Archive

  • Delegates pay visit to school

    A DELEGATION of government officials from Malaysia has visited Hereford's new £15 million high school. The group of 12, including politicians and civil servants, were in the city to see work on Whitecross High School. When it opens next summer, the school

  • New boy at school!

    PAUL Smith, the new head at Hereford Cathedral School, has a hard act to follow. The 45 year old who has just arrived from Portsmouth Grammar School made the comment after the announcement of the school's GCSE results. Every pupil at the school gained

  • Youngsters spring into a bright future

    HEREFORD Sixth Form College confirmed its position in education's premier league as students excelled themselves in the A-level examinations. The college did well as it has been named as one of the two best performing non-selective sixth form colleges

  • Pupils hate litter but love painting

    AN exhibition of children's art in support of the Love Leominster Hate Litter campaign was later rolled out to local supermarkets after its launch at the town library. Romey Worthington, of Leominster People in Partnership, co-ordinated entries from schools

  • End of an era at county schools

    IT will be the end of an era at Aylestone High School when teachers with 128 years of service between them call it a day. Roy Baldwin, Maggie Johnson, Tony Curran, Janet Brown and Suzi Macintyre marked their final essay and checked their last maths formula

  • Centre of excellence

    A NETWORK of education excellence was being forged with Hereford College of Technology at its heart, said University of Wales dean Dr Carl Peters. Addressing graduates at a higher awards ceremony at Hereford Cathedral, he added: ''Collabora-tion among

  • Much-praised school's head to retire

    EVERY year Geoff Sharratt has looked forward to his summer holiday but this time it's a bit different. After a lifetime in teaching and 18 years as head teacher at Wigmore High School, he knows that when the first week of September comes around he will

  • Schools to share £124,000

    HEADTEACHERS across Herefordshire are celebrating sharing in cash aimed at taking cars off congested roads and encouraging children to walk and cycle to school. A total of 22 schools will share £124,900 of Government funding after they successfully developed

  • Hi-tech help for students

    TOP technology is helping students with sight disabilities to get to grips with the world of art and design. Students at the Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford are now using a giant computerised smart board. It has been provided by the national

  • Future of faith buses still in the balance

    THE county's church schools are to lose their free buses from next year unless a plan backed by Herefordshire Council's cabinet is held-up at the last minute. Cabinet has agreed to scrap the free buses and instead backed a scheme that has parents helping

  • They can count on it!

    A WEEK of activities at a Hereford primary school, designed to make maths more fun, was capped with an open day to show off new skills to parents. Pupils at St Martin's School were encouraged to see the brighter, more creative side to mathematics. Activities

  • Help in a return to learning

    A £400,000 initiative to get people who dropped out from education back into the classroom is being launched in Herefordshire. The council, schools and colleges are involved in the scheme aimed at helping people who left school with no or few qualifications

  • Round Table lines up to help school's quest

    PUPILS at Marden Primary School received some help in their quest to repair their garden pond from the Hereford Round Table. The children desperately needed a new pond liner to replace the 13-year-old existing one which had perished through time and left

  • A healthy boost for county's youngsters

    PUPILS in Herefordshire will be enjoying healthier and happier lifestyles as part of the Big Lottery Fund's £1.6 million to boost out-of-hours school activities. "Extended schools" are secondary or primary schools that also act as home for other services

  • City's education praised

    COLLEGES, schools and training providers in Herefordshire are celebrating following the announcement of the highly favourable results of the recent Area Wide Inspection (AWI). Conducted by the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI) and Ofsted earlier this

  • More time to have say on buses

    PARENTS with children attending Hereford-shire's church schools have been given an extra week to put forward their views on the possible changes to the faith school bus service. The denominational transport scheme, which grants students free and subsidised

  • Bully for them! Students sporting efforts raise cash

    STUDENTS from Lady Hawkins' Sixth Form in Kington took part in a 24-hour charity sport marathon. A total of 22 students played football, hockey, curling, badminton, quick cricket and basketball throughout the day and night. Lady Hawkins' staff supported

  • Two-year test for new special school

    PLANNERS have set a test for the care group looking to set up a new school on a Hereford estate. Clifford House has been given two years to prove the special school it wants at Trinity House, Barricombe Drive, Moor Farm, will not upset its neighbours.

  • Students 'green' work rewarded

    THIRTY young people from across Herefordshire have had their hard work towards a greener future recognised at an awards ceremony. Over the past six months students from across the county (Weobley High, Haywood High, St Mary's High schools and Hereford

  • Wigmore Knight and Wigmore Rainbow help Sri Lankan fishermen

    CHILDREN at a North Herefordshire school put a fishing fleet back in business after boats in a Sri Lankan village were wrecked by the tsunami. Youngsters at Wigmore Primary School raised more than £2,300 in a sponsored walk, in which the whole school

  • Explosive situation in Malvern

    GREGOR has spent his working life dealing with explosive situations. Now, retired from active service as a bomb disposal officer, he faces a few potential blow-ups at home. His wife Ann (Nichola McAuliffe) teeters on killer heels and the edges of hysteria

  • All roads lead to musical delights

    Themed festivals walk a narrow road between having too many topics, leading to incoherence, and concentrating on too few, leading to indigestion. Yet again the Presteigne Festival director, George Vass, has found this road and produced a six-day feast

  • Guts, glamour on a great night out

    THE story goes that Donna Steele, who takes the lead in the UK touring production of Thoroughly Modern Millie, stepped in for Amanda Holden in the West End, and soon had people booking to see her. In classic showbiz fashion she stepped up from the chorus

  • Blow the trumpet

    IF Geraint Bowen ever decides to write his autobiography, I can suggest a title - Blow the Trumpet in the New Moon. The words come from Psalm 80, but the connection to the director of music at Hereford Cathedral is that they are sung at a key moment in

  • Talent in Act One meets challenge

    IN only its second production, Leslie's Record, youth theatre group Act One rose to the challenge of presenting a piece of work that gave every member the opportunity to play a part in a moving and thought-provoking piece written and directed by Act One

  • Darkness and doubt

    THE charming tale of Mary Norton's The Borrowers is delivered with dark overtones by director Janine Sharpe in this week's Courtyard production. Original music by Ian P Russell is well handled by the small cast, who belt out songs at regular intervals

  • Willis is put through its paces for a new generation

    THE word "inaugural" has something rather hard and unforgiving about it. But, as the Dean pointed out in his introductory address, the inaugural recital of the Hereford Cathedral organ this was intended rather as a "gala" occasion, with all that word

  • Light's simply fantastic

    AN enthusiastic audience greeted the Berkley Salon Ensemble last Thursday in the Courtyard theatre for a performance that marked the end of another successful season promoted by the Hereford Concert Society. The series has included a number of excellent

  • Making Noize

    NEW Hereford indie combo, Common Orange, are launching their first EP, Noize In Your Head, tomorrow (Friday) at the recently re-opened Old Harp. The band, who have gone through various line ups and name changes, have sold out gigs at the Plough and the

  • How bona to vada their eeks again

    FORTY years ago, 15 million people sat around their radios to tune in to a show that is an acknowledged forerunner to that other comedy benchmark Monty Python's Flying Circus. If you wanted to find out about finger-boggling and massed goat pandering,

  • Zing went strings of their harps

    THERE was a tangible sense of anticipation in the auditorium of the Courtyard Theatre last Thursday evening. A healthy number of people both young and old were gathering to hear the Barkham Harp Quartet, and I had the distinct impression I was not the

  • Singing proves the key to satisfying relationship

    IN a world where people move house, on average, every four years, and change their marriage partners almost as often as their cars, how refreshing it is to contemplate a relationship that has lasted - and stayed put - for all of 30 years. On Friday night

  • Bold opening heralds evening of excitement and quality

    IT was a bold and imaginative idea of Nic Fallowfield, conductor of Hereford String Orchestra, to begin their programme last Saturday evening with Lennox Berkeley's challenging Serenade for Strings. If the opening 'moto perpetuo' was a little tentative

  • Making toupees stand on end

    THERE were no health warnings on the tickets and it was a dangerous oversight. Choosing my words carefully, the audience that gathered to see Petula Clark were predominantly of more mature years and should have been forewarned that what they were about

  • Passion missing in this pared-down 'Swan'

    When I wrote that performances of full-length classical ballets in this region were on the sparse side, I hardly expected myself to be sitting in front of another a mere two weeks later - and the same one! But you can never see too many Swan Lakes, and

  • Flashback to 70s Ayckbourn

    While Alan Ayckbourn's newest work tours the UK, one of his oldest - How The Other Half Loves is being rekindled by Ross-on-Wye's Phoenix Theatre Company. For the same reason that The Good Life will run and run on BBC2, there is something comfortingly

  • Magical moments with Lloyd Webber

    AS I took my seat in the auditorium at the Courtyard I overheard another member of the audience saying that she hadn't seen so many children at a concert in years. It was indeed very heartening to see so many young people experiencing such high-quality

  • Everybody needs good neighbours - but not this bunch

    PICTURE the scene. Two London back gardens on a Saturday afternoon. In one, a young, upwardly mobile couple are planning a barbecue to celebrate the completion of their home renovations. Next door, in slightly shabbier surroundings, an old man reads Hello

  • Ambition pays off for company

    STEEL Magnolias, the latest touring production from Bare Bones Theatre Company, is delivered in a very professional manner. Written by Robert Harlin, the play is set in a fictional Louisiana town, where we follow the lives of six women who frequent a

  • What's On in city and county

    Events/talks Feb 11 Slide presentation on the Ghobi desert, Bodenham Chapel, 7.30pm. 01568 797531. 11 Talk by Martin Alexander, 'Vietnam', Historical Association Hereford Branch, Hereford Cathedral School Library, 7pm. 11 Tea Dance, music by Jim Blaisdon

  • Cousins proves that he hasn't lost the magic

    Anyone already in on the Holiday on Ice secret won't need persuading - they'll have their tickets already for Hollywood, the new show from the creators of the world's most popular live entertainment. But anyone who loves the big numbers in any show, the

  • 'Nice' modern work

    "IF you're going to play modern music, you should play modern music that's nice." From the moment early on when tuba player/presenter David Gordon Shute spoke these words, Onyx Brass had the large audience at the Courtyard eating out of their hand. Some

  • Bennett's Van is a triumph

    ALAN Bennett fans will flock to see this week's main house attraction at Malvern Theatres - for his 1999 hit, The Lady and the Van, features not one, but two, characterisations of the writer himself. And as a two-hour piece of theatre, it's a joy. Susan

  • Anthony - Hereford's answer to Tarantino

    ACTOR and MC Anthony Murphy has fulfilled a dream - proving himself to be Hereford's answer to Quentin Tarantino, directing 4Play theatre company in Ben Elton's Popcorn. It's a clever piece of writing, dealing with the glamorising of violent crime in

  • Power and influence from abroad

    T was probably the first time that Hereford Cathedral had resounded to the strains of The Mikado overture. But the novelty could be heard as part of a coherent programme by Hereford Choral Society, showing how three British composers - Sullivan, Lambert

  • D-Day veteran's French liberation

    A HEREFORD D-Day veteran who has forged close links with a Normandy primary school was frustrated when he was sent first-hand accounts of the liberation of Caen in June 1944 - because he doesn't speak French. Happily for Lionel Roebuck, of Hillary Drive

  • The day Edgar St hailed brave Bert

    IN the years after the Second World War a big German overcame hatred and prejudice to earn the admiration of the enemy. NIGEL HEINS recalls goalkeeper Bert Trautmann and his memorable visit to Hereford. Remembered, too, is an accidental goalkeeping great

  • County feels the earth move under its feet...

    HURRICANES may hardly happen in Hertford, Hereford and Hampshire but Hereford is no stranger to another, equally dramatic, natural phenomenon - more earthquakes are recorded in Herefordshire than in any other county. This year marks the 74th anniversary

  • Where there's a will...

    SHE could dish out a good tongue-lashing but could also be caring and kind. NIGEL HEINS recalls the mistress of Gillow Manor and the will that got Herefordshire talking. THE lady of the manor could occasionally be a right tartar. Amy Simmons was a legendary

  • Snakes alive!

    WILKINS Fitzwilliam Chipp was a true Herefordshire hero - its most decorated soldier. Flashback recalls some highlights in his long military career, including how stuffed snakes proved to be among his greatest allies. A HEREFORD business has donated the

  • The child killer who swung for his crime

    THE toddler was a lovely looking lad attired in fine clothes with a red tam-o-shanter atop his fair head. But within a few months he was to become unrecognisable. NIGEL HEINS relates the dreadful story of Walter Steers and how fate led him to the clutches

  • Border passion

    OFFA'S Dyke is at the centre of a new work of fiction now available. Love on the Borders, the latest book from Dr Martin Bax, follows a young woman as she walks the length of the ancient earthwork tracing the border between England and Wales in honour

  • Fiction by order of Ledbury readers

    AUTHOR David Nobbs has written his latest fiction to order. He will perform the first reading under a new scheme launched by the West Midlands Readers' Network, which encourages British authors to write and read stories for readers' groups. The Ledbury

  • Shining example

    A BOOK celebrating the stained glass windows of stained glass artist-craftsman, A J Davies (1877-1953) - who created many windows in Herefordshire - contains 50 colour photographs illustrating the range of his work. Davies was educated in Birmingham and

  • Preacher faced with jeering hostile mob

    WHEN evangelist William Seward arrived to preach at Hay-on-Wye in 1740 he bravely faced a jeering, hostile mob. Soon he was dead. Well over two centuries later he was the reason for the gathering of another crowd - one of complete contrast. The ecumenical

  • Tales of the unexpected

    FANS of Brian Viner's weekly column in The Independent will probably know that his first novel, Tales of the Country, was published this week. Brian and Jane decided to take the plunge and move their family from London's fashionable Crouch End to sleepy

  • Bishops' views on rural issues

    RURAL bishops, including John Oliver, formerly Bishop of Hereford, are warning that the tangible and significant contribution that churchgoers make to the life of their communities is in danger of being lost. This message comes in a new book Changing

  • Bulls on top in the 'Battle of non-league Britain'

    WEMBLEY was in Southern League Hereford United's sights in the winter of 1971 and they were also bidding to silence some bragging from the north of the country. Flashback recalls the match which saw a scrap between two big fishes from different parts

  • Temperance and drink made an interesting mix

    A WAG with a pen was on the loose in Hereford one night in the early years of Queen Victoria's reign. The early Wesleyans held their services in a room in Packers Lane - now East Street - over a wine and spirits vaults. When the good Methodists arrived

  • Hemmings last days

    FOR Herefordshire author Peter Burden, ghost-writing is a way of life. Being asked to ghost-write David Hemmings' autobiography, just months before the actor's death, was a cherry ripe for the picking. Holed up in Hemmings' country retreat, the two shared

  • Nature succeeded where Hitler's efforts had failed

    AS midnight approached on a spring night over half-a-century ago, residents in a tiny Herefordshire community thought war had returned when a mighty roar rocked the neighbourhood. Flashback recalls the night Mother Nature succeeded where Adolf Hitler

  • Tiffany's jewel of a novel hits shelves

    FORMER Hereford woman Tiffany Murray saw her first novel, Happy Accidents, hit the shelves this week. Crackling with the darkest of dark humour, brimming with crazy ancestors and closely guarded secrets, Happy Accidents is not a novel about pastoral and

  • Chronicling the VC heroes

    VICTORIA Cross winners and their remarkable stories are the subject of a new book by Herefordshire's best-known ex-soldier, General Sir Peter de la Billiere. Sir Peter, who has himself been awarded the Military Cross and bar, was at Ross Books last weekend

  • Budding Motion?

    DO you regard yourself as a bit of a budding poet looking for the opportunity to see your work in print? If so then the UK's largest publisher of poetry is waiting to read your verse. Forward Press is in the final stages of preparing its latest series

  • Humble veg is so wicked!

    THE sometimes wicked world of the vegetable is revealed this week in a new book by Herefordshire author Bill Laws. The humble vegetable, it seems, has sparked religious protests, helped win wars, threatened to topple one British Government and even gained

  • Taking a leaf out of great books

    THE Courtyard book week kicks off on Sunday with the Reduced Shakespeare Company's riotous new show, All The Great Books (Abridged). Combining literature and film, the week offers plenty of opportunity for the young and old to be involved. How to write

  • Market snap captures the skiving schoolboys

    SKIVING schoolboys helping out at market over 100 years ago have been captured forever as part of a unique publication of 'snapshot' photographs. The new publication, entitled Early Photographs of Radnor, illustrate the photographic talents of William

  • Book your place for battle

    AS part of The Courtyard's Book Week, vociferous readers can take part in Battle of the Books, sponsored by the Hereford Times, on June 26. Three great books - Emma (Jane Austen), The Green Mile (Stephen King) and Charlotte Gray (Sebastian Faulks) - are

  • Choose books not gameboys!

    THE sixth annual children's book festival begins in Hereford today (Thursday). Hosted by Herefordshire Schools Library Service, events will take place at Hereford Town Hall, Ross, Leominster and Bromyard libraries, various schools and The Courtyard, Hereford

  • James tunes into the toon army

    ANIMATED films have always been popular - one of the biggest grossing films of last year was Finding Nemo - and Hereford-based writer James Clarke has devoted a whole book to the subject. His third anthology for Virgin Film, James's book investigates

  • Fine foods and fanfares for high-flying young author

    A party at the award-winning Felin Fach Griffin Inn near Brecon this Sunday (July 18) celebrates the publication of local author Molly Watson's book, In The Pink. Born in Wales, and brought up near Llangorse, Molly worked on the London Evening Standard

  • General Election factfile

    In Hereford, Liberal Democrat candidate Paul Keetch is defending a 968 majority. Contesting are Virginia Taylor (Con); Tom Calver (Lab); Christopher Kingsley (UKIP); Brian Lunt (Green); Peter Morton (Ind). The General Election 2001 result was: Paul Keetch

  • Braced for a late post rush

    NEARLY 19,000 general election postal votes are expected to be cast across Herefordshire today (Thursday), but there are real worries as to what those votes will deliver. Polling stations are ready for a late rush as postal votes are handed in personally

  • Briefest encounter

    IN moments like these, every girl needs a "best mate" to fend off unwanted advances. Sandra Howard's "chaperone" showed just what friends are for when Liberal Democrat Paul Keetch made his move. Fixed smiles and fast footwork from a central office minder

  • Bishop wants answers

    THE Bishop of Hereford has set out his agenda for the General Election. The Rt Rev Anthony Priddis believes the key issues for church goers are the gap between rich and poor, world poverty, family life and the environment. "What is important is that we

  • They're off! Election looms

    THE race for Herefordshire's two parliamentary seats is on with the calling of a General Election for Thursday, May 5. Hereford could be one of most ruggedly contested constituencies in the country as the Conservative try to re-take their former bastion

  • Election round-up 2004

    The West Midlands elected candidates in the European Elections are: Philip Bushill-Matthews (Conservative); Michael Cashman (Labour); Mike Nattrass (UKIP); Liz Lynne (Liberal Democrat); Philip Bradbourn (Conservative); Neena Gill (Labour) and Malcolm

  • New hospice is huge help to family

    SIX months after she walked through the doors of the new Acorns, Bev Loader has visited the hospice twice with her five-year-old son, Josh. Although she and Josh had been to Acorns in Selly Oak, the opening of the hospice so close to their Colwall home

  • Galloping to raise funds

    ONE of Acorns' most dedicated fundraisers will be remembered on Sunday when the Three Counties Harness Race is re-named the Kath Shellam Memorial Harness Race. Kath, who died in September last year, was instrumental in setting up the first race to raise

  • Acorns idea takes root

    Leominster-based Ian Storey, a tenor of international repute, will sing for the second time for Acorns Children's Hospice next Wednesday in Hereford Cathedral. Friends from the world of opera will be joining him to perform arias from well-known operas

  • Facts at a glance

    This is Acorns's third hospice and is the newest children's hospice in Europe. Children who stay at Acorns hospices have an illness that means they are unlikely to live to adulthood. The hospice will offer respite, emergency and terminal care and a community

  • Couple's gift that means so much

    Acorns had been looking for a site in Worcester for several years, aware that many of the families in need of its services had to travel long distances to either Selly Oak or Walsall. Their prayers were answered when June Sayce offered them land which

  • Six-year hospice wait over

    THE long-awaited hospice which will provide care and support for life-limited Herefordshire children is here. After six years of planning and building, Acorns welcomed the first children and families to the purpose-built unit in Bath Road, Worcester,

  • 22/7/03 - United too hot for West Brom kids

    HEREFORD continued their unbeaten start to their pre-season programme with a comprehensive 5-0 win over a very young West Bromwich Albion side. With their senior squad on tour in Denmark, the Baggies sent a side consisting mainly of promising teenagers

  • 19/07/03 - Bulls set for striker hunt after setback

    HEREFORD United Director of Football may be in the market to bring in another striker following a freak injury blow to summer signing David Brown. The former Telford United player cracked his collarbone following a training collision and will be out for

  • 3/6/03 - Turner set to snap up striker Brown

    HEREFORD United manager Graham Turner is hoping to complete the signing of Telford striker David Brown on a free transfer today. Brown, who scored 16 goals last season, has rejected a new contract to stay at the Bucks Head and opted instead to move to

  • University status for Worcester is welcomed in Herefordshire

    CIVIC leaders from Herefordshire are among those who have welcomed the granting of full university status to University College Worcester. Neil Pringle, chief executive of Herefordshire Council, said the move was excellent news for the county where colleges

  • First-class success for Katie

    A HEREFORDSHIRE law graduate is a true example of courage and determination over loss and tragedy. Katie Hughes, of Bishopstone, has been gaining recognition and a reputation in her field in London. She is the daughter of the late Lorna Hughes, of Bishopstone

  • Top marks for county students

    HEREFORDSHIRE schools are top of the class in national tests for 14 year olds, national figures have revealed. A total of 79% of youngsters sitting the Key Stage 3 tests in maths in 2004 achieved level five or above - placing the authority in top spot

  • TUC brings education courses to city

    TRADE Union education is making a return to Hereford. After a two-year delay the Trade Union Congress is set to start a series of courses at the city's WRVS Riverside Centre. The training will be jointly organised by the Workers Educational Association

  • Training chief retires

    THE man who has led skills training in Herefordshire for the past four years is to step down. Alan Curless, aged 58, from Ross-on-Wye, will retire as executive director of the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Learning and Skills Council early next year

  • Celebrating first steps into new life

    "LIFE is a journey not a destination," was the message given to girls about to venture on from Haberdasher's Redcap School. Year 6 pupils soon to take the next step in their education heard the rousing pep talk at their school's speech day, delivered

  • Cor, didn't they do well?

    NEARLY a hundred youngsters at a Hereford school are looking towards a healthier lifestyle. Mordiford Church of England Primary School have been working for 10 months to achieve Healthy School status. Staff and pupils have been working to meet the standards

  • Going for fold scores gold

    THE art of origami is one of the activities which has helped a Herefordshire primary school scoop a national teaching award. Masayo Long, an expert in paper folding has been at the Lord Scudamore School as part of an initiative in which youngsters learn

  • Food, glorious food

    EIGHT Herefordshire schools are getting their teeth into a new meals scheme that goes one up on Jamie Oliver. The eight are not only the testing the kind of healthier menus cooked up by the celebrity chef, but also trying to get most of the food for them

  • Students cook up a storm

    A COOK-OFF final has brought a taste of success for a team of chefs from Herefordshire College of Technology. Of 17 colleges in the first round of judging, they were one of 10 teams picked for a cook-off final at Stratford-upon-Avon College. Students

  • Pupils learn of life in Ghana

    SCHOOLS in and around Hereford have been hearing about projects to improve the livelihoods of poor communities in Ghana. Robert Gyamfi works with poor communities in Ghana for the Hereford-based international charity Concern Universal (CU). He talked

  • Faith school buses for debate

    A PUBLIC meeting will be held to discuss the possible shake-up of bus services to Herefordshire's faith schools. Parents from St Mary's RC High School have organised next Tuesday's meeting at the Town Hall to discuss the council's proposal to review the

  • Pupils discover science is serious stuff - but fun, too

    A NEWLY-launched science club is providing fun and fascination for nine and 10 years olds at Kingsland Primary School. There was great excitement when trainee teacher Maureen Kiff, who launched the after-school club, brought some palm-size Giant African

  • Calorie burning with top gymnast

    A HEREFORD school is taking very seriously the need to give modern children a fitter and healthier lifestyle. Marlbrook School had British gymnast Louise Reading along to give all 400 youngsters a workout. During a calorie burning day of activities she

  • Stepping in to help over-60s

    WHEN they heard Hereford's over-60s needed away days, these Herefordshire College of Technology students and their tutor stepped in. The seven students - all taking the college's travel and tourism course - went on a two-day sponsored walk to Hay-on-Wye

  • State set to fund Steiner Academy

    HEREFORD is in line for the first state-funded Steiner Academy in the country. In a groundbreaking decision, the Government has cleared the way for the Waldorf School in Much Dewchurch to join the mainstream. The Department for Education and Skills has

  • Top marks for nursery from Ofsted

    A SMALL private nursery in Herefordshire has been given top marks by education inspectors. The nursery has just 18 children and is part of the St Richard's Preparatory School at Bredenbury, near Bromyard. An Ofsted inspection has rated the education given

  • Sir has a close shave with year 11

    BEARD today, gone tomorrow! Head of English at Haywood High School, David Carter can feel the breeze on his face for the first time in 20 years after allowing his pupils to get rid of his beard for charity. At first unwilling to part with his whiskers

  • Dressing down aids orphanage

    A CRISIS-hit orphanage in Sri Lanka, that is having to double in size following the tsunami disaster, is getting a helping hand from Wigmore High School. A series of 'mufti days' proved the biggest moneyspinner for students who raised a bumper £5,500

  • TRAFALGAR WEEKEND

    High Town will be decorated with bunting. Watch out for special flags and signals flying from public buildings! Friday 21 October - Trafalgar Day Royal Naval Association Trafalgar Dinner at Hereford Town Hall By ticket only - SOLD OUT Saturday 22 October

  • TRAFALGAR 200

    Events to celebrate the Trafalgar Bicentenary in and around Hereford 1 October(ongoing) Opening of 'Nelson in Herefordshire' Exhibition Hereford Museum & Art Gallery: 1-29 October 2005 FREE Admission. Contact: 01432 260692 Opening of 'The Coast Exposed

  • David's stunning return

    DAVID Briggs, who was assistant organist at Hereford Cathedral under Dr Roy Massey in the 1980s, returned on Saturday evening to give an astonishing demonstration of his improvisational skills. The film was the 1925 epic Phantom of the Opera, starring

  • The crowd's well pleased by Shaw

    MALVERN'S theatres have witnessed plenty of GBS plays in their time - but few can have been so delightfully accessible as Sir Peter Hall's current production of You Never Can Tell. True this is Bernard Shaw as crowd-pleaser - as he himself says in his

  • Homegrown triumph

    Anyone who experienced last weekend's Homegrown Festival at Hereford's Herdsman pub would find it hard to believe that this is not a city which has creativity seeping out its pores. Twelve bands played over three nights, entertaining the crowds who packed

  • Festival bows out on poignant note

    "Beat that!" You could almost hear Adrian Lucas's challenge to Hereford's Geraint Bowen as he brought his baton down on the last mysterious chords of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem to conclude the outstanding concert of the later part of the Three Choirs

  • Weekend well worth the wait

    THEY say that good things come to those wait - and whoever 'they' are, they couldn't have been more right last weekend. The great and good of the world's dance DJs and live acts came together to party at Global Gathering, at Long Marston Airfield near

  • It's hooray for Hannay!

    JOHN Buchan's thrilling espionage novel The 39 Steps, immortalised by the 1930s Hitchcock film, is brought to the Malvern stage this week. But how, you ask, can the classic scenes from the movie - the daring Forth Bridge escape, the chase across the Highlands

  • A heartbreaking work

    The Courtyard Senior Youth Theatre has done it again. With a stack of first rate productions to its name it seems unfeasible that it can maintain standards but this week's opening night of Kes was as quick, clever and powerful as any of its predecessors

  • Street moves on stage

    SOUL, drum 'n' bass, hip hop and jungle provided an urban soundtrack to Elevation by Two Faced Dance Company at Hereford Courtyard. The moves displayed on the dance floor were not entirely the creation of the world's inner cities. Street-orientated disciplines

  • A striking venue for Miss Saigon

    CAMERON Mackintosh's Miss Saigon opened in London in 1989 where it was a hit for 10 years. A newly revamped production is touring the UK, playing at Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff until July 9. Boublil & Schonberg's score has not been tampered with

  • Leominster Choral Society on high note

    THE rounds of applause after Leominster Choral Society's spirited version on Sunday of The Armed Man by Karl Jenkins were an eloquent tribute to the power of the music. Subtitled A Mass for Peace, it received its first performance in Herefordshire under

  • Shock of the new is a treat

    COMING after long years of Puritan suppression of plays, the appearance in Charles II's reign of the first actresses on the English stage caused a sensation. It is apt that a cast of feisty woman in a bawdy drama about the period led the way in sensational

  • Hay, Hay, we're the festival

    Max Boyce proved a winner with locals on the preview night of this year's Hay Festival. Oggy Oggy Oggying and getting the crowd on its feet to his version of the Haka, the choice of a Welsh legend set the flavour for a bigger event, more rooted in its

  • Goldie and Elvis Presley

    Goldie Hawn was once told by Elvis Presley that she looked like a chicken that had just been hatched. That was in the '70s when the actress had gone to see him in a red knit jumpsuit. Now in 2005, with a 35-year career under the belt of her chocolate

  • Circus puts a sparkle in their young eyes

    IT'S undeniably difficult to impress a child of the 21st century. Computer wizardry and sophisticated special effects have rendered every child in the land more than a little blas. But judging by the open mouths and sparkling eyes there were plenty, young

  • Great expectations for county's youth

    Reading aloud is alive and thriving, as evidenced by students from across the county who took part in Friday evening's event at St Katherine's Hall in Ledbury. Organised by the Herefordshire branch of the English Speaking Union as part of the Ledbury

  • Bring on the dancing horses...

    IT certainly is 'Comedy Tonight' all the way in this week's Courtyard treat, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum by Hereford Amateur Operatic Society. It's a tricky piece by Stephen Sondheim and those with a musical ear will enjoy the upbeat

  • Mass for Peace has premiere

    ONE of the most popular pieces of choral music to be written in recent years will receive its Herefordshire premiere in June. The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace is in the Leominster Choral Society's programme at the Priory on June 5. Karl Jenkins wrote it

  • Britten Sinfonia sets standard

    LAST Saturday's concert by the Britten Sinfonia in the Orchestras Live series at The Courtyard was my favourite so far. The conductor, Nicholas Daniel, explained that the four works were composed within six years of each other and all demonstrated the

  • Hip-hop heads 'av a scream'

    HEREFORD hip-hop heads had a treat on Friday when the best of local and national talent played to a packed out Scream Bar. Task Force, one of the UK's best known hip-hop acts, brought a mix of club bangers, new songs from the forthcoming Music From The

  • Ballet's pretty wonderful

    AAH, they knew how to create a ballet in those days. Swan Lake is the epitome of everything a ballet should be. Exquisite choreography, sublime music from the pen of a genius, a bitter/sweet fairytale in which, ok, the main protagonists do die but, actually

  • Dressed to thrill in play of quality

    RONALD Harwood was inspired by his memories of working for Donald Wolfitt to write The Dresser - and what memories they must have been. It's 1941 and the bombs are falling on war-torn Britain. There's quite a few bombs going off backstage too where there

  • Joanna goes down a storm

    After a very long and low bow, Joanna MacGregor had barely sat down on the piano stool before launching into the first of Schubert's Four Impromptus D899. She set a fast, rhythmic tempo but still recognised the deep lyricism in the writing. We witnessed

  • Ann's on the right lines

    FORMER teacher Ann Ashley has brought the writings of distinguished Herefordian Alfred Watkins to life for a new generation. Her book, The Dodman Quest, explores Watkins' theory on ley lines through a detective story involving two young enthusiasts. David

  • Suzette's canine, crypt, cadaver, crime creation

    LEDBURY author Suzette Hill sees her debut novel published this week - a quirky crime fantasy set in 1950s Surrey. Suzette, who retired to Herefordshire five years ago, said although she had never had any desire to write a novel, the characters came into

  • When Elgar held out for more notes

    AS the project to erect a statue of the great composer Edward Elgar gathers apace in Hereford, NIGEL HEINS reveals how a member of his own family once enlisted the musician in a cut-price deal. IN 1882, Edward Elgar was a little-known 25 year-old musician

  • Book to celebrate organ's restoration

    Commemorating the restoration of Hereford Cathedral's historic Willis organ, a new edition of The Organists and Organs of Hereford Cathedral has been published. Cathedral organist Geraint Bowen, himself featured in the book, and co-editor Tim Symons,

  • When flames ravaged the Court

    AN elderly woman looked from her window and saw a light flickering against some trees. As NIGEL HEINS recalls, it was a sinister glow that was to signal tragedy for a grand old Grenadier. BRAVERY befitting the battlefield was demonstrated as flames engulfed

  • Row over old bones rattled the church

    The good people of a Herefordshire village were looking forward to worshipping in the warm but excavations to provide a new heating system produced a chilling sight. FLASHBACK recalls the time a community got itself into a lot of bother over bones....

  • Eccentric who lived in a chicken hut....

    CAPTAIN Crawshaw was an amazing eccentric who lived in an old chicken hut on the Doward, near Ross-on-Wye, around the 1920s. He sported an untidy moustache and beard, his unkempt hair was topped by a fez and he often wore clothes made from rabbit skins

  • Pope inspires 'right to die' campaigner

    A RETIRED Baptist minister who is campaigning for a right to die has praised the late Pope for "setting an example". The Rev Geoffrey Morris, of Leominster, is a member of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society who has battled against cancer and other illnesses

  • The long arm of law to the rescue

    IT was a night when an explosion and fire rocked the centre of Hereford. Flashback recalls misery at 'Maison Irma' and a 'Bobby's' safe pair of hands giving a new meaning to the expression 'long arm of the Law'. THE police constable was patrolling Hereford's

  • Is the earth about to move for Orpheus?

    Bridge Sollars-based publishing company, Orpheus, is hoping to make it third time lucky, having again been short-listed for this year's Aventis Prizes for Science Books Junior Prize. The world's most prestigious awards for popular science writing selected

  • Swedish songbird sang in Hereford

    SHE was a plain Jane whose clothes were drab and dull, but her adoring fans thought she was the most beautiful thing on earth when she began to sign. Flashback recalls the time Herefordshire played host to Jenny Lind - 'the Swedish Nightingale'. AT the

  • Roy's village trek for Cobalt funds

    THE village, the pub and the church could be just the inspiration you need to start planning your spring trips to Herefordshire, Worcestershire and the North Cotswolds. Written by Roy Millar, The Village, the Church and the Pub is sold to benefit the

  • Spire back after 23 years and Yvonne climbed it

    In the early 1970s Herefordshire witnessed the dedication of the second biggest spire to be built in the country during the 20th century. Flashback recalls the days of newsmakers on high. THE good people of a Golden Valley community felt comfortable once

  • Open a new page

    SOMEWHAT in the shadow of its illustrious big brother in Hay-on-Wye, the second book festival in Blaenafon whirs into action next Tuesday. Featuring local writers Barbara Erskine, Phil Rickman, Jasper Fforde and Rebecca Tope, this year's programme offers

  • A super tea and a heavy defeat were certainties

    He had an encyclopaedic knowledge of Herefordshire cricketers and their antics. Flashback recalls a sports fanatic of long ago and his memories of players' tastebuds, a Boer War hero and a batsman who could forecast his own dismissals. THEY were invariably

  • Fired up by book

    FOLLOWING a long period of ill health after the breakdown of his marriage, Bromyard shopkeeper Julian Sergeant has published a beautifully illustrated, limited edition children's book, aimed at six to 10-year-olds. Dragon Tears is the poignant story of

  • Original view from 'new kids on block'

    AUTHOR Karen Wallace was born in Canada, where she spent her youth messing about on the river, climbing trees and building toboggan runs. They are memories which are well served in the plethora of children's books for which she is responsible. Married

  • Home where Elgar gained inspiration

    IT has taken Hereford a long time to appreciate and acknowledge the part it played in arguably the most creative and productive period in the life of Sir Edward Elgar. When the Elgar in Hereford Group's dream of seeing the great man's statue standing

  • A captivating bird's eye view of past and present

    A NEW book gives its readers a bird's eye view of some of Herefordshire's finest - and oldest - scenery. Herefordshire Past & Present - An Aerial View, by Ruth E Richardson and Chris Musson, takes a revealing look at the county's landscape, including

  • Masefield's set to be a Christmas hit on DVD

    ONE of Herefordshire's most famous sons looks set to be a Christmas best-seller - 37 years after his death. Ledbury-born John Masefield wrote the classic children's novel The Box of Delights in 1935 as a sequel to The Midnight Folk. The BBC made a memorable

  • Claim over chemical weapons in Hereford

    A NEW book says that illegal chemical weapons were made in Hereford. The claim that Britain broke the Geneva Protocol, which the country signed up to in 1925, by manufacturing gas weapons is set out in The History of Rotherwas Munitions Factory, Hereford

  • Captain lived a life of adventure to the full

    A CAPTAIN who lived a life of adventure on the ocean waves lies buried far from the sea in Leominster. Joseph Jackson survived shipwreck, hurricanes and spine-chilling brushes with icebergs. A member of the Leominster Moravian Church congregation, the

  • Bronco's book launch

    CONTROVERSIAL global oil intrigue and 'big wall' mountaineering are the subject matters for a new book launched by former soldier Bronco Lane on October 21. The book, Project Alpha, is to be launched at the Shirehall, Hereford where Bronco will give a

  • Book evokes memories of 'Lost Railways'

    A NEW BOOK will evoke memories for older readers of a relaxed form of travelling before the advent of motorways. Herefordshire and Worcestershire's Lost Railways, may also encourage readers to make the acquaintance of the preserved lines in the area.

  • Second edition

    HEREFORD writer James Clarke comes full circle this month, as his first book - The Pocket Essentials: Steven Spielberg - was published in its second edition format. The book, which includes some new material and an amended introduction, looks at Spielberg's

  • Jasper wins

    LOCAL author Jasper Fforde has won the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize, the annual prize for comic fiction, with his third book, The Well of Lost Plots. "Previous winners have been either literary masterpieces of great humour - The Mighty Waltzer,

  • Eyeball to eyeball with bull elephant

    MAJOR Bruce Kinloch has stood eyeball to eyeball with bull elephants, forced to shoot them at point-blank range to save his life or to hide in jungles and swamps to escape their wrath. But he has never swerved in his fascination, love and respect for

  • Touring close to home

    AFTER 40 years in Herefordshire author Graham Roberts thought he knew almost every nook and cranny. Now he knows that he has hardly scratched the surface. His love and knowledge of the county persuaded the retired Hereford city surveyor and planning officer

  • Tale of life on the High Seas

    MOVING into her new flat has taken one Herefordshire woman back half a century. When Kalyani Menon moved into her retirement apartment in Watkins Court, Old Mill Close, last year she was instantly reminded of her days at university in London. "Exploring

  • Lib-Dems hold Hereford

    A PAUL Keetch hat-trick won Hereford for the Liberal Democrats with a more comfortable margin than pollsters predicted. Mr Keetch saw his 968 majority from 2001 drop by just two votes as he pulled away from second time Tory challenger Virginia Taylor

  • Bill Wiggin increases his majority

    TOUGH being a Tory? Try telling that to Leominster MP Bill Wiggin who increased his majority while successfully defending his north Herefordshire seat in the General Election. On a night when the Conservatives failed to make any serious inroads into Labour's

  • Independent candidate enters the contest

    A SIXTH candidate has joined the fight for Hereford's seat at Westminster. Former soldier Peter Morton, from Whitney-on-Wye, is standing as an Independent because he is "fed up with what is happening to this country" and wants to do something about it

  • Border marginals are vital

    TWO key border marginal constituencies are almost certain to have a big influence on the outcome of the General Election. If Huw Edwards can successfully defend his wafer thin majority of 384 in Monmouth then Tony Blair will surely be back in Number 10

  • The hard work goes on

    MOVING into a new home is always exciting, but taking possession of the keys is just the start of a lifetime's commitment to caring for your investment. Six months ago, thanks to the extraordinary fund-raising efforts of people across the three counties

  • The hard work goes on

    MOVING into a new home is always exciting, but taking possession of the keys is just the start of a lifetime's commitment to caring for your investment. Six months ago, thanks to the extraordinary fund-raising efforts of people across the three counties

  • Archie is the latest recruit to team of fund-raisers

    ARCHIE the cartoon bear is the latest recruit to the Acorns fund-raising team, one part of a two-pronged fund-raising initiative from the children's hospice. Coinciding with the launch of national children's hospice week (September 17-24) is the 'small

  • Dot aims for trek in India

    A FORMER Herefordshire school teacher will be leaving her training companion in kennels when she sets off on a fund-raising trek in India in October. While Dot Rochard, who taught at St Martin's Primary School, is walking 12 kilometres a day in aid of

  • Volunteer scoops jackpot

    FOR a second time, Hereford's Eign Gate Acorns shop has sold a winning lottery ticket - this time to one of its own volunteers. Richard Burroughs has worked in the shop for four years and always buys a ticket for the hospice lottery, run jointly by Acorns

  • Party will help cash to pour in

    IT'S time for tea as Acorns puts out the call to tea-lovers in the county to put their kettles on, warm the pot and make a brew, all in the interests of raising money for the children's hospice. The tea-time fundraiser is part of a national campaign,

  • Acorns wants trekkers

    THE third Acorns Hospice is up and running in Worcester, but the fund-raising goes on. To help raise those much-needed funds, Acorns is looking for intrepid fund-raisers who'd like to add a little spice to their lives in the form of a 10-day adventure

  • Gig stars doing it for Acorns

    Local landlord Gordon Bucher is the brains behind a gig to raise money for children's charity Acorns on April 2. Originally inspired to raise cash for the tsunami disaster, Gordon and his son thought it would be cool for bands who play in his pub, The

  • From empty field into a homely space

    THE last 18 months have seen an empty field transformed into a light, bright and peaceful building offering a welcoming, homely space tailored to the children's and families every need. Acorns Children's Hospice will offer much-needed respite, emergency

  • 28/6/03 - Bulls new boys get down to hard work

    THE hard work starts again for Hereford United this coming Tuesday when pre-season training starts at Edgar Street. It will be the first chance for the Bulls' summer signings - striker David Brown and midfielder Jordan King - to meet their new team-mates