A la recherche du Stowupland perdu*

It is hard to believe that it is now nearly five years since my gallant, but ill-fated, attempt to become the District Councillor for Stowupland ward, but I found myself on familiar territory this weekend, delivering leaflets for the Remain campaign. After all, a majority of those who actually turned out that day voted for parties that support our membership of the European Union, and if Ros and I don't get a pro-European message out, who will?

Funnily enough, five years ago, there was controversy over plans to build some new housing association properties, and now, the hedges and windows are full of signs condemning a proposal to build one hundred and seventy-five houses on a greenfield site on the edge of the village. There is little doubt that it is highly speculative, but it does offer up a slightly uncomfortable dilemma for local residents.

You see, Stowupland is quite a nice place, and people want to live there. More homes and thus, more people, means, potentially, better services or, in the current climate, more chance of keeping the ones they have. It also means that their children and grandchildren have some prospect of living locally when it becomes their turn to set up home.

And yet, with Stowmarket growing apace, there is a risk of one being absorbed into the other. One wonders how a local councillor might reconcile the opposing tensions, but luckily, I guess, that isn't my problem.

At least my memories of the 2011 campaign make deliveries rather easier - I remember where some of the trickier letterboxes are - and we've made pretty good progress thus far. If only the weather wasn't so unreliable...

* (for those of you whose French is rather better than mine, an apology...)

Creeting St Peter: the candidate doesn't even knock once...

So, nominations have closed for both the District and Parish Council elections and Creeting St Peter will go to the polls on 7 May accordingly. Yes, I know that there is a General Election, and that we'd all have to vote anyway, but the chances of a Parliamentary candidate coming our way is rather less than nil - the Conservatives sent us a leaflet for the wrong constituency in 2010, after all - so the real interest is in people who might have to come here whether they like it or not.

In 2010, the District Council ward - Stowupland - drew four candidates (I was one of them), a Conservative, a Liberal Democrat, a Green and a Labour candidate. This time, we're down to a Conservative and a Green.

The Conservative candidate, Jemma Lynch, hopes to replace the outgoing Conservative, Caroline Byles, of whom I have written so many complimentary things (that may not be entirely accurate...). She describes herself, somewhat evasively, as a single parent from Suffolk (well yes, you do need to have a qualification to run here), although she really cares for our communities. Odd, really, that she should choose to represent one that she has no obvious connection with, despite the fact that the Conservatives are only running one candidate in Needham Market, where she lives. On the other hand, she does live rather closer to the ward than Caroline did (not exactly difficult, admittedly).

According to her Twitter feed;

Great evening canvassing with @Jochurchill4 in #stowupland, I will be in #creetingstpeter on Tuesday!

— Jemma Lynch (@jemnicole1) April 9, 2015

Well, Tuesday came and went, and no sign of Jemma was there to be seen. I was disappointed, I admit, as, having no dog in this particular race, my vote is rather up for grabs - and yes, I will vote. She has now promised to come back on Saturday, but as I'll be in Needham Market for the big match, we may miss each other again...

The Green candidate is Keith Welham. He does actually live on the patch, indeed, he's a Parish councillor in Stowupland, so he should be reasonably well known. What he stands for is anyone's guess, as the rather poor quality leaflet that came out majored on planning issues - important in Stowupland, certainly, but hardly relevant here in Creeting St Peter. I did try to persuade the Greens to have him pay us a visit, but they don't seem that bothered thus far.

So, whilst I have a vote, it seems that nobody really wants it.

As for the Parish Council, there are three applicants for five places, saving us the cost of an election at least. Steve Ashcroft and Sue Lawson are relative veterans from my time as a Parish councillor, whilst Machala Peecock, who lives two doors away, replaced me when I stood down. That leaves two vacancies. Despite the apparent retirement of the Parish Clerk, I am not tempted... Well, not yet, anyway. I will be curious to see how they are handling the finances though...

So, with about a week until I get my postal ballot, I'm not actually sure what I'm going to do with the District Council one. Will either candidate care enough to try to persuade me?...

190 new homes in Stowupland - a challenge for honesty in politics?

The neighbouring village of Stowupland forms about 88% of my District ward, the one I gallantly fought and lost in 2011. Had I won then, I would now be faced with what appears to be a highly unpopular planning application to build new houses on the eastern edge of the village, on what is currently agricultural land.

There is no doubt that the planned development is quite substantial, proportionately at least. 190 homes equates to about 22% of the existing housing stock, and would have a sizeable impact on local infrastructure. The village has no doctor's surgery and poor public transport links, although it does have a post office, two schools (primary and secondary), two pubs and a butcher's shop, plus a fish and chip shop and a Chinese takeaway.

From the proliferation of signs along the main road through the village, the development is most unwelcome but, if one is to be entirely honest, there are some strong arguments for building new homes in the village, even if the location might not be ideal.

People want to live in Stowupland. It's convenient for the A14 to Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds and Cambridge, and for the railway station at Stowmarket, and the village itself is not unattractive. Undoubtedly, we need more housing in Mid Suffolk - the new developments around Stowmarket didn't lack for buyers, and I often hear people remark about the difficulties their children experience in finding somewhere affordable to buy. Increasing the housing stock might help with that.

The problem with Mid Suffolk District Council's strategy on housing in recent years is that it presumes that most new development will be in Stowmarket, and given that the town is pushing against its development limits, that offers increasingly little scope for dealing with population growth inspired demand. Most villages in the District have a planning envelope that prevents any new development at all. And so, if developers can find scope for profitable housing schemes, they will push for them.

Given that Stowupland is surrounded on virtually every side by open country, any development will be on agricultural land - the only other option being the allotments between the village and the A14 (and woe betide anyone proposing building there...) - there will be an impact on the cherished rural vista. But, inevitably, unless villagers are intent to closing the door to expansion, and can successfully do so, more housing is going to come, and the village will become a suburb of Stowmarket.

My problem is that I am prone to taking a wider view on such issues, whereas a more cynical politician would ignore the realities of rural housing needs and campaign for something locally popular but possibly against long-term interests. And I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if a more cynical person doesn't offer themselves in May's District elections...

Good(ish) news for Stowupland bus passengers

Following on from my story last month, it would appear that Galloways have decided that they might be able to run a bus service to Stowupland without subsidy, and will be introducing a new route 387 to replace First Group's route 87.

There are some particularly interesting features, with some extra buses in the morning to provide a half-hourly service during the morning rush (hourly otherwise), although the last bus leaves something to be desired if you're working regular office hours - it will run at 4.35 p.m. There will also be a Saturday service, again hourly, and again with a last bus from Stowmarket at 4.35 p.m.

Worse still, the last bus from Stowupland will leave at 2.45 p.m (Monday to Friday) or 3.15 p.m. (Saturday), which is not ideal. It is, however, better than nothing.

There are, it should be noted, a few later buses from Stowmarket on Galloway routes 384 and 456, but nothing to help if you want to leave Stowupland.

That leaves passengers dependent on the Suffolk Links Gipping North service, which I strongly recommend, which offers a demand responsive service, if not one that allows for spontaneous travel.

Take the last bus to Stowupland...

Last week's news that the Stowmarket Shuttle, or bus route 87 as it is more prosaically described, is to cease operating in November, is bad news for the residents of Stowupland in particular. It was bad enough when the through service to Needham Market and Ipswich was lost, even though the timetable did theoretically allow for a connection in Stowmarket to route 88, newly extended to Ipswich Hospital, but this does come as a blow.

An 87 bus in Stowupland, soon to be history?

Whilst campaigning in the village two years ago as part of my candidacy for the District Council, I highlighted the loss of the Sunday and evening bus service and its impact on those people who had moved to Stowupland precisely because of its transport links - better than most other mid-Suffolk villages.

At one point, buses penetrated into the side roads of Stowupland - curiously, the bus stops remained long after the buses had been withdrawn - and it did seem strange that, given the number of elderly residents, a service using smaller vehicles had not been tried, rather than the full size buses used by First Group.

First Group have run the service without subsidy from the County Council since they changed the routes around last year, with the main route 88 linking Stowmarket with Ipswich, and route 87 now linking Violet Hill, Combs Ford and Stowupland with Stowmarket using a clover-leaf route every hour. They indicate, and I have no reason to doubt them, that serving Stowupland cannot be done on a commercial basis, thus their decision to withdraw.

What this means is that bus passengers in the village will have to rely on an occasional service between Mendlesham and Stowmarket, or switch to the Suffolk Links demand responsive service, unless the County Council can come up with some money - not something that inspires hope given the pressure on their budget.

Given that the Suffolk Links Gipping North service covers a swathe of villages across mid-Suffolk with only one vehicle, I fear that this means increased isolation for a number of elderly, potentially vulnerable people, so one can only hope that a solution can be found, and quickly.

It takes a village to fight a campaign in one...

Alright, I've picked myself up, dusted myself off and am focused on the horizon. However, there is some unfinished business before I set off on the next leg of the journey. Yes, it's time to thank those whose contributions made the campaign as successful as it was...

Firstly, I should start with the people who set me loose on an unsuspecting District council ward, David Chappell, our then PPC, Kathy Pollard, the Leader of our County Group, Penny Otton, the Leader of our District Group, and Martin Redbond, our agent and campaign guru. They told me that I could start campaigning with official approval, so I did.

Kathy introduced me to PagePlus and gave me my first lesson in how to use it to produce the first leaflet. Tim Lockington, the Chair of the Local Party in Ipswich, printed it and Ros and I delivered it. Tim went on print the second and third leaflets on his Riso, and one day, he might even tell me how much I owe him...

Our first action day was co-ordinated by Martin, and many thanks to Keith Scarff, David Payne, Wendy Marchant, Mike and Sheila Norris, all of whom came to help me fly the flag.

Jamie and Brij, my stepson and son-in-law, delivered leaflets at key moments, Sally provided me with useful artwork from her back catalogue of Libdemmery.

During the campaign, Phil Stevens, Daniel Brown, Grace Goodlad and Sam Webber all graciously gave up some of their spare time to telephone canvass on my behalf, allowing me to confirm that my own canvassing wasn't hopelessly over-optimistic, and Matthew Hanney, from Nick's office, came all the way to Mid Suffolk to help out with the final leaflet delivery and do a little canvassing besides. Yes, we did bribe him with cake, but he was worth it...

But, ultimately, the most important person in the entire campaign was Ros. She cajoled, advised, directed and inspired my efforts, and her wealth of knowledge in terms of campaigning and, in particular, rural campaigning, prevented me from making an idiot of myself. She delivered leaflets, even whilst fulfilling her duties as Party President, took on greater and greater shares of the household chores to free me up to design leaflets, canvass voters and deliver the message, and was generally amazing.

She also, in the midst of it all, found the man who printed the rest of the leaflets at, of all places the South West Regional Conference in Plymouth. Ian Gillett printed the calendars, based on a design he supplied, and then printed all of the leaflets from then on, recommending changes as he saw fit, redesigning the 'out leaflet' altogether, and doing it all without fuss, at remarkably low cost and in a timely way. If anyone wants his contact details, feel free to get in touch...

So, thank you to you all, and thank you to the voters of Stowupland and Creeting St Peter, who gave me a polite, and sometimes warm welcome on the doorstep, turned out in significant numbers to vote for someone they barely knew, and gave me sufficient encouragement to carry on.

And now, freed from the necessity to dedicate vast chunks of my life to the campaign, I can dedicate vast chunks of my life to Ros. Because she's worth it...

An unexpected inheritance for my campaign

There are not that many places where there are staunch Liberals who voted in an MP in the years between World War II and the revival in the Party's fortunes in the seventies and eighties. And, rather unexpectedly, I am reaping a small reward from being in one of them.

On the doorstep today, a voter told me that he had campaigned for Edgar Granville and said, "You'll be too young to remember him.". He was right, and so, when I got back to Creeting St Peter, I looked him up...

Edgar Granville was, in fact, the Liberal MP for Eye between 1929 and 1951, at a time when the constituency spread much further than it does now. I say Liberal, although he was a Liberal National from 1931, and an Independent from 1942, before rejoining the Liberal Party in 1945. He then managed to defend the seat in 1945 (by 949 votes) and in 1950 (by just 627 votes), before losing it in 1951.

He wasn't done yet though. In 1952, he joined the Labour Party, and then fought the seat again in 1955, losing by just 898 votes, before ending up in the House of Lords as Lord Granville of Eye.

A war hero, wounded at Gallipoli, writer of spy thrillers, he was clearly one of a kind. And, on his hundredth birthday, he was in his seat in the Lords to hear his birthday tributes on February 12th, 1998...

Lord Granville of Eye: Birthday Tributes

3.26 p.m.

The Lord Privy Seal (Lord Richard): My Lords, I am sure some of your Lordships are already aware that today is an unusual and special occasion. Indeed, it is the 100th birthday of the noble Lord, Lord Granville of Eye--

Noble Lords: Hear, hear!

Lord Richard: --and not, if I may say so, as recorded in certain manuals, notably Dod's and Who's Who, where he is recorded as being a mere 99 years of age. I am delighted too, that the noble Lord is in his place in the Chamber today.

It is not often that your Lordships get the chance to celebrate the birthday of such a long-serving and distinguished Member of this House. I am sure that all noble Lords will be awed to learn not only that the noble Lord served in the First World War but also that he fought, among other fields of action, at Gallipoli. The noble Lord was a Member of the other place as long ago as 1929 and joined your Lordships' House-- I suppose for him comparatively recently--in 1967. I ask the whole House to join with me in wishing the noble Lord a very happy 100th birthday indeed.

Viscount Cranborne: My Lords, it is a very great pleasure to be able to follow the noble Lord the Leader of the House in associating this side of the Chamber with the elegant way in which he wished the noble Lord many happy returns of the day. We echo those sentiments. As the noble Lord the Leader of the House made clear, the noble Lord is both a distinguished Member of both Houses of Parliament and a gallant former soldier with particular connections with the Commonwealth, which I believe is an institution that all sides of the House are coming increasingly to value.

I could, perhaps, suspect that the vigour of the noble Lord is a tribute not only to the rich blood that politics encourages to flow in the veins of her practitioners, but also, if I may say so, to the preservative qualities of membership of your Lordships' House. In either case, whichever is true, we congratulate the noble Lord who embodies the great virtues of continuity in his person. We look forward to many more occasions upon which we may congratulate him in the years to come.

Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank: My Lords, perhaps I may associate these Benches with the remarks made by the Lord Privy Seal and the noble Viscount. However, they omitted to say--and I am sure that it was by oversight--that the noble Lord served as a Liberal Member of Parliament for 22 years and represented that most interesting part of Britain, East Anglia, the politics of which have always fascinated us.

It has been a life of distinction and, as the noble Lord, Lord Richard, said, one also of courage. To put it at its very least, the thought that the noble Lord is 100 years of age today makes many of us feel a great deal younger than we supposed.

Lord Weatherill: My Lords, on behalf of the Cross-Benches I wish a happy birthday to the senior of our 326 Cross-Bench Peers. Long may he continue to keep that number up.

The Lord Bishop of Chichester: My Lords, I associate these Benches with the congratulations to the noble Lord and send him our best wishes and many happy returns of the day.

Two days later, he passed away in a London nursing home...

Twas on the Thursday afternoon, when the candidate came to call...

I've been a bit busy for the past four weeks, being both the candidate and the agent for Stowupland ward, what with having to design my own leaflets (thank heavens for Serif PagePlus X4!), deliver a lot of them (my campaign manager, Ros, is doing more than her fair share of that), and canvass as many people as I can reach/find.

However, Thursday morning saw a bit of an unwelcome break in the routine, as Ros made her way blearily downstairs to find that the carpet was strangely wet. Very wet, indeed positively sodden. As I was beckoned to lend my vast experience to solving the mystery of what had happened, there was a knock on the door, and our next door neighbour was apologising for the fact that their water softener had failed, causing a flood in our living room and downstairs hall.

Whilst the flow of water had been stopped, and a plumber called, we had the problem of water damage to solve. Needless to say, Ros was ready to go, and by 8 a.m. the insurance company were called, by 9 a.m. a carpet specialist was on standby, and by 11 a.m., he was there, condemning our carpets and authorising their replacement. So far, so good.

I'd taken the day off to help with the work that needed to be done, so we set to work, cutting up the old carpet and underlay with scissors and a Stanley knife (strangely satisfying...). The water was mostly mopped up, and we were just settling in with some insurance paperwork when up to the door came my Conservative opponent.

"Hello, Caroline!", said we, "What brings you here?". "I'm looking for 'Charlecote'", she said, so I told her that Janice probably wouldn't be in, anyway (she's never in when I call, at least...). I'd guessed that she was calling on postal voters, in the knowledge that I had called on all of them before postal ballots landed on doormats across the ward on Tuesday, and left personally addressed letters for each of the ones I hadn't spoken to.

A brief conversation ensued between Caroline and Ros, and she was gone.

At least I now know that she is canvassing for support. Admittedly, calling on people in the early afternoon on a weekday means that she's unlikely to find as many of them as she might, but she is giving it her best shot. Let's hope that it isn't good enough...

It's official, I'm validly nominated...

With a track record of a quarter century of bureaucracy behind me, you would think that the process of getting my nomination papers filed would be pretty straightforward, wouldn't you? But of course, the whole process is predicated on the view of the Electoral Services team, and their word is law.

So I've spent part of my weekend getting the nomination forms just right, asking friends and neighbours to sign and print in the right boxes in the approved manner. In fairness, everyone has been very kind, with only one person refusing to sign - she doesn't do politics, she says (and I believe her too). And whilst my campaign manager has kept me on the straight and narrow, ensuring that things are done early, it means that there is less scope for last minute drama.

This morning, I presented myself at the offices of Mid Suffolk District Council with a folder of forms for both District and Parish council elections for review and, if all was well, acceptance. A nice lady took the forms away and offered me coffee while I waited. Fifteen minutes later, Phil Tallent, the Head of Democratic and Legal Services, introduced himself and asked if we could briefly discuss them.

There was a question about the description - 'Liberal Democrat' or 'Liberal Democrats' (I'm of the singular variety) - and about my agent. Martin Redbond, one of our councillors in Claydon, is kindly acting for all of the candidates in Mid Suffolk, but not for me, as I'm happier doing it myself. Besides, not only has he got enough on his plate as it is, but I've been an agent at Parliamentary level (Dulwich and West Norwood 2005), so I've got a decent grasp of what is expected.

Reassured by my answers, Phil handed over the letter, officially confirming that I am the Liberal Democrat candidate for the Stowupland ward of Mid Suffolk District Council. And there's so much to do...

The contest for Stowupland: do not distress the Returning Officer...

Well, it appears that I am not alone on the campaign trail in Stowupland, although I'm not exactly sure who my company is.

Yesterday, I received an e-mail from our chief agent, indicating that someone has been co-ordinating postal vote requests - all perfectly legal, of course. However, they were using their own form, which doesn't quite match up with the official Mid Suffolk District Council postal vote application form, which can be scanned for greater convenience and, above all, accuracy.

Apparently, our instructions are that, if we encounter someone who'd like a postal vote, we are to ring Mid Suffolk's Electoral Services team, who will send out a form. I'm fairly confident that my campaign team aren't using an obsolete form, so it must be someone else. Well, good luck to them, and if I don't see them beforehand, see you at the count!

A crash course in design... with thanks to ALDC...

I have to admit that campaigning for real has involved learning a lot of new skills. As a paper candidate, you aren't expected to deliver anything in your own patch and, if you do, it is generic in nature. However, as the leaflet designer for the Stowupland campaign team, I've had to master PagePlus, learn to write succinctly - not an easy thing to do when you're a bureaucrat - and match pictures with prose.

It's also got to be done quickly too, even more so as the campaign reaches a crescendo. I prefer to e-mail my leaflet to my printer, so that he can print it and post it back to me, rather than have to collect it from somewhere (time lost), or bother someone who is also trying to campaign themselves. So I have to fit into his schedule, and leave enough time for him to get the job done.

Luckily, ALDC produce a cornucopia of amazing artwork which I can simply pick up and drop, or adapt as I see fit. Indeed, one of their templates has been a rich source of ideas this evening, and my next leaflet is about 50% done in just two hours. And, as Ros and I are both members, it's remarkably good value too.

Meanwhile, my fellow colleagues on the Mid Suffolk campaign team are working on more material for me to work with. I rely on their experience, and that of Ros, to allow me to avoid some of the more obvious errors, and to ensure that I 'sing from the same hymnsheet', incredibly important in our local messaging.

Over the next six weeks or so, I'll be fighting my first campaign where I'm the person trying to get elected. Yes, I'm a bit nervous, but I'm keen to give it my best shot, and I'll try to find time to report back on a gentler, more personal brand of politics than I was used to in London.

Wish me luck!

There's always time for another leaflet...

Having discovered that I become a candidate on the first day for nominations, at least, having announced myself as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Stowupland ward in a previous leaflet, which I guess amounts to the same thing, my expenses are going to be calculated as running from the day that nominations open, i.e. 25 March.

So, it was handy that my March leaflet arrived yesterday, giving me a chance to deliver as much of it as possible before that important date. However, we're still putting the house back to rights, so it was agreed that I would deliver leaflets whilst Ros tidied.

Off I went, in the blazing sunshine, taking on the area of Stowupland which is deceptively tricky to deliver, as the Reeds Way area is made up of little spurs, and you have to keep your concentration to make sure that every house gets a leaflet. But I was making good time, delivering the first two hundred at a rate of two a minute - I'm not as quick across the ground as I used to be, but I'm dogged - so I pressed on, around Columbyne Close, across the north end of the village green, along Thorney Green Road and down Mill Street, until I'd delivered nearly four hundred. That's a good start, as there are less than a thousand homes in the entire ward.

It was time to head for home, or more accurately, call Ros to come and get me. Unfortunately, the battery on my BlackBerry picked that precise moment to die, leaving me with two options, find a payphone (and there aren't many in Stowupland), or walk home.

In the sunshine, and given that it's a much shorter journey from Stowupland to Creeting St Peter on foot than it is to drive, I decided that the exercise would do me good. It's a lovely walk along a bridleway, along the edge of some fields and then down a slope across the middle of a field (thank goodness for local farmers who leave public footpaths free of obstacles), reaching Creeting Lane just north of the village.

I reckon that I earned that glass of red wine...

Stowupland loses its Sunday and evening bus services

I've been waiting for the promised consultation on local bus services for some time now. It would appear that, like an 87A bus on a Sunday, it will never come, as the announcement of what survives the 53% cut in subsidy has been made via the Suffolk Onboard website. From a personal perspective, the announcement falls into two parts, the effect on my own village, and that on the village next door.

In Creeting St Peter, we've lost our market day bus, route 453, which connected the Creetings with Stowmarket on a Thursday. To be honest, very few people even seemed to know that it exists, and with the new Suffolk Links service, villagers are probably better connected than they were before. Overall, the changes benefit us, although bus ridership figures are probably very low - you wouldn't really choose to live in Creeting St Peter if you didn't already drive.

In Stowupland, on the other hand, losing all evening and Sunday services is a real blow. There are plenty of people, especially at the Reeds Way end of the village, for whom the bus service is important, connecting them to family in Stowupland or Needham Market, and who will now be dependent on expensive taxis. What I find mystifying is that the service connects Cedars Park to Stowmarket as well, and whilst the journey is walkable, it probably isn't with shopping, or children, or if you're elderly. Effectively, this decision removes the service from about 8,000 people in Stowupland and Cedars Park, and if you add on those people in Needham Market and Stowmarket, whose connection with Ipswich is lost, there are a lot of people affected by this decision.

It needn't have been like this. The Liberal Democrat Group on Suffolk County Council proposed changes to the budget that would have saved services to Stowupland for at least a year, giving time to see whether other arrangements could be made. Frankly, I could have accepted the loss of market day services given the expansion of the Suffolk Links services, reducing the cost of bus subsidy somewhat, but the principle of maintaining a network of buses remains a sound one. The Conservatives, however, chose to ignore the opportunity.

The lack of consultation bothers me too. Yes, we all accept that cuts have to be made, but the idea that you withdraw bus service from places where new houses are being built in large numbers (another 300 or so under construction in Cedars Park as I type), seems ludicrous. Add to the fact that there is a significant elderly population in Stowupland, and also a fair bit of social housing, likely to be inhabited by people who can't afford cars, and this looks like a poor decision taken by a portfolio holder who doesn't care.

I should declare an interest. I don't drive, and use the community bus that serves Creeting St Peter to go to work. I don't actually use route 87 or 87A, but if I lived in Stowupland, I would. What I do know is that, in a county that has a 'Greenest County' portfolio, cutting a main public transport artery like this sends out a clear signal that the Conservatives talk a good game but act like vandals.

It looks like I'm part of the vole-untary sector... a weekend in Suffolk...

My cute friend here is suddenly a minor celebrity in these parts, having appeared in the latest Stowupland Focus, as part of a story about the threat to our local nature reserve.

Yes, it's time for another Focus, with stories on buses - bad for Stowupland, good for Creeting St Peter, waste disposal and local government reorganisation, and Ros, Jamie and I were out in the brisk south-westerly winds, delivering them across the ward, and I'm delighted to say that we've very nearly finished, with just a few outliers still to deliver.

It's funny, but I actually enjoy delivering leaflets in my ward. People are surprisingly friendly, and they take a polite interest as I amble around, leaflet in hand. Occasionally, I get caught up in conversation, and it's a great way to get a perspective on what's happening in the community. And it has other positive effects, as I appear to be a bit lighter than I was when the campaign really got under way. I suspect that, if I am lucky enough to get elected, there might be a book in it, "The District Councillor Guide to a Better You".

But our weekend wasn't just about leaflets, there was an outing to Sudbury, where we had been invited for tea. I'd never been to Sudbury before, an omission which certainly surprised Ros, and it's a lovely little town, on the end of a little branch line off of the main East Anglia line at Marks Tey, on the River Stour. Andrew Phillips, our host, and his wife Penelope live in a house which runs down to the river, and we had a lively early evening before it was time to head back to mid-Suffolk.

On the way back, Ros had a moment of genius, and suggested that we have dinner at the Bildeston Crown, a 15th century coaching inn. Ros had the bream, whilst I plumped for the pigeon, served as roast, confit and pithivier (a miniature pie, with the leg bone of the pigeon stuck in the top). It was a mite on the fussy side for us villagers, but very good none the less, and washed down in my case by Suffolk's own lager, Calvors.

As we left, Ros noted some press cuttings, and her attention was drawn to a report of a rather rowdy public meeting during the 1885 General Election, when the Riot Act was read to the assembled throng, and seven, yes seven, policeman were required to restore order. Those were the days...

Just ten days away, the very first ever Stowupland Action Day!

Whilst the future of the Liberal Democrats is being decided in Cowley Street, as the two contenders for the Party Presidency hear their fate, the current, and still undefeated, incumbent will be on the road, supporting local activists. And here's an invitation from one of them to join her...

Stowupland Action Day - Saturday, November 13th

Dear All,

It gives me great pleasure to invite you to the first Stowupland Ward Action Day, in less than two weeks time.

Mid Suffolk have nominated the ward as a target for next year, and as, hopefully, the candidate, I would love to see as many of you as possible.

So, why come? What's the incentive? Well, we've got the Party President, Baroness Ros Scott, in attendance, and she'll be doing some resident surveying, we'll be laying on a soup and jacket potato lunch, and the distances are small. Besides, there isn't anywhere more central in the county.

We will provide more information once the final timings are known, but if you are coming, let us know so that we can make sure that there's food enough for all.

Many thanks in anticipation,

Mark Valladares

On the road again, as the gigs begin to run out...

Yes, as the end nears, this weekend brings the show to Kirkby-in-Ashfield and Huntingdon, and I'm on an East Midlands Train to Nottingham, fortified by a glass of white wine as we dash through Northamptonshire.

And apart from a mini falling out with my Regional Chair (she does pick her moments), I'm feeling pretty good. The next Stowupland Focus is now off the drawing board and with my printer, with delivery expected to begin next weekend, our first Action Day is scheduled, my delivery team has expanded (the joys of family!), and I've got a better grip on what I'd like to do now.

I do need to work on the residents survey though. A job for the weekend, methinks...