Archive

  • MP puts case for city firm

    HEREFORD MP Paul Keetch has secured a review by the Government for a city firm concerned about the impact of the proposed Climate Change Levy on its business. Special Metals Wiggin was fearful that the proposed tax would cost more than £300,000, but following

  • 'Walkies' gets nurses ready for fund-raiser

    SCABBERS the mouse and four-legged friends put staff at the Belmont Veterinary Centre through their paces in preparation for a sponsored walk. They will embark on a five-and-a-half-mile circular route from Belmont to Lower Breinton on Sunday, May 7, to

  • Super market stepping up fight against alcohol thefts

    STIFF security measures have been stepped up at a Herefordshire supermarket in attempts to stamp out the thieves. This action follows a 'steep rise' in thefts of alcohol from the Tesco store in Orchard Lane, Ledbury, said Sergeant Bob Wilson of the town's

  • 'Oklahoma!' cast roped in

    THE cowboys and cowgirls have been rounded up to put on Rodgers and Hammerstein's most popular musical - Oklahoma! Larruperz Light Opera is staging the toe-tapping performance at Ross-on-Wye's Larruperz Centre, May 4 to May 6 at 7.30pm. Hit songs like

  • Attacked as he went to aid of woman

    A 54-YEAR-MAN was karate kicked in the head after he intervened to help a woman in a row with her boyfriend. Brian Watkins was leaving a Hereford bingo hall when he saw Anthony Anderson grab the woman by the throat, Worcester Crown Court heard. He ordered

  • Police raid finds stash of new designer drug

    POLICE who raided a remote Herefordshire farmhouse discovered a stash of a new designer drug, a court heard. They seized 150 tablets of 2 C-B, a class A narcotic similar to LSD and sold on the streets for £20 each. Worcester Crown Court was told it was

  • Eardisley thespians find winning ways

    THE Eardisley Little Theatre Club has reached the latest round of the All England Drama Festival after winning the West Midlands Area Trophy at Ludlow. The group's production of Dennis Potter's 'Blue Remembered Hills' impressed the judges with its depiction

  • Quadbiker George takes to the water

    A PACKED bank holiday crowd in Bredenbury witnessed a strange feat this week when a daredevil pensioner crossed a lake on a quad bike. George Watkins drove the specially-adapted vehicle to raise money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society. Back in 1977 he

  • Community bank given thumbs-up

    PEOPLE turning away from the high street banks in protest over branch closures are giving an alternative financial institution the thumbs-up. Described as a 'community bank', Leominster Money Box Credit Union officially opens its new premises in West

  • Award-winning choir is on song

    THE award-winning Leominster Junior School Choir is busy rehearsing for a major competition that, if their track record is anything to go by, should prove a success. The singers are hoping to make a winning entry at the Sainsbury's Junior Choir of the

  • Bromyard con warning

    POLICE in Bromyard are warning people to be on their guard for a team of builders. It has been claimed that the buildres tried to 'con' the landlords of a local public house. They arrived at the Royal Oak on the Bromyard Downs and quoted £350 to fill

  • Thieves' ear-ache

    A NOISY deterrent is on offer to keep rural thieves at bay. Several garden sheds were broken into around Bromyard during April and PC Richard Shakespeare says that this type of crime is 'endemic' in north Herefordshire. But he is offering an audible answer

  • Leominster's crime-busting campaigners

    THE battle against crime in Leominster has taken a big step forward with the implementation of the Leominster Radio Link. The scheme, which links 23 businesses in the town centre with walkie-talkie radios, is now well into a one-month trial. Traders have

  • Man's mystery death in prison death in

    THE mysterious death of a Leominster sex offender who suffered a fatal blow to the head while serving a jail sentence is being treated as suspicious. A long-adjourned inquest into the death of Graham Mark Biddle, of Sandpits, Leominster, opened at Kidderminster

  • Princess in county to open projects

    HEREFORDSHIRE has a Royal appointment this Monday when Princess Anne arrives to open two county projects. At 10am, HRH the Princess Royal will visit Leominster to launch 'Dale 2000' - the brainchild of constructional engineers Frank H Dale. She will be

  • Backlash on GM crop test

    GOVERNMENT owes Herefordshire an explanation before genetic crop trials get the go-ahead, the county council has been told. Angry at an 'ambush' announcement of GM tests in the area, the authority intends to root out answers. Doubts about the project

  • Parents get chance to quiz education chiefs

    A HEREFORDSHIRE schools watchdog is planning 'parents night' with a difference. Education officials can be quizzed on any aspect of classroom life at a special meeting later this month. Carol Clapham, chair of the organisers Hereford/Worcester Education

  • Ball of light could have been a UFO

    IS a huge ball of light that followed a mother and daughter evidence of UFOs in Herefordshire? writes CATHERINE SHOVLIN. Retired police officer John Hanson, who is researching the extraterrestrial phenomenon, has accounts of strange sightings - and he

  • Homeless study an eye-opener for Lisa

    A STUDENT at Herefordshire College of Art and Design, Lisa Harrison, was shocked to see the number of people homeless or under threat of such a fate in Herefordshire. The former Bishop of Hereford Bluecoat School pupil, who lives at Bartestree, visited

  • Residents at Newton Farm are applauded

    LIBERAL Democrat leader Charles Kennedy applauded the sense of community that residents had created on a Hereford housing estate, writes CATHERINE SHOVLIN. On his visit to the county on Friday, he popped into the Newton Farm Advice Centre and listened

  • Mobile muggers in Ledbury Road raid

    MOBILE muggers mobbed a Hereford man to make off with his wallet. The three thugs escaped in the car that brought them to the scene. The victim had just been dropped off in Ledbury Road by a taxi when the attack occurred on Saturday. He was heading towards

  • Tannatt-Nash blasts anti-bypass brigade

    THE arch-adversary of Hereford's anti-bypass brigade has accused critics of lacking the guts for an election fight, writes BILL TANNER. To applause from fellow county councillors, Brian Tannatt Nash rounded on those who tormented his time in charge of

  • From Toy Town to South Pacific

    COLOURFUL characters from Toy Town were just a few of the star attractions at the 17th Hereford Gang Show. This year's production, over seven nights at The Courtyard Theatre, involved a cast of 96 people with beavers, cubs and scouts from the city and

  • Mormon site re-dedicated

    A CHAPEL near Ledbury that was of great significance in the early history of one religious group has celebrated its restoration. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) was invited to re-dedicate the Gadfield Elm Chapel on Easter Sunday

  • King Arthur to Thomas Blake

    KING Arthur's Cave at Ganarew, the lime industry at Walford and the Knights Templars at Harewood are just a few of the revealing subjects covered in a new book. Published by the Ross-on-Wye and District Civic Society, 'Historical Aspects of Ross' has

  • Royal audience for Herefordshire wood craftsman

    A HEREFORDSHIRE wood craftsman explained the intricacies of his trade to HRH The Prince of Wales during a seminar at Highgrove. Mike Abbott, of Bishops Frome, attended the meeting, chaired by Lord Cranborne, in a move to get landowners and tradesman together

  • Pupils go wild over tree line

    YOUNG naturalists from two Herefordshire schools will help to ensure that a dynasty spanning hundreds of years continues safely into the future, writes ANITA HOWELLS. Children from Clifford and Madley primary schools will join wildlife experts from English

  • Ledbury lane foul-up could prove expensive

    HEREFORDSHIRE council could be faced with a bill running into thousands of pounds after accepting responsibility for the 'maladministration' of a planning application. A group of Ledbury residents were plagued by lorries hammering down a rural lane after

  • Fisherman drowns in pool

    A BROMYARD family is in mourning after a 20-year-old man drowned during an evening's fishing. According to police, Paul Alfred Albert Probert 'got into difficulties' at around 7pm on Tuesday at a quarry just outside the town. Friends who were with him

  • Fight is on to save jobs as abattoir shuts

    A FIGHT is on to save one of Herefordshire's last remaining slaughterhouses from the chop. Closing the Eardisley based Mead Webber abattoir could hit Herefordshire's 'faltering' farming sector as hard as the West Midlands losing Longbridge, it has been

  • Green lanes in spotlight

    THE vexed question of Herefordshire's green lanes came under the spotlight when Leominster Civic Trust held its April meeting at The Talbot Hotel. Members heard a talk by Michael Mable, Herefordshire Council's definitive map modification officer, who

  • Call to the community-spirited

    BROMYARD'S public-spirited nature is being put to the test with an appeal to keep a number of community projects alive. A variety of local schemes rely entirely on volunteers to keep going and desperately need help to survive. So the Bromyard and District

  • Wife admits plot to kill husband

    A WIFE this week admitted a plan to have her businessman husband killed. Kim Fowler, aged 41, of Bickley Ford, Kingsland, Leominster, and 53-year-old Patrick Morgan, of Bye Street, Ledbury, pleaded guilty to soliciting murder. They were remanded in custody

  • Historic poet's work kept in the limelight

    ONE of Herefordshire's most famous literary sons will be in the limelight again inJune. Clergyman and poet Thomas Traherne, 17th century rector of Credenhill, has undergone something of a revival thanks to the efforts of local devotees. The Herefordshire-based

  • Envious eyes cast across the Malverns

    WHINGEING Worcestershire has tried to torpedo Herefordshire's flagship development project, writes BILL TANNER. A mega-million pound cash boost that could kick-start construction around Hereford United's Edgar Street football ground has met with moans

  • Couple 'do the double'

    A COUNTY couple have 'done the double' to take two top titles in 2000. Gordon and Grace Gilbert, from Lower House Farm, Canon Frome, are the chairs of Herefordshire NFU and Herefordshire WI respectively. It is thought to be the first time a husband-and-wife

  • Miracle boy Charles sparks fund-raising

    A BABY who was given only a one per cent chance of survival after being born no bigger than a tiny teddy bear has inspired fund-raising. It was a long time before Charles Roper was allowed home, born at 24 weeks weighing just 1lb 11oz - less than a bag

  • Herefordshire top of heroin league

    HEROIN is the growing drugs menace in Herefordshire. The county is said to have the highest rate of heroin use in the West Midlands and can be compared to the situation in Birmingham city centre. A Hereford GP has described the situation as critical as