When I heard that the Lyppard
Five-0 group was due to tour the Guildhall last week, I immediately thought of that TV programme from years back called Hawaii Five 0.
If you remember (probably those of you over 40), it always started with pictures of canoeists paddling against the surf before the action moved to chasing criminals all round the island.
Well you could almost paddle up to the Guildhall last week with the most recent floods but otherwise the Lyppard 50-plus group were very much law-abiding citizens who hopefully enjoyed my potted history of the Guildhall and its treasures and hearing about the role of mayor.
On Wednesday, it was back to school for me as I visited Redhill Primary School.
Only a few years ago, the school consisted mainly of run-down temporary classrooms but last year the new school was officially opened, with quite a fanfare as it has some special environmental features built into the design.
These include energy saving systems and the use of rainwater from the roof, both of which help to give the school a very low carbon footprint.
It was tremendous, therefore, that before Christmas Redhill School was the outright winner when it came to judging the annual city awards scheme for the best new buildings and refurbishments completed in 2007 in Worcester.
So we arranged for me to present the headteacher, Jane Long, with a plaque and certificate in front of a special assembly with all the pupils.
The children are immensely proud of their school and I’d like to thank Emma and Marc and others from year 6 for showing me round with such enthusiasm.
Still on an educational theme but looking ahead to the future, I joined university vice-chancellor David Green and his colleagues on the old Worcester Royal Infirmary site in Castle Street to wield a special silver hammer to make a token start to the demolition of the old 1960s hospital buildings.
The remains of Worcester’s very own ‘rocket’ will soon be a memory as contractors demolish the architectural legacy from the 20th century, but leaving very much in place the wonderful Georgian buildings, which will be given a careful but much-needed facelift to form part of the new university campus.
Hard hats, high-visibility jackets and wellington boots with steel toe-caps, plus the health and safety briefing beforehand, were of course compulsory but I’m pleased to say no one in the official party suffered so much as a scratch.
There are, of course, quite a few buildings in Worcester where I would like to make good use of that hammer but that could re-ignite quite a debate in the letters column of your newspaper!