The daughter-in-law of the organiser of the Hereford Walking Festival is appealing to walkers in the Ross area to spread the word that the event has been postponed this year.

Sadly, the main organiser of the Festival, which regularly attracts large numbers of walkers from Ross-on-Wye, Elisabeth Richardson, has died, and this has not only made planning the Festival impossible, the website is blocked while the family struggle to locate the password.

Elisabeth died at the end of January, of a very aggresive form of cancer, at St Michael’s Hospice. Her daughter-in-law, Viv Stephenson told the Ross Gazette: “I cannot think of any other way to spread the news that the Festival is not going ahead, than asking readers of the local newspaper to spread the word.”

The Festival would normally take place between June 15th and 23rd, and often walkers from Ross lead walks. Elisabeth’s family is hoping that someone will come forward to take over the administration of the Hereford Walking Festival, which is always a really popular event bringing many people to the area of Herefordshire.

This was one of the reasons which lead Elisabeth to set up the Festival. Viv said: “When she moved to Hereford she wanted other people to discover the beauty of the county.”

There will be a memorial walk starting at 2pm on what would have been the first day of the Festival, walkers are meeting at the Pavilion on Castle Green in Hereford on Sunday, June 16th.

The Friends of Castle Green have set up a just giving page with more information: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/friendsofcastlegreen?utm_medium=email&utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_campaign=20190409_114260See this week’s paper for more stories like this, available in shops and as a Digital Edition now.