PARISH COUNCIL -- Tuesday was a chance to meet or new district councillor, Charles Mayson, but as importantly a chance for him to meet us, one of the more recalcitrant groups he'll have to satisfy. It was also time to welcome a new, co-opted, member, Sheila Maxwell from Kings Pyon; to be on the safe side the doors were bolted to ensure she remained until the swearing in, then the meeting proper got under way. The chairman and vice chairman were appointed, re-appointed in fact, with a scarcely concealed alacrity by the other councillors so Brian Rawlings and Geoffrey Vaughan remain in situ. The council received a brief on the parish plan and agreed to set up a sub-committee of members from each parish to work on an initial survey of all the residents. The latest Dinmore Local Area Forum was dis-cussed, and there remain doubts about its effectiveness. After various planning issues including the Hop Kilns and the Craft, the meeting adjourned, though not before once more going into all of our various pot holes. The Highways Department is being contacted again, particularly about the almost historical holes in Ledgemoor.

SPRING WALK -- So what does the average sensible Sunday slumberer want to do when the rain is beating on the windows, and even the dogs hesitate to venture out. Not go on the village walk, that's what. So why did 10 turn up as if summer beckoned, in complete all weather gear. Beats me. But in any event the walk could not be abandoned, Trish had a map, and Credenhill called; and we set off around the largest hill-fort in the county. With its dense cover it's a difficult place to decipher, but then even the archaeologists have problems here. It was built, possibly, around 400 BC, by a tribe unknown, possibly Dobunni, but more likely Decangi, who perhaps faced the brunt of a punitive Roman attack, which at the very least decimated them around 50 AD. Or not. It's a fascinating place and even now maybe something will turn up to shed light on who were the Herefordians of the Iron Age; the sitings of major hill forts on our present county boundary, and differences to others beyond, suggest that present day Herefordshire is more than an echo of its pre-historic boundaries. Back on the hill we enjoyed lunch beneath a dripping dark canopy of conifers, before completing the circuit of the massive rampart. We, then, as the sun began finally to break through ventured inside the camp; it is difficult to imagine the shape of the fort and easy to lose direction with visibility in and out so limited; but we had the hill to ourselves, so even without historic perspective the spring walk was as interesting as it should have been.

CONSERVATIVE AGM -- The AGM of the Canon Pyon and District Branch will be held at the Village Hall, Canon Pyon on Tuesday, June 3 at 7.30pm. Anyone interested will be welcome, when officers will be appointed and the summer function finalized.