Well, I suppose that any news I have will pale into insignificance in comparison to the royal birth. Congratulations to William and Kate on the birth of their son.
Back to the serious stuff. The weather held and I’m sure that was a considerable relief for the organisers of the CLA Game Fair at Ragley. What a marvellous weekend it was and I hope many of you were able to visit. It was huge! Not impossible but difficult to visit it all in a single day. Friday was perhaps a little too hot but I promised not to complain. Alcester Town Council along with the Chamber of Commerce, Alcester Museum and the Court Leet had a stand to advertise Alcester and encourage people to visit us. It may have had an influence as my feedback is that the hotels, restaurants and pubs did very good business. However it is not just the immediate benefit but the future as well. I am told that a number of visitors returned to see our town after visiting the Game Fair and our stand at Ragley previously, which is great news.
This collaboration between the different town organisations is something I wish to promote – “Alcester Ltd.” as you might say! We have suggested to the organisers of the Game Fair that we hold a debrief session soon, say within a few weeks, to explore the good and the bad experiences. Please send your thoughts to mayor@alcester-tc.gov.uk and I promise we will consider them all. Apart from all the marvellous toys (a Rolls Royce at £250,000) and hand-crafted equipment (a single Purdey shotgun at £220,000) there were many country representatives there. I was talking to the President of the Woodland Trust and invited her to come back to discuss tree planting in our area, perhaps within an ATC forum. Ragley is due to host the event at least 1or 2 more times, giving us an opportunity to maximise the benefits for Alcester.
Well after that anything else is an anticlimax. There are the usual things happening like planning issues and I promise that you will all be informed as soon as we are aware. Another Ashes win, the Tour de France and this – what a summer!