It was a delight to be at the Swan Theatre to celebrate the 50th year; their Gala night on Sunday 17th May was followed by an open day at the Swan on Saturday 30th May. Both were lovely occasions and a credit to Chris Jaeger without whom we would not be enjoying Huntingdon Hall, Shakespeare at the Commandery and the Cathedral, of course not forgetting the Swan theatre complex itself. I think we owe Chris and his Team a debt of gratitude. Thank you Chris!

The Splash Pad saw its fifth anniversary and on a somewhat chilly morning, Tuesday 26th May, my wife and I recorded the anniversary with some press photos. However on arrival we were the only ones there, as I said it was chilly and not ideal water fun weather, but just as the photographers unpacked their kit, two families arrived from Malvern for a little “Splash Pad” fun. I have to say the children, Martha, Sylvie & Joe, are much hardier than I, as despite the cold, they loved it!!

This facility has become a West Midlands destination – during its first full year of operation some 750,000 visitors passed through the gates of the park and I gather numbers have now risen to 850,000. A huge figure for any park, but for one so small it is a real success story!

Sir Robert Worcester KBE, DL is the founder of MORI. A member and contributor to many voluntary organisations, he visited Worcester this week to give a lecture in the Cathedral on Magna Carta. Sir Robert has both American and British nationality, a charming man who holds more prodigious positions and roles than there is room to list in this column.

We had the pleasure of showing him around the Guildhall and talking through some of the history of Worcester. He was very interested in Fort Royal and the visit by John Adams and Thomas Jefferson in 1786 and expressed a keenness to see the proposed bronze, commemorating the occasion, erected on the site of the original fort.

As you may know; Adams wrote at the time, “Englishmen so soon forget the ground where liberty was fought for? Tell your neighbours and your children that this is holy ground; much holier than that on which your churches stand. All England should come in pilgrimage to this hill once a year”.