Public Realm - Shared Space - Tried & Tested

The public realm scheme for Tenbury is still limping along in the background.  Much of the delay is due to Tesco's delay in starting their project, but there is also no firm decision on the concept of shared space.

It would seem that many of the traders and the vocal public are against the concept.  I too have my doubts that such a scheme can be used on a relatively busy road.

However the video below, goes a long way to alleviating my doubts.  It's quite long, but worth watching to the end.
Let me know what you think.

A "must see" drama at the Regal.

Anyone who saw last years production "Much ado about Wenlock" at St Michael's Village Hall, will already know what an excellent show this is likely to be.

If you didn't see it you missed a treat, so don't miss this one!

The Regal Tenbury presents Finding Joy

A comic, anarchic, touching and heroic full mask adventure

Thursday 11th April 2013 Doors 6.30pm Show 7.30pm



What’s the show about? Finding Joy tells the story of Joy Wilson, a funny and gentle 80-something, and her grandson Danny, a teenager who’s going off the rails. When Joy starts to finds it hard to remember things, Danny decides he will care for her. Together, they discover a shared playfulness and a mutual affection. But is that enough to take on the challenges ahead?

Finding Joy is about memory, ageing, love, and - of course - about Joy!

You’re unlikely to have seen anything like a Vamos Theatre show: it is full mask theatre with no words, the story told through clever visual performance and a vibrant original soundtrack. It is wonderfully accessible, unashamedly nostalgic, and very, very playful.

Finding Joy is set in the 1930s, the 1950s and the present day, and performed on a quirky and intricate set that’s full of surprises.

Who is presenting it? Vamos Theatre is one of only a few companies in the UK specialising in full mask theatre. They devise and tour accessible, humorous and fearless work which showcases the best in full mask performance.

A Vamos production brims with visual inventiveness, music, puppetry, dexterity and hilarity, and is guaranteed to charm and entertain. Who will like it? Finding Joy is a very accessible piece of theatre that most audiences will enjoy.

The subject matter makes it most suitable for those over 12 years. There are audiences who may particularly enjoy Finding Joy including: Young people, especially teenagers Elders Family audiences with older children (12+)

Full reviews and comments can be found at http://www.vamostheatre.co.uk/news-and-blog/reviews/ Tickets are on sale from the Regal Box Office priced at £14 (£12 Concessions)

Online regaltenbury.co.uk
Telephone: 01584 811442

Barry Cryer in fall at the Regal

Barry Cryer fell about 4 feet from the side of the stage at the Tenbury Regal tonight after misjudging the exit into the wings.

The audience gasped and then fell completely silent as they saw him fall.  One of the first to react after the accident was a nurse who was in the audience and who stayed with Barry until he had been attended, first by the local first responder and then by a paramedic.

Thankfully, he only sustained a cut to his hand, but was understandably very shocked.

Initially he wanted to continue with the show, but was persuaded to rest and not attempt to continue.

The audience applauded loudly as the announcement was made as they were in agreement with the decision.

When Barry finally left the theatre he was laughing and joking and promised that a return date would be arranged, so that he could come back and finish the show.

Up until the time of the accident, Barry was on fine form, and had been performing his butterfly brain, alphabetical, hypothetical journey from A to Z, with Colin Sell at the piano. or as he put it the P & O!

The Regal Management have said that they will contact everyone in the audience about the new show once a date has been arranged.

Tesco Delayed Again

Work on the new Tesco store in Tenbury Wells has been delayed until 2014. The store is likely to open by end of Tesco 2015, although this date is still rather vague and could be as late as February 2016.

Whether this delayed timetable will impact the planned public realm work is, as yet unclear.

Funding Sought For Tenbury Flood Defence

Harriett Baldwin MP has asked the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to find flood defence funding for Tenbury Wells. She is hoping that Tenbury will receive about £5m from £120m funding for flood defences announced by the government in November.

Ms Baldwin said: "Upton's schemes have passed some rigorous testing over the last few weeks and I am told that savings delivered for insurers means that the investment has paid for itself twice over already." "All eyes now turn to Tenbury where we need to find a permanent solution and I have asked the department to look at ways we can find funding for this scheme in 2013"

Hopefully, once the funding agreement is in place, the action plan will be significantly revised from the outline plan published sometime ago. This involved huge lengths of permanant earth bunds.

This is how a Horsham Cllr reacted when a landowner created a bund on his land.

“The bund has to be seen to be believed. It is an outrageous scar on the landscape, both from the road and on the site."

and another said

"“The bunds are incongruous and an unnatural feature, many hundreds of metres in length. The land should be put back to where it was."

Yet, seemingly no one locally has any objection to huge earthworks behind the Church or across the Burgage?  I can understand that people don't want their family graves flooded or their properties, but must the town suffer the addition of these permanent unnatural features?

Are shared surfaces the answer

Tenbury has waited a very long time for a make over.  Improvements to the road surface and the pavements have been discussed in various forums for years.  Unknown to most, battles have been going on behind the scenes to get the approval for the use of good quality materials, rather than using quick fix concrete.

So now finally, after many broken promises and force starts, the basic design information is in the public domain.

I have no knowledge of town planning or traffic calming and control, so it is difficult to argue from a position of knowledge, and all we can really do is put trust in those employed as experts.

From a layman's point of view, any scheme that reduces parking, and mixes vehicles and people doesn't feel right, and I do worry that if the graphic artist thinks Tenbury is served by London Black Cabs, how good was the brief!

2013 Not a happy new year

Tenbury welcomed in the new year in 2012 with a bridge closure that was to last 10 weeks. 

The new year 2013 will herald the arrival of Temporary Traffic Lights, controlling the traffic through the town for up to 16 weeks, as Ringway start to replace and repair the drainage system under Teme Street & Market Street.

Although there is a promise, that the lights will only be used when necessary, past experience is that the contractors will not only install the lights at the drop of a hat, they will leave them running 24 hours a day and over the weekend even if there is no work taking place.  Also, due to lack of training or just lack of care they won't be phased correctly to allow for the traffic flow, and the sensors will either be inoperative or wrongly focused so as to be ineffective.  Although work is scheduled to start at 9.30 am and end by 4pm we can look forward to queues back past the High School and past Kerry's!   I see a Ringway supervisor will be on site throughout the duration of the work, so hopefully they will prove me wrong.

No one can be in doubt that these repairs are necessary.  We have known of the damaged drains since at least 2007, and the summer stink at the bridge end of Teme Street reminds us the the foul sewer also serves as the rainwater drain at that end of town.

The promise of 16 weeks of queueing traffic and the noise from the road works is enough to put as many people, if not more, off from venturing into town, than the bridge closure in early 2012.

So far there has been no promise of any additional support for the town, no additional parking provision in response to the inevitable parking restrictions, in fact had it not been for the two "public" exhibitions and a leaflet through the door, it would have come as somewhat of a surprise to most.

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