Spectator's Notes
| NORTH YORKSHIRE |  | | | CLEVELAND | | | | COUNTY DURHAM | | |
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Town’s new civic champion is an entertainer
RICHMOND'S new mayor,
Judith Steggles, is set to
make the civic year in the
town a spirited affair.
After a lively acceptance speech at
the mayor-making in the town hall
on Monday, in which she said all
the right things and thanked the
appropriate people while making
a couple of telling points, she
swiftly moved on to the election of
her deputy.
These occasions are essentially
formal but Coun Steggles showed
a refreshing disregard for stuffy
procedure by appointing Coun
Oliver Blease to the role without
putting it to a vote.
Town Clerk Geoff Coates quickly
brought things to order, hands
were duly raised and the new
mayor apologised and charmingly
thanked the clerk for putting her
right. It was an amusing vignette
which suggests town council matters
could be exciting for all the
right reasons in the year ahead.
Distinctive prose
Talking of minor slips, there was
almost a major one at the funeral
of our late Bedale reporter, Brian
Redhead, held the same day.
The simple service was led with
admirable warmth and charm by
the curate of St Gregory's, the Rev
Cath Vickers, who said some measured
and kind words about
Brian's contribution to the community.
She had been minded to read an
article about a St Gregory's Palm
Sunday service, which somebody
had passed to her saying Brian
had written the piece.
It was a jolly entertaining article
too but, thankfully, just five minutes
before the funeral began, it
was pointed out to her the article
had, in fact, been written by Mike
Amos of The Northern Echo.
Given the distinctive nature of
Mike's prose and the fact he was
present, it was a blessing that
someone managed to put the Rev
Vickers straight just in time. She
did a marvellous job in re-jigging
her words just a few moments before
the service began.
Brian might have had something
to say about it too. An economical,
perhaps even prosaic writer in
comparsion to Mike, he would
never have written a piece quite so
dandified.
Car free?
Back in Richmond on Monday
evening, Spectator spotted the tables
and chairs which now grace
part of the market square in front
of the King's Head Hotel.
It was almost 8pm, so it was no
surprise they were empty, but it
was easy to see how, should the
sun come out, café culture could
become established.
The only drawback is the presence
of parked cars and the traffic passing
through the square which on a
busy day couild be irksome for
cafe folk. Could cars ever be removed
from the square altogether?
An intriguing thought.
12:52pm Friday 23rd May 2008
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