In many parts of Scandinavia when a Town Clerk departs they traditionally lay them in their longship with all their possessions and cast them out to sea. In Nepal they lay them on a mountainside open to the elements to be as one with the creatures of the wild . And in Morecambe they prop them up in bus shelters with Bingo tickets in their hands. Here in Bridgwater, we were debating whether a packet of Rolos and a copy of the Town Council Leaders early compilation album ‘Dark Side of the Sheep’ would suffice. We voted to put a bit more thought into it.
David Mears has been only Bridgwater’s 2nd Town Clerk since the Town Council was restored in 2003 following on from the work of 1st Town Clerk, the legend that was Alan Hurford who took the Town from out of the shadow of Sedgemoor District to the vibrant independent force it became a dozen or so years later.
Powerful
Of course, Bridgwater had been in charge of it’s own destiny since 1465 when the medieval Borough was created and we could elect our own council, choose our own Mayor and employ our own Town Clerk. Bridgwater was a powerful and radical Borough for just over 500 years before the local government reforms of the early 70s brought it to an end and Sedgemoor District Council was created and given all Bridgwater’s powers. We didn’t accept that and in 2003 a government minister (in this case Labour’s John Prescott) recognised our case and restored to us a Town Council.
Mighty
In 2018 Alan Hurford hung up his tea cosy of office and made a beeline for his golf clubs and in came David Mears. Unaccustomed to anywhere with any Labour councillors (he’d been at Chard, Seaton and Langport) he found he was a man with a mission. No sooner was he in charge of the thrusting new Town Council than on the horizon came the Unitary project, which, like the charge of the mighty Zulu buffalo horns, was fast approaching and about to overwhelm us.
Thick
Time, circumstance and that sense of derring-do that made the Empire what it is (over) meant it needed a man of the moment. Like that famous line from Zulu ‘Why us sergeant?!’ “Because we’re here lad!” came the retort, we got on with it with Town Clerk Mears in the thick of it. And making another Zulu comparison, many people watching the film will assume it was Stanley Baker and Michael Caine (who played the commanding officers) that won the battle of Rourkes Drift -but in fact the key person was James Langley Dalton the acting assistant commissary (basically ‘admin’) who was the one to actively organise the defensive formations.
It’s a fact that Acting Commissary Mears was the man who re-organised Bridgwater Town Council from it’s Dibley peak of 5 staff to it’s post Unitary, post Sedgemoor secure position of almost 70.
Crazy
For us at Bridgwater Town Council our ambition was to reverse the wrongs of the Redcliffe Maud changes in 1974 that ended our centuries old powers as a town and bring them back so that we could run ourselves. Today the town is 70% of the way there but with work to do. During David’s time we saved the Bridgwater Arts Centre for the town, the Recreation Community Centre for the people of Hamp and the Rollercoaster for the Sydenham Community, we brought parks and gardens under our direct control, street cleaning, cemeteries, put on popular events in our communal spaces, fought against crazy planning and licensing decisions imposed from above and grant funded community projects across our town.
Camp
Don’t worry, we’re not about to be attacked by Zulus, but if we were we’d be ready. We’ve already upturned the wagons and made ramparts out of mealie bags.
David is off to start a new life and a new council at Poole in Dorset where people will doubtless remember Lord Baden Powell founded the first Boy Scouts camp. Lord BP was of course also famous for his South Africa connections and his role in the siege of Mafeking. But maybe not so well known for spending most of his days back home sleeping on a camp bed on his balcony rather than inside his house with his wife, such was his commitment to health, fresh air and his belief in ‘sleeping out’ even in the English climate.
Naturally we wish David all the best for the next leg of his journey to the stratosphere and wonder what’s round the corner for us. Turns page. Finds photo of hedgehog. Wonders what happened to said hedgehog. Closes book. Re-opens book on different page.