THE captain and crew of HMS Ledbury spent a day talking to schoolchildren on Wednesday.

On the first day of their two-day visit to Ledbury, Lieutenant Commander Peter Olive and five crew members called in at the Urchins playgroup, John Masefield High School and Ledbury Primary School.

They talked to the children about the ship and their duties hunting mines during the war in Iraq.

After a visit to the Urchins in the morning, they had lunch at John Masefield with members of staff before arriving at the primary school just after 2pm.

Children packed into the hall as Lt Cmdr Olive spoke about the ship and their travels this year. There was also a slide presentation showing some of the places they visited.

He then answered questions from children, ranging in topic from sharks to the method of destroying mines.

Lt Cmdr Olive said he was impressed with what he and the crew had seen and said they had enjoyed the experience.

"There's nothing the crew like better than talking about themselves," he joked.

Ledbury Primary School head Celia Naylor said she thought the children found the presentation very interesting.

"Seeing the geography of where the ship's travelled put what they've learned in context for them," she said.

In the evening, there was a hard lesson for a HMS Ledbury XV on a decidedly chilly rugby field.

Following the loss of key players to other ships, it was a weakened HMS Ledbury team which took the field for their first game since the desert heat of Dubai. A Ledbury XV responded with power and pace to notch up a 50-0 victory, the foundations of which were laid down in a strong first half.

HMS Ledbury responded with pressure on the Ledbury line during the final two quarters and, commendably, repeatedly opted to run the ball rather than take an easy three points from penalties in front of the posts. Both teams applauded each other off at the end of the match, before heading for the bar at Ledbury Rugby Club.