The bonus of Parliament being prorogued last week has been a week spent in the constituency, attending a number of events that I would not have otherwise been able to get to due to duties in Westminster. It was lovely to be at Braishfield Parish Council’s annual meeting on Tuesday night, with something of an unexpected Q&A session for me. Needless to say the recent Planning and Infrastructure Act was pretty high on the agenda, and it was a bit of an impromptu refresher course on planning for me. It is now 15 years since I sat on the TVBC Southern Area Planning Committee, and as I always tell people, I am very rusty on planning and have no say over the decisions made by your locally elected Councillors!
It was wonderful to have a reminder of the recent visit of Braishfield Primary School to Parliament. I always enjoy school visits, primary pupils have the best questions, so it was a shame to have missed the school visit by Saint George’s this week. They are booked so far in advance there was no way of knowing that we would all be absent, but I hope they had a great tour, even though it will have been a great deal quieter.
This weekend we are marking the birthday of Florence Nightingale in Wellow Church, where she is buried in a grave simply marked with her initials. It is an annual event in Wellow, attended by nurses from all round the country and a number from overseas, to celebrate her life and mark her achievements as the founder of modern nursing. I will also be at the service in Westminster Abbey next week, which I know will be absolutely packed. It is a beautiful commemoration and celebration of her life, and I know what a privilege it is to be Florence’s MP even if posthumously.
The season of village fetes is upon us once more, and it was a real pleasure to be asked to judge the children’s fancy dress at the Upper Clatford May Fayre on Bank Holiday Monday. With it being May the 4th there was a wonderful Star wars theme, and a very cute Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia twosome, but the winner was a fantastic Ahsoko Tano. Huge congratulations to all the parents who had put in a great deal of work and creativity. I know this weekend, more locally, there is Awbridge Village Fete and also West Tytherley, both of which are usually brilliantly attended and a great afternoon’s entertainment.