A group of students from the QE, led by Danielle Brunsdon, are planning to abseil down the tower of St Paul's Church in Hereford on Saturday 2nd August for charity.

They are looking for other members of the community to join them to help raise a large sum for the charity Christian Aid, with possibly adults representing the many businesses in the town joining in. Parents of pupils and current students at the QE can also take part in this worthwhile venture.

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Competition. To say that we got off to a bad start was an understatement as it was pouring down all the way there and there seemed to be no chance of a let up.

Montgomery is a beautiful small town of some 1500 inhabitants who, like in most small rural communities, know each other and always band together when the need arises. Everybody
appeared to be around helping in one way or another even though there was an element of moist about the place.

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The fiercely independent Nozstock festival, which takes place next weekend, August 1 to 3, near, caters for festival goers of all types, from the veteran festival aficionado through to those newly infected with the festival bug. It has evolved from a gathering of 50 friends into an intimate musical odyssey joining the dots between pop, ska, folk, funk, soul, indie, drum & bass, psytrance, house and a whole lot more. It is now firmly established as one of the country's leading boutique festivals.

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The next meeting of the Bromyard and Winslow Town Council will be on Monday 21st July starting at 7.30pm in the Council Chamber, Rowberry Street.  Agenda items include the recruitment of a new Town Clerk to succeed Mike Cresswell  and a review of the position regardig the Heritage Centre/Youth Group.  For the Agenda click here.  Preceding the full council meeting will be a meeting of the Planning Committee – for that Agenda click here.  Members of the public are welcome, indeed, urged, to attend.

From the Hereford Times
ONE of England's greatest rugby stars of the early 1970s proved an entertaining guest at Bromyard's presentation evening.  In a relatively barren era for the national side, David Duckham's wing play provided many of the stand-out moments and he was also selected for the winning British Lions tour of New Zealand in 1971.  Duckham entertained young and old alike with tales from his playing era and helped the club raise funds for the RFU Injured Players Foundation.  Two of the club's promising young players, 18-year-olds Bobby Ralph and Toby Rivers, took the chance to get some tips from the top.

From Dr Michael Goodman

As many of you know, today is the final day at QEHC for David Kemp and me. I have reached that magic age of 65 and David has a number of unique opportunities to give more time to music. We would like to say a huge "Thank you" to all members of the community who have supported the Senior Leadership Team over the past five and a half years. Bonnie Griffiths is now School Improvement Advisor for Herefordshire, Chris Hayes has, of course, retired but is still active in the maths department, and Mary Keene remains at the helm of academy business. These have been exciting and challenging years. QE now has a new SLT in place who will take up post in September. We wish them well, and trust that they will

There are plans to erect large wind turbines in our area.  There will be differing views on what may be quite contentious proposals.  We have received the following from Lynne Dance setting out the objections to wind turbines.   We welcome  other views  or further information  on this subject which may contribute to the debate. 

" Are you aware of plans afoot to erect 14 wind turbines, each of a height of 252 ft (this is 50 ft higher than Worcester Cathedral)?   This has been planned for Pencombe and Acton Green Area, with a tip 77 metres in completely unspoilt parts of the Herefordshire countryside. 

  From Hannah Welsh.   Hello everybody,   I wanted to say a huge thank you to everybody who got involved and helped out with the Bioblitz event - all those who volunteered their time, expertise or cake baking!  I think everybody who came really enjoyed themselves, we had amazing weather, got some good records (well over 200 species recorded), got some young minds excited about bats, moths, bugs and bees, and despite the low turnout, the word has spread a little further. Next time bigger and better!!  

The leading Hotel and Restaurant review site TRIP ADVISOR released two new reviews of Bromyard guest houses this week.    Huntlands Farm Bed and Breakfast and the Holly Tree B&B.  Both  were rated excellent by guests.  For instance a week ago a review for Huntlands said “Lucy and Stephen are fantastic hosts..........”  For the Holly Tree, 4 days ago "Sharon and Peter make us so welcome..."  For reviews of all Bromyard restaurants and hotels go to http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/

The bromyard.info Facebook now has over 1,000 members.  It  has proved  a  way for the community to mobilise in support of good causes and  to discuss local concerns.  Local councillors contribute  showing they  take the  opinions expressed  seriously and welcome the chance to engage with the public.   Facebook  gives a voice to those in the community whose views might not otherwise be heard.  Our  Facebook community is also  ever ready to rally round and help those in trouble.    Recently a local disabled lady lost a considerable sum of money and almost immediately a Facebook campaign to raise cash started.  Within hours generous  donations  were  made.

  At the annual awards ceremony of the Hereford shire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce held at the Bankhouse Hotel on July 10th Bromyard firm Apreco Limited was the winner of the “Exporter of the Year” award. Apreco, based on the Porthouse Business Park is a market leader in Pressure Relief Valves and Pressure Stabilisers. Go to www.apreco.co.uk  

 A History of Landscape and Settlement in NE Herefordshire.  Six lectures and a field outing.  Lectures will be on Wednesday evenings 7 pm – 9 pm with break, starting 22nd October.  Lecturer: David Lovelace.  The details of the Course are given below.. Do remember that these courses usually become fully booked quite quickly so if you would like a place, please don’t leave it too late.

From Cllr Roger Page. Chairman of the Committee 

PLANNING APPLICATION.  At the meeting of the Planning & Economic Development Committee held this evening (Monday) there was only one planning   application to be considered which was an application to build one dwelling house in a conservation area at Tower Hill.There    were objectors at the meeting who spoke against the application and raised an issue of land ownership at the site.

Bromyard Downs Bio Blitz (click here)  11th and 12th July.  Friday 12 noon to Saturday 12 noon.  Near Brockhampton School. Starting at midday on Friday 11th July everybody is welcome to join the race against time to count as many species as possible on the Downs. Join our experts on guided walks and surveys and learn ID skills on the way, or grab a recording form and see what you can spot on a round the downs walk.

Some activities are subject to weather conditions please check the programme board for updates.  All activities take approx. 1 hr. and are suitable for all ages unless otherwise stated  Activity Meeting Point will be signposted at the marquee.

There is an opportunity for socially and business minded people to become involved with H.O.P.E. Family Centre in Bromyardas a trustee.  (SEE MORE - CLICK HERE)   Over the years H.O.P.E. has developed into a  community hub providing Early Years Education, judged to be outstanding by Ofsted; an extensive range of Adult Training opportunities, intensive family support  for issues such as debt, post-natal depression, drug and alcohol, mental health and chaotic families; and become a key provider and strategic partner in tackling skills shortages in the local area.

HOW TO APPLY
To apply please send your CV and a cover letter outlining how you will contribute to the governance, growth and development of the organisation to Sheenagh Davis at  or by post to H.O.P.E. Family Centre, Hereford road, Bromyard HR7 4QU by 31st July 2014. After shortlisting, successful applicants will be invited to an informal interview in September 2014. For more details or to discuss the Trustee vacancies please contact Janet Murray, Chair of Trustees on 07811 404163 or by email at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

From Cllr Roger Page - Chairman of the Committee

PROPOSALS FOR HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS. It was reported that Bovis Homes hoped to attend a Council meeting in  September to discuss plans they have to develop housing  at Hardwick Bank and another Company Mosaic Developments will attend the next meeting of the Planning & Development Committee  on 4th August to which all Councillors will be invited,to discuss their housing proposals,also at Hardwick Bank. 

After a hearty singing of Jerusalem, we  took time to bring into our minds  a long- time member of the group, who had sadly suffered a recent family tragedy.  In a break from "normal" procedures we then switched straight to our speaker for the evening : Jean Spelman talking about Crystals and their energies. Moving quickly through an explanation of  their formations thousands of years ago and use historically for grinding to powder for colours, Jean touched briefly on superstitions and legends surrounding crystals.

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