Yes,I know this is Hereford Voice but I thought people in the city might like to know about a new place for a day out in Bromyard, which we tried today. It is called Ralph Court Gardens, which has statues, follies and water features based on themes from around the world e.g. Italianate, African, Japanese, but also has Alice in Wonderland, Toad of Toad Hall, the Green Man, a dragon, and all sorts. It's really good fun.

I have to say, the café is not cheap if you want a savoury main course but is really terrific value. If you're on a budget, eat before you go! A cream tea costs £6.95 but we did not try that.

They have obviously put a lot of time and money into this so it's worth supporting.

www.ralphcourtgardens.co.uk
 

For those of you who ain't interested and I for one can't blame you, the new shopping development has salt all over its brickwork. Putting aside the fact that this means the bricks are substandard and we have damp in the brickwork before a single shop has begun to trade, we are now blighted by another problem.

It's an all to predictable problem that often emerges when you've salt deposits all over the bloody walls. It allways happens. Simulacra, or as its better known, bloody apparitions.

I staggered past the East facing wall this afternoon and they were there. They allways are. Bloody pilgrims, staring up in wonder at the salty brickwork screaming hysterically, 'Halleluzah', they shouted, 'Lordy, Lordy be praised. A sign!'

I told them, ' well who in Gods name is this salty image supposed to be?', 'we ain't certain, but we reckon its either the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mary Magdalena. Our monies on it being a gift from Jehovah.'

'Rubbish', I said, 'I know rubbish when I see it and this is rubbish'. Mind, I can understand the fools seeing this as a sign. It's clearly a woman and to be fair it does look like a biblical Icon but I told them, 'I've read the New Testament from front to cover and not once has the good book mentioned that either of these two women were keen participants in athletics'.

This salty image clearly depicts a woman pole vaulting over a horizontal bar, wearing a sports bra and clutching a vaulters pole and her skirts, and whilst I accept it could be a genuine apparition, I'd need to hear some seriously compelling evidence to convince me that Mary Magdalene or The Virgin Mary were ever active competitors in Judean sporting events.

We don't want lepers, people with headlice and Ricketts tipping up here and draining our already overwhelmed public services, so I say, lets get this salt off the walls before our local economy takes another hit and we become the latest place for these bloody pilgrims to visit.

I hope this is Ok to post Colin. 

Thursday 26th March - doors open at 8pm Play is hosting a "Rock the Vote"

The idea is simple - all the major parties have been invited, Conservatives, Labour, Lib Dems, Greens, UKIP, Its our County - all have replied and confirmed attendance. 

This is an "open Question Time" style of discussion from 9pm in the club. 

So - if you are interested in Politics, care about who should be the next MP for our great City but unsure who to vote for, this could be the place to help you decide! 

Candidates take to the stage at 9pm. 

IF you have a question you wish to ask - please feel free to post here, and Ill add it to the mix and report back the answers if you cant make the event. 

So I have a dilemma.

I know that soon the election will be over my vote cast, for richer....no probably poorer though for some there will be hard times for sure.

Now I'm thinking that my Council Tax will rise and my hard earned cash will be placed into the Bank of Herefordshire for local politicians to break down and carve out into tiny little pieces though this will be no fishes and loaves scenario.Not everyone going to get a bit not even a morsel but I will have no control on who gets what.

What if there was an option to part with just a little more but on the proviso that you named that organisation or group who you felt were most in need. I'd want it ringfenced oh yes bigger than the bloody Berlin Wall,perhaps two fences after all Steve McQueen got over one!

You see Mrs Knight and I are not wealthy far from it! We don't expect a significant pension and inheritance is for the fortunate. We do expect to work on in some form or the other well past 65. However we are happy..content in our Castle Bungalow and mini wheels outside.

If I could choose three pots I would part with another £50 a year. A noble idea or am I the fool?

I saw today that yellow signs have gone up at Penn Grove Road indicating that traffic regulation is proposed between Moreland Ave and Admirals Close. That's where the commuters/students/hospital people park for free just beyond where the existing yellow lines stop. The details of the restrictions are not yet on the relevant Council page (link here) but they are sure to appear soon and will probably stop people parking on that section of road full stop. I'll be quite pleased if this happens as the current free for all makes driving along there inconvenient and sometimes dangerous.

This follows on from existing proposals to stop all that dodgy parking on Aylestone Hill (lines are yet to be painted) and a Public Meeting which was held at Brockington Towers on 30th January:

Hereford Times Report

When the lines do appear the cars that do end up getting shifted are sure to clog up somewhere else because the drivers' are obviously looking for free parking. Even using the new Council car park at Station Approach for £3 a day adds up to £60 a month (20 working days) which is certainly not cheap.

Certain people think the Council are bringing on these parking issues themselves. Such as causing the fiasco outside the Leisure Centre where all the car park has emptied out onto the adjacent A49 ... 

The Venue (formally The Jailhouse) Opens This Week!

Councillor Mark Hubbard has this morning resigned from Herefordshire Council's Planning Committee after claiming the planning process has been brought into disrepute.

Just came across this cordon in Bridge St. Apparently a young girl was attacked by a dog. She had serious injuries to her upper leg and torso. The dog has reportedly been destroyed.

I wandered into town today and the usual drinkers' were camped on the wall swigging bottles/cans of that strong cider ..... In front of the Church ... Sat on the wall as the seats have been removed ..... I walked by an hour later and they were still there .... Commercial Road ... Not a good advert for Hereford .... 

This was approx. 13.45 and 14.45 btw so hardly out of hours for the people who should sort this out  ..... 

HEREFORD LOCALITY WEEKLY BRIEFING – WEEK ENDING 20^th MARCH 2015

Dear Councillors and Parish Clerks,

During the last week we are pleased to report that the reactive team in the locality completed the following works:

• 96 square metres of carriageway patching (potholes and other surface deterioration)
• 31 square metres of footway patching
• 13 gully’s cleared
• 1 gully replaced
• 10 fly tips removed
• 735 metres of ditching work
• 560 metres of public right of way (PROW) vegetation clearance
• 85 loose footway blocks/slabs re-bedded.

Please see below a summary of our key activities within the Hereford Locality over the last week.

Update from Shane (City South – Belmont, St Martins & Hinton, and Tupsley Wards; Rural – Backbury and Hollington Wards)

The above mentioned reactive works included –

Backbury Ward

·         Carriageway patching on C1292 opposite Sufton Rise

·         Carriageway patching on B4399 from Dinedor Mill Bridge to B4224 opposite Heathfield House.

Belmont Ward

• Carriageway patching in Northolme Road
• Fly-tips removed from Newton Brook.

St Martins & Hinton Ward

• Pothole repair in Walnut Tree Avenue

Tupsley Ward

• Pothole repair in Litchfield Avenue
• Carriageway patching in Eign Road
• Gully replaced in Ledbury Road
• Speed restriction signs repositioned and cleaned in Hampton Park Road.

Some of the issues I have addressed this week  â€“

·         Inspected trees in Carwardine Green and arranged for crown reduction on one tree

·         Attended a fuel spill in Belmont and arranged for granules to be sprinkled in a number of area

·         Inspected and raised jobs for gully cleansing in Hampton Street and Harold Street

·         Raised a job for a pothole repair in Quarry Road

·         Carried out an inspection on PROW FWD4 (Fownhope) and raised an order for repairs to defective steps down to a stream crossing

·         Carried out an inspection on PROW FWD10 (Fownhope) and raised an order for repairs to the crossing boards on a bridge

·         Met with landowners at Crow Hill, Upton Bishop, to reach agreement on remedial works required on newly laid fencing

·         Carried out PROW inspections on LD14 (Little Dewchurch) and AC13 (Aconbury)

·         Raised a works order for the reinstatement of zig-zag lines outside Marlbrook School

·         Inspected and raised an order for footway repairs at Croft Close

·         Raised an order in respect of 6 potholes in Kilvert Road

·         Carried out 16 NRSWA (street works) inspections – one failed inspection

·         Carried out statutory inspections of A and B roads with Mike.

Update from Mike (City North – Aylestone, Central, St Nicholas, and Three Elms Wards; Rural – Credenhill and Hagley Wards)

This week I have – 

·         Commenced the Aylestone annual safety inspection (56 roads)

·         Raised a number of ad – hoc c/way pothole order for Bath Street, Britten Close, C1189, Three Elms Road, College Road

·         Raised an order for repairs to steps on PROW path BT10

·         Completed the monthly A roads safety driven inspection with Shane

·         Competed the monthly B roads safety driven inspection with Shane

·         Carried out 4 x NRSWA street works inspections

·         Raised gully cleaning orders for College Road

·         Raised a road sweeping request for Kings Acre Road

·         Commenced the monthly Hereford City Centre walked safety inspection

Update from Phil (Rural – Burghill, Holmer & Lyde, and Sutton Walls Wards)

Hereford rural works –

This week I have been carrying out statutory inspections and NRSWA enquiries within the Weobley locality.  With the exception of a meeting on 18.3.15 for a drive around Marden with  our Asset team I have been working exclusively in Weobley.

Herefordshire Council website is the one-stop-shop for up to date information

Maps for pot holes are available on the Councils website –

https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/transport-and-highways/maintenance/potholes

We hope the above is of interest.

Kind regards

Shane, Mike & Phil.

Shane Hancock | Senior Locality Steward (Hereford – City South)

Balfour Beatty Living Places | Unit 3, Thorn Business Park | Rotherwas | Hereford | HR2 6JT

Now your Pedigree dog is what it's says it is. It's a breed that's bloodline has not been tainted by any other species of dog.

Your pedigree dog, let's say its a Labrador, is cute, loyal, pretty thick lacking any creativity and for the most part all it wants from life is to be fed, watered, be able to lick its own testicles. It's only problem in life is its back and forth from the Vets, it's back legs start to go when it reaches eight and the poor creature often drops down dead before it celebrates its ninth birthday.

Now, your Mongrel dog is an entirely different proposition. Coming from its parents, who's ancestors were highly promiscuous beasts, it's DNA contains the traces of dozens of breeds and its development has been very different from its snooty pedigree Labrador that's not mixed with others of its species.

Your Mongrel is very clever, highly creative, resourceful and it's only commonality with its pedigree cousin is, it likes to lick its own testicles as well. Unlike the pedigree, the Mongrel is extremely healthy, it rarely visits the Vet unless it's infested with fleas and it lives for near on twenty years.

And that then pilgrims is why we in the British Isles are the way we are. We are by nature an extremely fortunate race of people. Invaded by the Scandinavian Viking horde, the Romans and the Normans we, the indigenous people of the British Isles are a nation of Mongrels.

Highly creative in the Sciences, the Arts and a huge raft of influences we've gifted the World, we are the way we are because of immigration.

In modern day Britain we are still reaping the rewards of immigration following the arrival and influences from Africa, the Sub Continent and the Carribean and it's this and our English Language that sees us at the top of the league of global creativity. It's no accident that wherever you are in the World you will listen to British music on the radio. None of it, whether it's music, a film, a play, a book or anything else that captures the imagination emerges from this tiny island nation and it's all achieved because of immigration.

The current wave of immigration that sees near on two million people originally from East and Central Europe now living and settled here? Well, like all the other passages in our history it'll eventually be good for us. The people from behind the Old Iron Curtain are highly educated, highly motivated to have a better life, they work and they work and they work and they are extremely tough and resilient and these traits in their national psyche will in time have a huge and positive benefit to us. It's inevitable because this is the way of things. This latest, and often bludgeoning movement of people from there to us will only ever help us and that's why I know that immigration is a great thing.

Course, people like me who are still intent on voting UKIP ain't tending to think, 'Hoorah! Thank you to the European Union. Hallelujah and Lord be praised! In about fifty years time we're really going to appreciate this'. Moreoften than not they're worried about the 'now' and why it is that our social housing, our public services and our way of life cannot cope with this onslaught of free movement of people.

Yep! Despite it all. Despite the obvious that immigration is a good thing for the prosperity, creativity and mental and physical health of a Nation, I still want out of this bloody European Union!

If Im right and its true that Councillor Mark Hubbard is considering not standing at the next local elections then I'd say to him, 'think again'.
I've watched from a distance the way in which this chap carries out his duties and there's no doubt that Mr Hubbard is a gifted and dedicated public servant and, given the state we are in, we can well do without losing people of his calibre.
During the time I've been contributing on this site and the Hereford Times you can't fail to appreciate the hard work and commitment some Councillors display. At one time, because I knew buggar all, I had no time for them at all. Now, because I've watched, read and listened I now appreciate the hard work of Mr Hubbard, Liz Harvey, Jim Kenyon and more recently Jon Norris.
Then of course there's our Glenda and Chris Chappell who, like their IOC colleagues work so hard to provide their best efforts to support their constituents. It's all these things that I once didn't know that I now know which compel me to thank these people who represent out interests.
But back to Mark Hubbard. He's founded a political party that's strong, its growing and its impacting and affecting the way in which we all now look at the political scenery in Hereford. My guess is, and it really is just a guess, is that Mr Hubbard handed over the leadership of his party because he was knackered and facing burn out. You can't graft like he does without it impacting upon your time and energies. Mind, I know buggar all. Im just guessing, but, if Im right, and I may be, we are going to lose one of our great local politicuans simple because he couldn't find a way of pacing himself.
Well it can be done. You can pace yourself and learn to manage your time and energy better. You simply stop trying to do everything, stop trying to please everybody, give of your best and having done that, do not give things a backward glance and worry about an outcome.
Now, more than at anytime Mark Hubbard needs to recharge his batteries, as do all the Coucillors who I've mentioned previously, and position themselves ready for the next election. This is very important and this offering is not meant to embarass Mark. If anything, he should take this as a compliment and feel good about himself.
The reason I've posted this? I've had the good fortune to form friendships with a lot of the regular bloggers. Many are like me, Gridnocker and Ubique. We are old. Our back legs have gone and our best, if we ever bloody had any are gone. However, there are many younger bloggers emerging and they are the future and they need people like Mark Hubbard to continue, get to the finishing line and when this Cabinet have gone, be in place to help rebuild our shattered economy and public services.
I'd say to Mr Hubbard, you've achieved remarkable things in a relatively short space of time and you owe it to yourself to fulfill the promise.
Today, I had the good fortune to meet Cambo. This is a young, highly intelligent young chap who's driven to make a change. It's people like Cambo, Dippy and Smartiano who are the ones who'll eventually pick up the baton, stand for Office and help get us all out of this mess.
Frankly, we don't need Mark Hubbard or any other hard working Councillor leaving the theatre now. Not now. If ever there was a time not to go its now.
My hope is that Mark Hubbard remains, I actually hope he gets rested up and returns to lead his party and rid us of this chaotic and deluded Cabinet who are bringing us all to a point in very close proximity to ruin.
On a personal note, I say to Mark Hubbard, you and your colleagues should be very proud of your many achievements but now is no time to be considering whether or not you should end your tenure as a Councillor. Have a little heart. Have a little faith and get the youngsters within these pages to help you with the burden and the load of responsibility.
Do this, pace yourself and delegate more and very soon, quicker than you might think, the fire in your belly will rise and you'll begin to feel like I do. Desperate and driven to throttle Jarvis and roll him round in nettles. Stinging nettles. Nettles harvested in August. The worst nettles. Bloody Jarvis!

I was listening to a Radio 4 programme last night on the cost of running a Council's Pension Fund very shocking I had a little look on the net to see what there was on HC's Pension Fund but surprisingly very little recent stuff has been posted.  Anybody know where I can find this information. 

This looks as if the floodgates for housing are about to open. Letter from Sport England making good points about open space and playing fields - at least they are "on the ball".

Lot more detail in letter of what they would expect from developer contributions.

Frustrated by an inconclusive meeting in the council's plush Plough Lane redoubt, a friend recently exploded: "Those merchant bankers (that's Cockney rhyming slang folks) are all living in a bubble!"

Here's a classic example of our council's blinkered thinking, which confirms this 'bubble mentality'.

Charity Football Match