Today a large number of Sham Castle Lane residents had a street tidy up day. Because of parked cars weeds are growing in the gutters.Sunday is the only day you can see one of the kerbs as the road is so well known to commuters. The wall along the bottom has not been trimmed by the Waterways Board for two years plus and some of the storm drains were full up with soil - so not exactly good for storms. In addition we trimmed back overgowing hedges that were obstructing pavements for some of our elder residents. The event was organised by the neighbourhood watch coordinator and our local Councillor Nic Coombes came along as well. It was a great community event and one of the new residents got to meet a large section of the street.

Picture shows 5 of the 25 helpers on the day. On the left Cllr Nic Coombes and on the right our Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator and organiser for the day Derek Stent. More pictures on my Photo Blog.

National Allotment week is August 13-19. In our street lives a leading Bath allotmenteer who for the drinks break brought out a selection of photos of the street from 1945. What a change in the area over the last 60 years. Finally got to my veggie patch - poor harvest of potatoes this year. Planted GM free seeds - raddish, carrots and leef spinach. Well done to the Irish Government in its fight against GM food and shame on ours for bit by bit caving in to agri business.

Lets hope and pray the foot and mouth outbreak is an isolated incidence. Farmers have had a tough time this year and they and we do not need a F&M epidemic. Gordon Brown has certainly had a baptism of fire since he took over the keys to No 10.

Seagulls are big problem in Bath. These birds seemed to have evolved into a new urban sub-species. They feed on scraps and in breeding season can get very protective and aggressive. Too many people are feeding them as though they are pigeons. I was in Bristol on Friday with Cllr Steve Hedges and liked the new signs they have put up there on College Green to discourage feeding.

National Play Day on August 1 was a great success. In Bath we had the Bath Area Play Project take over the Pennyquick Fields and with a group of youngsters from every play project around Bath present it was a fun day. Everything seems to be so much more structured nowadays and organised. But then play is very different in 2007 from my early years in the 50s and 60s. For a start every spare bit of space didn't have a parked tin box with 4 rubber rings at the corners. We did not have 24 hour news reporting problems from round the globe and we played out more and roamed over wider areas than young people of today are allowed.

The Bath International Guitar festival is bigger than ever and goes from strength to stregth and now incorporates several other sections. Tom Kerstens has done a supreme job in building up the standard and quality of this festival over the years. Went along on Thursday to the first full concert in the newly refurbished St Michaels Church in Broad Street. They have taken out the pews and the heavy Victorian wood work and now have a wonderful open space and a glass balcony. They now have far more flexibility for services and other functions. The sound was very good and the concert with Antonio Forcione Quartet was great.