The month began with Stagecoach announcing that its was making improvements to the Ross-on-Wye to Hereford and Gloucester service. Route 33 will now include St Mary’s Village but this requires the Camp Road/Gloucester Road junction’s bus stop to be removed.

The town centre lost two popular shops in this month with Peacocks closing its doors along with the Army Surplus Store opposite.

A former Ross man, Dr Paul Roberts, who is currently head of antiques at Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum was made an OBE in the New Year’s Honours list.

Consultants were in town carrying out £25,000 feasibility study to pedestrianise Ross town centre. The consultation was being funded by Herefordshire Council as part of its market town strategy.

The Friends of Ross Library, formerly changed its name from The Ross Library Development Group, launched it new programme for the coming year, which includes an in-depth exhibition on Victory in Europe day for its 80th anniversary.

Seven-year-old Oliver Slater’s battle with cancer was highlighted this month as his family appealed for help in covering the costs of his treatment and on-going care. Oliver was rewarded for his bravery in November when he was chosen to switch on the town’s Christmas lights.

Walford Timber celebrated its 80th anniversary in this year having opened its doors in 1945. Since being founded by Herbert Smith the multigenerational company has grown from strength to strength over the decades.

The town was a buzz in this month as suggestions were made to bring back the minor injury unit in Ross as the County Hospital was at breaking point. Later in the month a call to open all minor injury units across the county was adopted by Herefordshire Council.

Both the MP’s representing Ross-on-Wye, Jesse Norman and Ellie Chowns jointly presented a bill in parliament pressing for the Government to bring back a plan to clean up the Rover Wye.

A landmark court ruling declared that farming manure was ‘waste’ in major victory for River Actions in its fight against industrial-scale pollution in the Wye Valley.

Three local business excelled at the inaugural Visit Herefordshire tourism awards. The award of Experience of the year went to the owners of Oldfield Farm in Garway while self-catering accommodation of the year award went to Trevase Cottage in Tretire. The pub of the year award was won by the New Inn at St Owen’s Cross.

The outgoing High Sheriff of Herefordshire, Patricia Churchward honoured @ The Hub team with a £5,000 grant as part of her donation of £30,000 to deserving charities in the county.

A new flood monitoring system that alerts of local community of increased flooding risk was given a boost to the Aston Ingham community by the River Severn Partnership Advanced Wireless Innovation Region.

A vape shop trading in the town was shut down by Herefordshire Trading Standards after it was found to be in possession of counterfeit cigarettes and tobacco.

The Holland & Barrett store closed this month in the Maltings following the company’s decision to focus on the more profitable stores around the country.

Nations win wars, but it’s the individuals who fight them. And as a tribute for VE Day, the Royal Mail issued a set of stamps honouring people’s extra ordinary contribution to the Second World War and this including Violett Szabo, an Anglo/French Spy with a special stamp.

The River Wye’s alarming decline in quality was blamed on chicken farming after evidence had been submitted to the Cunliffe Enquiry – the independent commission on the water safety regulatory system – by the Environmental Law Foundation.

The inaugural winner of the Kyrle Civic Award was presented to the recently formed @ The Hub in recognition of its outstanding contribution to the Ross community.

Once derelict, the Riverside Inn reopened following its major renovation under the guidance of its owners Rebecca Pickup and Charlie Baker.

The town pulled out all the stops to commemorate the 80th anniversary of VE Day with the Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire, Edward Harley, formally lighting the Beacon at the Prospect.

A building that has been a blot on the landscape in Ross for over a decade is poised for a new life as it was sold at auction for £321,000. The new owner has since submitted a revised planning application.

The co-operative behind Made in Ross celebrated 10 years of creativity in the heart of the town. The organisation is based in the upper floor of the Market House.

An ancient monument in Linton began its final days as a structure this month as

John Kyrle High School launched a new initiative aimed at improving student wellbeing and focus by limiting mobile phone use during the day. The trial focused on years seven, eight, nine and ten who deposited their phones in special pouches during the academic day.

The streets of the town are now a lot safer following grant funding for CCTV Cameras. The new installations focus on routes used by women when using the nighttime economy.

Yolande Watson, a resident of Howell Hill was awarded Volunteer of the Year award by Council for the Protection of Rural England in recognition of her exceptional service to Dark Skies in Herefordshire.

It was believed to be Britain’s biggest barn find when Mark Dew’s car collection went under the auctioneer’s hammer in the Doward. The auction of some 200 vehicles attracted a huge in person crowd to the sale. The auctioneer predicted that because of the poor condition of most vehicles that they would be used for parts.

Local farmer John Jospeh was recognised as being the top Soil Farmer of the year after winning the national competition.

Residents of Wye Street put pressure on Herefordshire Council to resolve their parking problems with a revised visitor parking scheme limited to two hours instead of the current four-hour limit, which is often abused.

The Linton community banded together in a bid to prevent the Pound, the village’s ancient monument from being demolished and put pressure on Herefordshire Council to stop its decision to demolish the Pound by sending a petition signed by 70 people.

A local couple, Gerard and Martina Nicholas, who own 11 KFC franchises, including the one in Ross, were awarded the KFC’s Heart Led Leader Award at the the organisation’s Global Franchise Convention in Sydney, Australia.

It was the end of a banking era for Ross as the banking giant Santander closed its doors for the final time on its branch that had been the Abbey National– leaving only one bank, the Nationwide, left in town.

Voters were confused in two wards of the town as they hadn’t received any polling cards for the forthcoming by-elections. The town council had previously made a decision not to issue polling cards for the by election in 2016 and the policy has remained in place ever since.

The by-election victors were Saskia Harrison, an independent wins the Ross West seat while Reform’s Richard McEvoy takes the Ross East seat.

John Kyrle High reported that it had achieved another exceptional A level results with remarkable achievements across a wide range of subjects.

The school also had a strong year with its GCSE results with significant improvements being made across core subjects and a marked rise in student attendance.

It was formally announced that Ross Enterprise Park is to officially open early next year following work to create the road infrastructure.

The area beneath the tower of St Mary’s Church has been cordoned off as part of safety measures following the discovery that the pinnacles on top of the tower had become unsafe. It was later discovered that the spire had also become unsafe with brickwork becoming loose.

A community event that had not been held for 59 years was revived this year. Gorsley Show was held this year to mark the 100th anniversary of its original formation.

John Kyrle High School confirmed the rollout of its mobile phone pouch scheme following its successful trial in June which saw student’s focus on lessons had increased significantly without the distractions of mobile phones.

Ross Town Council made an investment of £59,959 to improve public facilities in the town. This included the Blake’s Memorial Garden, tree clearance work at The Prospect and to the offices at the town council, which was originally a chapel.

When people build model railways, they normally find space in the garage or the attic, but not for one Ross couple as Nick and Janet Nelson home is ‘compact’ they created a layout above head height that saw rolling stock travel through two bedrooms, a wardrobe and an airing cupboard and a large turning circle above the stairwell.

The owner of the village shop at the heart of the Whitchurch community put the business up for sale after 14 years. Lucy Gardner said that she had made the decision to embrace the next chapter in her life.

Plans were submitted for the redevelopment of the Chase Hotel site with a £20million housing development featuring 29 homes include a few at ‘affordable’ prices. The hotel’s modern extensions will be demolished, but the original building would be retained to create five apartments.

A local man who unearthed a Neoclassical bust that had once been on display at Goodrich Court has now been able to put a name to it. The bust depicts James Barry, an 18th century painter and is the work of Jospeh Panzetta who created sculptures using the Coade Stone process, which is resistant to weathering. It was one of four sculptures with the others being at St Paul’s Cathedral, The Crawford Municipal Art Gallery in Ireland and at the Society of Arts in London.

The founding musicians from Mott The Hoople were honoured this month with Mott Fest, a weekend event dedicated to the memory of Pete Overand Watts and Dale Buffin Griffin with a blue plaque and a memorial bench.

Herefordshire Wildlife Trust put a local woodland up for sale with an asking price of £90,000. Merrivale Wood is a well-used resource locally and is registered as a nature reserve. A local couple Jess and Jody Shaw set up a community group to try and raise funds to buy the woodland.

The skipper of a luxury yacht which crashed into rocks killing local millionaire businessman Dean Kronsbien, was convicted and jailed for two years by a Sardinian court.

There was outrage in Linton when Herefordshire Council demolished the Pound, the village’s ancient monument and renegaded on its promise that the demolition would be treated like an archaeological dig with the dressed stone being saved for the community to reuse.

The building was demolished with little care to its history and only the rubble was handed over to the Linton residents, with the dressed stone having been ‘lost’.

The community have since lodges a claim of gross maladministration against the local authority.

Ross Town Council agreed to change the way it elects a new mayor to give all councillors holding the ceremonial position. In future the mayor will be elected using the length of service as a marker.

Keen to see a new modern 21st Century fit for purpose play park in Ross the public took part by suggesting ideas for the development of Wilton Park for it to become a multi-use games area.

Residents in the Over Ross area of town were breathing a big sigh of relief as the ‘Big Stink’ has finally been removed. Local MP Jesse Norman believes that the local pumping station does not have enough capacity to serve existing residents at St Mary’s village, yet alone any additional development in the area.

Woodcraft Folk’s Biblins Youth Campsite planted one of the Sycamore Gap’s saplings after being nominated as one of the recipients of the National Trust’s 49 Trees of Hope.

A devoted 68-year-old mother took her own life just hours after her adult daughter had died, an inquest heard.

The Herefordshire coroner heard how Theresa Harvey and her 44-year-old daughter Laura had died in April 2024.

Walford Primary School was recognised by the Sunday Times as being one of the best in the country not only for its academia, but for its forward thinking, its compassion and resilience. The school was ranked second in the West Midlands and 27th in the county.