WALRUS 56

The Mersey Pirate Muster is coming to New Brighton on Sunday August 7th 2011 when over one hundred pirates will storm Fort Perch Rock in the battle for the Black Rock Mermaid’s Purse.
This is a free fun filled family event where you can meet the Captains and crews of the Mersey Pirate Navy, join our Pirates’ Parade, watch the battle with cannons, muskets and swords, sign the Muster Book, and possibly take part in a world record attempt for greatest number of pirates in one place (if you come dressed as a pirate that is.)

11 AM TO 5 PM, Sunday August 7th 2011.

www.merseypiratemuster.com

My year in office is rapidly coming to a close, and I will be passing over The Chain and its associated responsibilities to my Deputy, Cllr. Moira McLaughlin.

Having served a year as Deputy, then Mayor, I have met many wonderful people, and visited many fantastic places. I have been to so many functions at the Floral Pavilion, ranging from award presentations, to the Spotlight on Youth concert and pantomime that it feels like my second home!

New Brighton has figured largely in my year of office, 2010/11.

I am pleased to see SS. Peter and Paul’s Church has been re-opened, with Mass served in Latin. This is a huge success for the dedicated band of campaigners who refused to accept the closure of this beautiful church back in 2008. Well done to all concerned.

I have visited as many schools as possible, or hosted their visits to The Mayor’ Parlour. The children are so eager to learn about their home town, and are fiercely proud New Brighton. The future will be in safe hands, I have no doubt!

HRH Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall visited the Sea Cadet Corps and Royal Marine Cadets at T.S.Astute. She commented on the very high standard of turnout, and the precision of the marching drill.

Another very proud moment was the naming of the Ian Fraser Walk in November 2010. A fitting memorial to one of Wirral’s heroes, and Wallasey’s Victoria Cross holder. It is planned to erect plaques at each end of Ian Fraser Walk, for the benefit of future generations telling how Lt. Commander Fraser won his Victoria Cross in his “X Class” midget submarine in World War 2.

It was an honour for me to meet Ian’s family on such a wonderful occasion.

While I’m on the theme of bravery, I cannot leave out New Brighton’s lifeboat crew and their supporting members. These men and women are the epitome of selfless bravery. When their pagers go off, they all drop what they are doing and get to the lifeboat station as fast as they can. They never know what to expect when they arrive at the rescue point. The only thing that is guaranteed is that they will put themselves in peril for the benefit of others. The New Brighton crew members have won a remarkable 48 awards for gallantry, which speaks for itself. Well done, and Thank You all!

The regeneration of New Brighton is coming along a treat! The hotel, the supermarket and other buildings are coming on in leaps and bounds. They will attract many more visitors to the area, ready to spend their money and boost the economy of the area.

New Brighton Model Boat Club has settled into its new home, and the new boating lake is in full swing, with some spectacular models on display. Even the Swans are back!

I have had the honour of presenting the coveted Green Flag Award to Vale Park twice! Once as Deputy Mayor, and again as Mayor. These particular presentations have been welcome opportunities to sit down and relax in a busy schedule, and listen to a fabulous Brass Band concert. Thanks to everyone concerned for keeping Vale Park in such lovely, award-winning condition, and creating an oasis of tranquillity.

Finally, let me thank the hard working team led by Rusty Keane for giving up their time to produce this fine magazine. New Brighton Walrus really keeps people informed about what is happening in New Brighton, and is a valuable community asset. Keep up the good work.

EMMANUEL CHURCH OF ENGLAND

154 SEABANK ROAD, NEW BRIGHTON

[ opposite The Flying Dutchman ]

WHAT’S ON

SUNDAYS:

9.45am Morning Service with Sunday School

TUESDAYS:

9.15-11.15am Little Hands – Mums and Tots

WEDNESDAYS:

from 5pm Beavers; Cubs; Guides

THURSDAYS:

9.30am Morning Service

7.30pm Scouts

FRIDAYS:

from 5pm Rainbows; Brownies

SATURDAYS:

10.30am Coffee is served in the Annexe

at the front of the church,

12.30pm and the Church is open for prayer.

SUMMER FAIR:

from 11.30am Saturday 25^th June

CONGRATULATIONS to the cast and crew of BENTLEY:Road to Justice. What a brilliant night!
We managed to bring home three trophies.
The Adjudicator’s award – Roger Lancelyn Green trophy for Best Director – Bev Clark
The runner-up to best production -The Hesketh trophy beaten by the brilliant Phoenix Theatre production which took the prize.
and winner of The Merseyside trophy of The ALL England Theatre Festival taking us forward to the north west final in cumbria next month
Also
nominations for best actress Val Marshall as Iris Bentley pipped at the post by Jan Gavin from Phoenix
and for supporting roles – our James Woodfinden and Cheryl Laverick – well done all three!
The whole cast were there apart from poor David who took “break a leg” quite literally and ended up in hospital

We are off to Grange over sands on 7th May but of course before that we are in Blackpool for NODA awards on 1st May.

Hand in Hand are delighted that we have continued our festival success this year – thanks to everyone who took part or helped in anyway or came to support us.

WELL DONE!

What is Pyjama Drama?  A fun, creative programme combining drama, movement, music and play for babies and children up to seven years old. Classes are designed to develop key social skills while igniting the imagination.  Our unique drama classes for children are packed full of drama games and activities, original songs and music, movement and of course, lots of pretending and role-play.  The baby sessions (6-18 months) use drama to engage the children and draw them into a world of play whilst developing imagination.  Three week trials are available.  For all enquiries call Sarah on 0844 504 9377 or email sarahq@pyjamadrama.com

In the News:

We have just launched a major campaign to raise £50,000 towards crew training and equipment for the volunteers of our station.

Our equipment and the conditions we operate in require considerable training and it also takes a heavy toll on personal & operational equipment. It costs £1,214 to train a crew member per year – a dry suit costs £319, lifejacket £222, Helmet £166 – equipment modeled by our Mayor – Alan Jennings at the opening of the campaign.

If you can help us by donation or involvement in some activity to raise funds that would be great – for more information please phone: RNLI on 0161 787 8779 or email north@rnli.org.uk

Operations:

The last 2 months have been manic at the station – each week seeing several ‘shouts’ – in particular:

5^th March at 3am – called out by Liverpool Coastguard as a fire reported on board Pilot Boat ‘Dunlin’ out in Liverpool Bay – our inshore lifeboat ‘Charles Dibdin’ was in action.

Between 21^st and 24^th March our Hovercraft ‘Hurley Spirit’ was involved in 3 ‘shouts’ – a man reported missing on Crosby shore and 2 incidents involving jetski’s in the Widnes area.

26^th March saw lifeboat and hovercraft in the rescue of 3 yachtsmen near the entrance to the Manchester Ship Canal.

2^nd April at 4am saw a large commercial trawler aground on Taylors Bank with gearbox failure – this was a joint operation with Hoylake lifeboat ‘Lady of Hilbre’ to recover the trawler to safety in Langton Dock.

The pilot boat & trawler rescues featured on the BBC NW News.

For more information on these and other rescues please have a look at www.rnli.org.uk web site – select the ‘In Your Area’ tab and go to New Brighton lifeboat station. There you will find press reports, photographs and now videos of these and other activities at the station.

Exhibition:

Our exhibition ‘Lifeboats On Call’ by Wallasey Amateur Photographic Society – that recorded 12 months in the life of our station was a great success but has now finished at the Williamson Art Gallery & Museum in Birkenhead.

If you missed it – the good news is that it will re-open at Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral from 26^th April till 13^th May – see www.lifeboats-oncall.org.uk

4th Wallasey (St Andrews) Scout Group is open to boys and girls from 6 years to 13 ½ and meetings are held at St Andrews Church Hall, Rowson Street.

Our Colony of Beavers has grown and we are currently looking for helpers. Beavers are aged 6 to 8 years and meet from 5.00 p.m. to 6.15 p.m.  Activities include, games, crafts, badges, outings, etc.  You do not have to commit to every week, but if you would consider going on a rota, or can help in any way, we would love to hear from you.  So, if you would like to share the fun on a Friday evening, please contact Sue on 0151 639 7572.

Inspector Mike Barrett
East Wallasey – April 2011

I am pleased to be able to report real progress over the last 12 months. We have been working closely with the council, our partners and local communities to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour. As a result, counting all crime from March 2010 and comparing it to March 2011,  Wallasey has seen 45 fewer victims of crime.

Please continue to pass on community intelligence and information to our Police Officers and PCSO’s, without this, many of our operations and initiatives could not have taken place, after all if its your problem its our problem.

Making our neighbourhood safer is a priority for your neighbourhood team. My aim is to make sure you know how to contact us if you have any concerns and to update you regularly on our progress with the issues that you tell us we should be tackling as a priority.

If you have any information that would help then, please call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 anonymously. Thank you for your help.

Arrests, charges and convictions:

170
Bottles and cans
of alcohol seized
from underage
people during
March

Following a Burglary in Penkett Road, New Brighton members of your neighbourhood team chased and arrested two males from the Wallasey area; both are now on Police bail whilst further evidence is gathered.

Lee Nichols 34 years of Trafalgar Road, Wallasey pleaded guilty to several shop lifting offences in Liscard. He received a 12-week prison sentence suspended for 12 months at Wirral Magistrates Court.

A 20 – year old man from the Wallasey area has been charged with being concerned in the supply of a Class A controlled drug namely  cocaine. He has been bailed to Wirral Magistrates Court.

A 16-year-old youth from the Poulton area of Wallasey has been charged with four offences of supplying a controlled drug, namely crack cocaine and diazepam. He has been bailed to Liverpool crown Court.

Crime Prevention

• Never leave indications that you are not home. For example never leave your bins out after being emptied and never leave notes indicating no one is home. An unoccupied home is an easy target criminals will look for.
• Keep all outside sheds, storages, gates or entries to your property closed and pad locked with high quality locks.

For more information, please visit
www.merseyside.police.uk/crimeprevention

Did you know…

Free Property Register
You can register your personal
property such as mobile phone, MP3
player, laptop, sat nav, bicycle or other
valuables for free by visiting
www.immobilise.com.
This is an online checking service
used by all the UK police forces to
trace owners of lost and stolen
property. It only takes a minute to
create your own private and secure
portfolio. If your property is then lost or
stolen, Immobilise can assist the
police in investigating criminal activity
involving stolen goods.

Wallasey Sea Cadets is a Uniformed Youth Group for Boys & Girls aged 12 to 18, Our Unit HQ is at Victoria Rd Wallasey Merseyside CH45 9LD (Opposite St James Church).

Tel 01516391743

Royal Marine Cadets. Boys aged 13 to 18 Parade Monday & Friday. 1900

Sea Cadets Boys & Girls Ages 12 to 18 Parade Tuesday & Friday 1900

Please bring a parent or guardian on your first visit just to sign the insurance paperwork.

Wallasey Sea Cadets is an Independent Charity and we receive no funding from The Royal Navy Or MOD, All funds needed for the running and upkeep of the unit and boat house are raised by the committees, staff and cadets.

Spring is here with the opening of the boating season. The staff are working hard on renovations and then the boathouse will open fully. The Local Youth Forum has helped us get an additional Laser Pico on the water for this season.

Well done to the Wallasey Sea Cadets Drill Teams for getting through to national and the Shooting team for 2^nd at Area.