An accident waiting to happen

Waist high this side -
no indication on other side -
no audible warning = accident?

Much has been said and written about the 'improvements' to the traffic system in Christchurch Way including the alterations at the junction with High Street. But as far a I know, no one has mentioned the new lights at the pedestrian crossing.

Pedestrians wanting to cross the road used to press the button and were then able to see the 'Red Man' lit up on the poles across the road. Then, when the lights changed and it was safe to cross, the Green Man was visible and a bleeping sound could be heard. But that's changed now.

The new system doesn't have any lights visible from across the road. The only visible indication is the red/green light at waist height on one pole. If that light is hidden behind another pedestrian, there's no other way of knowing which lights are on. And when it is safe to cross, there's no audible warning at all. How do visually impaired pedestrians cope?

I fear that this new system could confuse people. Or am I missing something?

A rare day of sunshine!

I couldn't believe my eyes when I woke up on Saturday! Sunshine streaming through the bedroom curtains! Yes, it was Farmers' Market day!

For a long time we always used to boast that it never rained on a Farmers Market Saturday but that proud claim bit the dust quite a while ago. And last week's forecast suggested that we'd all need wellies and sou'westers to keep dry. But no! We had superb weather all day and everyone had a great time.

We've now got signs on all roads into town and emblazoned with the 'This Saturday' stickers. And the new Farmers' Market website is now up and working. Just a few more ways in which Stone Food and Drink Festival promote the Farmers' Market.

And it's good to see how local groups and organisations are now using the Farmers' Market to promote themselves. Stone in Bloom have been very prominent over the last few months as have the Stone Music and Arts Festival. But next month their events will be over so it will be  time for Stone Food and Drink Festival to get out there to promote the October event!

Our feathered friends

Regular readers of these posts will know that I'm a bit of a keen 'bider' and that I'm rather proud of having attracted a whole variety of birds into our garden over the years. Well, this year we've really excelled ourselves.

For the last few weeks we have been mesmerised by the antics of many of our feathered friends. I've mentioned our Great Spotted Woodpecker here before but I have some great news to report  - we now have a small family of them! Yes, Mum, Dad and youngster! It's been fascinating watching the parents teaching the youngster how to take peanuts from the feeders and, after about three weeks, he's got the hang of it. They are in the garden every day for lengthy periods so I can only assume they've nested nearby. And other families have been popping in to feed as well. We counted seven jackdaws yesterday and we've got loads of blue tit and great tit chicks flitting around the garden.

I was worried that the torrential rain of the last month might have caused our garden birds some problems but it seems they've all survived and, indeed, prospered.

Photo not mine - sadly!
Courtesy of Google Images

And if  anyone has seen me recently walking around town staring up at the sky, it's been for a good reason. I've been looking to see if I can spot a Red Kite. Twitter has been buzzing with news of sightings over Stone during the last few weeks. I first saw a Red Kite in mid Wales in the mid 70's and in recent years in Buckinghamshire whenever I visit my son. And I know that they've been seen in Shropshire - so it wouldn't be impossible for them to have been seen in Staffordshire. The habitat around Stone would be ideal for them - wooded areas bounding onto farmland - so my fingers and toes are crossed that we may get some here soon. You'll know when you see one - their tails seem to twist the wrong way in flight and they tumble around in the sky. Let me know if you see one!

Festival wash out

Oh what a great shame. After so much work and effort by some very dedicated volunteers, Stone Festival was truly affected by the weather this year.

QEII struuting their stuff !

Jan and I went down to Westbridge Park on the Friday evening to watch the Queen tribute band, QEII. We went in wellies, waterproof jackets and with umbrellas - and we needed to! This was the first time the Festival Committee had organised an event on the Friday night and the  Party in the Park was a great idea. QEII were just superb. We saw them of course a couple of years ago when they stole the show at the Music Festival so we knew they'd be good. They were! A crowd of a few hundred braved the elements and was sufficient, I am told, for the event to break even. But what a night it would have been if it had been a warm dry summer's evening. Oh well, perhaps next year!

And sadly it got no better the following day. We were down on Westbridge Park early to set up the Food and Drink Festival display trailer and it was obvious that it had rained all night. The field was water logged and the various organisations and charities  setting up their stalls were all looking rather damp.

Antony Lucas holds
 the Olympic Torch

The Festival Parade made the best of a bad job but due to the condition of the field, the lorries carrying the floats could not get onto the park. What a shame after so much time and effort had been spent by so many. The Imps motor cycle display team had to cut their display short and, all in all, the weather spoilt the whole day.

But I'm sure that John Sayer and his team won't let any despondency set in! I'm in no doubt that they are already starting to organise next year's event - well done John et al!

An age old problem

A visit to St Michael's Hall a couple of weeks ago confirmed two things - we've got a fantastic group of very talented people in Stone and secondly, the provision and financing of community buildings in the town is becoming a very real issue.

Firstly, the talent. Jan and I spent an hilarious couple of hours at Maplins Holiday Camp splitting our sides with laughter and yelling "Hi di hi" at the appropriate moments! Yes, it was the Revellers' summer production of the same name - and it was amazing! Obviously based on the television series of a few years ago, the cast pulled off some superb performances. John Wright's grumpy old character telling everyone to "Sod off" will last long in the memory! Included in the admission price was a supper of fish, chips and mushy peas at the interval - now that's a proper night out! Well done, Revellers!

But as we left we were handed a piece of paper appealing for funds to maintain and renovate the hall. Work is required on the roof, the electrics and the plumbing and the target was £45,000. Which has made me think yet again about how community space in the town is financed. St. Michael's Hall is appealing for funds. St John's Church Hall closed a year or so ago when the ceiling became unsafe. The Town Council are considering giving the Frank Jordan Centre back to the Borough Council because it is, in the words of one councillor, a "white elephant". The Scouts Gang Shows have to be held in The Gatehouse at Stafford because there is no hall suitable in Stone but they cannot afford to rehearse there. Walton Community Centre has pulled itself out of the doldrums of a few years ago and Christchurch Annexe is operating very successfully. But these two venues on their own will never be able to cope with the demand.

So the old conumdrum still exists - how can we provide and finance a community building in Stone suitable for the many and varied requirements that exist and where could it be put? Answers on a postcard, please?

Who reads my blog?

I simply ask the question because, since I started blogging last June, this site has received 8,274 page views! I can't belive it!

The stats page (which only I can access!) is very interesting indeed - listing, amonst other things,  which pages had the most views. It seems that most visitors to the site are looking for local news or my 'take' on what's going on in town. There's nothing better than a bit of good gossip, is there?!

Blogging in Fits and Starts!

Oh dear, I'm sorry. Here comes another apology!

I've kept prompting myself to get on the computer and post a few blogs but didn't realise until I did so earlier today that it's been almost a month since my last post. I can only plead that I've been a very busy boy!

So I've just made a list of over half a dozen topics that I need to write about tomorrow to bring this blog up to date. And when I've done so I must make it a rule to do my blogging before I go to the pub for my relaxation!

Thick black smoke

On leaving the Pheasant last night, a huge pall of black smoke was rising from somewhere down town. The last time I saw a similar sight was a few years ago when the fire took place on the boatyard. Fearing something serious, Janet drove us down into town when it became obvious that the problem was not in the town itself but over towards the Stone Business Park.

All under control!

Turning left at Walton island, our first thoughts were that the new Aldi store was going up in flames but as we approached it was obvious that the fire was behind Aldi probably on the allotments. We retraced our steps and went down Tilling Drive and found three fire appliances near the old disused Bibby's Social Club. It turned out that the fire was in a storage shed at the rear of the club and the Fire Service had the blaze well under control.

I don't know the extent of the damage or loss but, thank goodness, it was not as serious as we first thought. Of course, the question that I'm sure will now be investigated is how did the fire start? Or, more accurately, who started it? Fires like this are rarely caused by self-combustion!

Two days at the County Show

You can bet your shirt on it, can't you? It will rain for two days whenever the County Show takes place! Pity I didn't put a bet on it earlier in the year! Yes, it rained - and it rained!

Thankfully, we had booked the stall for the Stone Food and Drink Festival  inside the Food Hall so we were sheltered from the elements. And the fact that it was so miserable outside ensured that people came indoors in their thousands. We were there to promote the Food and Drink Festival and handed out over two thousand leaflets. We received a great response and met dozens of people who enthused about our Festival. Scores of them also entered a free prize draw we were running to win a pair of weekend passes. A very worthwhile event even if I do need a week to recover!

Jack Taylor, our young chef prodigy, came down both days to help us and, lo and behold, on Thursday had somehow managed to get himself invited to go up on stage and do a joint cookery demonstration with Sarah Gayton from Taste of the Moorlands! What a double act! I think we've found our 'star' turn for the Festival in October!

And to finish the show on a high note - what better than Lymestone Brewery winning third place in the Best Stall in Show category? Well done, Viv!

Let's play catch-up!

Apologies! It's over a week since I last posted and I have already had an enquiry from someone who was worried I may be ill! Rest assured I am alive and well - I've just been such a busy boy that I haven't had a moment to keep this blog up to date. So here goes - a quick catch up with a couple of postings.

Have you seen any bats this year?

I'm worried. The good weather of the last few days has enabled us to sit outside until way past dusk. In fact we've eaten out on the patio three or four times this week. We love our patio - it looks across the lawn and garden and is completely shielded from the prying bedroom windows of neighbouring houses. It's our little bit of heaven.

It's also a superb place to watch wildlife. Over the years we've been up close and personal to all manner of 'duskwatch' goodies. The songbirds singing their final chorus, the snuffling of our resident hedgehog as he starts his evening slug hunt, the swifts flitting across the sky indicating the height at which the midges and insects are flying. And, up until this year, the bats squeaking and dashing across between the trees. But, so far not one sighting.

So what's happening? Have we lost the bats or will we see them later in the year? Did they not survive the winter or did the wet spring cause them problems. Or - and this is my current theory - has the recent spate of housing development in the vicinity destroyed their roosts? Ten years ago the sky above our house would be alive with bats at dusk. Since then two properties and several outbuildings were demolished to build Harding Grove behind our garden. Building works are currently underway up the road at the large house opposite Alleynes School entrance with the old house being reroofed and, again, outbuildings being demolished. Now I know the developers always manage to find an 'expert' who reports that there are no bat roosts in the vicinity of the proposed development (why don't the planners commission their own surveys/) but I find it odd that we've apparently lost our bats after so much building work has recently taken place.

But perhaps I've got it all wrong. I'll be keeping my eyes peeled and if I am mistaken I'll let you know immediately.

Q - In which county is Stoke-on-Trent?

I'm puzzled! A brand new sign has gone up on the A34 southbound near the 'Monkey Island' just before Tittensor welcoming drivers to Staffordshire!

When I last walked the Staffordshire Way many years ago we started near the county's northerly boundary at Mow Cop. Now it seems the county has shrunk! What's going on?

I guess the answer is a political one - not geographic. Is it that Stoke-on-Trent is a unitary authority  and therefore not, politically or administratively, part of Staffordshire County Council? And has someone in the Highways Department at the County Council got some money left over in their budget which is burning a hole in their pocket?

Well, it's all very confusing! Stoke-on-Trent has always had a massive identity problem - chucking it out of the county ain't going to help! Seriously it's a marketing disaster. The county should be proud of Stoke-on-Trent's contribution  to selling the Staffordshire and the city needs to firmly identified with its location.

Taste of Staffordshire Awards night

What a great night we had last night! It was the awards night for the Master Chef and Young Chef competitions organised by Taste of Staffordshire at The Moat House at Action Trussell.

This prestigious event is the highlight of year for chefs around the county. The six finalists in each section  had been hard at work in the kitchens at Stafford College all day being judged. Then they had to wait until the cheese and coffee was being served before finding out how they had fared. That must have been nerve racking for them.

Three of us from the Food and Drink Festival were there -  Charlotte our marketing and PR guru, Collin Taylor our compere and myself - to introduce ourselves to the chefs and to invite them to appear at the Food and Drink Festival in October.

We were treated to an amazing meal from Mat Davies and his team at the Moathouse and then came the awards ceremony presented by our old friend and former Radio Stoke personality Janine Machin. We were delighted when it was announced that Rosanna Moseley from The Bistro at Aston Marina was the runner up in the Young Chef competition. A great result for the fabulous team down at the marina. And then the winner was declared - Ruby Rainey from The Terrace Restaurant at Keele Hall who was sitting with her mum at our table! A fantastic result.

Afterwards we had chance to speak to most of the contestants and they were all eager to demonstrate at Stone in October. So we're going to have an array of talent on display, I promise you!

If only we had a Castle!

It's grossly unfair. Ludlow and Stone are both market towns with long pedigrees. Both are about the same size and both have a great sense of community. But I'm jealous - Ludlow has a castle and we haven't!

So that's how butter's made!
(Castle walls in background)

I've been going down to Ludlow for many years to attend their various festivals which are all held within the castle walls. The castle provides a fantastic backdrop and atmosphere to all their events. And the walls are still tall and strong enough to provide a secure site - no metal security fencing there!

We can do events in Stone as well as anywhere but a castle really would add that missing magic ingredient! Oh well, we'll just have to make do with Westbridge Park!

These thoughts were prompted by our visit to the Ludlow Spring Festival on Sunday - another great event where I was able to sample the renowned Butty Bach from Wye Valley Brewery with Dave Hicks in the Real Ale Tent. A great show with over 60 local food producers (many of whom will be at the Stone Food and Drink Festival this year), over 140 real ales and a couple of hundred classic cars looking superb in the warm sunshine.

Of course, the visit was purely a fact finding research trip for the Food and Drink Festival! It's a hard job but someone has to do it!

A Change of Heart

Some time ago, I harangued Stone Town Council for penny pinching when they were dealing with an application for a grant to Stone in Bloom. So I was pleased to hear that there had been a change of mind on the part of a majority of Town Councillors at a recent meeting and that the application for a £2000 grant from the Stone in Bloom committee has now been approved.

Common sense has prevailed, thank goodness! Stone in Bloom are up against some stiff competition this year because they have been entered in the national competition. What an accolade for the town. And they need every penny they can raise. So if you're in town on a Farmers Market day, make sure you buy one of their mugs,  get yourself a badge or sign up as a Friend of Stone in Bloom. A good result in the national competition will really put Stone on the map!

A week of meetings

Phew! What a week it's been. I thought that life would get a bit slower and easier now that I had given up council work and  few of my other other commitments. But not a bit of it!

On Monday we held  a meeting of our Food and Drink Festival sponsorship working group. Tuesday - Friends of Stone Station. Then on Wednesday a fascinating meeting in Stoke (I can't say anything at the moment!) with another railway based meeting in the evening, this time the North Staffordshire Rail Promotion Group. An even busier Thursday - almost all day over at Uttoxeter to meet various people involved with the Food and Drink Festival there in June. And the week ended last evening with a get together with a major player in both Festivals - but this time we met in the Royal Exchange!

So I'm looking for a couple of days with nothing in the diary so that I can catch my breath and do everything I now have to do!

Did anyone do it?

I'm curious. Last Saturday a rather large crane appeared on the car park at Langtrys to offer bungee jumps to the brave (or stupid!) young folk of the town. It was setting up when we walked into town and I noticed that they were also offering trips up in the cage as well as the jumps themselves.

I rather fancied going up to get a bird's eye view of the town. But sadly, by the time we'd seen President, had lunch at La Dolce Vita and walked home with the shopping, they were packing the whole thing up. They could have only been open for business for a couple of hours at the most!

Then last night I was talking in the pub to a friend of ours whose house overlooks Langtrys. He had kept his eye on the crane for the whole time it was there and never saw a single customer!

So did anyone have a go? Perhaps our young folk are neither brave nor stupid!

Another visit from President

President arrives!

Stone may have missed out on the route of the Olympic torch but we made up for it yesterday when the unique steam powered narrow boat, President, stopped off in the town for a couple of hours!  President was  beginning its journey to London to take part in the Diamond Jubilee flotilla on the Thames on June 3rd when it will represent Staffordshire. This flotilla should be a sight to behold - boats of all shapes and sizes stretching for over twelve and a half miles!

And yesterday a very good crowd turned out to wish her 'bon voyage'. She moored alongside the towpath above Star Lock for a couple of hours and her crew and Inland Waterways volunteers were on hand to answer all questions. Built in 1909 , President was restored in the 1970's and is the only operational steam narrow boat on the canal network.

And two hours later, departs.

She has, of course, visited Stone on several previous occasions. Only last year did I see a video of her taken, I think, in 1991, when the then Mayor of Stone Stan Goodall and the then Mayor of Stafford Mike Heenan, were in Stone to see her off on the last leg of the journey which transported the statue of James Brindley up to Etruria where it now stands at the junction of the Trent and Mersey and the Caldon Canals.

Great Music Live!

That was the promise made by the organisers of the Stoke-on-Trent Festival 2011-12 when we ordered our season tickets again last summer. And wow, have they delivered! Last night we were in the Victoria Hall in Hanley for the season's finale - the BBC Philharmonic playing Schubert's 5th, soloist Martin Roscoe playing Beethoven 4th Piano Concerto and ending with Elgar's Enigma Variations! A new conductor to me, Juanjo Mena, brought out the very best from the players to create a really wonderful evening.

I've had a season ticket in the same seat for well over thirty years and I never cease to wonder at how lucky we are in this area in terms of classical music. The current Festival programme offered the BBC Philharmonic, the CBSO,the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Philharmonic and the Halle orchestras. And we have been treated to appearances by, amongst others,  Vladimir Ashkenazy, Lesley Garrett, Tasmin Little and, for my money the most awe inspiring of all, the blind Japanese pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii.

And all in a hall built over a hundred years ago! We don't need to spend millions on a hall like the Bridgewater Hall  in Manchester or the Symphony Hall in Birmingham. We've had the best hall for acoustics here in North Staffordshire all the time! Indeed, Sir Malcolm Sargeant went on record as saying that the Victoria Hall was his favourite for having the best acoustics of any hall he'd ever conducted in.

I've already put the dates for next season in my diary!

Let's support 'Free after Three' campaign

Some time ago, I urged local councillors to read the Mary Portas report on town centre regeneration and in particular to pay heed to her comments about a radical need for a rethink on car parking policies. Well, I'd like to think that Cllr. Philip Jones saw my posting and took my advice!

On reading today's Newsletter, I see that he has put forward a proposal that Stafford Borough Council should allow free car parking in Stone and Stafford after three o'clock. Now that's a very positive suggestion which needs to be fully supported. As he says, it would encourage shoppers to 'pop into town' for those last minute purchases and would be extremely convenient for mums who have picked up their children from school. And it would counter the lure of free parking at supermarkets.

But why not go one step further? Why not suspend on-street parking restrictions after three o'clock as well? Let's support any scheme that will attract people into our town. Well done, Philip!