18/08/2009 by Steve Barclay.

An insight last night into the life of the remarkable Octavia Hill who was born in Wisbech and is of national importance.  Joined a group from March Rotary at her birthplace house on the South Brink for a short talk on her life, ahead of joining the Wisbech Tourism Group for a meeting.  Co-founder of the National Trust, pioneer of social housing and happy homes, advocate of small parks and space to play, , her contribution to society was immense.  It is a remarkable life story told in a beautifully restored building - if you have not yet been I would strongly recommend a visit.

A good debate then followed with the Tourism Group discussion a range of suggestions for Wisbech Castle.  I put forward the ideas received by email from residents following the Cambs Times / Wisbech Standard article, and the committee also set out a number of ideas.  The favourite ideas with the committee were firstly to explore putting a gate in at the rear of the Castle Garden behind the war memorial, to open up the gardens more.  People often feel the house and gardens are private and are reluctant to enter at the front, and this does not have disabled access which a new gate at the back of the garden would offer.  The second idea the committee want to explore is whether day courses could be held in the house, for example RHS flower arranging courses.  With a high number of older people living in Fenland, it was thought this might open the house up more and offer scope to combine with other events, such as visits to the Peckover Gardens, Rose Fair, and Anglia in Bloom.  The committee also discussed opening up the potential of the dungeons under the Castle (and for them to be called dungeons not vaults), and whether there could be use of the facilities to help prepare plants for Anglia in Bloom Plenty for me to discuss with Cllr Jill Tuck and Nick Dawe at Cambs County Council.

Another topic of discussion was the future of Wisbech Institute, which is a building that has national significance.  The Working Men‘s Institutes were the open university of their day, and we need to look at how we breathe new life into this historic building which is not in great shape.  It is easy to forget when a building is on our doorstep that it has such national significance.  At the moment tourist buses from Cambridge often go straight to Stamford for their first stop.  Yet Wisbech could make an ideal first stop as we are nearer to Cambridge.  I toured the Wisbech Institute a few months ago with Cllr David Oliver and it is a gem in the town centre that too many people seem to know little about.  The next step is to get ownership of the Institute changed so it is a charity, and work is on-going on this.  I hope there will be more to report in due course as a renovated and re-vitalised Wisbech Institute would provide a fantastic addition to the town.

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28/03/2008 by Steve Barclay.

A focus on road and rail today started with a site visit to Network Rail’s Whitemoor Yard. Once again the weather is awful - I need to try and arrange these site visits in the summer!  Fortunately we are welcomed with a coffee in the site office as we go through the aerial maps of the yard, and get an update on the recent residents meeting.  Am keen to discuss what jobs will be created.  It is good to hear that phase two will include some new work and also a number of existing jobs being brought in-house.

After a tour of the yard, including a visit to the control tower, head over to the association office for a meeting with Andrew Walker and Graham Chappell.  Andrew’s 9 year old daughter Charlotte was tragically drowned near Bedlam Bridge when the car she was travelling in left the road.   It is a very sad meeting and important that we work together to address the safety concerns around Fen roads.  Cambs Times Editor John Elworthy is also at the meeting, and Graham takes Malcolm Moss MP and myself through the compelling data that he has collated.  Malcolm offers to follow up a number of points, including writing to the County Council for accurate and up to date data on the number of accidents in recent years.

After the meeting, I travelled up to Wisbech to meet Father John Doman.  Father John is concerned about the issue of homelessness and feels that we need to do much more to tackle this.  I agree and offer to help.  I will report back in the future so watch this space. Then it is on to Wisbech St Mary to help our by-election candidate Phil Wait with some canvassing.  A great response for Phil again - he is well known and liked locally.  It bodes well for polling day next week. 

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20/03/2008 by Steve Barclay.

In good company today.  A pub lunch in March with editor of the Cambs Times and Wisbech Standard, John Elworthy, and a chance to catch up on the latest news.  Some challenge also from John as to what he believes a Parliamentary Candidate should deliver over the next 18 months (he has done the job himself in the past and it is fair comment).

Then I head over to Chatteris for a meeting with Gloria Culyner, Chief Executive of Cambridgeshire Age Concern.  With fuel bills on the rise it is a worrying time for many people on fixed incomes.  Age Concern run a number of essential local services which I am keen to hear more about (such as home help, accident provision, voluntary visiting, day services and advocacy services).  A particular issue I wanted to discuss was chiropody services - perhaps not a glamorous issue but it makes a huge difference to a person’s mobility and independence.

In the evening we have our Association AGM.  A moving speech from Malcolm opens the meeting, before we run through the various agenda items.  Association President Victor Aveling skilfully chaired the session, and with an upbeat atmosphere I was asked to speak at the end.  A chance to look forward, and set out what we intend to achieve.

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