Winchester City Hand Back Keys To Ground

Just eight months ago, 20 August 2012, Winchester City were top of the league. The Twitter interaction between Winchester Today and Winchester City was one of immense pride. 

Let's face it, all of the editorial team here are nuts about football. All of us here thought this would be a fantastic year for the club. Indeed, for a while, the wins kept coming.

Just eight months later, City are rock bottom of the league, on the wrong end of a 10-0 hammering by Merthyr, points deducted - and now the keys of the ground have been handed back to Winchester City Council.

The City Council itself hopes the move will give the club breathing space to plan its future.

As landlord of the site at the North Walls Recreation Ground in Winchester, the City Council will now see that power is restored to the site, enabling the team to complete its fixtures for the season and also allowing the nursery that uses the buildings to return, much to the relief of local families which depend upon the service it provides.

The immediate cause of these problems was that the club has not been able to pay an electricity bill which led to power being shut down.

Keith Wood, the Leader of Winchester City Council, says they have been monitoring the situation at Winchester Football Club closely: "In view of the problems they have had I am pleased to say that the leaseholders have decided to hand back possession of the ground to the City Council. This enables us to take swift action to restore power to the site, allowing the club to finish the season and the nursery to use the premises again.  We are particularly concerned to ensure the nursery, on which many local parents depend, can reopen for the new term and this should now be possible."

He says they have been working closely with local MP Steve Brine and everyone has had to move quickly to resolve a difficult situation:  "Looking forward, we want to see a new community-based football club emerge which has its roots firmly in Winchester and which lives within its means.”

Winchester City Council will now be talking to interested parties about the future of the football club for next season and beyond.  

Go, Go Joseph!

Beccy Conway discovers THAT coat is still a dream ticket!

Review: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – The Mayflower, Southampton, 2 April 2013

Go-go-go Joseph! The dreamer is back and is taking his ‘coat of many colours’ on tour around the UK in director Bill Kenwright’s production of one of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s oldest and most successful musicals.

Starring Keith Jack, runner-up of the 2007 BBC television programme Any Dream Will Do, I defy anyone attending this dynamic production not to find themselves singing and dancing their way through some of the catchiest songs in show-business.

Jack first began playing the role of Joseph in 2010, and his performance demonstrates why he came so close to claiming the role six years ago; from his enormous smile and undeniable charisma, to his marvellous vocal control, he is a rightful leading-man.

Lauren Ingram guides us spiritedly through the narrative of the all-singing show, the varying pace of the score allowing her to present her voice’s wonderful range. 

Luke Jasztal’s satirical depiction of the Elvis-style Pharaoh has us all chuckling at ‘The King’ in his characteristic white Elvis suit with added Egyptian oomph.

The casting of Joseph’s eleven brothers has been done with great care, each brother exhibiting a different personality, in particular Benjamin played by the enthusiastic Benjamin Pomeroy, from Southampton.

For Benjamin and several others in the cast, this production of Joseph has seen them make their professional debuts, and it is great to see performers relatively early on in their careers helping generate such a fantastic show.

The show provides many comic moments, particularly the sheep which inflate rapidly onstage during the depiction of Joseph’s farming family, but sometimes struggle to remain upright, to big laughs from the audience. 

The one-liners from Jack and other cast members maintain the witty element of what is in part a rather brutal Biblical tale.

Designer Sean Cavanagh’s clever set with ascending steps on either side of the stage allows for a superb view from all angles, and the vibrant costumes, overseen by Felicity Jones, of course include Joseph’s intricate coat for the show’s conclusion.

The orchestra, under the direction of James McCullagh, pulls this exciting production together in a manner that only live musicians can.

Finally, the Joseph children’s choir provided by Salisbury and Downton Stagecoach, has the audience captivated from start to finish with their delightful voices and charming stage-presence.

Whether you’ve seen Joseph before or not, you’ll love this kaleidoscopic production, and will be humming its infectious tunes long after curtain has fallen.

4 stars out of 5

Joseph continues until Saturday 6th April, with 2 shows on Friday, and 3 shows on Saturday

Snippitty-Snip... David, This Won't Hurt At All!

There's taking art to its very extremes - and there's living your character - just ask Daniel Day-Lewis. Okay, maybe Cheriton isn't quite as big, but the sentiment is the same, and David Cradduck of the Cheriton Players is doing both too.

He's about to play a bald person in the Players' forthcoming production 'A Bolt From The Blue'  - and has taken the decision to shave his head to enjoy the role to the full and raise money for a worthy cause at the same time:

"I absolutely intended to go down the false latex bald cap route. But they only last one or two performances. It also takes an hour to do, you have to cut them to shape, then you have to do the make-up as well. Now, on a big stage, that's fine. But when you're sitting on top of the audience, like we are, they're going to see the join! Besides which - it's actually quite expensive and would probably have reached about £150 for all the performances. So I kept thinking about it, and that maybe one option was shaving my head. I discounted that immediately, but then kept coming back round in a loop over and over, so there we were."

David Cradduck goes under the shaver!
Kirsty Attrill from Chaps does the honours.
Picture: Miranda Johnson RM Communications

Winchester Today is of course delighted that David is raising money for Naomi House and jacksplace - which is the newspaper's nominated charity: "It costs millions of pounds a year to run the charity and it takes lots of little events like this to raise the money."

I ask David if he's regretting the decision: "Of course! Hugely. I've regretted it since I made it! But I can't let people down. My own daughter is sponsoring me, and I can't back out. I can't let her down; I just think that she wants to see what I look like bald! I don't think my wife is particularly enamoured about living with a snooker ball. But everyone in the play is proud of what I'm doing. The cast and crew, that is. Some have yet to dig deep. Come on guys!"

He explains why being bald is particular to his character: "That's the big joke... he's a hair specialist - and he's bald! You can actually have the character not being bald; the author has very kindly written the play with this opt-out. But then you lose all the good lines."
David has no idea how long it will take to grow back: "Just as long as it does!"

'A Bolt From The Blue' can be seen at Cheriton Village Hall from 24-27 April 2013 at 7.30pm. www.ticketsource.co.uk/cheritonplayers

Silver Hill Given Green Light By Pickles

Let's face it... tourists stopping off at Winchester's Bus Station might not exactly get the right impression of the city if they look right rather than left at the Guildhall. Well, both the station and surrounding streets now look set to be part of a multi-million pound redevelopment - as the Silver Hill scheme finally got the green light from Eric Pickles, following the approval of a Compulsory Purchase Order.

The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government has written to Winchester City Council giving his approval for the CPO which allows the re-development to take place.

In his decision the Secretary of State recognised the compelling case for the scheme in the public interest which he said would support the social, economic and environmental well-being of the area.

Cllr Keith Wood, Leader of Winchester City Council, says the decision is good news for Winchester: "It allows us to press ahead with much-needed improvements for the Silver Hill area and shows the huge confidence that exists in the economic future of Winchester. It has been quite a week for Winchester.  On Wednesday (20th March) Council adopted the Local Plan, meaning that the District is more in control of its planning decisions and its future.  Now we have the decision which unlocks a £100m scheme to re-develop a vital part of the city.”

An inspector’s report will give more detail on the Secretary of State’s decision.  The next steps will be for Winchester City Council to work on a timetable with development partners, Henderson Global Investors. 

Martin Perry, Development Director at Henderson Property, has also welcomed the news: "We are encouraged by the strong support that we have received from the local community, ranging from the business community to the City of Winchester Trust, and look forward to moving ahead with the next stage of development at this exciting scheme.”

The re-development covers six acres - around a quarter of Winchester city centre - and is the largest in the area since the Brooks Centre was built in the 1980s.  The proposals include retail and residential development around a network of streets that link to the existing High Street and Broadway. There will be a new public car park and bus interchange. The development will replace the existing surface car parking, the bus station and buildings from the 1950s and 60s.

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Just Relax... MRI and CT Scans Open at RHCH

You cannot deny that it's been a great year so far at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital. Following on from the new outpatients department, patients at the RHCH are once again able to benefit from world class state-of-the-art MRI and CT scan facilities. Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust opened the new building at the hospital in Winchester - part of a £10m project.

Work to replace the scanners and the building that houses them began in August 2012 after the previous scanner and building were destroyed by fire on Friday 9 December 2011.

Some of the features of the new building include:

·         Special glass on doors which goes opaque at the touch of a button to increase privacy and dignity for patients

·         Sunlight tunnels, which bring natural light in to the building through tubes in the ceiling

·         In the MRI scanning room, there are no corners to the walls, only curves, which combine with ambient lighting to provide a relaxing atmosphere for patients having scans.

Scanning services have been maintained on the Royal Hampshire County Hospital site throughout the duration of the building works, by using temporary scanning vehicles. These have been removed, meaning that more disabled and drop of space is available for the new Outpatient Department which opened in January.

MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scans are used to produce detailed images of the body. The scanner in the Royal Hampshire County Hospital unit is a Phillips Ingenia 1.5T. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields and radio waves to produce detailed images of the inside of the body. This is the latest wide bore scanner with improved technical features.

The new building also contains a new Discovery CT750HD CT scanner. CT (computerised tomography) scanners use X-rays to produce images of the inside of the patient’s body which are more detailed than standard X-rays. The CT scanner consists of an X-ray tube that rotates around the patient. The dosage is so low in this state of the art technology that it is the equivalent of an x-ray, which is better for patients.

Hampshire Hospitals Chief Operating Officer Donna Green says they are delighted to have been able to make the investment: "The new building not only contains the latest, state of the art scanning equipment but also is a light, welcoming and relaxing environment for people who may be anxious about attending for a scan. We even ran a photographic competition among the staff to choose the local images to be displayed within the unit. In the future, and in common with our new Outpatient Department at Royal Hampshire County Hospital, we plan to provide self check in kiosks to make it easier for patients to book in when they arrive.”

Between fifty and sixty patients per day use either MRI or CT scanning at Royal Hampshire County Hospital. Referrals come from within the hospital or from a patient’s GP and there is also a 24-hour-a-day scanning service.

Photo: Chief Operating Officer Donna Green is shown around the new facility by MRI/CT Lead Steve Ross.  (Jane Gordon HHFT)

MP Hopes for Swift Recovery at Winchester Prison

A report published into conditions at Winchester Prison makes for grim reading. The prison has been described in the HM Inspectorate of Prisons report as "overcrowded" and "deteriorated". 

Two severely disabled prisoners were found in a cell designed for one - they had not showered for months and relied on other prisoners to take them their meals. 

One third of the inmates told inspectors that illegal drugs were "easily available". More than half of the prisoners had felt unsafe at some time.

Chief Inspector of Prisons - Nick Hardwick - did say in the report though that many staff "did their best".

Frances Crook is the Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, and is said to be disturbed that the prison is in such a state, having previously had a good reputation.

Winchester's MP Steve Brine met with David Rogers the Governor of HMP Winchester, for their first formal discussion since Mr Rogers took over the running of the Romsey Road prison. It's understood that they both discussed what might be contained in the report. Steve Brine gave his reaction to the report to Winchester Today:

"The IMB Annual Report last Autumn did not make comfortable reading and people will remember it raised some serious areas of concern With another new Governor coming on board late last year, while it is no surprise the report of HM Inspectorate is so damning, its findings are no less disturbing.

“A busy local prison will always suffer from the constant churn of prisoners but I have been concerned for some time that constant changes in leadership were having a negative effect on the prison, not least in its ability to meet the key objective of reducing re-offending. I met very recently with our new Governor David Rogers and there is certainly no hiding from the bare truths of this report. I do however, share the inspector’s view that there are positive signs of a determined effort to tackle Winchester’s problems, including a very tough new programme to tackle the high prevalence of drugs. The new prison team now need the stability and the space to put this right.”

Red Noses Add Warmth for Comic Relief

Students at Peter Symonds College made sure the warmth of the cause went straight to their noses to ward off the cold and rain on Red Nose Day.

Around 40 staff and pupils lined up to take part in their Fun Run... and the rain actually held off but only until just before the run started!

They all dressed up for the occasion, as you can see from our fantastic picture.

Well done to everyone for raising more than £300 for the cause.

Pictured left to right: Charlotte Wareham, Jack Mitchell, Lauren Drake and Harry Carter.