Posts from — August 2007

You may remember that a few weeks ago I started a mini campaign to take pride in where we live and pride in Great Britain by flying the Union Flag more in Staffordshire.

I put forward a personal Motion to the County Chamber to fly the flag over County owned buildings all the time and also encourage local councils and other public buildings in Staffordshire to do the same. What I didn’t expect was the rather aggressive debate which followed me writing about the proposals before.

So, it’s with some trepidation I now write that the County Council, all but one of the local councils in the County and many other public buildings have taken up the proposal and now fly the Union Flag full time. I’m also really surprised at the number of individuals who’ve decided to buy flagpoles and flags.

The several Proms events I’ve been to recently have also served to confirm my belief that the vast majority people, about 10 to 1, choose to raise the Union Flag rather than the Flag of St. George or anything else. I’m very content recognising that I live in England which is part of Great Britain.

I know that the offensive views and bad language I removed from blog comments last time are not the majority view.

Click here to comment on this post

Anyone who visited either of the recent music and fireworks concerts at Shugborough Hall will be dismayed that, due to ‘issues with the venue’, the organisers will not be using the beautiful and fabulous country estate in the future.

City Concert Organisation join a growing number of other event organisers who are now finding new venues having used Shugborough for many years. A great shame because when the magnificent WW2 Spitfire came from nowhere climbing into the sky from behind Shuborough Hall, with the Dam Busters music filling the air, it was truly spectacular…. the hairs on the back of my neck are on end just writing about it!

Shugborough Estate, which is part of Staffordshire County Council, could and should be a public Jewel in the Crown for the people of Staffordshire and beyond but judging by the problems above and the significant number of complaints I’ve received about the new restrictions and ‘arrangements’ for walkers wanting to visit, it does appear to be falling from grace at an alarming rate.

And that is a great shame.

Click here to comment on this post

We visited the Canwell Show recently for the first time. I knew it was pretty big But I must admit I was astonished at the size of it and the huge variety of things to do and see.

One of the hottest days of the year saw the show’s livestock activities and competitions curtailed because of the restrictions in place because of the foot & mouth outbreak. Despite that there was masses to see and the thousands of people who attended were having a great time.

The organisation of a show that size must be a massive job but all seemed to go like clockwork.

Click here to comment on this post

I’ve written a couple of times about the group of villagers in Elford who’ve got together to start a restoration project for the village’s historic Walled Gardens.

It’s been two years since I hosted the first round table meeting between Birmingham City Council, who hold the Elford Estate in Trust, and the restoration group. There’ve been quite a few false starts along the way but negotiations have now reached an agreement and the long term peppercorn rent lease will be granted by the City shortly.

So now the really hard work starts and the group are looking for ‘Friends’ who can either help out with some funding or have the time and energy to join the restoration team itself. The Walled Garden is a terrific piece of Staffordshire heritage dating back over two hundred years and the work to refurbish gardens and the Victorian Gardener’s Cottage is likely to attract national interest.

If you want to get involved with helping out with the restoration work or want to become an accredited Friend of Elford Hall Walled Gardens you can register your interest here.

Click here to comment on this post

I’ve been working with many different public agencies, local councillors and community groups in the Fazeley area to try and bring together a big event.

This is the first time I’ve written about it because although we’ve been working on the idea for six weeks it’s only at the latest meeting that I’m certain we can pull it all together in time. It’s been a huge job as the whole thing seems to have got a life of its own and grown in size and complexity at a rate of knots. It’s all happening on Saturday 15th September. So it’s all systems go for the Festival which will see the first ever Mile Oak ‘Mile’ charity run, loads of attractions on the big field by the hospital, a junior soccer tournament organised by Bellgrave Bullets and Coton Green FCs and live broadcasting and fun and games with the Touch FM Road Show.

So it’s going to be a great day with masses going on. The run, which of course is a mile long, will be from by the Town Hall along the main road to finish on the field by the hospital. It’ll start off at 11.15am and we’re hoping for a good turnout of local people to take part. One race with three different categories, all of which are free to enter. The first off will run a competitive and professionally timed race for the annual (I hope it will continue) Mile Oak ‘Mile’ Trophy. This part will be for better runners who are 17 and over, male and female.

Behind them will be a competitive and timed race for runners of 16 and under, male and female again, for a junior trophy.

And behind the 16 and unders will be the fun runners. Anyone and everyone, families, individuals, fancy dress very welcome with prizes for the funniest.

Competitive runners, fun runners, everyone come along and, if you can, raise some sponsorship money for charity all the better. You need to register to run in any of the categories asap. If you are reading this you must be on-line so go to the Touch FM website to register for the run.

Everyone who runs will get a commemorative medal and the winners will receive their trophies live on radio at the Touch FM stage at 12pm.

To find out more about the dozens of attractions taking place throughout the day and how you could help out, click here.

Click here to comment on this post