Tamworth Blog

Sweets - Pic: Louise Paisley

Go back in time as you step into Mr Simms sweet shop that has opened next to Scoop charity shop in Tamworth.

Your eyes will be wide making you feel a child again. Shelves reaching high of many jars which have chilhood memorys the mouth once enjoyed.

The outside, with its tall and slim black sign in grand victorian letters, tempting you into Mr Simms sweet world.

Sherbet lemons, jelly babys, black jacks, gobstoppers so big takes you weeks to suck them down to a size to put them in mouth.

Walk in and your memorys will came flooding back.  I’ll guarentee you won’t walk out empty handed.

Pancakes - Pic: Gwyn Fisher

Tamworth is the place to be for panacke fun on Tuesday 16th February 2010 starting 12noon at the Peel Status, Market Street, Tamworth.

Tamworth Rotary Club are holding a fun day to celebrate pancake day which this year falls on February 16th just after Valentines day.

Pancake Day or Shrove Tuesday (the Tuesday which falls 41 days before Easter) is the traditional feast day before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday.

Lent – the 40 days leading up to Easter – was traditionally a time of fasting, and on Shrove Tuesday Christians went to confession and were “shriven” (absolved from their sins). It was the last opportunity to use eggs and fats before embarking on the Lenten fast and pancakes are the perfect way of using up these ingredients.

Some parts of Britain celebrate the day with pancake races. The oldest and most famous is held at Olney in Buckinghamshire. The race is run over 415 yards by women aged sixteen or older. They must flip their pancake in the frying pan at least three times during the race. The winner receives a kiss from the Pancake Bell Ringer – church bells were traditionally rung to remind parishioners to come to confession – and a prayer book from the vicar.

Fancy dress of your choice is optional and all proceeds will be going to local charitys plus Tamworth Rotary Club.

For entry forms and more details – RTN Doreen Boothman on 01543 – 473617 or tamworthrotary@btinternet.com

River Anker - Pic: Paulette Sedgwick.

Multi Agency River Clean up of Tamworth Town Centre Water Ways involving Tamworth Borough Council, Sea scouts, Fire Service, Police,Street Wardens (TBC), Street Scene(TBC),Environment Agency, The Angling Trust, HSBC Volunteers, Staffordshire Youth Service and more.

Anyone wishing to volunteer for the day meet at Holloway Car Park 9.30am for registration and health and safety brief.

Main activities will include litter picking, helping collate items recovered from the river, scrub clearance, information awareness on litter, fly tipping and pollution plus more plenty for everyone.
It will be a good day drinks provided, people are asked to dress appropriatley.

Traffic Madness in Tamworth on Friday Jan 29 - Pic: Paulette Sedgwick

Tamworth has come to a standstill this morning (Friday January 29), unable to go down Albert Road or Lower Gungate as its shut untill end of March 2010.

Traffic at lunch time goes past the courts, police station and around Aldergate, with inpatient drivers attacking there horns because nothing is moving.

Even though the National grid and South Staffordshire Water acknowledge there will be some disruption with the roads being closed, they said all access to business and properties will remain unaffected and will be accessible at all times.

Work is being carried out on the gas mains wotj contractors working to replace the pipes.  The work is expected to continue untill March 2010, ontop of this, as part of the on going mains rehabilitation programme, the water mains and service pipes in Albert Road and Lower Gungate are having restoration work. The work will last for 4 weeks.

Street parking bays may be temporarily suspended so that a safe working area for pedestrians and crew are maintained. At times, traffice will then be reduced to a single lane working to provide access for working space. During these times temporary traffice signals will be in use.

South Staffs said, ‘

“We will try to complete this necessary work as quickly as possible and keep any distruption to a minimum. Our liasion staff will be on site to assist and advice anyone during the duration of the works. The work carried out is essential to sercure the supply of clean and healthy water for the future”.

Anyone with questions or require information regarding the work being carried out can contact Peter Hanson the Customer Liasion Officer on 07702 759666.

Any issues relating to South Staffs water or the water mains replacement thats being carried out can contact Lee Webster on 07855 437751

Traffic Cones - Pic: Ian Britton

National Grid will be commencing work to replace existing gas mains and services in public roads with a polyethelene pipe to comply with regulation’s imposed by Health and Safety Executive on week commencing 21st January 2010 until 31st March 2010

Replacement of gas mains in Albert Road and Lower Gungate in Tamworth.

As a Gas Transporter, National Grid has powers to replace the main without the need to acquire consent from owners or landlords. These are set out in the Gas Act Schedule that deal with powers to break up streets in relation to any street which has been laid out wheather adopted or privately owned.

Leaflets have been delivered to propertys in Albert Road and Lower Gungate giving under law 7 days notice before work commences plus a road sign is at the end of Albert Road.

All the reinstatement work will be compliant with both New Roads and Street Works Act stipulations and Gas Act obligations to reinstate all disturbed services to condition existing prior to entry being taken.

If you require more information in relation to this matter please contact there call centre 0800 521 660

An early Christmas present for Tamworth motorists may be in store with Tamworth Borough Council cabinet members discussing free parking in the town centre for the two Saturdays before Christmas, making getting those final gifts that little bit easier.

The suspension of parking charges on the next two Saturdays (December 12 and 19) will be discussed at the next cabinet meeting this Thursday (December 10).

Leader of the Council, Councillor Bruce Boughton said:

“The idea behind the change is so that people can get real value from the free parking.

“Saturday is usually the busiest shopping day and we want to give our local businesses a boost as well. Traditionally we choose the two days before Christmas but I know that most people have already finished their Christmas shopping by then and we want people to really feel the benefits of this gift from the council.”

It’s not all great news though, at the same meeting the cabinet will be discussing the rise of parking charges across the town, which happens every 2 years and this year will see a rise in the charges to use the Council run off-street car parks.

Councillor Boughton commented:

“Given the current economic climate, the increase in parking charge is unfortunately inevitable.

“We have delayed the increase for as long as possible as we did not want the increase to hit people before Christmas. Every two years the parking charges are assessed to make sure that we are covering any costs and the recession has had a knock on effect causing many organisations to face difficult financial decisions. Although the prices look set to rise we are still offering value for money and keeping prices down as low a possible compared to other councils in the region and privately run car parks.”

We will publish information on whether parking at the Borough Council run car parks will be free the next two weekends as well as information about next years increases.

Operation Nemesis

This morning, Tuesday December 1, Staffordshire Police arrested 13 people on suspicion of supplying heroin and cocaine, after series of dawn raids across the town.

The raids come after months of detailed investigation and planning by the forces Serious and Organised Crime Department and Trent Valley Division and involved around 200 Police Officers who targeted addresses across Tamworth in what is described as the biggest Police operation in Tamworth’s history.

Whilst the early morning raids were focussed on enforcing the law and taking drug dealers off the streets of Tamworth, Staffordshire Police and a number of partners are working together to provide support and services to those who have been effected by drugs in Tamworth.

The raids took place just before dawn across multiple addresses in Tamworth, including Stonydelph, Bolehall, Amington, Leyfields, The Leys and Glascote as well as the town centre itself.

Police Entering the Property in Bolehill

Accompanying the Police to the scene of one of the raids on Bolehill we were invited to see the operation in action.

The raid took place at 6.40am in Bridgewater Street, with Police making their way through and searching the property.  Whilst the person they weren’t on the scene, Police found drug paraphernalia and the search of the property was still on going.  To aid the search Officers used sniffer dogs as well as a traditional search.

However, the Police received information on where their chief suspect was and an arrest was made just around the corner from the property raided during the early morning operation.

As part of the operation, each location Police Officers raided saw a flag bearing contact details and operation details erected, allowing neighbours to understand what was happening and of course, hopefully seeing more people come forward with more information.

Property Raided in Bolehill

Speaking to Tamworth Blog, Assistant Chief Constable, Mick Harrison said:

“This morning has gone pretty well, we have carried out a series of warrants across Tamworth today and it appears to have been a successful morning, targeting drug dealers who have been bringing misery to Tamworth residents.”

When asked about why Staffordshire Police chose to focus on the drug problem in Tamworth, Assistant Chief Constable Harrison continued:

“We have surveyed a lot of the community and they say the dealing of drugs is one of those problems. It’s part of our service to react to these problems.

“We have been working on this for some while collecting intelligence, turning that into evidence and this is the final stage, carrying out 17 raids across Tamworth and the Midlands.”

One of the men arrested in this mornings raids

The raids are the first stage of the operation in Tamworth, the next stage is engaging communities and working with partners to assist those who have been effected by the drugs in Tamworth.  Assistant Chief Constable Harrison continued:

“Enforcement is the first stage, we want to galvanise communities to show we are responding to their concerns, but we also working with other partners including Tamworth Borough Council and Health Partners who assist with the treatment. So those who are effected by drug addiction can get into programmes and get treatment to get off drugs.

“It’s not just about enforcement but also the treatment of those on drugs.”

The raids though aren’t the only events to happen today, the Police will be visiting Schools to talk to school children about the evils of drugs.  Assistant Chief Constable Harrison continued;

“Our officers and PCSO’s will also be going into schools talking to young people about the evils of drugs.  It is a joined up package to tackle all aspects of drugs and drug dealing.”

The raids which were on the same scale of those made in Stoke-on-Trent earlier in the year under the Operation Nemesis, one which Staffordshire.  Assistance Chief Constable Harrison said:

“If people feel they can take the place of those who have been taken out, they best watch out, as we’ll be after them too.”

In total, the early morning raids have seen 13 arrests made across the town including:

• three men aged 19, 24 and 34 in the town centre area
• two men aged 27 and 28 in Bolehall
• a 28 year-old woman and 25 year-old man in Stonydelph
• a 33 year-old woman and 36 year-old man in Riverside area
• a 23 year-old man in Belgrave
• a 27 year-old man in Coton
• a 21 year-old man in Leyfields
• a 31 year-old man in Glascote.

All those arrested have been taken to Burton-upon-Trent Police Station to await a hearing later this week.

Following the raids, their has been a Neighbourhood newsletter distributed to more than 3,000 Tamworth homes telling residents  about today’s arrests and appealing for any more information about drug use in their neighbourhoods.

Throughout today both there are numerous partner events taking place, including a door to door campaign and a huge presence by the Tamworth Borough Council Street Scene team and wardens throughout the town.

Staffordshire Primary Care Trust and South Staffordshire and Shropshire Healthcare Foundation Trust will also be boosting capacity to assist those whose lives are being blighted by drugs.    Both are working in partnership with the Police to identify where resources would be best targetted in assiting those who are suffering from drug misuse.

Stuart Poynor, Chief Executive of the South Staffordshire Primary Care Trust, said:

“We fully endorse the actions taken to tackle drugs misuse which we know destroys families and damages communities.

“The NHS in South Staffordshire is working in partnership with police to target resources where we will make the most difference because we want to ensure that people receive support to successfully complete treatment and re-establish their lives.

“Our priority is the health and well being of the people of South Staffordshire.”

Sue Parkes, Head of Substance Misuse Services for South Staffordshire and Shropshire Healthcare Foundation Trust, added:

“We provide the direct clinical care for those suffering from drug misuse so we know from first hand experience, the misery drugs bring to individuals and families.

“Our clinical staff, including doctors and nurses, assess and treat individuals according to their needs.

“The treatment is based on rehabilitation and recovery and with clear action plans involving patients and their families, which are regularly monitored by clinicians.”

Police are still appealing for anyone who suspects activities linked to drug dealing in their neighbourhoods to contact them either on 0300 123 44 55 or call Crimestoppers for free and anonymously on 0800 555 111.

For more information on drug support and treatment services in Tamworth, drug users and their concerned relatives can call:

B.N.P. Graffiti Across the Town

A recent spate of BNP graffiti is currently being investigated by police in Tamworth. The BNP slogan has been sprayed in several places around the town centre and Bolehall area over the last couple of weeks.

If you have any information about who is responsible for this graffiti you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

UPDATE – 24/11 – 3.30pm

The graffiti in the underpasses has now been cleaned returning the underpasses to their former state.

Christmas Toys at Market - Pic: Patrick Lauke

Tamworth Market is to receive an early sprinkling of Christmas cheer with a one day Christmas market on Wednesday November 25 in St Editha’s Square.

Don’t worry though, this one day event is in addition to Tamworth’s Traditional Christmas Market which will run from December 17.  Think of this one day as a warm up to the big event.

The Christmas market will see a full range of stores and free family entertainment, including Father Christmas walking around the town centre.  There will be a brass band playing Christmas Carol’s, getting you into the spirit of Christmas.  For the kiddies there will be balloon modelling and face painting, as well as awards for the best dressed stalls.

Ankerside's Christmas Decorations already up

So, we are in early November, Halloween has just passed as has Bonfire Night, this weekend also see’s the 2nd Tamworth Firework Spectacular but, Tamworth is already being dressed for the Christmas season.

Is this to early?  Everyone knows that this year has seen the longest recession in our lifetime, so is this just a way for the shops to spread the Christmas period as long as possible?

Ankerside Shopping Centre have already got their annual decorations up and the Christmas lights are now being put up throughout the town centre for the great switch on late in November (27).

When are you putting your Christmas Decorations up?