Sharon Ball

Visit from Students and delighted to come to the Mayors Parlour and learn about the history about the Parlour.

Then later that day it was Weston-super-mare to represent Bath at The Royal Air Forces Association Concert Band Also a Reception to celebrate their 10^th Anniversary &recognise 90^th of the Founding of the RAF & 65^th of the Formation of the RAFA

 An early start  a shock to the system picked up before 9am for the Chef  V Chef Competition although I volunteered to go and see one of the cook off's the under 23's.

They all had the same ingredients and they had to do two courses it was tense and quiet and there was concentration from all and they all worked very hard.

The over 23's had same ingredients and they also had to make up the menu there and then. They should be more used to it but I'm sure they worked as hard as the first group did.

The results looked very nice.

I hosted a reception For local people that are trying to persuade somebody to listen and support them about the moving of gynae-cancer patients from Bath to Bristol.

I heard a lot of their concerns and sympathise with what they are trying to do.

We had a visit from the International Partners Group the parlour they were from different countries so they were absolutely delighted when they had a talk about the room and learnt a bit more history of Bath

I visited the gallery at a Preview of Kumbu Kumbu Exhibition

This was a Portrait of the Students and Staff of The Crane Academy Kitale Kenya photographed by David Partner including work by the Royal High School Art and Design Students. The pictures were being sold to raise money to send students out there to school hope they raised lots in there quest.

A very interesting evening and some very good Valentine cards done by the students.

On Wednesday 13^th February the Chairman and Representatives of the Mid-Somerset Competitive festival and Chief Executive of Bibs had a photograph with me in the Parlour over a cup of tea handing over the Mayors Badge as the each Mayor becomes the President in their year in office.

They have worked together for several years to keep the important part of the cultural life of Bath

On Wednesday 13th February I joined the Bath stroke support group at the Sulis Club at Claverton Down for a lovely Lunch followed by an A.G.M. of the group, all straight forward until the end when it was announced that the Group Organiser Lyn Palmer was leaving but will stay until they find a replacement for them, which was a shock for the group and it was said that she will be sadly missed  as she does a very good job.So they will be looking for another person to take over from Lyn. And they are a lovely bunch of people to work with.

Their e-mail is stroke@supportgroupbath.wanadoo.co.uk  if your interested.

I visited Woodland Grove nursing home on their Open Day on Monday 11th February.

The staff and friends are trying to raise money to buy a Nintendo wii for the residents with a car wash and a raffle. 

I had a lovely visit in Woodland Grove met all the residents and staff and had a tour around the home which was lovely warm and friendly.

Those of you with an eye for the arts may be interested in what is going on at the Royal Victoria Art Gallery below is information released by Bath & North East Somerset Council. Why not pay the art gallery a visit and see for yourself what is going on.

Bath & North East Somerset Council's Victoria Art Gallery is staging an exhibition of proposed architectural schemes for the city that never came to fruition.

The exhibition, "The Bath that Might Have Been", runs from the 5 April to 1 June at the gallery in Bridge Street, Bath. 

Every year thousands of visitors from around the world come to Bath to admire its Georgian architecture.  The city centre as it stands today is the realisation of grand schemes by John Wood the Elder, his son John Wood the Younger and Thomas Baldwin.  The classical crescents, squares and terraces that they designed are among the finest buildings in the country. 

Few people realise that Bath could have ended up looking very different, and it is this aspect of the city's history that is examined in this major exhibition. 

From the time of John Wood, right up to the present day, all sorts of architectural schemes for the city have been proposed. Some were projects that simply failed through lack of funds or vision, whilst others were too ambitious, elaborate and grandiose to be feasible, or would have been damaging to the Georgian fabric of the city.

This exhibition features two major schemes for Bath that came to nothing.  Firstly, plans produced during World War I by London based architect Robert Atkinson, which included the construction of a gigantic Roman style ‘Forum' next to Bath Abbey, with a huge concert hall modelled on a Roman temple. 

Secondly, the post-World War II plans inspired by the well known town planner Patrick Abercrombie, to make Bath into a ‘rationally' arranged city, with separate zones for leisure, commerce and health.  This would have necessitated the demolition of swathes of the city centre, and included proposals for dual carriageways across Bath, and a plan to turn the Royal Crescent into a new civic centre.

Large watercolours depicting these schemes will be exhibited, many of which have not been displayed in living memory.  They are guaranteed to surprise and intrigue locals and tourists alike, with their glimpses of how the city could have developed. 

Complementing this material will be plans, drawings and ideas for a multitude of other schemes, including a Victorian idea for ‘improving' the Royal Crescent lawns with elaborate fountains, and a spoof proposal from the 1930s for covering Bath's elegant Georgian Pump Room with neon advertisements.

For more information on the Victoria Art Gallery and the exhibition, visit http://www.victoriagal.org.uk/

I welcomed some french students to Bath and the Mayors Parlour.

It was lovely to receive a visit from students from Lycee La Nativite, Aix en Provence

Which is our twin town, They were between 15-16 years of age and they had a pretty good understanding of English

They had a talk on the Mayors Parlour and then they asked some questions and after they were going to visit the Roman Baths    

On Wednesday 6^th February I attended a very useful lecture at the BRLSI in Queens Square on one of my predesessors Cedric Chivers who was a Bath local business man and Mayor of Bath 1922-1929 and sadly he died in office.

It was told Dr Evelyn Lewis and Ivor Stone and then Mayors Clerk Ann Tipper did a talk on the Mayors Collar

There were also some artefacts from this time that you could see and ask questions about.

On Tuesday 5^th of February I visited The Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases where the Duchess of Cornwall was also visiting to open a Young Persons Neuro Rehabilitation service.

It was good to have a tour of the Hospital and to be able to see what happens there and to meet many of the staff who work at the Hospital.

I found Camilla to be very friendly and caring and not what you would expect after reading the press.

A free six-week course introducing people to the basics about computers is to be held in the White Horse pub at Shophouse Road.
 
The course is organised by the Council and will start in February or March 2008. Book your place now by calling Christina on 01225 396834.
 
The White Horse is also putting on a number of social events during February. They are displayed on the notice board outside the pub.

Have you logged on to our latest service to keep residents of Westmoreland up to date as to what we are doing in your local area and what is happening on Bath & North East Somerset council.

Every month we send out a digest of all the latest news via email to local residents who subscribe to this service.

If you wish to avail yourself of this service then email sg.ball@blueyonder.co.uk

It was great to see over 200 members of the public turn out to the Multi faith gathering in the Guildhall on Sunday 3^rd February.

It was good to hear all the speakers of different faiths tackle my theme this year of Caring and looking after other members of families when they are not in the best of health.

It seems that I gave them a tough subject although they all got to grips with it extremely well all giving very similar aspects of how their faiths cope with caring for relatives.

By what I saw on Sunday I firmly believe that there is merit in us all working together and meeting regularly to share ideas that give us all greater understanding of one another.

I was a great pleasure to visit Tumble tots at All saints Centre Weston on Monday 4^th February for the Eat Fit Keep Fit week where I distributed fruit to the young children that were there.

Tumble Tots was launched in 1979 and I have attached a link to their website so that you can take a look at the activities that they get up to http://www.tumbletots.com/

On my visit we watched the children play on the equipment and then listened them sing a song for us.

It was really great to be able to welcome members of the Bath division of the St Johns Ambulance to the Mayors Parlour on Friday 1^st February.

There was a special reason for the visit and that was to show me the new badge that they were now all wearing depicting part of the city crest that they had received permission of the Charter trustees to wear.

The division is full of mixed aged people who took great interest in the talk about the parlour and what the Mayor does. It was also good to be questioned on several matters that were of interest to them.

I would like to wish them well with the worthwhile work that they do and hope that they have settled into their new headquarters on the Lower Bristol Road.

It was a great pleasure to return to my old Junior School on Monday 28^th January and had a rousing reception from the pupils of Southdown Junior School as the car I was in entered the play ground.

The reason for my return was a practical one as I was asked to reopen the school swimming Pool after refurbishment. The pool was opened when I was a pupil at the school although no one can remember exactly when (and if I told you then you would know my age). The matter of who opened the pool first time is not on record so it was an even greater pleasure to see the plaque on the wall with my name on it.

After the opening the children were waiting in the school hall when I gave them a short talk on what it is like to be Mayor and what I do as Mayor and to answer a few questions.

I was then able to see some of the work of the school and look at some old pictures of the School before I had a tour of the School itself and met staff and pupils.

I would like to thank all of the staff and pupils for the welcome that they gave me and wish them all well for the future.