Cheques to stay

I very much welcome the news that the UK Payments Council has reversed its foolish and self-interested decision to scrap cheques. It is to be hoped that this decision is adhered to in spirit as well as letter and that the role of the cheque is not further eroded.

Being able to pay by cheque is especially important for older people, community groups and small businesses as they would have known had they been in touch - or cared.
Cheques, originating some 350 years ago, remain a popular and reliable way to pay bills or receive sums of money for tens of thousands of people in Birmingham and millions more throughout the country. In fact around 1.1 billion transactions were made by cheque last year alone.
The U turn by the Payments Council marks a step in the right direction but there is so much more that needs to be done - or undone - before many people, especially the elderly and small savers, can begin to trust the banks again in the way that they did for the late lamented Birmingham Municipal Bank.

The Brum Reapers!

Keep your eyes peeled for the ‘Brum Reapers’ in the Hall Green area. If you spot a group of folks with scythes, it is not the apocalypse; but the volunteers from SEAT (Sarehole Environmental Acton Team) who were awarded funding to buy scythes and a days training in their use and maintenance.
They are helping to help maintain the meadows in the area in a more environmentally friendly way while getting some Tai Chi like exercise at the same time. Recently a mowing session was held at Greet Mill Meadows and there will be further sessions throughout the summer so look out for them on your travels. And meanwhile, if you would like to join in some volunteer activities in July:

Friday July 15th: Sarehole Mill workday – Can you volunteer a couple of hours of your time to help with some light garden work and to help tidy up the Millpond area behind Sarehole Mill? Meet at 10.30am on the car park of the Mill, Cole Bank Road.
Sunday July 17th: Hall Green Mela – from 12 - 5pm Sarehole Recreation Ground. Family fun – music, entertainment, children’s activities, stalls and good food.
Saturday July 23rd: Balsam Bash – The Dingles 1pm - 3pm Meet at the Coleside Avenue entrance to the site off Brook Lane. An opportunity to take your tension out on this invasive plant; Himalayan balsam. Cut it or pull it up and stamp on it – get 'it' out of your system as well as the environment!
Sunday July 31st: Balsam attack at Greet Mill Meadows 10am - 1pm. Meet at the ford at Green Road, and get your tension out on that plant again! Successive attacks are really working on this site to eradicate this invasive plant but we have to catch it before it seeds.

Mela 2011

This year’s Hall Green Mela and Festival takes place at Sarehole Mill recreation ground on Sunday July 11th from 12-00 until 5-00. This is another family occasion following on from the now world-renowned Middle-earth Weekend held at the same venue in May.

There are performances by local entertainers and lots of stalls run by local groups. And there are plenty of refreshments and seating for this very pleasant and relaxed family occasion. For further information or if you would like to be a volunteer, please call 675-7930 or 778-6679.

Merton House

At this time of the year there must be many elderly people as well as those who are frail or who have a physical disability who long for a break in a comfortable and friendly hotel with understanding staff, pleasantly located and not too far from Birmingham.

A week’s holiday at the beautiful Georgian Merton House located in Ross on Wye could well be the answer. As a result of sponsorship by Rotary, prices for full or half board are extremely reasonable. I have visited Merton House myself and taken tea with those on holiday there - very pleasant indeed. And if transport is needed to get you there, this can be provided for a supplementary charge.

Merton House is a not-for-profit community service project and the helpful and caring staff and the ambience of the house reflect this. If you are interested in a stay, you can contact the hotel direct on: 01989 563252 or if you are on the internet you can go to the Merton House website at:

 http://www.mertonhouse.org/

Middle-earth Weekend 2011

This year as ever I had the pleasure of attending the Middle-earth Weekend at Sarehole Mill. As local residents and Tolkien enthusiasts Vivienne and I are there every year and Vivienne, as the Chair of the organising committee, is the driving force behind the arrangements for this unique event and was there for the whole of the two days - and more.

This year’s weekend was another great success. As you can see, a very large dragon was rushing around! The Middle-earth Weekend is now known throughout the world via Tolkien related sites and was rated one of the country's top ten family events by The Independent newspaper. This is a great tribute to the organisers, to Hall green and to Birmingham. Official attendance figures are not yet available but should once again be well above 10,000.

This traditional family festival, provided free of charge and with old-fashioned entertainments as well of course as the Tolkien dimension takes a great deal of putting on and every year the volunteers work harder and get older and fewer.

Birmingham has a great deal to be proud of with the landscapes of Tolkien's Shire reflecting the Sarehole Area. Birmingham should make much more of this close connection. Perhaps when the next two Tolkien inspired films based on The Hobbit are released in December 2012 and December 2013 The Hobbit there will again be a further surge in public interest.

Transition

As mentioned at the end of the previous posting on this blog, my term of office as the Deputy Lord Mayor of Birmingham has been completed and therefore there will be no further entries under this civic heading. This means however that I will now be at liberty to resume postings on the wider range of topical issues that were featured on this blog until May 2009.
I hope that you have enjoyed the brief glimpses of the mayoral life that have been provided here. For my own part I know that I enjoyed my time in that capacity immensely having met so many really good people and hopefully I managed to do a bit of good here and there as well.

A Flying Visit

Deputy Lord Mayor’s Blog 43
On Monday I accompanied Rotarians from Birmingham on a visit to Dublin to mark the centenary of the Dublin club. The agenda included a reception by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Gerry Breen, at the Mansion House.

I brought civic greetings and the gift of a picture from the City of Birmingham. We were very warmly received indeed and the occasion was full of good humour. Our photograph shows the group on the steps of the Mansion House.
We were given a tour in which we saw the room – the Oak Room – in which Irish statesman Dr Garrett Fitzgerald had lain in state prior to his state funeral on Sunday.
Our visit also coincided with that of US President Obama and as a result we had the opportunity to do a good deal of walking from on venue to another with Dublin Rotarian colleagues and had an exceptional chance to see the architecture of the city at close range due to the street closures and resulting traffic chaos!
It was however very interesting to pick up on the excitement that surrounded the presidential visit. This followed on from the more extensive visit of Her Majesty the Queen that had been such a tremendous success and which done so much good – a view reiterated not only officially but also by dozens of ordinary citizens that we met.
On the way home we had to contend with airport disruption at both ends, high winds and the possible threat from the volcanic ash cloud. All in all a memorable way to conclude my term as Deputy Lord Mayor of Birmingham!