WITH the current Covid-19 protocol inhibiting clients from entering the building whenever possible, I find myself yearning for the good old days when there was a busy waiting area and the background murmuring of discussion about pets was audible from the consulting room. Sometimes I can shut my eyes and drift back in time… I opened the waiting room door and took a few steps. Time froze as a sea of expectant faces turned anxious eyes towards me. Most of the owners were chatting or reading newspapers but every canine was aware and looking at me. I paused and thought how different dogs are different things to different people.
IT’S a huge part of Southend’s heritage and identity but it’s fair to say that the pier has had more comebacks than Frank Sinatra. Exactly 50 years ago the future of the pier was hanging in the balance - and not for the first time. Four-year-old Cheryl Byfield, from Rayleigh, had almost died after plunging through rotting planks after jumping off a bench onto the pier deck. A rotten plank sea-sawed and tiny Cheryl fell through the gap and plunged 30ft into the water below. Fortunately the tide was just deep enough to carry her to a stanchion and she clung on for dear life.
IN SCENES reminiscent of the Handforth Parish Council meeting which took the internet by storm earlier this year, a councillor was removed from a virtual meeting. The Carterton Town Council meeting on Tuesday descended into chaos after its former mayor was removed while she was speaking. Lynn Little said she was ‘chopped off after raising concerns about an application on the agenda’ therefore her vote was ‘not able to count’. Earlier this year, a bitter row between Mrs Little and the council was resolved after accusations of her misappropriating public funds were dismissed. Meanwhile, the town’s current mayor, Nick Leverton, said that allegations of bullying made by Mrs Little were found to be unfounded and that case also dismissed.
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