I had great fun on Tuesday with two groups from Warndon Primary School visiting the Guildhall to learn a bit about our city’s history.
They asked lots of questions about being mayor, like most children of their age.
I think the highlights for them were handling the sword and going down into the cells.
Hopefully, they will gain an interest in history and civic pride and who knows, one of them might become mayor in a generation or two’s time!
I had to develop some green fingers in time for the Worcester in Bloom and allotment presentation evening.
Dave Bradley from BBC Hereford and Worcester kept us supplied with good jokes while Bob Flowerdew, from Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time, shared his expertise. It was a great evening.
Congratulations to all 120-plus prize-winners, because with the changing seasons and floods it’s not been an easy year for gardeners.
By my standards I was up pretty early on Wednesday when I gave a talk to the newly formed Worcester Vigornia Rotary Club which meets at breakfast time.
I decided to talk about the work of St Paul’s Hostel near Shrub Hill station, which I had visited the previous day, to illustrate how much work they do to provide accommodation for the homeless and resettle men and women back into the community.
After lunch I was at the county cricket ground to greet the Duke of Gloucester who was touring Worcestershire to see the impact of the floods.
He showed a keen interest when talking to the ground staff who have worked so hard to re-lay the pitch in readiness for next season.
That evening it was off to the Swan theatre to see a performance of The Gondoliers by Worcester’s own Gilbert and Sullivan Society.
It was very entertaining. Some of the words were adapted very cleverly to modern life and with some good impersonations of the Prince of Wales, Sven Goran-Eriksson and Bill Clinton.
The costumes were fantastic too – so colourful and striking.
On Saturday Carol and I were invited by local writer and aviation historian Dilip Sarkar to meet some Second World War RAF veterans at the Guildhall – all had stories of courage to tell.
This coincided with the launch of his new book Spitfire Voices: Heroes Remember and one by his colleague Andrew Long entitled The Faithful Few, dedicated to fighter pilots from Worcestershire.
Our week was rounded off by the Worcestershire Harvest Festival at the cathedral which brought together the farming community from across the county.
Faced not just with the usual economic difficulties and the knock-on effects of flooding but now with the threat of a whole range of animal diseases, I can see why farming today is a real challenge.