River Wye Pollution Case Reaches the High Court

 This morning there was a piece on the Today programme on Radio 4 about a legal case that has just reached the High Court.  There's also an article on the BBC news website.

Leigh Day are suing Avara Foods, who have intensive chicken rearing sheds in the Wye catchment area, and Welsh Water, who have failed to keep the pollution from chicken manure out of the river and have also been releasing sewage into the river themselves.  About 24 million chickens are reared in the catchment area, a quarter of all the chickens in the UK.

This is supposed to be the biggest environmental pollution case ever brought in British courts, as over 4,500 people who live and work along the river have signed up to be part of the action. 

Evidence of the river's declining water quality has been collected over several years by citizen scientists testing the water, and Natural England rated the condition of the river as "unfavourable - declining" in 2023.  There was also a big local campaign to make the Warren into an official bathing area, so that the water had to be officially tested, but it seems to have made very little difference to the pollution.

Supporters of the action turned up at Court this morning with the giant puppet Goddess of the Wye.

 Here's the picture from Paul Powlesland's blog (he's a London campaigner for clean rivers and a barrister).

 

New Post Box Topper

 

Here's Owain the Evri delivery man, and his dog!

Black Mountains Lions Close Down

 When I was at Baskerville Hall on Wednesday evening, the large function room on the other side of the bar was all set up for the Black Mountains Lions meeting, with flowers on the tables and display boards illustrating the history of the group.

Sadly, the occasion was the final meeting for the local group.  After over fifty years, they've decided that they can no longer carry on. In that time, they've supported Dial-a-Ride, provided defibrillators, supported the local football club, and supported all sorts of local charities and community groups.

The Clyro group was part of an international body, and the nearest Lions Club appears to be in Hereford, from the map on their website, with eighteen clubs across South and Mid Wales.

Gareth Ratcliffe was there, as County Councillor, to give a speech thanking the group for all their work. 

Excalibur

 Some years ago I came across a small company which made an audio drama called The Minister of Chance.  It was a sort of loose spin off of Doctor Who (the Minister of Chance was originally intended to be a Time Lord), and it starred some really good actors - Paul McGann and Sylvester McCoy, who had both played the Doctor, Paul Darrow (Avon from Blake's Seven), Jenny Agutter, Jed Brophy, and Julian Wadham as the Minister himself.  It was great fun, and it's now available as a podcast.

The same company, Secret Planet led by Dan Freeman, is now planning a film, set in Wales, and exploring the Welsh myths of King Arthur.  He's very keen to work with local businesses, communities and schools to celebrate Welsh culture.  He said in the Brecon and Radnor Express: "we are not just making a film, we are building something that brings those stories back to the places and communities they come from."  

They're very much committed to working with communities in Wales, and they've already set up sword fighting workshops for people who want to be extras.  They've also partnered with Welsh businesses to raise funds, so you can buy Excalibur themed beer from Purple Moose brewery, or Arthur Mead from Mountain Mead (mountainmead.co.uk). 

They can be found at www.excalibur-film.com  There's even a short clip of film with Sylvester McCoy playing Merlin. 

History Festival Photo

 

Thanks to Sue Hodgetts (in the red and yellow) for posting this photo of us yesterday in Hereford!

Herefordshire History Week

 I was in Hereford this morning, in the middle of High Town, dressed in my chainmail and helmet! I was helping to advertise Herefordshire History Week, along with Sue from Cusop History Group who was also in medieval costume.  

The events run from 9th May to 20th May, all over the county.  There'll be a walk to a hillfort; Cloddock Mill will be open; the River and  Canal Trust is involved, and there will be talks all across the county.  

One of the things they're doing is an event all about the Girl Guides and Boy Scouts during the Second World War.  We had a lovely chat with a lady who is involved in that - and she also showed us pictures of a medieval banner she made, with completely accurate heraldry and an orb near the flagpole that shows it was stitched during the year of a Coronation - 2023.  It's now in the Lady Chapel of Newent church.

I also had a lovely chat with an ex-mayor of Ledbury, who used to belong to the Sealed Knot, and a chap in a wheelchair who is involved with a History shop in Bromyard.

It was quite interesting to see who wanted to stop and talk, and who marched straight past, pretending they hadn't noticed us - groups of young teenage  boys were completely oblivious to a person in chainmail and helmet - with a sword! - while older people were a lot more interested, and often had interesting stories to tell.

As part of the History Week, I'll be doing a Weapons and Arrows talk at Cusop Castle at 4pm on May 9th, where people will have the opportunity to try on the chainmail! 

 

Talk on the Armstrong Murder Case

 Tony Pryce started his interest in the Armstrong murder case back when he was an officer with West Mercian Police, and he had to visit a local solicitor's office in Hereford.  The firm was TA Matthews, and in a glass case there was a pipe and a letter.  The pipe had belonged to Major Armstrong, and the letter was to thank the original TA Matthews for all his help during the Major's trial and appeal process.

Since then, he's gone into incredible detail on every aspect of the case, including every person involved and their family backgrounds, and how they related to each other.  He believes the evidence is overwhelming that Major Armstrong was guilty.

One interesting detail is that some evidence from the case ended up in the Metropolitan Police Museum.  Back in 1921, when a murder investigation needed to be done, small police forces often didn't have the expertise to carry them out, so they applied to the Metropolitan Police to send experienced officers.  Modern day investigations typically involve 26 police officers and 4 support staff - back then the Met sent a Detective Chief Inspector (this was his last case before retirement) and a Detective Sergeant, and they started their investigations in secret, while staying at the Green Dragon Hotel in Hereford.

So there is a packet in the Black Museum labelled as arsenic from the chemist at Hay - but it has never been analysed.  Tony Pryce tried to persuade them to find out what the white powder was, but when they realised that the objective was to prove Major Armstrong's guilt rather than overturn the guilty verdict, they decided it wasn't worth spending the money to do it.  Tony Pryce believes that the packet was planted in the Major's bureau (which was produced as a surprise exhibit during the court case) by a member of the defence team, because he owed Major Armstrong a favour.  It's a fascinating theory, and very convincing.

There were so many fascinating details like this that the talk ran for an hour and a half instead of an hour, and he could have continued.  However, he got as far as the execution at Gloucester Prison (an ex-prison governor now gives guided tours of the building!) and stopped there.

Cusop Village Hall was so full they ran out of chairs and had people standing at the back and into the entrance hall!  And there wasn't time to show the video advert for the Cusop Castle dig, which will be happening from 5th to 14th June this year.  Also, I'll be giving a talk on Saturday 9th May at Cusop Castle at 4pm on medieval weapons and arrows, hopefully with audience participation!