Sunday 18th July, Ledbury Civic Service

There was always a chance of rain today, but I'm pleased to say it held off. We spent lunch as a family at The Seasons Restaurant at Colwall Park Hotel. I'd purchased, as is my wont, several raffle tickets at the Malvern 150 celebrations (see earlier blog) and had won a voucher for £40 off sunday lunch, so had decided that this would be an ideal occasion. I have to say that the food was excellent and the service provided by Michael was second to none. The food must have been good, i watched my daughter eat and enjoy cabbage! The afternoon was enhanced by the fantastic display of Scarecrows around the village, so a big well done to all thise involved in setting up the day.

But I digress... Across the border into Herefordshire for The Civic Service at St. Michael and All Angels, with the Mayor and Mayoress of Ledbury, Paul and Tina Winter. This was my idea of a Town Civic Service with contributions from the Primary School, The High School, The Elim Church, The Catholic Church and the Ledbury Team Ministry themselves. as it should be, well done Ledbury, and thankyou for having us.

Tuesday, June 29th, Priory Park Malvern

a beautiful morning saw me lead the opening ceremony of the recently refurbished Priory Park Bridge. It realy is a magnificent structure, made from tradional materials following traditional methods, with the noted exception that the bridge has been fitted with LED lights in the footway to illuminate it at night, something the former structure wassadly lacking. I look forward to visiting and using the bridge in years to some when the wood has stared to weather naturally, I'm sure it will look superb. Since we started doing civil ceremonies in the Council House, I think this must have become the most photographed point in the district, so I was pleased to hear that even though I was officially first across the bridge, Joseph Woods the Builders had sensibly allowed couples to have their wedding photographs taken on the bridge whilst work was in progress. (Health and Safety permitting, of course, in case there are any government watchdog types following this blog!)

Sunday June 27th, Pershore Civic Service

Back to Pershore Abbey for the second time this week, this time for Pershore's Civic Service. One very nice touch, during the service the Mayor and Mayoress laid a wreath in memory of those who have given their lives in the service of Pershore. Jeffrey Griffiths, the consort from Bromsgrove was pleased, we got to sing "Guide me, O thou great Redeemer" again. I think I'll include it in my service, just for Jeffrey. (Mine is to be held on October 24th at 3:00pm at St. Peter & St. Paul's in Upton upon Severn if you'd like to come along.)

Sunday 27th of June, Worcester Civic Service

Councillor Mike Layland, Mayor of Worcester held his Civic Service at the Cathedral, and a good job he did. I've only seen the Cathedral this full once before, and that was for the centenary of Guiding within the County, when representatives form every Raindows, Brownies, Guides and Venture Scouts group in the County were there. I think the numbers present paid tribute to Mike who has served on the Council for may years, indeed thishis second term as Mayor. (He now stands as an independant, where his first term of office was for a party which the country has put to the back of it's mind, I know Mike has.) The reception was made all the more enjoyable by the availability of a barrel of MHB Black Pear... Now there's an idea.

Wednesday, June 23rd. Pershore Festival of Flowers

Chris and Jan Parsons, Mayor and Mayoress of Pershore, had invited us to a wine and cheese supper at Pershore Abbey for a Preview Evening for the Pershore Festival of Flowers. The charch was bedecked with flowers and my hearty congratulations go to all those involved. I know Mrs. Morgan was certainly envious of the displays: She gets to decorate one of the windows in our parish church every few months and would have loved to take away one of the displays and frozen it in keeping for her next turn. Entertainment on the evening was provided by "Move on Up" a vocal group from Pershore who had approached Chris to see if it would be OK to have an hours use of the Abbey to try out the acoustics. That was some test!

Tuesday June 22nd, Buckingham Palace

I think we picked the hottest day of the year to attend a Garden Pary at Buckingham Palace. Cllr. Mike Soley and his wife were there, somewhere. It's absolutely impossible to find anyone, with the possible exception of Her Majesty, amongst the 7,998 other guests. It really was a once in a lifetime's experience. We were allowed to wander freely around the grounds, and needed to do so just to find some shade from the sun. We spotted several notables, Theresa May MP and the taxi driver from East Enders. (I'm almost proud to say I didn't know who he was.) We spoke to several people: some chains, some civil servants, some public servants, members of each of the Armed Forces, and, for my money more importantly, members of the public who were there in recognition of the voluntary services they had provided for various charities the length and breadth of the country. We had a lovely day, and if ever Her Majesty wants to come round ours for tea we'd be more than happy to reciprocate.

Sunday 20th June, Wychavon Civic Service

I first met Linda and Maurice at Andrew Dyke's Farewell Party at the end of his year in office back in May, so it was a pleasure to be attending a Civic Service for someone we already knew. St. Kenelm's Church in Upton Snodsbury is a beautiful village church with some very interesting architecture. Well worth a visit for anyone intersted in old churches; the tower has a rendered finish despite it's age. The service holds the record so far for the shotest sermon, just 6 minutes, something the Officiating Minister, Canon Chris Clarke, was very keen to point out. He didn't say a lot, but what he said hit the mark. A special mention must also go to the pupils of Flyford Flavell First School for the performances by their Choir and their Bell Ringers. Well done.

Sunday 20th June, Kidderminster Civic Service

I'd received an e-mail warning me to keep this date free for Kidderminster's Civic Service. Unfortunately, that was the last I heard, so I didn't get to attend this one. Sorry Kidderminster.

June 18th, Three Counties Show

Now, I'm going. to have a little gripe here. It's all well and good trying to raise the profile of an event by inviting Civic dignitaries, and we are very pleased to be invited, but to then completely ignore protocol takes the gloss off it. I was somewhat surprised by the seating arrangements (I'm not trying to pull rank here, read on...) The front row were members of The Three Counties Agricultural Committee, together with the Chaiman of Herefordshire Council. I can forgive them for allowing Hereford into the front row, it was Hereford's year, but to sit Harriett Baldwin MP in the second row and Barbara and myself in the back row just beggars belief. We were also sat at the back of the room for dinner. On this occasion, the back of the room meant by the window overlooking the parade ground, so we got a better view of The Red Devils coming in to land.

Gripe over, I have to say that The Three Counties Show continues to dazzle. This is my third year running at the show and this year was bigger and better than previous years. One day just isn't enough to see everything that's going on. I would encourage anyone who's remotely interested to go for the three day pass and thoroughly enjoy it, you won't regret it.

June 14th, Hanley Castle High School

I'd been invited along in my role as Chairman to hear the school's plans for obtaining Foundation status. I possibly need to declare an interest here as I have two children at the school. Jeff Robinson, Chair of Governers, Mark Astill, Treasurer of Governors and Mrs. Lynsey Cooke the new head teacher laid out the reasoning behind their desire to achieve Foundation Status, taking care to highlight the difference between this and Academy Status being much encouraged by the new coalition government. Having listedned to the case put forward, I think the governers have it right: Foundation status provides the right balance between the independence it provides and the support that the school will continue to receive from the Local Authority.

Bromsgrove District Council Civic Service, June 13th

A quick change of tie (that's all we had time for) and a short drive to Bromsgrove for their Civic Service, introducing their thirtyseventh year and their new Chairman: Councillor Mrs. June Griffiths. Hymns included "Guide me, O thou great Redeemer", possibly included for husband Jeffrey, a Welshman who I think will make quite a mark on this year's chain gang.

The reception included some fantastic scones and cream, I just wish I'd taken the camera to record the scene.

Droitwich Spa Civic Service, Sunday June 13th

A bright sunny morning saw Mrs. Morgan and myself head blindly into Droitwich, having left the invite at home! Never-the-less, we found St.Andrew's Church, where we were treated to a history of St. Richard de Wych and then retired to the Community Hall for light refreshments. (
,The hall is just yards from the new medical centre where Mrs. Morgan worked as site secretary for McAlpine's during construction, so you think we'd have found a little easier wouldn't you?!

As this afternoon's service is in Bromsgrove, we stopped off at Webb's for what has become the traditional Civic Ice Cream.

Apologies to those of you who have been awaiting an update. There was a disaster at my mum's house on the 13th and she has been living with me and my family ever since. Unfortunately, the spare bedroom doubles as my office, so I've not spent as much time on-line as I usually do. Normal service, including a precis of all that's taken place will follow shortly. Mum's now off to Lincoln to babysit for my little sister who has damaged a calf-muscle playing rounders. Let this be a warning to all those 40+ people who insist on being healthy!

Speaking of being healthy, hearty congratulations to Louise Anthony, Rebecca Floyd, Heather Lampitt and Amanda Stone at MHDC. These four superheroes have raised a whopping £800 for Cancer Research UK after competing in the annual Race for Life event in Worcester on the 13^th June. Well done girls.

Visions & Voices

Spent last night at Worcester Cathedral for the preview of their annual Visions & Voices exhibition. Over 200 schools in the County have contributed works: Primary Schools, Secondary Schools, 6th Form Colleges and Art Colleges alike. I have to say, some of the works were breathtaking. Whilst looking at a long stop night time photograph of a London street scene, I overheard the chap behind me say that if it had been in a gallery he would have paid money for it. It was a real pleasure to hear people saying how impressed they were with the work of these youngsters, a welcome change from the usual disparaging remarks one hears.

Malvern 150

Have just returned from a very sunny morning at Malvern 150, celebrating 150 years since the arrival of a railway service at Great Malvern. It may be called Malvern 150, but I'm pleased say that there were a lot more than 150 people there. Lots of memorabilia, not just about Great Malvern station, although the displays by the Civic Society were excellent, but several Morgan cars, and an antique bus. It was great to see Harriett Baldwin our new MP unveiling a commemorative totem. She and her husband Jim, who I know has a real interest in all things steam, seemed very pleased to be involved. Congratulations to all those that helped organise the event, and let's hope that government can see sense and start investing in our railways once more.

Malvern District Scouts AGM

Spent this evening at the Scouts AGM. Congratulations to all those who received an award this evening, and there were plenty of them, Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Scout Leaders alike. I believe that organisations like the scouting movement really can make a difference to children's lives, helping to shape them to become more useful members of society.

Pledge | Stamp Out Stigma

Pledge | Stamp Out Stigma

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Elizabeth Fitzroy Patio

Monday 17th May 2010:

Spent the morning discussing what I wanted to achieve as Chairman for the year. Top of my list was improved communication, so here I am.

Stood for approximately 50 photographs, one of which, hopefully, will appear on this blog, and on the Council website shortly.

Spent a very pleasant hour on a very warm and sunny afternoon at the Elizabeth Fitzroy Support home in Malvern. The local Rotary club had raised funds for, and built, a large patio area for the residents to use. The patio was officially opened by Michael Brinton, the Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire. Malvern Rotary are to be congratulated on an excellent initiative. The centre now has plans for improving the garden as a whole, and I look forward to being involved when the plans start to come to fruition.