Buses are in the news this week. The village will soon be flooded with orange flyers giving details of the new Thursday-Friday-Saturday evening service between Ledbury and Malvern, passing through West Malvern. The service, which will pick up and put down between stops, will make four round-trips each night between Ledbury and Malvern Wells, via Colwall, West Malvern and Great Malvern. It will run from 6.20pm until after midnight, to a timetable designed to enable those along the route to visit theatres, cinemas, pubs and Club 9 in Spring Lane without the need either to drive or to use taxis. The service will be free for the first month, after which normal 675 route fares will apply. Grants from the Countryside Agency and Worcestershire County Council will ensure the continuation of this service for the next three years and the five councils behind the project are hopeful that it will fully establish itself during that time. There will be a launch celebration with a free pig roast and cider at the Ledbury Market House at 5pm on Thursday, October 30, to which all are welcome. If you catch the last afternoon bus from West Malvern to Ledbury, you can join the fun and return on the new service to get back to the village at 6.45pm, 8.05pm, 10.05pm, or - if you have really made a night of it - at ten past midnight.

The other bus in the news is the coach that the Village Hall Committee is organising for a Christmas trip to Bath on Saturday, November i. The cost will be £10 per person, and the coach will leave West Malvern (St James's) at 9am, with a pickup at Link Top. It is expected to be back in the village at 5.30-6pm. This trip is likely to be popular, so to reserve your place. Ring Ron Fisher on 01684 560989, as soon as possible. All proceeds will be in aid of hall funds.

The next churchyard working party will take place tomorrow in the morning (10.am-12.30pm) rather than in the afternoon (possibly because the football season is now in full swing). Roy and Rosemary hope this may tempt a few more helpers away from their TV sets for an hour or two! And there is a choice of activities in the evening: the first of the winter's cricket club quizzes at the village hall (7.30pm for 8pm) and, just next door, the Social Club's harvest thanksgiving service and produce auction, starting at 8.30pm.