The East Preston festival of Food and Drink and the Worthing and District Bank Holiday weekend festivities were fun. Simon Cross, EP parish council clerk, with his team effectively started their fun and games minutes after the unpredictable rains on Saturday. He photographed my lunch, on a straw bale by the Punch and Judy booth.
Samuel Pepys wrote about a marionette puppet show on Friday 9 May 1662, after seeing copies of paintings by Raphael and Michael Angelo. ‘Thence to see an Italian puppet play . . which is very pretty, the best I ever saw . . .’
I looked at the commendable history of Punch & Judy on the Victoria & Albert Museum website. The Wikipedia article on the puppets described how the Puritans closed theatres. It suggested Charles II came to power in succession to Oliver Cromwell. I inserted Richard Cromwell, Oliver’s son. For eight or nine months he was the second and last Lord Protector of the then Commonwealth. Until our late Queen passed him in 2012, he was the longest-lived British head of state.
The modern audience, children and adults, enjoyed the ‘Professor’ presenting the hand puppetry. On my walk to the Green, I admired the work of the Yarnbombers. They displayed a glorious collection of decorated chairs and seats. CCTV was there to gather the smiles, especially prompted by the Bath Chair.
That afternoon I walked around Salvington delivering thank-you leaflets for local councillors. It was enjoyable and important to meet residents. We discussed a series of interests. I came away with issues to take up. It was cheering to read the blue plaque under the heading Our Grandad’s Heritage: Grandad Bob, grandad since 1998 hides here. Best taxi, sportsman, bbq king, silliest jokes . . and hugs.
On Monday I admired the sand area enjoyed by children in the centre of Worthing. Congratulations to the Town Centre Initiative. Less happy were the signs advertising reductions at the Wilco Administration Sale. Staff and customers will know soon if the retail chain can be saved.
There is admirable atmosphere and good signing in Warwick Street with guidance to Stanford Square, to Warwick Lane & Ann Street, and towards the shops on Brighton Road. I walked on to the Steyne for the carnival stalls, past the notice for the Friends of Denton Gardens agm on Thursday.
Bohunt Worthing at one of the stalls displayed the strong community spirit within the school and in the wider local area. They support charities including Turning Tides, Mental Health Foundation, Children in Need, Sports Relief & Red Nose Day.
Volunteers with our Rotary Clubs did well. The cheerful Head Marshall met me with the Seaside Hospital Radio team by the music stage sponsored by Ivy Arch Studios, Sweeptech and others. I enjoyed the Worthing Gin display and came away from the local Cats Protection stall with a present for my favourite neighbour’s rescued kitten.
By the weekend I will have met residents in High Salvington about a high-density planning application. Then I will show my respect for the contribution by brewers and the pub trade by attending the Worthing Beer and Cider Festival.
Before visiting my twin aunt and uncle, I will join Andrew Griffith MP at Wiston for our constituencies’ gathering of Ukrainians and their current hosts. Being uprooted, with families separated, is grim. My serious book of the month is Daniel Finkelstein’s Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad: A Family Memoir of Miraculous Survival. My prayer is that our Ukrainians will be spared and that their households can be united in peace.
As a teenager I worked on stalls in Battersea Fun Fair in front of the Big Dipper. My call was: ‘Roll up, roll up: everyone’s a winner.’ Let us work together for a shared world when those words can be true for all.
