Campaign Diary: Day 7 - a night out in Baylham

Baylham is in the south-eastern corner of Barking and Somersham ward, and I had already attended a coffee morning on day 3 of the campaign. However, the Parish Meeting was just four days later, and I had promised to attend.

The sun was shining on one of those beautiful May evenings that you could just bottle and store for a February afternoon when you've begun to despair of ever seeing blue sky again, and I was back at Old Cattle Market bus station for another ride. This time, it was the 88A, operated by First Group, which was my ride. The bus doesn't stop in the middle of Baylham, sticking as it does to the main road for Needham Market, but it does drop you at the bottom of Upper Street and, on a sunny day, I was up for the stroll into the village.

Upper Street undulates its way uphill and down, before the final rise into the village, but it is well worth the walk, as Baylham is one of Suffolk's prettier, if less well known villages. My destination was the home of Parish Meeting Chair, John Field, who is one of the four Liberal Democrat Councillors on Mid Suffolk District Council and also the County Councillor for Gipping Valley.

An outtake from the campaign - you'll be
pleased to hear that we didn't use this one...

After a restorative cup of tea, my agent, Martin Redbond, and Julia Truelove, our County Councillor for Bosmere, arrived and work commenced. Photographs were taken for leaflets, intelligence shared, before we headed for the Village Hall, looking for all the world like a group of old friends out for a stroll of an evening.

There were rather more people present at the Hall than I had expected. To be honest, in some villages, the Parish Council can be seen as less than entirely thrilling political theatre. You are, it must be admitted, unlikely to witness dramatic events, hear stirring peroration, or determine the fate of nations. And yet, quietly, decisions are taken that impact on the quality of local lives - new play equipment, the clearing of footpaths, lobbying over planning issues. Clearly, the residents of Baylham were engaged. I introduced myself to some of them, and renewed acquaintances with others from Saturday.

John opened the meeting by welcoming the two guests, Julia and myself, and said a few kind words about me, before giving the floor to the various village groups to report. Even the quietest village runs on the effort of its volunteers, and there is much more going on than meets the eye. Church groups, the Village Hall Committee, footpath groups, you name it, someone is taking care of it. John was re-elected as Chair - I got a clear sense that his neighbours are more than happy to let him continue - and the meeting ran pretty smoothly.

As the evening ended, the campaign felt more manageable, and the way ahead felt clearer. And, with a good night's sleep, I began to look forward with something akin to optimism.  

Campaign Diary: Day 3 - my first campaign event

And so, Ros and I set off for Baylham yesterday morning. The sun was shining and the Gipping Valley was resplendent, with fields full of oil-seed rape in Liberal Democrat yellow (mere coincidence, I assure you), and the foliage that shade of green that you get before the summer sun starts to fade it, crisp and lush. I was reminded that May is my favourite time of year in these parts.

Baylham is a village of about two hundred and fifty people, in the south-east corner of the ward. Until 2005 or so, it was in the Gipping Valley county division but boundary changes meant that it was added to Bosmere at the time that Ros gave up that division. It is home to John Field, one of the four Liberal Democrats on Mid Suffolk District Council, and also the County Councillor for Gipping Valley, and, as I walked up the steps and into the Village Hall, there he was, waiting to introduce me to some of his neighbours.

Campaigning is not something that comes easily to a lot of people. Putting a leaflet through a door is one thing, but actually talking to people, many of whom you might not know, can be pretty daunting, especially if you haven't done it for a little while. Luckily, most people I've met in mid-Suffolk are pretty friendly, and it wasn't long before I was introducing myself to people as they stood and chatted, "Hi, I'm Mark, the Liberal Democrat candidate in the by-election in four weeks time."

Word had got around that David Card had resigned, even though they hadn't yet heard that a by-election had been called, and they seemed happy to talk.

Village halls are at the core of community life but they can be difficult to maintain, especially for smaller villages. They're often relatively elderly, hard to keep warm and need refurbishment. For example, Baylham's was built in 1927 of wooden construction and was refurbished in 1993. It costs about £1,500 per annum to cover the cost of light, heat, water and insurance, and that's before you consider maintenance costs.

Money has to be raised by holding events, hosting parties and events, and that is done by a clutch of volunteers who work tirelessly to keep everything ticking over. And, when so many couples both work, there is less time to support the fabric of their community. Many villages rely on the enthusiasm of a small hardcore of individuals to ensure that vital village facilities and institutions are there to serve the community and, if I were to be elected on 2 June, one of my key aims would be to support the village communities across the ward to keep village halls going.

I did get to eat my cake, eventually (note, I skipped breakfast so that I could have cake instead and stick to my diet), and I have to say that it was a very good Victoria sponge, nice and light, good jam filling.

Fortified, and happier for having got the campaign off to a good start, I thanked John and Kay, his wife and our stalwart Local Party Secretary, for inviting me, and Ros and I set off for a drive around the villages, as much to look at them in terms of how best to organise my visits over the coming weeks.

There are seven villages that, together, form the Barking and Somersham ward. Barking runs south-west from the edge of Needham Market, and includes the opera house at Kennels Farm, home of the Barrandov Opera, of which I have written in the past. Offton and Willisham come next, two villages sharing a parish council, and then, as you turn towards Ipswich, you reach Somersham, the largest village in the ward. Nettlestead is then slightly north of Somersham, before a drive through narrow country lanes brings you back to Baylham. Last, but certainly not least, is Darmsden. This is the smallest village in the ward although, in truth, it's more of a hamlet at the end of a narrow lane that runs of the old Ipswich to Stowmarket road.

We stopped in Somersham to visit the Community Shop. When Ros was the county councillor, she worked hard to protect the old village shop, gaining rate relief and doing whatever she could to keep it viable. Sadly, it eventually closed in 2007, but, thanks to a dedicated campaign group, the Somersham and District Community Shop opened in 2012 as a Community Interest Company, run by volunteers. We were keen to see what the District Council could do to ease the regulatory burden upon them, so we dropped in to talk and buy a soft drink each.

So, having gotten a sense of how I'm going to organise my campaign, it was time to head for home. There were leaflets to design, lists to write... for tomorrow was another day...