Three cheers for St George!

Top: Cllr Kathy Bullock a member of the Altrincham Court Leet. Middle: Cllr Ken Weston, a member of the Court Leet and below : The Mayor of Trafford, Cllr Steve Adshead, raises the English flag of St George, outside Altrincham town hall

Last Thursday, the 23rd April, I along with fellow councillors attended a splendid celebration of St George's day at Altrincham Town Hall. The whole occasion had something very English about it, as it should of course. The ancient Altrincham Court Leet was led by the Bellman of the Court all dressed in medieval robes and bearing impressive looking staffs. They arrived at the town hall where the the Mayor and Mayoress of Trafford awaited them. Plenty of fine words were used as the life of St George was remembered and following the hoisting of the cross of St George by the Mayor, the Stretford Brass band stirred the throng into choruses of Jerusalem, There'll Always be an England and the National Anthem.

In Trafford this was probably the first openly nationalistic event there has been for years and such is the madness these days of not wishing to offend non English Christians that one almost felt that one was participating in something slightly naughty or forbidden. So it is with enthusiasm that I join the campaign to celebrate St Georges day on a new public bank holiday. Why not have a day when things quintessentially English are celebrated, in dress, song, food and drink! Bring out Hogarth's roast beef of Olde England washed down with a quart (or two) of excellent ale and amble home singing songs about defeats over Englands traditional enemies of yester-year.

Just in case you think I have taken leave of my senses or already quaffed my first quart of English ale, just go to Spain, France or Italy and I think you will find that they have no shyness about upholding and celebrating their nationality in quite robust fashion.

So, to conclude in the words of the Bard (whose birthday we also celebrate on St Georges day) who put these famous words into the mouth of another hero of mine, King Henry the fifth,

"Cry God for Harry, England and Saint George! "

Bogus callers - Show them the gate!!

We have just been made aware of some pretty low down characters taking advantage of trusting elderly people in the borough. Two men, cold called on an elderly Trafford resident offering to repair the fence. They took, in advance £100 in cash, painted one fence panel and have not been seen since. Its called robbery and I know what I would like to do to the kind of low life that carry out these abuses on vulnerable people but the public nature of my blog site requires the use of moderate language!!


However, thinking about this despicable activity I thought a link to Trafford Councils Trading Standards page on bogus callers would be useful. Basically the advice seems to be, if you didn't ask for someone to call then show them the gate!


The Council offer a few steps to follow when someone arrives, unexpectedly, at your door step:

• Never do business on the doorstep
• Never allow strangers into your home
• Always ask for ID and do not let the caller in unless you have verified their identity with their employer
• Always lock the back door when you answer the front - use a chain or look through the window
• Never keep large sums of money in the house
• If you are suspicious ring the police on 0161 872 5050
• If you have signed a contract at home following an unsolicited call, you may be able to cancel. Contact Trafford Trading Standards on 0161 912 1377

For more information use the link below.

http://www.trafford.gov.uk/AdviceAndBenefits/TradingStandards/BogusCallers

Ashton-on-Mersey School Triumphs with Les Miserables

There are school performances and there are school performances! Last night, we attended the Sale Waterside Robert Bolt theatre to watch the final night of Ashton-on-Mersey School's production of Les Miserables and it was a night not to be missed. The audience were constantly reaching for their tissues as the performers successfully and convincingly invoked every human emotion. From tears and tension to joy and laughter as we listened to Little Cosette (Niamh Dean), Jean Valjean (Calum Burke) movingly pray to God for the safety of Marius (Damon Daniels) and Msr et Mme Thenadier (Cameron Davies and Lorna Hughes) as they sang with obvious relish and enjoyment the Innkeeper's song. I felt emotionally drained after the show and for the right reasons!

What struck me about the production was the supreme talent, confidence and very strong stage presence of all the cast. Javert and Gavroche played by Joe Fairbrother and Jacob Ashcroft respectively were very good examples of this. We heard powerful singing voices from Fantine (Rachel Mayon), Enjolras (Jenny Booth) and The Bishop of Digne (Jenny Flanagan) and great tenderness in the love expressed by Marius, Cosette (Shobi Miller-Lawson) and Eponine (Lorna Smyth).

The whole cast had clearly worked hard on this production and invested a lot of personal emotion into the performances. They were a joy to watch and listen to and a credit, not only to their school and the teaching staff who have encouraged them but to young people of their generation. But there was something else going on last night as well. Not only did the performers work together as a team but a team behind the scenes supported the great stage spectacle we could see. Musicians, set-design, scene changers, lighting, make-up, costume design all came together in a very professional way.

I'll take a gamble with this next statement: I think we saw last night some actors that are destined to become household names.

The audience loved it and gave the entire cast a standing ovation. We look forward to many more excellent performances.

Vive L' Ashton-on-Mersey School!!

(or is it la? perhaps the head of French will let me know! UPDATE: I am informed that actually it is L')

Cllr John Lamb