie 'The Rocket' Baxter (right) is playing a number of exhibition games at Ledbury Town clubhouse on Friday, March 25, starting at 7.30pm. Baxter is a former BDO and WDF number one and has been twice runner-up in
SWIFTS grabbed a late winner to complete a hard-fought double over Westfields and extend their lead at the top of the HFA U18 Floodlit League. LEDBURY TOWN SWIFTS 2, WESTFIELDS 1 The home side made the perfect start when midfielder Tim Rutherford spun
THE Queen Elizabeth HS, Bromyard, U13s girls' football squad went to Minster School on Friday to play in the Herefordshire six-a-side outdoor competition. They played in a round robin and beat Haywood 2-1, Minster 6-0 and Lady Hawkins 3-0. They qualified
IMPROVING Bromyard Town moved up to sixth in the West Midlands League premier division with an important 1-0 win against Goodrich. BROMYARD TOWN 1, GOODRICH 0 In tricky conditions against a physical team, play was fairly even in the first half. The only
YOUNGSTERS at the Elms School, Colwall, learned about the delights of traditional gardens at the weekend. The school played host to a two-day festival of arts and crafts entitled In an English Country Garden. The event, devised by head of drama Sally
COLWALL Darby and Joan Club will be holding a bring and buy tomorrow (Saturday, March 12) from 10.30am-12.30pm in Chevenham lounge. Entrance 50p, including coffee. The annual village spring clean is also tomorrow from 9.30am-11.30am concluding with coffee
HEREFORD United manager Graham Turner is confident away-day specialists Hucknall Town won't find it too comfortable at Edgar Street tomorrow in the FA Trophy's last eight. The Bulls are firm favourites to lift the Trophy at Villa Park in May after being
SATURDAY FOOTBALL THE TRAVEL FACTORY MIDLAND FOOTBALL ALLIANCE Racing Club Warwick v Malvern Town (3.00). WEST MIDLANDS LEAGUE Premier Division: Bromyard Town v Gornal Athletic; Ledbury Town v Tipton Town. Division One: Malvern Town Reserves v Wolverhampton
COLWALL CC get their season under way on Sunday (March 13) with net practice at Ledbury Leisure Centre from 10.30am. Colwall enter the 2005 season with all four teams seeking promotion into a higher league. All members are encouraged to attend. On Saturday
HEREFORDSHIRE Cricket Board are holding a groundsmen's course at Brockhampton CC on Sunday, April 3. Anyone interested should contact Jim Sandford on 01531 633055 for further information.
