Some things what happen in Bridgwater and some equally personal thoughts about them by Westover Councillor and Town Council Leader Brian Smedley. All opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily not bonkers. Oh and are definitely not official Labour Party policy, God No, they wouldn’t want people to think that.
2 Dec
On the Road (Part 2)
If your favourite motorway service station is Gloucester, then for sure your second favourite would be the magnificent lakeside eco hub that is Tebay. On the second week of my ‘Round UK tour’ with American country rappers Gangstagrass this is where we found ourselves after finally finding the way out of the Huddersfield gyratory system (which requires you to get exactly the right turn IN to the town centre or you have to do yet another full circle of the inner ring road). “Aw gee England sure does look spectacular in the Fall!” said the Idaho fiddle player as he surveyed our small cluster of lonely mountains. Grabbing my chance to engage in political discussion I explained the collapse of colonialism in a post imperial world and the teetering precipice that capitalism now stood on. Turns out he just meant autumn…..
25 Nov
If It’s Tuesday it must be Hull
I’m in Hull. It’s cold, it’s snowing, the wind is bitter. Well, it’s Hull. Don’t worry, I haven’t been sent on a Council retraining scheme for the perpetually over optimistic I’m here by choice. I’m driving American bluegrass hip hop country rappers Gangstagrass around the UK and this tour is taking me to the highs and lows of Britain in 2025. But that means I’ve got the chance to let you know how things compare to Bridgwater. Tomorrow, for instance, we’re in Huddersfield.
18 Nov
Providing ‘the Overview Effect’.
We’ve been doing Bridgwater Together now for 11 years. It’s an annual event designed to show we’re all one people sharing one world. But we’ve never before done it with a giant balloon looking like the actual Earth hanging from the ceiling of the Town Hall symbolically saying, ‘You’re not wrong!”. It was only a year ago that Luke Jerrams ‘Moon in the docks’ captivated Bridgwater audiences before captivating itself and then deflating and sinking. So, this year Luke had provided us with ‘Gaia’ a 7 metre in diameter globe which lets you see the planet that we all share floating around us in three dimensions. An experience hitherto only shared by Astronauts, hippies and that daft Austrian bloke who jumped out of a balloon from space for a distance of 24 miles travelling at 843 mph. Sometimes you wonder about people…..
11 Nov
People are People are People
Because I’m a Catholic I’m not meant to sit in the Civic pews at the parish church. So, I did. And nothing happened. No thunderbolt from above, no ‘oi i want a word with you!’ from the church authorities followed by a hilarious Benny Hill style chase around the cloisters. It’s not a big deal here in multi-liberal Britain, where difference is respected and we’ve worked hard to create a society where you can be what and who you want to be.
4 Nov
