What a great bungee jumping event at The White Horse on Saturday. Plenty of people took the leap from a cage suspended 200 feet above the ground, and the surrounding area was heaving with spectators. Those raising more than £50 for charity were able to jump for free.

I went up in the cage to take a film and that was hair raising enough without having to jump off the edge. Check out the video that I took of the occasion by clicking on the picture above.

Joe, 23/06/08

It's been a while since I added an article to this website, so I was glad to have the chance to interview Chris Stillman who grew up in Twerton in the 50s and 60s. You can read his memories of Twerton in the new article on the Articles Page called Memories of old Twerton #2. You can get to it by following the link here.

The photo opposite shows Chris standing near The Hut at Newton Road, which was once a classroom of the Infant School. I am interested in collecting more old memories and photos of Twerton, Whiteway and Southdown to put on this website before they are lost.

Joe, 16/06/08

Twerton's second PACT meeting took place at St Michael's Junior School on Tuesday evening. PACT meetings are designed to give the community a voice, by allowing residents to identify local problems that affect our quality of life. The panel ready to listen to people's concerns was made up of Twerton Councillors Tim Ball and Gerry Curran, Catherine Humphries the BANES Neighbourhood Environment Manager, PC Brendan Keegan the Twerton Beat Manager, and Dan Foster and Andy Isles from Somer Housing.

Members of the panel gave updates on what had been done to address issues raised at the previous PACT meeting. Andy Isles said that Somer plan to replace all communal doors to the blocks of flats in Twerton over the financial year. The new doors are much more difficult to kick in, as they open outwards and are backed by sandstone infill. The work will begin next week with Cadby House which suffered a serious arson attack not long ago.

Councillor Tim Ball gave details of some new youth provisions at Southside Youth Centre that have been funded by private businesses. A Tuesday boxing club which starts at 7pm has commenced, and there is to be a new Friday night session for teenagers. A basketball court and a vandal proof table tennis table have been installed, and bike racks are due to arrive soon.

Some other potential youth provisions that are still in the ideas stage were mentioned at the meeting. These include possible beatboxing sessions and the addition of a bench and perhaps lighting to Innox Park.

PC Brendan Keegan announced that the police have been successful in tackling burglaries in Twerton. Four youths were serving custodial sentences and a court case was coming up. An offender has admitted to 8 further burglaries including 6 in Twerton. PC Keegan warned people not to give burgulars an opportunity e.g. by leaving rear windows open so that one person might talk to you at the front door while his accomplice nips in at the back. You should call 999 if you see people acting suspiciously, as you won't be criticised if it proves to be a false alarm.

Then it was time to discuss in small groups which priorities should be brought to the panel's attention and to vote for the top 3 priorities. These turned out to be: 1) A desire for more police patrols on foot; 2) Community cleaning; 3) Improved community relations / awareness. The panel will now discuss plans for addressing those top three issues and will report on progress in the next PACT meeting.

This PACT meeting was attended by fewer people than the first, as a delay in the printing of leaflets had resulted in a lack of publicity. The need to publicise future meetings comprehensively and well in advance was stressed.

Joe, 03/06/08

Hundreds of people came to the Fun Day organised by the Southside Family Project at Bath City Farm on Saturday. The weather stayed warm and dry and the children especially seemed to really enjoy the occasion. A band from Wells called The Acoustic Mutineers played their music and there was a long queue for the face painting.

Top left: The Acoustic Mutineers; top right: Lucy with her children Solomon and Halle running a car boot stall. Bottom left: Anne painted as a racoon; bottom right: the barbecue.

Joe, 02/06/08