TOPIC:

One of the Flea Market traders has told me that there is to be a 6 week consultation of the future direction of Walcot Street by the city elders in the next few weeks, and he is keen on reinstating the festival with the closure of the street for the entire Sunday.

I said that this would be unlikely given the police attitude to it in the past, but I said I would alert The Bell to the discussion as an interested party.

I am sure that you all already know about it but some of the regulars may not.

P.S. The Council consultation is to cover all aspects of Walcot Street, not just the street party issue that is probably dead in the water, so all residents, shops, restaurants and businesses are invited to contribute to it.

I don't see why we can't close the street again. Softly softly 'n' all. We closed it for the lantern procession last year, and will again...
My only issue is with people who go "oh yeah wow we should do that" without knowing or thinking about how much work it is to make one of those happen.

I think it was the blocking of the street (by thousands of drunk people) more than the closing of it which the police objected to. When the last street festival was on, Ladymead House was still a residential home for the elderly, and an ambulance had to be called to it. I think it took ages to reach the stricken resident, if it got there at all. There is a huge difference between the street festival and a lantern procession.

The police also commented that the security staff seemed to be as inebriated as the revellers (I couldn't possibly comment about that!).

I think that if people do want a street party and enough people are willing to organise it, a case could be put for a one-day closure on the grounds that Ladymead House is now private flats, and trained security could be paid to be there as they would do at any other festival, but I know of quite a few residents (and regulars) who would object to it if they knew it was coming, not least the residents of The Paragon who have complained about noise in the past. I liked them when I had bolt-holes to escape to (Rod's shop, my workshop in Walcot Rec, etc.)

This consultation covers more than a one-day event by the sound of it. I don't know if The Bell is going to get involved in the 'Future of Walcot Street' discussion, but I think it should.

What blocked the street as much as the thousands of drunk people were the several unlicensed and unrequested 'sound systems' blaring out their clashing rackets, each one surrounded by their loyal 'posses'. Sadly neither the organisers nor the police had the power to tell them to cease and desist. I remember being part of a myriad of anxious souls shuffling disconsolately and anxiously from one discordant bottleneck to the next. The atmosphere, which in previous years had been that of a village fete, had become one of urban paranoia. Walcot Nation Days were great, but those times are gone.