Blooming Buckingham!

Mayoress Julie presented the awards this morning to prizewinners from the Buckingham in Bloom competition. You can see the report of this on the Town Council FB site here which lists all the winners.

I enjoyed being part of the side show this morning!!

Julie and I went round our allocated patch of the town earlier on this year to find gardens that we thought deserved to be recognised. We found lots although sadly none of the winners.

But the winning gardens that we have seen are deservedly so: lots of wonderful colour and sparkle! I will leave it to the TC to announce the full set of winners and their addresses so that everyone can admire the gardens.

Well done to Cllr Bloomfield who organises this every year with Amanda in the office.

Café Crawl Number two!

We had a fabulous time yesterday: the weather remained dry and warm enough to sit outside in most of the places we visited. Thank you to everyone who came along: Margaret, Andy, Sophie, Chris, Peter, Julie, Penny, Mike, Joy, Charlotte, Helen, June and John (and a few small people too!)

We received lovely welcomes and great menus in all the places too!

I don't think we quite stuck to the starter topics, but we had lots to talk about! Not sure when the next one will be. Probably we will wait until the Spring now. Unless someone else would like to initiate one...

A delightful RAF Reception

Along with many other local councillors and town clerks, Julie and I were treated to a reception at the Officers' Mess at RAF Halton on Wednesday evening. Deputy Town Mayor, Cllr Mark Cole and his wife Alix were also present as indeed was our Town Clerk, Chris Wayman.

And I must say I was extraordinarily impressed with the welcome that the RAF officers gave us. They had clearly paid great attention to organising the event in such a way that everyone felt individually welcomed and had room to circulate easily. The officer who met me told me he had even researched me beforehand!

We were treated to a small military display, some bagpipes (which I adore) and a (very quick) fly past of a Chinook helicopter.

All in all, a delightful couple of hours in a beautiful setting with some very interesting people. I will probably be visiting again to learn more about their leadership development programmes. And I had a fascinating discussion with a woman from Hertfordshire about her role as a Community Navigator. It sounded to me that we could do with some of such people around here!

Here's a selfie with fellow Town Councillors from Aylesbury Town Council: Mark Willis (Deputy Mayor) and Mike Smith

Not the best panoramic pic but you get the impression of the room we were in.

Our growing University

People often comment to me that they do not see students around the town very much. I reply with several answers: firstly they are working very hard on their intensive two year degrees. And secondly as I understand things, many of the students are here with sponsorship from their country's government, often from a relatively poor country compared to the UK, and they feel driven to work hard (and play less) as a consequence. But thirdly, I also say: how do you know? Students don't look any different to other younger people in the town... they are among us!

And they will be among us in increasing numbers as the University is expanding rapidly. The Medical School started a couple of years ago and now with the new 'Vinson Centre for Liberal Economics and Entrepreneurship" even more students will be arriving soon. I and the Deputy Mayor, Cllr Mark Cole had the great pleasure of being part of the assembled group that learnt more about the new Vinson Centre and watched while Lord Vinson (who has donated £5.5m to its construction) and Sir Anthony celebrate the moment where the building work began. (The University's press release is here.)

This build and later planned builds on the old Innov8 site on the Tingewick Road and Chandos Road will bring lots of construction jobs to the town as well eventually more students and more academic posts too. As it stands, the University is already the biggest employer in the town and is set to grow. I and the Town Council are committed to building stronger links between 'town and gown' and ensure that mutual benefits are shared all round.

People may question what am I doing as a socialist supporting the development of liberal economics and entrepreneurialism. I have always said that my goal as the Town Mayor is to support ambition and I am truly delighted when anyone sets out to start a new business and takes an entrepreneurial risk. In these moments, people affirm their creativity and dreams, and seek to spread these to others as well. Throughout my life, I have been working for a world in which everyone has dreams & ambitions... and the wherewithal to achieve them. I celebrate all entrepreneurial ambitions!

We were treated to some inspirational presentations from past and present students of Professor Nigel Adams and his team. Here is a picture of Abi who just started her own brand of gender neutral clothing called BlackWolf. I wish her well.

Liberal economics is of course a very different kettle of fish (defined as "emphasising the concept of the free market and laissez-faire policies, with the government's role limited to providing support services" by the FT) and perhaps one day Lord Vinson and I might share a cup to tea and discuss how the banks needed governments around the world to underwrite their massive losses accrued from pursuing raw laissez-faire business deals... but that is for another day!

Meanwhile, we can now all watch the new Vinson Centre emerge on Hunter Street. (Thanks for the picture below from Beverley Kelly)

Sport for All!

Julie and I had a most wonderful morning on Saturday, attending the official opening of the new pavilion and changing rooms at the Gawcott Playing Fields of Moretonville Junior Football Club.

You can see the whole emerging story and lots of pics on their website and facebook pages. Phil Doran, the club Chairman spoke with such glowing and grateful words about everyone who has invested time, sweat and money over the years to get the Pavilion built and open. I dare not list them all here as I would be sure of missing someone out, and that I would not want to do!

But please know that if you have contributed to the creation of the Pavilion in any way, big or small, or indeed are part of the army of people who sustain the club week in week out: thank you!! You are doing immeasurable and wonderful things for the young people of Buckingham and surrounding villages. As Phil pointed out: the young people are not just learning football skills and having fun while they do it, they are learning life skills as well which will help them lead ambitious and fulfilling lives.

Pete Winkleman, Chairman of MK Dons provided some wonderful footballing celebrity glitter to the proceedings and performed the official opening. He praised all involved and emphasised that everyone should feel very proud.

Here are some pics

The 'tunnel' from the new changing rooms out onto the pitches!

Phil and Pete

Dave Newman provided much needed underwriting and financial support at a critical time!

Phil talking about his vision.

Honouring our seafarers

Sunday 3 September is Merchant Navy Day and the Town Council decided to commemorate this day by hoisting the Red Ensign on our flag pole over the weekend. As Mayor, I was asked to raise the flag. I wrote a speech to mark this occasion which I reprint below. As I was donning my regalia, Amanda from the TC offices arrived with a letter that she had received the day previous from a lady whose brother was a Merchant Seaman. Her daughter was present and I asked her if she would like me to read out the letter. She said that would be fine. So I did. Here is all that I said this morning.
____

Welcome everyone to this occasion to remember our seafarers, thank you so much for coming along.

We are an island people: we depend upon our Merchant Navy to bring us food and provisions that we have not grown or produced ourselves. More than 90% of our imports are carried by ship. And with more sea ports and harbours than any other European country, we depend on the Merchant Navy to help the country handle over 75% of our exports

And in times of war, the Merchant Navy has sustained our armed forces abroad and the people home in this country, often in great peril. Thousands of ships were sunk and many thousands of merchant seafarers, from many nations, lost their lives during the world wars - some were just teenagers.

Redan Sydney Jeffries of Lowestoft aged only 13 was drowned on 24 October 1917. And some were very much older than their combatant colleagues: Patrick Casey, aged 73, was killed when the SS Dotterel was sunk by a mine off the French coast on 29 November 1915.

My own brother-in-law, Chris Uglow, was a merchant seaman with the Falklands War. Thankfully he survived like many others but he will never forget his experiences there.

And I have here a letter from Molly that I was given this morning:

Memories of John Henry Swift, known as Jack, by his sister Molly

My elder brother 'Jack', my three sisters and younger brother, Pete were all born in London. We were a loving and close family, living with Mum and Dad in Clapham.

John preferred to be called 'Jack' and he followed in Dad's footsteps and became a carpenter / joiner. Jack was commissioned into the Merchant Navy as a Ship's Carpenter.

I adored my 'Jack', he was my hero, very handsome, very kind, and he had a cheeky sense of humour. He married Win who was in the W.A.A.F. and I was their bridesmaid.

He looked so handsome in his uniform, and I always felt so proud holding his hand walking down the street.

Jack was killed in 1941, aged 29 years old. His Merchant Navy ship was hit by a torpedo off the West coast of Ireland. Jack's body was never found.

I am now 93 years old, but I still remember the pain, and grief of losing Jack, and that feeling has never gone. God bless you darling.

Your loving sister, Molly

And so today, we honour all those seafarers who have kept us safe, fed and warm over the years - and we honour all those who are still doing so. I am pleased and humbled to be raising the Red Ensign today which will fly here all over the weekend, including Merchant Navy Day on 3 September.
___

And here is a picture of Jack.

Let us never forget the people who work hard to provide us with the food, energy and safety that we all need, especially this weekend, our merchant seafarers, past and present.

I hope to have a cup of tea with Molly sometime soon.

Some more pics taken by Amanda this morning.

Duckingham!

I had the joy today of assisting the Vice Chancellor of our University, Sir Anthony Seldon, run the annual duck race at Tanlaw Mill.

We judged the ducks and I awarded the prizes to the best decorated ones and overall winner of the race. Such a lovely community event which was very well attended by University students and staff and some townsfolk. There was even a live band from South Africa playing called Red Tape Riot.

The winning duck, created by Ella (aged 9), was (what I am calling) the 'Angel Duck'. This duck impressed us with its three dimensional sparkling decorations! Well done Ella!

The winning duck created by an adult was Donald 'the Duck' Trump. A very worthy winner hand crafted by Justine Kibler. (This duck struggled to complete the race as it got stuck in the weeds somewhere...)

Here is Justine, Sir Anthony and me

And the duck that won the race was sponsored by Vi Russell whose duck was devoid of any decoration (which was probably one of the reasons it won!). Here is Martin, the University's Maintenance Foreman holding up her winning duck and a picture of Vi (sorry not one my most focused shots!) below.

There will be far, far better photos in the newspaper on Friday: all taken by the lesser spotted Steven Prouse!

All in all a fabulous event which I have not attended before. It was lovely to be there today.

It's what market squares are for!!

Sunday brought beautiful weather, great community and sublime music to the middle of Buckingham again!

The Bandjam Big Bash was again a great success with a fabulous line up all supported by careful planning and back stage work by an army of people. Huge thanks to all who made this possible - volunteers, council officers (and the team of councillors who helped clear up all the rubbish afterwards...) And I hope the man who injured his foot rather badly is soon swiftly up and about.

Remember the events organised and sponsored by the Town Council are all advertised in the newsletter delivered to all homes and businesses in the town, four times a year. You can also read it all online - and here is the latest copy about to hit doormats in the next couple of weeks.

And...!!! 

One of the top bands may well be returning to play at the Mayor's Charity Bop on 24 March 2018... watch this space!!! (please make a note in your diary now)

A typically English tea party

On Saturday afternoon (26/8/17), Julie and I had the delight to attend Afternoon Tea arranged by the Mayor of Leighton Linslade, Cllr Syed Rahman. We were greeted with a warm welcome, prosecco and a dazzling array of cakes & scones. Musical entertainment was provided by "Wind Power" playing some easy listening tunes on woodwind instruments.

We sat on a table with other Mayors, past Mayors and others. I was fascinated to learn more about Houghton Regis. I have never visited this town which has a population of over 17,000 and is set to triple in size over the next decade. The Town Council will have its work cut out to ensure the town retains its integrity and grows its community heart. But having talked with Mayor Cllr Joanna Hillyard (see pic below), I am sure they are engaged in this process well.

Altogether a lovely afternoon and very happy to help Mayor Syed raise money for his charities.

Mayor Syed with the Mayor of Houghton Regis, Julie and I.

My Jo Cox journey #3

Yesterday morning, I had the enormous pleasure of donating my next Jo Cox book to the Mayor of Reading and the Reading Central Library. (You can read why I am doing this on the previous blog.)

Mayor Cllr Rose Williams was lovely and most welcoming. We exchanged stories of how Reading had changed since the time I left the town (1985). As readers will know, I went to the University there. Subsequently I had two jobs in the town: working for the Department of Employment, the Borough Council and the County Council as was. I used the library often.

Matt Rodda, the new Labour MP for Reading East, and a fellow ward councillor of Rose's still, was there too. It was with Matt that I originally made the contact as we know each other through "Labour Coast and Country". It was great to see him. Here we all are as I hand the book over to Rose.

and more informally:

The Mayor also gave me a copy of the "Reading Book of Days" which is a delightful book researched by the History of Reading Society with an 'on this day' story from the past about Reading, for each day of the year. Thank you! (Is that an idea for Buckingham...?)

And great thanks to Liz Grugeon from Matt's office and Kate Andrews who all helped to make this happen.

Here is the bookplate that will be placed in the book when it is added to the shelves of the Library.

Matt tweeted soon after we left the Library

And here is an official pic from Rachel Dennis, the Reading Council press officer who was also there. Thanks Rachel.

My Jo Cox journey #2

I placed a bet on the June 2017 General Election on how many seats the Conservative Party would win. At odds of seven to one, I bet £20 on them getting between 301 and 325 seats. And I won...!

I pondered for a long while what to do with the money: just pocket it, spend on an evening out or do something else? I decided to do something else: I bought 11 copies of the book written by Brendan Cox about the life and untimely death of his wife Jo.

Jo Cox MP was murdered by a right wing terrorist in the weeks running up to the EU Referendum in 2016. She was someone who stood proudly for democracy. And now we all know how much she also believed in all people having more in common than we have than divides us. And so it seemed a fitting way to spend my winnings. I resolved to donate most of the books to libraries that had featured in my life in some way.

Yesterday I went to my old University on stage two of my journey. (Stage one, blog to come but waiting for a picture, was my secondary school near Portsmouth). So it was a great pleasure to donate a book to the library of the University of Reading which I started at 40 years ago. I met the head Librarian Julia Munro and we talked about how the world and her library had changed in the last 40 years. It is currently having a refurbishment designed to create to more learning spaces for students whilst retaining good access to key texts. (Yes: university students do still read things in hard copy!)

That is a picture of the library when it was first built in the background. Julia kindly gave me copies of the last three annual reports on the Library which I will be reading soon. Thank you.

Later on, her colleague Sue Egleton took for me for a short tour around the Library as it is currently, albeit with lots of plastic sheeting and closed off areas. But I was delighted to discover some bookshelves featuring copies of the books that I referenced when studying psychology 40 years ago!

Sue revealed that her father is Trevor Eggleton who up until May this year had been a Buckinghamshire County Councillor for ten years. It is, as always, a small world!

Here is the bookplate that will be put in the book before it is added to the shelves of the University Library:

Supporting Buckingham Young People

I have just come away from the meeting convened by Corrinna Martin which managed to get around 40 people crammed into one side of the King's Head. There were bucketfuls of energy, ideas, commitment, support and experience.

Firstly big thanks to Corrinna for making this happen! Thanks also to the management of the King's Head for making the space. And thanks to everyone who showed up and helped start something new.

I won't steal Corrinna's thunder and give my report on the actions and ideas agreed, but watch the social media space: things will be happening and soon!

And most of all, I was utterly blown away by how much and how many people just want to do (and indeed are doing) something positive for young people in the town.

And there is room for more people too... so if you interested, do contact Corrinna.

Some pics of the people present: