Well it’s been another hectic but rather damp week. It began with the re-opening of Red Hill School.
This has won a national award for all its clever eco-design features, which include using stored rainwater to flush the toilets. No problem then this week!
I had two very proud year 6 pupils, Olivia Cairns and Ellie Carmichael, show me round the whole site and we just about managed to escape the rain.
My luck ran out on Tuesday evening when I was attending an outdoor production of Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Commandery directed by Chris Jaeger.
We all knew the weather would be a bit dodgy and sure enough not long into the play, thunder and lightning added to the dramatic effects and the rain came down.
What rain too! There was no option but for Chris to walk onto the stage and declare “rain stopped play” for 20 minutes to avoid the worst. We finished the play in drizzle with a damp audience and a thoroughly soaked cast.
Now did you know that the parish church at Claines can trace its origins back 1,050 years? That’s a pretty good record and on Thursday I enjoyed the chance to open its three-day festival to celebrate the event.
Saturday was a full schedule.
It started with a photo-op and some encouragement for one of my charities, Macmillan Cancer Support, which was collecting money outside Somerfields.
That was followed by a visit to the Worcester Arts Fair at the Guildhall to admire the talent of our local artists.
Then it was time to go to the cathedral for a service of thanksgiving and commemoration for Alice Ottley School. It is due to merge with the Royal Grammar School in September so it put on an event which would record and describe some of its 124-year history. It’s the end of a chapter for them but the start of another and I wish the school well.
Next, to Cheltenham racecourse, where Carol and I joined Navy and Sea Cadets from the Severn district for a service of remembrance and thanksgiving in the 25th anniversary year of the Falklands conflict.
It was a shame that the wet weather kept down the visitor numbers when there were such good displays and exhibitions.
However, the big event for Carol and I was the mayor’s civic service on Sunday in the cathedral.
Thanks to the dean for a wonderful service and to the many people from Worcester who came along representing the service and voluntary organisations in the city.
Again, it drizzled but our Swordbearer, Frank, just about managed to keep those striking ostrich feathers on his hat from getting too wet!
Surely summer must return this week?