PARISH

June ISSUE 45 MarchMarch 2014 ISSUE 33 JUNE2015 2012 2014

This newsletter is distributed to every h ouse in the five parishes to commun icate the activities of the Bishopstone Group Parish Council and other local events

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GARDEN EXTRAVAGANZA !

In aid of St Michaels Hospice

Hardwicke Community Open Gardens The following gardens are open on Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th June 11am - 5pm

Clock Mill, Middlewood HR3 5HB; Hardwicke Green, Hardwicke HR3 5HA; Highfield, The Bage, Dorstone HR3 5SU; The Cottage, Middlewood HR3 5SX; The Smithy, Pen-y-Parc, Clifford HR3 5HA

Tickets are valid for the two days of opening and may be purchased at any of the gardens Adults £5.00 children (10-18) £2.50 children under10 free Refreshments available at several gardens Due to the terrain, access to some of the gardens may be limited for some disabled people Guide dogs only. Parking is available at or near to all of the gardens. Disabled drop off only at The Smithy with parking opposite the garden

Weston-under-Penyard Community Open Gardens The following gardens are open on Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th June 11am - 5pm

Bollitree Cottage, Weston-under-Penyard HR9 7PJ; Conifers, Bromsash HR9 7PL

Tickets are valid for both days and may be purchased at either garden Adults £5.00 children u12 free Ploughman’s lunch and homemade cakes available to buy at Bollitree Cottage which is accessible to wheelchair users . Guide dogs only at Bollitree Cottage Dogs on leads welcome at Conifers . Parking available at both gardens

Llangarron and Welsh Newton Community Open Gardens The following gardens are open on Saturday 20th June, 11am - 5pm

The White House, Llangarron HR9 6PH ; Yew Tree Cottage, Welsh Newton NP25 5RT Langstone Court, Llangarron, Ross-on-Wye HR9 6NR

Ticket price includes entry to all three gardens. Adults £5.00 children under14 free Tours of Langstone Court at 12pm, 2pm and 4pm by ticket only (must be supervised at all times) Refreshments served at Yew Tree Cottage & the White House (weather permitting) Plants for sale at the White House Most of the gardens are accessible to wheelchair users. Dogs on leads welcome Parking available at Langstone Court and Yew Tree Cottage. There is limited disabled parking only at the White House: parking for this garden by permission of Sheila and Vernon Jones, a short walk away.

The following gardens are also open:

23 Traherne Close, Lugwardine HR1 4AF . 21st June 2 - 5.30pm Adults £3.00 Newport House Gardens, Almeley HR3 6LL. 27th June 11am - 5pm Adults £5.00 Upper Buckton Farm, Leintwardine SY7 0JU 5th July 2pm onwards Adults £3.00 Westonbury Mill Water Gardens, Pembridge HR6 9HZ . 28th June 11am - 5pm Adults £5.0

BishopstoneBishopstone Group Group Parish Parish Council Council The members of the Parish Council are elected to represent all residents of the Thevillages members in theof thegroup Parish and Council can influence are elected decisions to represent made byall theresidents various of the villagesdepartments in the group of the and County can influence Council anddecisions other mGovernmade by theent various organisations such as departmentsthe Police ofand the Fire County Brigade. Council and other Government organisations such as thePlease Police contact and Fire your Brigade. councillor if you have any concerns on: - PleaseHousing contact and your Planning, councillor Roads, if you Traffic, have Publicany conc Transperns on:ort and- Rights of Way, HousingRefuse and Disposal Planning, and Roads, Waste Traffic,Recycling Public or any Transp otherort lo andcal Rightsissues. of Way, Refuse Disposal and Waste Recycling or any other local issues.

ListList of ofParish Parish Councillors Councillors Village represented Name Tel. number VillageBishopstone represented NameTrevor Hunt Tel. 590325 number Bishopstone Trevor Hunt 590325 John Macklin (Chairman) 590620 John Macklin (Chairman ) 590620 Rosemary Morgan 590282 Rosemary Morgan 590282 John Verry 590680 Bridge Sollers Lillian Allsopp 590210 Bridge Sollers Byford Muriel Holmes 590233

Sue Hubbard (Vice-Chairman) 590319 Byford Muriel Holmes 590233 Penny Redshaw 590634 Kenchester SueSerena Hubbard Crump (Vice-Chairman) 590319 590644 PennyPetra Redshaw Hickey 590634 590630 Mansell Gamage Cathie Draper 590284 Kenchester SerenaAnn ApperleyCrump 590644 590485

Mansell Gamage Cathie Draper 590284 Katrina Bevis 07980 652868 Clerk to the Council Email : [email protected] Clerk to the Council Rosemary Plant 01432 870720 Parish Paths Officers

Village represented Name Tel. number Bishopstone John Macklin 590620 ParishByford Paths & Mansell Officers Gamage Sue Hubbard 590319 VillageBridge represented Sollers NameLillian Allsopp Tel. 590210 number BishopstoneKenchester JohnJohn Macklin Macklin 590620 590620 Byford & Mansell Gamage Sue Hubbard 590319 Bridge Sollers KenchesterHerefordshire County Councillor John Macklin 590620 Adrian Blackshaw Tel: 01432 260201

(contact via Council Offices) Herefordshire County Councillor/Stoney Street Ward Steve Williams Tel: 07944 456445

Email: [email protected]

ParishParish Council Council meeting Meetings dates 2014/2015 September 11th, November 13 th , January 8th 2015, March 12 th , May 14th TheJuly next 9th , 2012September Parish 10Councilth , November Meetings 12th will be on Thursdays July 12th; Sept.13th;These will Nov.8thbe held in the New Bridge Community Centre starting at 7.30 pm These will be held at The New Bridge Community Centre starting at 7.30 pm. Members of the public are welcome to attend these meetings and to raise matters of Parishlocal concern. Plan Members of Focus groups, ensuring that the Bishopstone Group Parish Plan is implimented,Parish Plan are as follows: Members of focus groups, ensuring that the Bishopstone Group Parish Plan is Trafficimplemented, and Rights are as offollows: Way John Verry and Sue Hubbard Local services Contact Clerk RecyclingTraffic and Rights of Way Sue HubbardPenny Redshaw CommunityLocal Services Centre Contact John Clerk Macklin and Sue Hubbard Recycling Penny Redshaw WebCommunity Page Centre John Macklin and Sue Hubbard

Readers with access to a computer can read Council notices, past issues of this newsletterWebsite and other local information on the Parish Council Web site. This can be reached by logging on to www.bishopstonegroupparish.co.uk Readers with access to a computer and the internet can read parish council meeting minutes, past issues of the newsletter and other local information on the Parish NoticeCouncil Website:Boards www.bishopstonegroupparish.co.uk

The appointed key holders for the Notice Boards in each village are:-

Bishopstone John Macklin Tel. 590620 BridgeNotice Sollers Boards John Macklin Tel. 590620 ByfordThe appointed key holders for the PennyNotice RedshawBoards in each Tel. village 590634 are: ByfordBishopstone Common John Sue Macklin Hubbard Tel. Tel 590319 590620 KenchesterBridge Sollars John Petra Macklin Hickey Tel. Tel 590630 590620 MansellByford Gamage Penny Sue Hubbard Redshaw Tel. Tel 590319 590634 PleaseByford contact Common one of the above Sueto display Hubbard any arti cle of Telpublic 590319 interest. Kenchester John Macklin Tel 590620 Mansell Gamage Sue Hubbard Tel 590319 Recycling Facility TherePlease is contact a local one recycling of the above facility to atadvertise Oakchurch or dis Faplayrm informationShop on the of main public A438 interest near Staunton-on-Wye. Sandbag Provision SandbagThe sandbag provision stores are at .the bottom of Bishon Lane, Bishopstone (contact number 01981 590620) and at Byford Common (contact number 01981 590319). The sandbag stores are at the bottom of Bishon Lane, Bishopstone, in Mansell GamageSandbags and are at also Bridge available Sollers. at the Herefordshire Council Highways Depot, Unit 3, Thorn Business Park, Rotherwas, , HR2 6JT. Advice about In times of flooding call 01981 590620 for assistance with sandbags. flooding and road closures is available on the Herefordshire Council website www.herefordshire.gov.uk

Parish Council Chairman’s Report

The Parish Council started off this year without a Clerk. In June Rosemary Plant was offered the clerks position, after an interview. Rosemary accepted the post and clerked her first meeting with us on 10 th July. As part of the package agreed with the new Clerk, the Parish Council would fund Rosemary’s cilca training and update its reference books. I would like to thank Sue Hubbard for taking over the duties of parish clerk during this interregnum period. The conditions of the parishes roads is an ongoing problem discussed at every meeting. Mr Philip Pankhurst of Balfour Beattie, our locality officer, attended the July meeting to provide information to Councillors about the lengthsman scheme. He also agreed to meet Councillors in their parishes to discuss and log highway defects, pot holes, blocked drains etc. He agreed that this work should be carried out by Balfour Beattie to bring the road maintenance up to date before a lengthsman could be appointed. This work was carried out in the Autumn period. Also a new large diameter pipe was installed under the road at Shetton and the lower drain by the railway bridge dug out and cleared. At the September Parish Council meeting it was agreed that a lengthsman will be contracted for road maintenance during 2015/16 but not to include filling pot holes. Last year the Parish Council secured a grant of £1,385.00 towards the cost of preparing a Neighbourhood Plan. The fine work started in 2013 was carried on throughout last year by the committee, which is made up of an equal mix of Parish Councillors and parishioners. They met seven times plus we have had two Public meetings. A lot of time was spent analysing the results from the survey; each parish being treated separately. From this, options for the draft Neighbourhood plan were produced. Thanks again to Sue Hubbard for taking on the task of writing the plan with the help of Cathie Draper. The grant period ran out at the end of December, so £318.74 left from the original grant monies was paid back. Thank you to all the committee members who put in many hours in helping to produce this draft Plan. This year we will carry on with the process and hopefully produce a draft plan which will go to residents for comments before a final plan is written. The Parish Council did consider various planning applications throughout the year; from the National trust wanting to erect a large notice board to an application to build four boiler houses at the Flag Station Mansel Lacy. All the applications that come through the Parish Council we try to deal with in a sensitive, nonpartisan way. This year I am sad to report we lost a serving member of the Parish Council. Trevor Hunt died on Christmas day. He had represented Bishopstone on the Parish Council for over 10 years and we will miss his humour and dry comments he made at meetings. Bridge Sollars is a concern for the Parish Council because no one has represented the parish for over two years and it looks likely to continue. Bishopstone will also be under represented because John Verry did not put himself up for re-election. I would like to thank John for all the work he has carried out for the Parish Council over the years and particularly for looking after the highways in Bishopstone. Thank you to all the Councillors for their work over the last year particularly those who serve as officers, footpath, parish liaison for lengthsman, and finally thanks to Penny Redshaw for editing the Parish Newsletter.

If anyone is interested in becoming a Parish Councillor please contact the Parish Clerk, Rosemary Plant 01432 870720. John Macklin (Chairman)

Advertising If you are interested in advertising in our newsletter or if you have articles for future editions please contact the editor: Penny Redshaw 01981 590634 or e-mail [email protected]

Advertising costs are as follows: Half page inside black & white ………..£3 per issue or £10 for 4 issues (1 year) Half page inside front or back cover in colour .... £4 per issue or £15 for 4 issues (1 year) Half back page in colour (when available) ….. £5 per issue (£20 for 1 year)

Notices about local events or chari table causes will not be charged

Herefordshire Careline - Help at the push of a button

Herefordshire Careline can give you or your loved ones the reassurance and peace of mind that if you require help, it is not far away! Careline is a 24-hour personal emergency response service, based in Hereford, which is connected to your home through an alarm unit linked to your telephone line. In times of need, help is just the push of a button away!

Our alarms are connected to our friendly operators who are on hand to answer your calls instantly and get you the help you need. The service helps people to continue to live independently in their own homes. We have lots of products to choose from including pendants, watches and sensors. The Careline service can cost you as little as 58p per day. In addition, we can also offer you our Mobile Responder Service, a personal onsite visit when you activate your Careline alarm - for an additional 36p per day.

For more information please speak to our Careline team on 01432 384100.

Herefordshire Careline is run by the Independence Trust, part of the Herefordshire Housing Group.

MIDSUMMER QUIZ In aid of St Andrew's Church, Bridge Sollars

Wednesday 24th June 7.30pm in the church/community centre

£5 per person - includes hot dog and salad

tea, coffee and soft drinks available - by all means bring your own bottle!

enter as a team (max 5) - or join one on the night

Further details - Nancy 590601 or Claire 590252

ALL WELCOME

Coffee and Chat …….. – a Coffee Morning with extras A chance to meet old friends or make some new ones, catch up on local news, or try a game of Trionimoes (like dominoes only more so!). Borrow books and magazines from the free library, use the free broadband internet access and wi-fi and take home some goodies from the cake, plants and produce stall. At the New Bridge Community Centre Every Wednesday 10.30 till noon

An evening family barbecue will be held on Saturday 25th July at the New Bridge Community Centre in aid of Bishopstone Church. See local notice boards for times and further details.

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DID YOU ATTEND YARKHILL SCHOOL? If you attended Yarkhill School at any time before it's closure in 1970, we'd love to hear from you. The parishioners of Yarkhill are hoping to hold a reunion for all those that attended Yarkhill School during the time it was open. If you attended or know someone that did and would like to be involved please get in contact with Wendy Nash on 01531670508 or email at [email protected] .

Private Carer To help you with your daily tasks

Personal Care, Light Domestic duties, Social Company, Shopping.

01432 840495 07578155343

CRB checked; references available upon request

West Mercia Police Get in Touch Phone 101 to talk to your local Hereford Rural North SNT/report a crime Safer Neighbourhood Team [email protected] www.westmercia.police.uk Only call 999 in an emergency, when a / @HerefordCops crime is in progress or life is in danger

CRIME REPORT MAY 2015 Bishopstone 16 th April. Offender(s) have used unknown means to steal red diesel from a diesel tank situated at the front of the property and have entered several of the farm buildings which have not required forced entry. Here, they have stolen a total of 6 drums of lubricant oil. Nothing was heard by the victim despite his window being open during the night. Footprints seen but subsequently driven over. 15 th and 16 th April. Between the dates stated offender(s) have broken into an insecure farm outbuilding. Various items have been stolen from within. The buildings are in a largely rural area with no nearby neighbours. Access has been gained by opening the 2 tin gates to the barn which were not locked or secured in any way. The outbuildings are adjacent to the main farmhouse however the residents have not seen or heard anything. 25 th April. Person(s) unknown have used an unknown implement to force off padlock to shed door. Once inside the shed, have removed/stolen a leaf blower and chain saw.

Marden 5th April – Burglary reported in a rural location of Marden. Some time between the 3 rd and 5 th of April, persons unknown have jemmied/ripped the metal work away from the timber of double entrance doors to a barn. Entry has been gained and a quantity of chainsaws and other power tools have been removed/stolen. The offender(s) have also attempted to jemmy a second door open but have been unable to gain entry. Offender(s) have also attempted to prise open two large metal tool boxes attached to the underside of the victim’s vehicle which was parked in the yard, breaking the handle of one, and left marks visible on the corners of both. No entry gained to these.

Tarrington 6th April – Report of criminal damage to vehicle. Damage suspected to be caused by youths throwing stones.

Credenhill Residents will be aware that there have been a number of reported deliberate fires at Court Barns. The Safer Neighbourhood Team has been liaising with the Council and Fire Service. Please contact SNT with any information that may assist police with enquiries.

Holmer 17 th April . The incident location is a new build, residential estate and still has builders coming and going during the day. The victim’s vehicle has been parked on driveway, locked and secure whilst they were at home. Person(s) unknown have approached the vehicle on the drive and using unknown tools have removed the seals from both rear passenger windows, they have removed and stolen the seals. Offender has then left the scene; no access was gained into the vehicle.

Error! Local History Evenings March ––– December 2015 Portway Thursdaywww.facebook.com/ March 26th portwayinnherefordshire The Bustin family and their Photographs

Inn Thursday April 30th th Brian Hatton and the Changing Landscape

Thursday May 28th th River Trade on the Wye and Lugg

Thursday June 25 th Guided Walk round Weobley

Thursday September 24 th Discover the History In Your Feet

Thursday October 29th The Battle of Mortimer’s Cross

Thursday November 26 th Hereford in the First World War

All meetings except June will be held at the New Bridge Community Centre, Bridge Sollars

Everyone Welcome Admission £2 to include coffee and biscuits

Parish Library Book lovers may like to know that there is a Parish Library at the New Bridge Community Centre during the regular weekly coffee morning every Wednesday from 10.30 till noon. There is a good selection of fiction and non-fictionBar books open donatedall day Monday by parishioners, to Saturday/12 they are – 6pmfree toSunday borrow and you canFood keep served them for 12 as - long2.30pm as youand like.6 - 9pm Monday to Fridays

12 - 9pm Saturdays, 12 - 4pm Sundays Staunton-on-Wye HR4 7NH (On the A438 near Oakchurch) Tel: 01981 500474 Web: http://www.portwayinnhotel.co.uk/ Email: mailto:[email protected]

“How to sum up?” by Russell Carrington

By the time you are reading this I will have given my final report to the National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs Annual General Meeting for the Agricultural & Rural Issues (AGRI) steering group which I have been chairing for the last 18 months.

Whilst I’ve been preparing my speech today I’ve been looking out at another glorious day and wondering just how to sum up such an amazing year, so I thought I would share some of my evolving thoughts with you…

Certainly it has given me a lot of pride to chair a national steering group made up of passionate young farmers representing different regions of the country and all eager to transform food and farming into an exciting place to be.

The role has put me in front of 3 consecutive agricultural ministers (can I say that I outlasted them?!) and enabled me to rub shoulders with other leading figures in the industry. Although there has been a lot of prestige with these engagements, this isn’t why I have been doing it. I recognised years ago that those who were present and spoke up at meetings were the ones that got heard, and seemingly had things work out in their favour.

Noticing that young farmers were often poorly represented at meetings where decisions were being made that would affect them, I set about getting to more meetings to convey the views of young farmers. The next realisation for me was that there are an awful lot of important meetings to get to, so the task then was to build up a team of committed, well briefed young farmers who could get to more of them.

At the end of my term we now have a team of a dozen or more young people who are regularly attending meetings as far afield as Brussels, as well as scheduling appointments to lobby their local MPs about issues that affect young farmers such as rural broadband, rural housing and access to finance. All of us do this voluntarily.

I’m pleased to say that our input to the reform of the European common agricultural policy has secured an extra £4,000 a year for 5 years in support payments for the average young farmer operating their own business under the age of 35 – a real leg up for those starting out in a very competitive industry with extortionate land prices.

Although the network of young farmers clubs is not politically focused these efforts will make a real difference to rural communities and their young people and ensure they have a brighter future.

We also achieved a lot else during the past year starting with a re-brand at my first meeting, which was a springboard for taking a fresh look at the way the national steering group communicates with grass-roots members. This led to the

.. continued over ..

.. continued .. launch of a snappy monthly e-newsletter, an increased social media presence and latterly the use of videos to portray important messages.

One particular video was something I literally dreamt up in response to the demoralising time being faced by British dairy farmers being paid less than the cost of production for their milk. We put together what has been dubbed a ‘milk tash challenge’ where ‘tash’ is an abbreviation moustache, the idea being for someone to drink some milk and obtain a white moustache. However, the challenge I devised was for the entire national council of 80 young farmers to drink a glass of milk each – all together at the same time. The video we shot in a single take using a mobile phone has now been viewed more than 13,000 times and has really helped raise awareness of the plight dairy farmers are facing.

At the time of chairing my second meeting large swaths of Britain were under water during some of the worst flooding in living memory. We discussed this at length at the meeting and in the bar afterwards, and plans soon unfolded for a massive effort by many young farmers to support those farmers in despair with donations of feed for livestock, their time helping to clear up the aftermath and raising funds for supporting in other ways. Having visited Somerset for myself when the floods had abated I know how much these efforts were valued.

As the year progressed we made good use of some funding secured from Defra and in total organised and delivered 13 training workshops to 133 members which included tenancy training, grassland management training, workshops on how to produce the right meat for the market, social media training and a walk the wool chain event to understand what happens to wool after leaving the farm. A study tour to Holland was also attended by 43 members, and in the latter part of the year a junior study tour took place to Scotland for under 18 year old members. All these things helping equip young farmers with extra skills and understanding.

So it was a great year, and certainly one which is difficult to sum up in just 2 pages of this magazine! Nevertheless I’ll have to condense it into a 5 minute speech for my allotted time frame at the AGM this coming Sunday.

I’m very grateful to everyone who has sat on the committee during my time as chair. It has been a team effort throughout and I am very humbled to have worked with a brilliant bunch of young people making a positive difference to our rural communities and sparing the time to help shape the future of farming. I can say with confidence that we’ve created a great legacy that will bring benefit for many years to come.

Russ Carrington Twitter: @CiderRuss Russ is a young farmer from Bishopstone, runs the Pasture-Fed Livestock Association, and is chair of the National Young Farmers Agricultural steering group.

Gardens in the Wild 2015 Water fed pole system or traditional method June 20 & 21 Jetwashing service for patios, paths, decking and driveways. Improves the look of your A two day festival set in the unique property and ensures safety underfoot beauty of The Marches border country.

Speakers include Tim Richardson, Alys Fowler, James Hitchmough and Anna Pavord. Private gardens opening specially for the festival. Moccas Park an exclusive guided evening walk in this ancient deer park full of rare trees and venerable oaks, with rides laid down by Humphrey Repton and Capability Brown. Normally closed to visitors. Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Stalls offering specialist plants, garden Powys equipment, artisan produce and books. 01531 670926 07450 782569 Demonstrations and children’s events Guided walks for small groups. Early morning bird watching. Traffic Speeding Concerns Food-to-go from top local producers If you are concerned about traffic speed and safety for our road users please note the reg Ticketed events , maps and cycle routes number of any vehicle ‘culprits’ and report to Festival site at Titley Meadow, Titley, our local Police Community Support Officers: Herefordshire HR5 3RL Dean Wall or Elena Ekanite : tel. 101 www.gardensinthewild.org

FOR ALL YOUR LEGAL NEEDS

Beaumont House, Offa Street, Hereford HR1 2LH Tel: 01432 352345 John Senior Chambers, 38 High Street, , HR7 4AE Tel: 01885 488442

www.beaumonts-solicitors.co.uk