Mayor’s Blog 169

 5^th October – The Lions’ Swimarathon competition

 On this Sunday morning I was invited to sound the horn for the first round of this great local Swimarathon, run by the Bridport Lions.  I never fail to be highly impressed with the dedication of the people who put this together. They just keep on working in the community, raising funds for so many charities – thank you – all of you.  All I did was sound the hooter!

The energy and enthusiasm of the teams is impressive too – I am sure they have a lot of fun – as a non-swimmer (practically), I am astounded at their skills.

8^th  October – My Civic Day!

 This is undoubtedly one of the highlights of my Mayoral year.  It is my chance to host invited Mayors and take them around our town, showing what we’ve done, are doing, what our community does for us what the Town Council has done for the community, and our surroundings of course – all our invitees are full of lovely complimentary things to say about our town, even just on arrival!  One of the loveliest comments I treasured from several guests was that Bridport has a certain ‘feel’ about it.

We were honoured by having both the Deputy Lieutenant and the High Sheriff with us as well!

Having met at the Football Car Park we boarded buses to the Salt House at West Bay for refreshments and a presentation from our Deputy Mayor (Jonathan Bourbon) on our French Twinning Association – we have a long association with St. Vaast la Hougue, and members exchange visits alternately each year.  The presentation was backed by a wonderful pictorial display put together by Linda Bullock.  Thank you Linda.

All the visitors outside the Salt House

Next, the visit to the West Bay Discovery Centre delighted our guests and Macarena gave them an informative talk on their latest big achievement (King’s Award) and of course showed them the gorgeous dolls house which is a replica of an Edwardian House in Pier Terrace – a real ‘must see’.

We always have trouble getting our guests out of the Discovery Centre – they don’t want to leave!  However, we finally dragged them out and back onto the buses, and swung by the area at West Bay where we have our own space acknowledging our friendship with St Vaast La Hougue before moving on to our next visitation.

This was to Palmer’s Brewery for a presentation and tastings.  (This went down well!)  With the newly brewed beer “Down the Thatch”, their own Ginger Beer and wine seemingly on tap…we were given a talk from the Chief Executive Officer, Emily Palmer Ramus, on some of the history and how they run the business now, and also a full and informative talk on Palmer’s brewing from their Chief Brewer, Darren Batten – how everything is very ‘hands on’ – done naturally (no computers running the joint!).  Everything one could possibly need to know about any aspect of the brewing process or how things are done was at their fingertips – again, we struggled to get our visitors to move on!   I am sure many will return to take a tour though.

Then on for lunch at the Town Hall which was very well received, delicious, and delivered by Soulshine in South Street.   Sally Freemantle – our relatively new Town Clerk, gave a warm speech to say that she felt warmly welcomed into our Town Council.  At the end of lunch we had a presentation from ASCape (my chosen charity for this year) – they do wonderful things for children with autism and aspergers.

After lunch we headed off to St Michael’s Estate where we met Martin Ridley, from the St Michael’s estate office, who kindly took us on a tour, giving some history of the estate along the way.  Many of our guests mentioned they would be returning to explore the area without a time limit!

We finished the day at Harmony, where we enjoyed a sumptuous afternoon tea and a talk about their activities and all they do for the community as well.  They have the King’s Award too of course!

Suitably refreshed, our guests returned to their cars and the day was complete.

My huge thanks go to Jill Beed for organising everything and everybody, for months beforehand, and on the day too.  My warmest thanks and appreciation to all those who gave their time to this special day.

13^th October – The unveiling of Queenie!

 (Unashamedly taken from BTC’s piece on Facebook) but I really couldn’t put it better!

Queenie, the Stalking Dog, is Home!

Queenie — Bridport’s much-loved sculpture — has returned to her rightful place on the brewery bridge!

Voted the town’s favourite sculpture, Queenie has been admired by locals and visitors alike — even by those who “don’t like modern art”!

Originally created by sculptor Greta Berlin and modelled on her family dog, Queenie is “a tribute to all dogs – whether working or companion – to their loyalty and love over the ages.”  After three years of delighting passersby, Queenie sadly became corroded and unsafe. That’s when Cleo Evans and Ros Huxley stepped in, determined she wouldn’t be lost forever.

Thanks to their creativity, energy, and sheer persistence – and the generosity of our amazing community – you – over £6,000 was raised through Crowdfunder. Special thanks to Neil Barnes for the wonderful drone footage to help with the Crowdfunder, and to Palmers Brewery for match funding, tours, and support at the unveiling.

The funds went towards creating a new mould, a strong resin casting, and secure fixings — plus a well-deserved fee for Greta, who has kindly loaned her artworks to Bridport for free until now.  Now, Queenie once again stands proudly — a permanent landmark for all to enjoy: children on their way to school, residents heading to town, and visitors discovering the Sculpture Trail.

Alert, intelligent, loyal, and dependable — Queenie reminds us why dogs will always hold a special place in our hearts!