Yes, next Monday is what we used to call Whit Monday and to the people of Soham that means the Carnival. Ever since the new committee took over, Carnival day has been a sunny day and there is no reason to believe this year is going to be any different. If

Yes, next Monday is what we used to call Whit Monday and to the people of Soham that means the Carnival. Ever since the new committee took over, Carnival day has been a sunny day and there is no reason to believe this year is going to be any different. If you want a good day out with a parade of floats, a funfair, plenty to watch and do and a real ale tent, get up to the

rec on Monday.

If the long queue at the gate to get on to the field after the parade has gone by puts you off, why not go in earlier in the day and buy your ticket earlier so that you can walk straight in? The gates are open from 9.00am so go and have a look at the horses and avoid the queues.

Local Talent

Another attraction over the weekend is an exhibition by the Soham Art Group at the Viva Centre on Churchgate Street. There is an exhibition of their work on Saturday, 26th, Sunday 27th and Monday 28th from 10.00am to 4.00pm on Saturday and Sunday and from 10.00am to 6.00pm on Monday. There will be tea, coffee and biscuits - what more could you want?

Talking of the Viva organisation, the senior group will be producing their first play over the next three days from this evening (24th) to Saturday (26th). For a mere £6.00 you can see Alan Bennett's "riotous farce" Habeus

Corpus. Call the box office on 01353 722228.

What power!

At the last meeting of the Soham Town Council in April they approved the lopping of a tree in Budgens car park. It's nice to know that there is someone or thing that respects our council because soon after permission was granted the tree fell down of its own accord. Now a lot of trees and bushes wouldn't have waited for permission, but would have just fell down of their own accord. Well done Budgens.

New mere

I had a telephone call last week from a chap who was a bit confused. There had been a water-main leak on Mereside on Friday. Apparently several people had reported it and on the Saturday a chap came out and marked the problem area. The following week a gang of blokes arrived and dug a hole. What confused my friend was that they dug the hole on the opposite side of the road to the leak, which, by this time had moved a chunk of tarmac. In an effort to rectify the problem they went away and stayed away. This didn't actually help much!

By the time I went down to have a look there was water flowing across the road into the roadside grips. This would have been reasonable if the grips hadn't been blocked as water was backing up into the gutter. Could this be a cunning plan to refill the Mere and call it a tourist attraction? Or could it be something else?

Give a bit

The good people from the Blood Donation Service will be at the Pavilion again next Wednesday (30th). From 1 until 3 and from 4.30 until 7 they will be more than happy to see you. You'll get a cup of tea (or coffee if you must), a biscuit and a nice lie down and it won't cost you a penny.

If you've never been before, it doesn't hurt. Well, to be honest, there is a little sting, but it doesn't amount to anything, and you get a real feeling of having done something really worthwhile for very little effort. If you go often enough you get a badge. How can you refuse an offer like that?

Walkies

Jake the spaniel is quite impressed with the way the verges on Fordham Road have been mown. It appears to have released thousands more smells as walking along that particular stretch takes far longer these days. One thing seems to be puzzling him, though. Over the past few weeks someone has thoughtfully thrown a bag of fried chicken wrappers carefully tied in a polythene bag onto the verge. Whoever cut the verge obviously didn't want to disturb the bag of rubbish as he or she carefully cut around it leaving the bag undisturbed. I could tell that Jake couldn't work this out by the puzzled look in his eyes as he proudly stood on three legs and totally missed yet another post.

Good job, well done!

Our new rulers in the Grange have said that their main priority is to create more jobs in the district. If they can manage that they will have done everyone in the area a great service and they are to be supported. Let's hope that their definition of the district extends further than the boundaries of the City of Ely.

They seem to have an ally in East Cambs' new employee, Mr. Hughes, who is head of planning and economic development, which, presumably, includes trying to get some more jobs in the district. I read that Mr. Hughes' department comprises a team of over 40. If he keeps this up he should be a great success; we'll all have jobs trying to get jobs in the district.