johnfletcher

At last, it's all over!  I ceased to be mayor the moment my successor (Deputy Mayor until now) signed his declaration of acceptance of office as Mayor in the early stages of this morning's Annual Council Meeting.  For the first time, the business part of the Meeting was held in a side room (with public present) before going into the Forum Theatre itself for the ceremonial part.  My last function as Mayor was to open the Meeting and preside over the (uncontested) election of my successor.

Later, in the ceremonial part of the Meeting, there was a vote of thanks to Suzanne and me for the performance of our duties as Mayoress and Mayor, proposed by our (Liberal Democrat) Group Leader, seconded by the (Conservative) Leader of the Council and supported by the Leader of the largest group (Labour) and a speaker on behalf of the other groups (Independent parties).  They all spoke well and it was good to know that our efforts had been recognised.  We were then presented with our neck badges as former Mayor and Mayoress.  I then gave my outgoing speech*, thanking (I hope) everyone on whose help I had depended, and summarising my work over the last year.  The we processed from the top table for the last time at such an event and became ordinary councillors again.

How do I feel?  A bit like retiring from the day job.  In a moment, something which has been a big part of my life for several years has gone away.  On both occasions it has been known well in advance and planned.  A few days rest before facing up to "normal" council work and all the domestic jobs I've been putting off.

I am not a natural writer of blogs.  It has been yet another mayoral job, the text being drafted often at the end of a tiring day.  It was one of my public commitments when I was made Mayor.  Today's is therefore the last blog which I'm planning to write.

Thank you very much to all who have taken the trouble to read it.

* My speech, together with today's photos, is at www.stockton.gov.uk/yourcouncil/about/mayor/mayblog/mayorblog0809/, where the blogs for my mayoral year are now held.

My best wishes to my successor.

In my last few days as Mayor many of the themes which we have seen during the year have recurred - schools, regeneration, volunteers and helping people.

We had an early start to open the brand-new Wilkinson store in the re-development of Thornaby Town Centre.  55 staff had been recruited or transferred in and they and their management had an upbeat look for the first day.  We met a member of the original family who still own this nationwide chain of stores.  They were making a donation to the RAFA in recognition of Thornaby Aerodrome (which was there from 1930 to 1958) - we met a group of RAF veterans.  During a conducted tour of the store I spotted that they sold peg bags for washing lines.  Ours is falling to bits and it's not usually easy to find one.  We therefore spent the princely sum of 99p!  There were plenty of other early-morning shoppers, who, no doubt, spent more.

Later in the morning I had a meeting in my Parlour with the Deputy Mayor, the Director of Law & Democracy and some of his officers for a final run-through of tomorrow's agenda.

In the early afternoon we went to ARC for an event to celebrate a joint project of the Council's Drugs Action Team (DAT) and Arts Development Service.  They had been providing arts activity for DAT service users who had recovered or were recovering from substance misuse.  There had been a 10-week course of creative writing and visual arts, led by professional artists.  We looked at an exhibition of what had been produced and I then opened a performance of some of the poems written.  Two of the participants read their own poems.

We were particularly struck by the depth of feeling which poetry and visual art had brought out into the open from people's inner recesses; also the love/hate relationship which they had with the substances and lifestyles from which they were working to escape.

A poignant last event for my mayoral year.

Parliament is running a national competition for children to design a 2009 Christmas card commemorating the 150^th anniversary of Big Ben, which Is the hour bell in the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament, although the term is commonly applied to the clock or its tower.  The MP for Stockton South had arranged for Suzanne and me to go with the Deputy Mayor to visit the two schools in our constituency which had entered - Ingleby Mill Primary School (Ingleby Barwick) and St Cuthbert's RC Primary School (Stockton).  There were some good and original entries.  While we were judging, our MP told the children (year 6 at Ingleby Mill; Assembly at St Cuthbert's) how the bell had been made at Norton-on-Tees "near Stockton" (it is now part of Stockton), taken to London but cracked with too heavy a hammer, and so had to be recast.  Suzanne told them about Brass Crosby, the native of Stockton who, as Lord Mayor of London, had gone to the Tower to secure the right to publish parliamentary debates.  Our MP gave certificates to all who took part and took the entries of the winners and runners-up to enter today in the national competition.  The winners were Michael Witherwick (IM) and Nicole McCarten (St C); the runners-up, Finlay Copeland (IM) and Earl Sundanyo (St C).  I hope that the children found this a fun way to learn a bit more about our parliamentary democracy.

This evening I attended the AGM of Stockton Division Guides.  The Division has 466 members in 24 units - it covers Central, Fairfield, Hartburn and Norton Districts - other parts of the Borough are in other divisions.  I made a short speech praising the work of volunteers.  The Guide leaders thanked the Council for helping financially with the rental of the schools so many of the units use.  Among the presentations made was the first Young Leader Qualification in Cleveland County - a newly introduced qualification.  A quick general knowledge quiz followed the meeting.  I was fortunate to be in the County Commissioner's winning team.

[Photos will appear at www.stockton.gov.uk/mayorsblog in the next few days.]

We were invited to an event this afternoon in Locomotion: the National Railway Museum at Shildon by the Mayor of Sedgefield Borough, Cllr John Robinson JP.  The Borough of Sedgefield, in common with the six other local government districts in the Administrative County Durham, will go out of existence at midnight on 31^st March 2009.  Although this was an emotional event, it was a celebration of the history and future of the area of Sedgefield Borough.  Its area adjoins our Borough.  The Stockton & Darlington Railway in 1825 started near where Locomotion now stands.  The Mayor and Mrs Sue Snowdon, DL, ran the event from in front of the prototype Deltic diesel-electric locomotive, which I remember being excited to see operating on trial on BR at Saltaire 55 years ago.  Fishburn and Ferryhill Bands, both separately and together, played several pieces, including the first performance of Sedgefield Fair by Mr Tom Glendinning, specially commissioned for the occasion.  Poems by runners-up and the winner of Sedgefield Poetry Competition were read.  The Leader of Sedgefield Borough Council read her own poem, full of feeling about her Council.  Officers of the Council who had done a sponsored cycle ride, represented by Batman, presented a cheque for the Mayor's charity, Butterwick Hospice at Bishop Auckland.  Cllr Robinson's mayoral year had produced the staggering sum of £25,000 for the Hospice, which was accepted on their behalf by Mr Graham Leggatt-Chidgey.  Finally, chairmen and their ladies and mayors and mayoresses of the authorities about to disappear (together with the Town Mayor of Peterlee) were invited to the front for the final toasts to Sedgefield Borough and Co. Durham.

We were very pleased to be able to represent our Borough at the final celebrations of the authority next door to Stockton.

[Photos will appear at www.stockton.gov.uk/mayorsblog in the next few days.]

This lunchtime, after being trapped in a traffic jam in Portrack Lane, we arrived at the new GO Outdoors store there.  We were greeted by Cubs and Beavers and their Leaders from the 1^st Norton Scout Group, who are celebrating the 100^th anniversary of their formation.  I then presented the GO Outdoors Teesside Adventurer of the Year trophy to Danny Hart, a 17-year-old from Redcar, the Junior National Downhill mountain bike Champion in Britain and the winner recently of the Maxis Cup in Spain.  On a cold, wet Saturday, the new store was crowded.  Over two floors there was a huge range of almost everything for outdoors - clothing, footwear, tents, rucksacks, books, maps, bikes, etc., etc.  We saw a few things for which we'll go back once the time pressures of the mayoralty are over.  The new store has attracted quite a bit of media attention because it has employed several people made redundant by the closure of Woolworths, including the Store Manager, Liz MacDougall.

This evening we went to the Junior Common Room of John Snow College to visit again Billingham Kids Club, a volunteer-run group for 6- to 18-year-olds.  Their Ahurei (Maori Singers) group had obtained a grant from Stockton Youth Bank for the older girls to take singing lessons from Dr Robin Harrison (Head of Music at Yarm School) , make a CD, bring some Maori guests from London to do a workshop to learn new skills, etc.  The older girls were enabled to teach the younger members of Ahurei.   The result was a performance by the youngsters and their Maori guests of haunting Maori songs and war-cries, including actions with sticks which would have defeated my lack of co-ordination.  We met three committee members of Stockton Youth Bank (the acceptable face of banking!).  I was presented with the CD, called Tutira, recorded this year at Youth Space, Stockton.  We look forward to listening to it.

[Photos will appear at www.stockton.gov.uk/mayors blog for today & tomorrow in the next few working days.]