Riverside town has just the right man at the helm

Because Eric White, the new mayor of the pretty south Worcestershire riverside town, is a nurse.

Actually, Eric's a retired nurse, but such is the shortage of staff in the profession these days, he still goes in for the occasional shift, presumably having first removed his mayoral chain, which is a weighty item.

The size of the civic regalia may come as a surprise, considering the post of Mayor of Upton was only created eight years ago, but the reason is because the incumbent inherited the chain of office of the former chairman of Upton Parish Council, a body with roots at least as deep as 1905.

Under local government reorganisation (yet again), the Parish Council made way for the new Upton Town Council in the mid-90s with the Mayor at its head. New links have been added to the old chairman's chain so it can continue in use.

Which is pleasing for Eric White, because he is an Uptonian through and through, having been born in the town in a house not far from where he lives now in School Lane.

Then it was called The Old Court House, now it's The Constable's House.

"I'd always been interested in politics," he explained, "and in the 1960s I joined the Young Conservatives. I became chairman of Upton Young Conservatives and South Worcestershire Young Conservatives, where I met people like Sir Peter Agnew and Sir Gerald Nabarro" - successive MPs of the constituency.

However, Eric is quick to point out there is no place for party politics on Upton Town Council now.

"We are all independents. You vote for the person, not the party."

He was a parish councillor in Upton for nine years in the 60s and was also elected on to Upton Rural District Council, where he served for six years, before a career move took him away from Worcestershire for 20 years.

When he returned in the 1990s, had much changed?

"Not really," came the reply.

"You can't change much in Upton."

Eric was referring to the fact that building, both housing or industrial, is restricted in the area because of the flood plain.

The River Severn, which is its biggest tourist attraction, is also its main handicap to expansion.

"I have the feeling that Upton needs to expand to survive, but the question is, where?" said the new Mayor.

"With a population of only just over 2,000, the town would probably not support a new supermarket or industrial estate, because both the workers and the customers would have to come from elsewhere.

"You can't really build anywhere other than in the Tunnel Hill area - where the town's former high school was sited - and that's not near the centre of things.

"As it is, Upton relies on tourism as its main industry."

However, it must be said the town has some excellent entrepreneurial minds, because it has developed a series of festivals, the like of which any other location in Worcestershire, in particular its Cathedral city, would be proud.

This year, Upton's 17th Jazz Festival attracted upwards of 12,000 visitors and thousands more attend the May Folk Festival and the August Water Festival.

Encouraged by their success, the town is hosting two more festivals, a Cajun and a Blues, this summer.

"We like people to come here. We need people to come here," said Mayor White, "because we have to make the most of what we've got".

Inevitably, because of the ability of the River Severn to flood - and sometimes flood badly, almost cutting Upton off from the rest of the world by car - the trade tends to be seasonal.

"When John Prescott came here a couple of years ago at the height of the floods and stood in New Street, he promised millions of pounds were ready to be spent on flood defence systems," Eric observed.

"I wonder where they were spent, because it certainly wasn't in Upton."

Until the town does get some protection from the excesses of its greatest asset, investment in the area will remain a problem.

But then perhaps that's part of Upton's charm - along with the bedside manner of its new Mayor.