The best and worst of... Small market town... Big issues...
(And no that is not the real council's crest, this one even has 3 roast chickens on it)
The best and worst of... Small market town... Big issues...
(And no that is not the real council's crest, this one even has 3 roast chickens on it)
13th March 2025
In a recent council CMT meeting (which stands for Community, Markets and Tourism), on Tuesday 11th March, in the year of our Lord 2025, an upcoming event at the Prospect was discussed. The plans planned or in planning for VE 80 Day in May are to make use of the Prospect (also don’t miss the article “Common Sense Ken and the disappearing fish & chip van?”).
Here though, let’s focus on the Prospect!
It’s a space once reviewed on TripAdvisor with: “it's a shame that from the Prospect viewing point, which was our original destination for walking in the direction of St Mary's Church, there was no view of any merit because the trees around the river totally obscured it. I know it is Summer so it may be easier to view when there are no leaves on the trees, but I'd not recommend bothering at present. The walk in the churchyard was pleasant enough.”
Oh hold on, that doesn’t sound very good does it! Sorry, let’s pick a different review, how about “This is a great place to come and have a picnic in the summer months. The views are amazing and it's a great place for children to explore”. There. Better? Better.
This week, one of the hot topics for hot gossip (not the pop group, but don’t miss this link to enjoy their 1979 classic featuring Sarah Brightman on vocals “I Lost My Heart To a Starship Trooper”) is the Prospect and the sandstone cliffs it is precariously perched upon.
The road below seems to be shut in the day for what is it? 10 days? Hard hat adorned workmen have been seen going up and down, and up and down, on cherry pickers, doing work on the rock face? Hmmm. Well, many in Ross might be hoping they are setting about securing the rock somehow so that the safety barriers below that have encroached upon the road can finally be taken away.
Word says it’s unlikely, and it could simply be more surveying and assessment being done, and maybe a bit of a spruce up!? If so, it leaves the same major concerns that have gone on now for far too long.
Some locals are starting to wonder if the aesthetic compromise of installing safety netting - a bit like the hair net that your Nan used to wear to bed in the 60s/70s - might regreattably have to be the solution to the unsteady rock face. Is that a solution that’s ever been on or off the table? Who knows?
Perhaps soon we’ll see wye valley river cruises again, boats taking visitors around the horseshoe bend, but with the punters hoping to witness an amazing display of the power of nature? A bit akin to an Arctic cruise where punters drift towards glaciers, waiting to see 10,000 of tons of material drop into the water, but in glorious sandstone techni-brown, not icy white?
Raised again on local chatterboard Ross Notice Board this week, the subject of the restricted views from Prospect came up again. Is it as if nothing has been learned from that old, unflattering TripAdvisor review above? The facebook post was accompanied by a photo of trees, which look like they'll soon be blocking the view of the river and rolling countryside completely like some kind of privacy curtain. Perhaps a sign could be nailed up? “Nothing to see here - please proceed to the town centre”.
Sadly and unfortunately, could it be that the instability of the rock face AND the increasingly rubbish view from the Prospect are inextricably linked?
Well some are saying that the abject lack of maintenance to everything growing up there (which was touched upon in this article last year too) is of massive concern. Trees have been able to take root, and if their roots are in fact breaking apart the structure of the soft sandstone rock of the cliff top then it is a dodgy scenario indeed - an “Accident waiting to happen” (Hey! What a great name for a Bond film.).
So, Rossians, what are the options? Get rid of the trees and restore the view? Well, sorry, but it could it be way too late for that, particularly as any dead and rotting roots could destabilise the rock even further.
Pollarding? What? What the hell’s that? Some niche, rough sexual technique? Hold on, a quick Google… ahhh, no, it’s 'pruning back trees to a desired height'. Is that a solution? Well it is said that Balfour Beatty are refusing to do that as well, because that too might make the rock face more unstable! Oh my Christ, things are not looking good are they?
How on earth did we get to this point then? Are Ross residents and tourists to the town going to have to accept that after 100s of years of people being able to enjoy the view from the Prospect that we are now 'past the point of no return'? Is the famous view not coming back? …and for that matter what is going to be done about that rock face? The road below? Hmmmmm.
The Prospect is the responsibility of Herefordshire Council - so do we know if the three County Councillors who represent Ross (Cllr Ed O’Driscoll, Cllr Chris Bartrum and Cllr Louis Stark) have fought hard enough or had the foresight to have insisted upon preventative maintenance work? - certain Town Councillors have definitely had the foresight, and have been suggesting interventions and maintenance.
Some say the Prospect also looks unloved. The tarmac is all over the place, and in places seems to undulate more than the countryside you now can’t see much of from the Prospect.
The whole place looks quite shoddy in many people’s eyes - but heh, it's not all bad - at least we’ve got a digital notice board on the town library’s wall, that was said to even be working temporarily the other day.
Are chomping at the bit enought to want to watch a 4-minute video of the rock face taken on 14th March 2024? Of course you are! and here it is, click here to watch on Youtube. (Sadly there's no sound, but heh, you've likely got the earworm that is that Hot Gossip track still ringing in your head)