- Letters to the Editor...
"Traffic Wardens Give Southport A Bad Taste."
Dear Editor
"ON May 10 I was given a thirty-pound parking ticket in the town of Southport. I hadn't noticed the pay and display notices…The traffic warden representative suggested that if I couldn't read the signs, perhaps I should not be driving.
Fair enough…but I asked for a freebee citing my service to U.K.
In 1941, I was 18 years old and medically unfit for service in the Canadian Air Force so I stoked my passage from British Columbia to Liverpool to help deliver the Royal Mail Ship Empress of Asia to the admiralty so she could be converted into troop shop.
The recruiters like what they saw and there was a bidding war for my services but I joined the R.A.F. and trained as a fighter pilot.
At the end of the European war the Canadian Government took me and other surviving Canadians and repatriated us to Canada. I was paid a very good war gratuity by the Canadians - The British didn't give me a de-mob suit or a thank you letter.
I brought these facts to the attention of the parking people to support my request for a freebee. But they didn't budge.
I was on my way back from Edinburgh Castle. A buddy had been shot down on Ramree Island in February 45 and red tape had delayed his inclusion in the book of remembrance. The curator advised me be letter that he was now included but I went to make sure there wasn't an S.N.A.F.U.
I ended the war as a Flt. Sgt. Pilot and I earned every bit of my pay. I gave good service. Perhaps old age has made me grouchy but I still think I am entitled to one freebee."
Barrett Lumley (Canadian address supplied)
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Lights, camera and action in Sefton
LIGHTS! Camera! Action! is likely to become a familiar cry in and around South Sefton this summer as local people get the opportunity to take a role in a big screen film project, thanks to financial backing from the Community Foundation for Merseyside and the involvement of a leading screenwriter and a major pop star!
Individuals aged from ten to 90 will be offered hands-on experience of all aspects of film making and production, and some will feature as actors and extras in the movie, a fictional drama focusing on South Sefton and the lives of the people of Salisbury House.
The project was launched this week following a decision by the Community Foundation for Merseyside to back the initiative with a grant from the South Sefton Key Fund, funded by SRB and the European Social Fund as a series of money has been distributed throughout the community.
The grant has been awarded to The Plaza Community Cinema, which was established in 1997 and works with a broad range of individuals, schools, charities and community organisations to deliver a range of projects and activities based around film - due to begin in August.
The unit was founded by Carl Hunter, guitarist with The Farm pop group whose single has been adopted as the anthem for the England football team's Euro 2004 campaign. The film script is to be written by Frank Cottrell Boyce, one of the UK¹s most successful screen writers.
The film is due to be premiered at The Plaza Community Cinema at the end of this year.
A delighted Plaza Community Cinema Development Manager Ben Blackman said:- "The project wouldn¹t have gone ahead without the Community Foundation¹s support. The £10,000 will enable us to do a great deal of work and benefit a large number of local people.
There¹ll be opportunities to get involved in scriptwriting workshops run by Frank at the Space Centre in Marsh Lane. Acting workshops will also be organised and people will be able to shadow professionals during the film making process."
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