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!

I don't normally do 'Crack of Dawn"!

Would I be willing to be interviewed on BBC Radio Stoke to talk about the increase in passenger numbers at Stone Station?  "Yes, of course" I replied, always being eager to promote our wonderful rail service!

But then the bombshell - they wanted to do a live interview from the Station at 7.30 this morning!  You see, since I retired several years ago, I normally only ever see one 7.30 in a day and that is usually after tea when I'm in my local! So I had to have an early night last night and set the alarm for the crack of dawn.

Well, actually it wasn't too painful. Did you know it's light at that hour of the day? And, surprisingly, there are lots of people up and about! The interview went out live on the Pete Morgan Breakfast Show and from the early feedback I've received it seems I didn't make a complete fool of myself!

My only concern is that I might start flag a little later in the day. Best, perhaps, that I have a bit of a rest now to avoid falling asleep over my pint tonight!

What was the point?

Against my better judgement, I agreed last night to go with a couple of pals to the Annual Meeting of Stone Town Council held in the Station. In the event, I wasted twenty minutes of valuable drinking time!

Apparently it is a legal requirement that such a meeting be held to enable the Council to report to the public and to afford members of the public an opportunity to question their elected representatives. Well that sounds all very commendable but in practice it's a farce!

So what happened? Well, Cllr. June Price, the Town Mayor recited from a list of events that had taken place in the town over the last twelve months - none of which, bar one, had been organised by the Town Council. Stone's County Councillor, Phillip Jones, gave a report which only briefly referred to Stone but managed to weave in words such as "austerity", "growth" and "coalition"!

Then the floor was handed over to the public. Antony Lucas, as Chairman of Stone in Bloom, took thirty seconds to thank the Council for it's support and I took a further thirty seconds to point out that, according to research carried by Taste of Staffordshire,  the Stone Food and Drink Festival generated almost £400,000 additional revenue for the town. And that was it! The Mayor then used her gavel to close the meeting and the only 'real' member of the public sitting next to me was totally bewildered!

He thought he was coming to see 'democracy in action' and that he might have heard something about the Christchurch Way controversy, the negative comments about our thriving High Street or the recent graffiti problems. But not so! As we bade him farewell, he was wondering how he was going to explain his swift return home to his wife - he'd warned her he might be out late!

When I retired from local politics last year, I vowed I would never attend another Council meeting. I am now wishing I'd stuck to my resolution!

Well done, Kieron!

It looks as if the graffiti saga is reaching a very satisfactory conclusion!

First of all, Staffordshire Police have confirmed that two 15 year olds have been arrested in relation to the spraying of graffiti. Let's hope that these arrests will bring this nonsense to an end. The course of justice will now take its course. I just worry that public opinion is demanding a more severe outcome than I fear may occur. (Someone was even suggesting a ducking stool over the canal or stocks on Westbridge Park!)

Kieron McKnight, organiser, finishes the job!

And secondly, there was another fantastic turn out for the community clean up which took place yesterday. Organised by Kieron McKnight, the Youth and Community worker at Christchurch, dozens turned up to help. The use of a brand new power washer had been organised by a very generous local person whose identity I don't know, the customers in the Pheasant pub donated £70 towards the cost of materials and Chritstchurch volunteers cooked bacon and sausages for lunch. By lunchtime all the graffiti had been removed. The community spirit amongst the volunteers was wonderful and, judging by the number of motorists who greeted us by beeping their horns, the efforts were appreciated by everyone who went passed!

Well done Kieron!

A messy business!

Last week's AGM of the Trustees of the Common Plott (yes- strictly speaking, it is spelt with a double 'T'!) went very much according to the usual format.

The Chairman's and Treasurer's reports recounted another very successful year. The finances are now robust - a very different story to a few years ago when Foot and Mouth disease played havoc with the grazing income.

Two related issues did, however, cause some debate - dog fouling and trespassing on the hay meadow. The problem of dogs fouling the fields has always been an issue but is even more of a problem now due to the increased numbers of people using the Plott. Irresponsible dog owners who fail to 'pick up' are a menace. The Chairman was able to report that a prosecution was being considered after a Dog Warden made a recent visit to the Plott. It was agreed that further steps need to be taken to deal with this problem and it will be discussed at the next meeting of the Trustees.

The other issue that was raised was the fact that walkers are not keeping to the footpath across the wild flower meadow. We have some rare plants growing in the meadow and people and dogs roaming all over the meadow cause considerable damage. It was agreed again that action needs to be taken and that the next Trustees meeting will consider what can be done to resolve the problem.

In the meantime, if you use the Plott, please remember to keep to the paths and if you walk your dog on the Plott, please 'pick up' afterwards.

Graffiti removal update.

I've just had a call from Kieron McKnight, the Youth and Community worker from Christchurch, with good news. On Monday, I put him onto a company which specialises in graffiti removal products including one which is not hazardous and can be used by untrained operatives. Five litres was ordered and Kieron phoned to say that it arrived this morning. He's tried it out and it works a treat!

And he's also heard from Network Rail who, no doubt, have seen this week's 'Newsletter'! The front page story told how, originally, Kieron was told by a Network Rail employee that any attempt to remove the graffiti would be regarded as an act of criminal damage and render the volunteer liable to arrest! Network Rail now have no objection to us removing the graffiti!!!!

So another community anti graffiti session will take place on Sunday morning at 11.00 meeting on Christchurch Car Park. And Kieron has arranged for lunch to be provided to volunteers at 1.00 pm.

Incidentally, the cleaning fluid and tools cost money so any donations to the church to cover the cost would be very much appreciated. There will  be collections in a few town centre pubs tonight.

A gallant effort! But more work will be needed.

The graffiti issue moves on a pace! Immediately after I posted my last comments on Monday, Twitter was alive with tweeps as to whether we should publish pictures of the graffiti or not. A good debate and I hope I haven't upset Jamie at A Little Bit of Stone too much. I think he thought that I was having a go at him - I definitely was not! His site is superb and I would not say or do anything to diminish his efforts.

The volunteers in Newcastle Street

Indeed, thanks to A Little Bit of Stone's coverage of the issue, a community action team was organised by Christ Church youth and community worker Kieron  McKnight this morning to try and remove the graffiti. Requests for help from Stafford Borough Council and Network Rail (who are responsible for the bridge) apparently met with some rather unhelpful responses. So local residents turned up at 10 o'clock and set to work. Unfortunately, household bleach, oven cleaner and white spirits were only partially successful and more work will have to be done to completely remove it all.

But the great news is that enquiries have discovered a company that supplies a special solvent which can be safely used by volunteers. And the search is now on to find a mobile pressure washer. An anonymous donor has made a payment to cover the cost of the solvent! I understand that there will also be collections in some local pubs over the next few days to raise funds to ensure that these fantastic volunteers have the right tools to complete the job.

I understand that there may be another 'volunteers session' this weekend. (I'll post more details when I know them) In the meantime if you know someone with a portable jet washer please let the organisers know via A Little Bit of Stone. And if someone asks for a donation in your local pub, please put your hand in your pocket. And if you're doing nothing when the next cleanup is organised come along and give a hand.

Well done to all for today! Together we can solve this problem