LEDBURY Swimming Club and Halo Leisure are to hold talks about pool hire times in a move that could save one of the town's biggest youth sports organisations from closing. Club chairman Roger Jones has said the club will close rather than lose essential
Ledbury's historic Market House could remain open to the public even if nothing is done to help it meet incoming disabled access legislation. That is the verdict of both the Disabled Right Commission and English Heritage. Both bodies have issued statements
THE body of Rachel Whitear was exhumed from the churchyard at Withington on Tuesday. The solemn drama was watched by the 21-year old's parents, Pauline and Mick Holcroft, from Ledbury, who later praised the patience and professionalism of police. It was
Getting back to nature is all very well but sometimes it can be a little too realistic. That was the problem facing 2nd Ledbury Brownies, who needed a cowpat for their Ledbury Review at during the forthcoming English Festival. The answer was provided
WORK should start next month on a £750,000 shopping and office complex in Bye Street, Ledbury. Wellington Heath businessman Roger Allsop said final details of the development, on the site of an old timber building called The Depot, were being agreed with
A RED Cross charity cyclist tackled the 14 miles from Worcester to Ledbury to raise awareness of a 700-mile sponsored ride he is planning for this summer. Ted Nawrat, who works at the regional Red Cross headquarters in Worcester, hopes to pedal all the
AROUND 50 people attended the last meeting of the thriving Bromesberrow Gardening Club, at Bromesberrow Village Hall on March 11, to hear speakers from the Woodland Trust. They talked for one hour about the need to preserve the national woodlands. Afterwards
FIFTY people are needed to register an interest in a proposed music and poetry event this summer at the historic manor house of Hellens at Much Marcle. Organiser Catharine Luck, of the Friends of the Dymock Poets, said: "We need 50 people to book by April
THE owners of a pub and restaurant made unsaleable by flooding are planning to turn it into a private house with holiday lets for spring and summer trade. Mark and Beatrice Chatterton have submitted a planning application to Herefordshire Council to convert
A HOT summer could threaten water supplies because of low rainfall at the start of the year. That is the verdict of Dymock weather-watcher Tony Denby. Mr Denby, of Great Woodend, said: "The first two months of the year were already one and half inches
LEOMINSTER MP Bill Wiggin has been re-selected by the Tory party to defend for his seat in the next General Election. Mr Wiggin, who at 37 is one of the youngest Conservative MPs, was made shadow secretary of state for Wales last November. Elizabeth Shayler
MONEY saved by a Bromyard pensioner to buy a new gravestone to commemorate his family has been stolen. Phillip Oseman, a former labourer, had £800 taken from the living room of his Old Road home earlier this month. He saved the cash from his pension and
Bromyard's St Michael's Hospice shop is set to move from the High Street to Broad Street. The move down the road is necessary because Neil Gladwin Family Butchers next door, which owns the premises, is planning to expand by knocking down the wall between
A BUS full of Bromyard's older people visited Kempley Church as part of a daffodil tour on Wednesday. The trip was organised by Maz Smart and Chris Oakley of Bromyard Age Concern and 57 people enjoyed visiting Newent, Kempley and Dymock. The coach tour
BROCKHAMPTON Prim-ary School has revealed plans for a learning centre and outdoor classroom in its grounds. An amphitheatre, shaded seating, willow structures, large musical instruments and story-tellers' circles are some of the resources for the school
AN artist who has run a gallery in Bromyard for 25 years is selling the business. Michael Oxenham said he was selling his gallery in The Square because it was "time for a change." "The main reason I'm moving is the fact that I've been working six days
A plan for ten new houses in Colwall could be given the go-ahead after all. The application from Miton Ltd is for the three-bedroom houses off Station Road. It was initially rejected by Herefordshire councillors on the ground that the density of the development
Pupils from The Downs school came first in the Junior Schools' Choir Competition at the Hereford Festival for Music Dance Speech and Drama. Class adjudicator Jeffrey Wynn Davies commended the Colwall preparatory school's choir for its performance, particularly
A Colwall Bird Survey Group walk takes place tomorrow (Saturday). Meet at Station Road, Colwall, at 9.30am.
A TEAM of volunteers gave Colwall a sprucing up in the annual spring clean organised by the village society. Around 20 people gave up a morning to pick up litter on Saturday (March 20). Lis Kirkness, secretary of Colwall Village Society, said: "We do
JIMMY Quinn may have thrown in the towel on Shrewsbury Town's title hopes but Hereford United go into tomorrow's derby still with a realistic chance of the top prize. Victory against the Shrews at Edgar Street will take the Bulls back to the summit of
THE aerator in Newent Lake is now back from being repaired in France. The town council is hopeful that both the £2,500 device and the fountain will be operational by Easter. These measures will help keep up oxygen levels in the water. The council is also
Gloucestershire police are appealing for information after a 37-year-old man was hospitalised, following a hit and run incident outside the Beauchamp Arms pub in Dymock. The man had just left the pub on Sunday evening, at around 10.40pm, when he was hit
THE Ledbury couple who have threatened to move if a proposed housing development gets the go-ahead have collected an 80-name petition against the new homes. Duncan and Linda Isaacs fear they will be overlooked and hemmed in by the 11 new homes off Albert
COSELEY 1, LEDBURY TOWN 2 HIGH winds made difficult playing conditions on Saturday when Ledbury Town visited basement-club Coseley in the West Midland Premier Division. Coseley had the wind in their favour in the first half and were able to contain Ledbury
POLICE are calling for people in Ledbury town centre to park sensibly, following complaints that vehicles are being parked on the zig-zag lines by Homend pedestrian crossing. Parish officer Mark Read believes such selfish parking is posing a real safety
A CHESTER woman is appealing to Ledbury people to help her find out more about her family, who hailed from the Much Cowarne and Bishop's Frome area. Janet Lowe's interest in tracing her family tree was rekindled when she received a clipping from the Ledbury
More than 400 customers of a cafe on the Malvern Hills are backing a bid for improved car parking. The Kettle Sings on Jubilee Driver, Upper Colwall, has seating for 60 but only six parking spaces. Most people who visit the cafe have to park on the road
A PUBLIC meeting is being held by the developers of the former Runnings Park Hotel to gauge response to its latest plan for the site. There has been widespread discontent in West Malvern at a proposal to turn the former hotel, which closed in 2002, into
ACTORS from the Conquest Theatre, Bromyard, are celebrating winning an award. The Intruders, a play by Peter Horsler, won the Wye Cup at the Hereford County Drama Festival of one-act plays. The cup was sponsored by the River of Wye Guild to encourage
Scouts in Colwall are holding a car boot sale. The sale is at 11am on Sunday, April 4, at the village hall car park. Proceeds will help fund a cycling trip to The Netherlands by 1st Colwall Scouts. Tables are £5, or £4 if booked before April 1, on 01684
NEWENT food processing company Freemans laid off 53 workers after a major customer called for a reduction in prices, managing director Clifford Freeman has revealed. Mr Freeman said that all the staff laid off were agency workers and none of the employees
NEWENT town councillors met behind closed doors on Monday to discuss the future of the deteriorating Victorian Chapel and mortuary off Watery Lane. Unless more than £75,000 can be found for improvements and repairs, the building could be unusable in five
NEWENT Community School will stage a special Schools' Question Time challenge this evening (Friday). The school is one of just 14 in the UK to have reached the final stage of the nationwide contest. The aim is to help pupils to develop citizenship and
Talented youngsters at Picklenash Junior School, in Newent, have been doubly busy this week preparing for a countywide dance festival in Cheltenham and their latest production Hansel and Gretel. If that was not enough, last weekend 120 children took part
SEVERAL polytunnels off the Tewkesbury Road, near Newent, had their polythene ripped away during last weekend's gales. Residents have battled for over a year to limit the number of polytunnels near their homes and have formed an action group called Tewkesbury
THE aerator in Newent Lake is now back from being repaired in France. The town council is hopeful that both the £2,500 device and the fountain will be operational by Easter. These measures will help keep up oxygen levels in the water. The council is also
