Mayor's Blog September 2008
Mayoral Blog 2008/09
Councillor Jack Davis
Welcome to the official Blog of the Civic Mayor of Tameside
A Blog (or a Weblog) is an online journal/diary which is frequently updated with the author's thoughts and comments, and is intended for the general public to view.
Carole and I began our week with an ‘official visit’ to the new Joshua Bradley Bar and Restaurant in Hyde. We were accompanied by Town Manager, Mike Round and we were all kindly given a guided tour of the premises and provided with lunch. It was a very interesting and pleasant afternoon and Carole and I wish the management and staff every success with this new venture.
On Tuesday we were invited over to Hyde Library for afternoon tea as part of the Borough’s Food and Drink Festival and then from here I returned to Ashton Town Hall to prepare for the meeting of Full Council at 5pm.
On Wednesday evening Carole and I attended the Food and Drink Festival Awards Ceremony and Dinner at Dukinfield Town Hall. It was a superb evening, allowing the Borough the opportunity to recognise some of its finest food establishments.
On Thursday we travelled over to Denton Festival Hall and spent a very interesting morning at “Quest for Success 2” – a seminar organised by the Tameside Children and Young People Strategic Partnership with the focus on working with young people.
Later we visited Mrs Mary Nutt at Fir Trees Residential Home in Dukinfield where it was my privilege to present Mrs Nutt with her Land Army Medal. To make the occasion even more memorable, children from local Primary School, Broadbent Fold performed a concert. It was a very special afternoon in honour of a very special lady.
On Thursday evening Carole and I welcomed to the Mayor’s Parlour Volunteer Wardens from Werneth Low Country Park. The event was held to mark the 20th year of service by the volunteer wardens. It also allowed us the opportunity to present long service certificates and to thank the wardens for their hard work and most importantly their precious gift of time. Dave Canon, the Ranger at Werneth Low presented a slide show and amused us all with his old photos and tales of years gone by.
On Friday evening Carole and I put on our glad rags and headed over to Buxton for the Mayor of High Peak’s Charity Grand Casino Night – very James Bond! We had a wonderful time with proceeds from the evening being donated to the Mayor’s Charity Appeal Fund.
On Saturday morning I should have been participating in a charity bowls match at Stamford Park. The event was organised by Yvonne Cartey who had teamed up the Mayor’s 6 and Tameside Under 14’s to play the Soroptimists and GMB. Sadly, heavy rain forced the event to be cancelled.
On Sunday morning Carole and I popped down to Portland Basin Museum to open this year’s Tameside Eid Festival. The Council is committed to celebrating cultural events and to working in partnership with members of the local community. The festival was developed by a steering group and was a celebration for the whole community with a focus on local talent and local people. Everybody had a wonderful time and we were delighted to lend our support to the day.
To round off the week, we attended the Annual Division Standard Service at St Mark’s Church in Dukinfield at the invitation of the Tame Valley Girl Guides. The girls looked very smart and really went out of their way to make us feel welcome and included in their special event.
And that’s it for another week. Busy but once again very enjoyable.
See you next time.
Best wishes.
Although I was busy with business meetings at the start of the week, my Mayoral duties didn’t start until Thursday when my first engagement was to welcome the younger members of the Dukinfield Branch of St John Ambulance to the Town Hall.
My guests included Ben O’Conner who recently received the Ben Follet Award for Achievement after bravely attending to his sister when she passed out. Ben had been invited to London to a special ceremony to receive his award but unfortunately couldn’t attend and therefore it was my pleasure to make the presentation to Ben in the Mayor’s Parlour. I also presented silver awards to some of the other Badgers, which, when you consider these children are only between 5 and 8 years of age, is really quite amazing.
On Saturday, Carole and I visited Evade 
, the new Martial Arts and Performance Centre in Hyde. It was the centre’s opening day and we had been invited to call in to see demonstrations by the instructors. We wish Stuart Tomlinson, the Proprietor and Head Coach and his team every success with this new venture.
From here, we travelled to over to Trinity Church, Audenshaw at the invitation of my Chaplain, Deacon Roger Hensman, for a special service to mark the official opening of the new church building. It was a lovely afternoon and Carole and I were delighted to be able to attend. We had the opportunity to have a good look round the new building and gardens, which are both very impressive and to chat to the members of the church.
On Sunday afternoon, we popped down to the Portland Bistro for the official launch of the Borough’s 2008 Food and Drink Festival. There was lots going on and Carole and I were invited to help judge some of the competitions of the day including the best sausage and best dressed potato! It was great fun and a terrific start to this year’s festival which has promised once again to deliver a feast of mouth watering events for us all to enjoy. I hope you are able to sample some of the delights on offer.
And that brings another week to a close. Hope to see you next time.
Kind regards.
My Mayoral engagements this week started on Tuesday 16th September 2008, when I took part in an interview with Peter Glenn, Community Reporter with Pioneer News.
Peter is putting together an article on my role as Civic Mayor and met with me to discuss my first few months in office.
Later, Carole and I welcomed guests from Canada who were here on an organised trip for fans of Coronation Street. The guests were so excited to be in the Town Hall where Alf Roberts was made Mayor but I think the icing on the cake for them was when Roy Barraclough (aka Alec Gilroy) dropped by to make a surprise visit!
On Tuesday evening, Carole and I attended a formal inspection at the Tameside Sea Cadet Headquarters. The event included the inspection by the Area Commanding Officer, a tour of the classroom and static and window ladder displays. The cadets did really well and Carole and I were pleased to lend them our support on this important occasion.
There were no engagements on Wednesday but on Thursday, we attended the launch of a new joint training initiative at Ashton Community Fire Station at the invitation of St Peter’s Partnerships and the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service. I felt very proud to be there both in my capacity as Civic Mayor and also in my role of Vice Chair of St Peter’s Partnerships and as a Member of the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority.
Later the same evening, we had a wonderful time at the annual Hallé AGMA Concert at the Bridgwater Hall. Each year, the Hallé Concerts Society put on the event to thank the Greater Manchester Authorities for their support.
On Friday night, Carole and I attended the Malayan Veterans Dinner at Ashton Town Hall. It was a lovely evening and the old soldiers certainly enjoyed their reunion and annual social gathering.
On Saturday morning, I popped over to Central Estate in Dukinfield for the opening of the new community garden and then later in the day, Carole joined me at a Charity Dance event outside Ashton Town Hall. Over 500 dancers took part in the show to raise money for Children in Need.
From here, we travelled over to Fulwood Barracks in Preston for a Reception and Beating Retreat Ceremony at the invitation of the Commander of 42 (North West) Brigade. It was a wonderful display in aid of the Army Benevolent Fund.
On Sunday morning, I visited Heaton Park in Prestwich to support a Memory Walk organised by the Alzheimer’s Society. The walk is the society’s flagship fundraising event. Similar walks were held across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Later, we visited Denton Festival Hall for the Denton Local History Society’s annual exhibition and also the Denton and District Chrysanthemum and Dahlia Society’s Early Flower Show, where the flowers were absolutely out of this world!
And that brings us to the end of another busy and enjoyable week.
I hope you can join me next time.
Best wishes.
Our Mayoral engagements started on Wednesday this week, when Carole and I joined the other Civic Heads of Greater Manchester for a Civic Tour of Bolton at the invitation of the Borough’s Mayor and Mayoress.
It was a lovely day. The weather stayed dry and we visited the Reebok Stadium, the Last Drop Village and Smithalls Hall.
I had no Mayoral engagements on Thursday but on Friday I called in at the Theatre Royal in Hyde as part of the National Heritage Weekend celebrations. We were given a guided tour of the theatre by members of the Theatre Royal Onward Trust and were fascinated to hear about the history of the building.
On Friday evening, I hosted a Civic Dinner and Dance in the Town Hall, Ashton-under-Lyne. It was a wonderful night and Carole and I were delighted to be able to welcome Civic Dignitaries, former Mayors of the Borough and family and friends to share the occasion with us.
On Saturday, I attended a Heritage Open Day at St George’s Church in Hyde. I took the opportunity to climb the bell tower and enjoyed splendid views of the local area.
On Sunday, Carole, myself and our Deputies took part in the annual Denton and Audenshaw Carnival. We had a super day. The weather was glorious and we were able to join the Carnival Procession before attending events in the Town Centre. There were lots of people out to support the occasion and everyone had a great day.
That’s it for this week. Thank you for joining me. See you next time.
Kind regards,
Although I had a busy start to the week with my Council duties, Mayoral engagements didn’t begin until Friday this week.
My first engagement was the Tom Pendry University Scholarship Awards Presentation at Ashton Town Hall.
Each year, schools and colleges in Tameside with post 16 students are invited to nominate suitable candidates to receive a university scholarship award. The scheme is funded by the Stamford Group and named after Lord Pendry in recognition of his long and valued service to this area. It was a pleasure to meet this year’s recipients and to wish them well for the future.
From here, Carole and I travelled over to the Mind Centre to present newly qualified counsellors with their awards. We were delighted to be able to support this event and to offer our congratulations and thanks.
On Saturday morning, we were scheduled to attend the Mossley Olympics Family Fun Day but sadly this event had to be cancelled once again due to the wet weather.
On Sunday, we visited the Tameside Horticultural Show at Stalybridge Civic Hall and assisted with the presentation of prizes. This was the first borough-wide horticultural show to be held in Tameside in over 30 years and what a success! The best vegetables, flowers, cakes and even photographs in the Borough were on display. It was a fantastic show and my congratulations go to the Tameside In Bloom Team for their hard work in pulling the event together.
That’s it for this week. Thanks for tuning in. I hope to see you next time.
Best wishes.