My sad collection of looky-likies!!

The rise and rise of TV presenter Adrian Chiles is very good news for him – but not, I fear, for me.

For, over the last couple of years as the Black Country sports fanatic has risen to be one of the nation’s favourite sofa dwellers, more and more people have said that I either look/sound/act like him.

Somebody I know from going to concerts (hello Baz) actually now calls me Adrian and even my dear old auntie says that every time she sees him on the screen, it reminds her of me.

Now, I shouldn’t have a problem with this – I have liked Adrian Chiles ever since his Radio 5 Live work – but I’m sure when most of us men are told we look/act like someone, we are secretly hoping their surname is Cruise, Beckham or Pitt rather than, err, Chiles.

But I’m afraid in the world of looky-likes I am not exactly blessed with heart-throb comparisons.

It has been said more than once that I remind people of Keith ‘Cheggers’ Chegwin. This isn’t quite so bad as he comes over as quite a cheeky chappie but I could have done without the comparisons when he did that odd nude programme for Channel 5 a while back. . .

If being compared to these two TV darlings isn’t bad enough, I also get a fair amount of “you look a bit like Boris Johnson” these days.

Whether we are compared because of the blond and relatively uncontrollable hair or the fact that we both tend to like getting on political soap boxes or putting our foot in it I’m not sure, but that Boris connection appears to be sticking.

The reason I’ve been thinking on these matters is not just that my Mr Chiles has now secured the breakfast TV spot which makes him more in (or of?) my face but also because on Saturday I, (a man who apparently looks like an amalgamation of a Brummie ex One Show presenter, a man who leapt around on Noel Edmonds’ Saturday morning show and an unkempt blundering politician) is going to help judge the Face of Bath competition to find someone whose looks represent the city.

I already helped to judge the semi-final and I am rather looking forward to Saturday night’s SouthGate event where one woman and one man will earn the title of the Face of Bath and grab a modelling contract to boot.

I’m sure it will be a fun event but I can’t help wondering what the candidates will be thinking as they wander down the catwalk and think: “Just what is that odd looking Mayor of London fella doing judging me on my looks?”

Nicolas Cage, Alcatraz and hard-to-please Bathonians!

I have come to the (somewhat belated) conclusion that it takes an awful lot to impress some people in the fine city of Bath.

Maybe it’s because Bath has always punched above its weight and attracted major events and famous people but it seems some Bathonians refuse to get excited about anything.

Take the event taking place in Bath tonight (Thursday, November 26) . For here in Bath we have Hollywood A-Lister Nicolas Cage switching on our city-centre Christmas lights. This is a role normally (and very adequately) performed by the mayor or another worthy citizen in most cities of Bath's size. But Bath (being Bath) doesn't think of itself as a small city so they wanted something different this year.

So the ad director at the Bath Chronicle newspaper (Paul Wiltshire) and a few others on the Bath Christmas marketing team drew up a ‘hit list’ of possible canddiates to do the honours with the emphasis on who could bring the most people onto the streets to kick off the Christmas celebrations.

Top of the list was a recent Bath resident Nicolas Cage but I bet next to his name there was brackets around the phrase “nice idea but no chance”.

Well, it seems there was every chance.

One of our enterprising young ladies here at the Chronicle, Emma Samways, did the really radical thing of asking simply asking Mr Cage via a polite letter if he would mind switching on the lights. And the rest, as they say, is history.

The news that a genuine Hollywood superstar would, quite literally, be lighting up the city, has caused a mixture of shock and awe in many circles. In our office alone a kind of minor hysteria has set in!

I sometimes think, however, you have to go out of Bath to get a perspective on things because when I’ve mentioned this news to people who live beyond our borders, they have said ‘how on earth did you pull that one off’?

In Bath, however, not everyone is so convinced.

We ran a letter a couple of weeks ago from someone asking us to stop putting Mr Cage in the paper, and there’s been a number of similarly ‘sniffy’ remarks on our website (http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/) too.

Some aren’t impressed with Mr Cage, others are worried about not being able to park and many are just a few words away from saying ‘bah humbug’.

So, in the interest of balance, can I just say publicly that the visit of Nicolas Cage is a GREAT thing for our city. As I say, if our office is anything to go by it has caused a wave of excitement among those who live and work in our community and all the shops and market stalls must be rubbing their hands with glee at the thousands of potential new customers who will hit the streets tonight and see what Bath has to offer.

Talking of shops brings me to another example of some Bath people finding it hard to appreciate what’s around them.

Bath has just opened a pretty stylish new shopping centre called SouthGate. I am more than happy to say that I really like the centre. I think it is an elegantly put together building which blends into Bath very well . And it is a million times better than the 60s monstrosity it has replaced.

But, again, not everyone is convinced.

This week, someone on a website has (wittily I think) compared it to Alcatraz, and although this did make me smile which is why I’ve reprinted the image here (SouthGate is below by the way!!!), we’ve already seen evidence in our letters pages and online that a lot of people just aren’t as convinced by the new centre as we are

Some people, for example, have criticised it for being ‘faux Georgian’ but sadly that’s the best we can do as we’re a couple of hundred years late to do the real thing! But equally, had it been more modern (and further away from Bath's Georgain roots) , I suspect the critics would have been lining up at the postboxes to write letters about how this betrayed the city’s heritage.

You just can’t win!

Ah well, maybe such debate is why we all love the city so much.

Right, better go, rumour has it there’s a Hollywood superstar in town...

Harry Patch - Great Britain has lost a great Briton

(This is the leader column I wrote for the Bath Chronicle fot its July 30 edition about Harry Patch, the 111-year-old ex soldier from Bath who died at the weekend)

The remarkable outpouring of respect and love for Bathonian Harry Patch, who died at the weekend, is an example of the best of British reactions to the best of British people.

The former Combe Down soldier – who was the oldest man in Britain until his sad passing – was a man whose humility and generosity of spirit touched millions throughout the world.

It is a telling example of the influence he had that the tributes were led by the Queen, Prince Charles and the Prime Minister who all saluted this modest but exceptional man.

The death of Harry marks the end of a sad chapter in British life. He was the last surviving Briton who had fought in the First World War but he was never a “gung ho” type of serviceman and, indeed, the challenging words he said about the whole issue of war and peace should remain as his most important legacy.

We also believe there should be a physical legacy as well.

We must never forget the incredible sacrifices our fellow countrymen went through in two world wars and as the last survivor of that first conflict, we must make sure there is a permanent tribute to Harry in the city he grew up in.

It was for this reason that we came up with the idea of having a street named after Harry – preferably in the new SouthGate centre which will open in the year he passed on. We were delighted to see that many civic leaders immediately responded to our call and although SouthGate’s street names may already be cast in stone, we still hope there may be an opportunity to do something there or elsewhere within our city or in his beloved Combe Down.

To have a street named after Harry – or even a statue put up in Bath – would not be to celebrate war but would be to honour all those who fought in the trenches or latterly on the beaches of Normandy to try to keep our country free.

Harry did not go to war to seek glory and he never sought the acclaim that followed him in his latter years but he truly deserves our public thanks now.
Rest in peace Harry – for no-one has earned that rest more.

My predictions for Bath in 2009

This is an edited version of my column from the Bath Chronicle printed on January 1 2009

Bath's crystal ball....

It is time, once again, for me to delve into my crystal ball and wonder what the year ahead will mean to Bath . I have done my Nostradamus act in my Bath Chronicle column for two or three years now and had a pretty good ‘success rate’ at predicting things to be honest.

That is with one major exception.

So, let me start there.

For the past two years I have predicted that the arguments about The Rec would be solved and we would finally have a decision about the permanent home of Bath Rugby. And on both occasions I have been wrong.

Well, adopting the totally unproven theory of ‘third time lucky’ I am going to do it again.

For I am now more confident than ever that another Christmas will not pass before we know for definite where Bath Rugby will finally be able to lay their hat.

There has been much to-ing and fro-ing behind the scenes and I detect that we are within touching distance of a decision. My head and my heart still wants Bath Rugby to stay at The Rec but if there is even a hint of any more long-term delays, I think they should move – simple as that.

The club needs to secure its position once and for all – and I am predicting that in 2009 it will do so.Still with Bath Rugby I am also predicting even more good things on the pitch. Our newly crowned Chronicle Team of the Year had a fantastic 2008 and are rightly seen as the most entertaining team in club rugby in the UK.

Next year we would love to see them win another trophy – either a league title or cup, I am, not fussy – and I am predicting they will do so. Still with sport, I am confident TeamBath will secure a play-off spot in their league and don’t rule out a late surge from Bath City either. They have been a bit inconsistent in recent months but when they are good they are very good, and don’t be surprised if they make a charge into the play-offs in the months to come.

Away from the sporting field, I think no one is denying that 2009 could be a very tough year for our city in economic terms. Dire warning follows dire warning on the national news programmes, but Bath has a lot of its business infrastructure right and also has the spirit and the management skills to really hit back. We will be launching our own campaign shortly to lead that fight but no one should deny that 2009 will see a fair bit of upheaval.

Above all, we will all need to keep our nerve . . .

What will help Bath is that there are a couple of major improvements to the city which will come to fruition. SouthGate will open its doors for the first phase of shops in the autumn (and I predict it may even be earlier, looking at the speed of the work being done) and before then we will see the new bus station up and running. The debate about the ‘busometer’ will grow again at that time I imagine, but I predict few will be disappointed with the station which should be first class.

Elsewhere I believe that the longest running Bath soap opera – the Western Riverside project – will FINALLY begin. There have been more stops and starts than in a tennis match over this, but I believe we are tantalisingly close to the end of the fifth set now, and I am predicting that in 2009, the Bath Western Riverside project will kick off. I am also pretty certain that despite the fantastic community-led opposition to it, the Bath Transportation Package will also hit the road but I wouldn’t rule out some late compromises to try to bring more of the public on board.

So there is my snapshot of 2009 predictions. I believe the year will be economically tough but on the plus side, The Rec will be sorted, Western Riverside will begin, SouthGate will open, we will have a great new bus station and our main sports teams will all have something to cheer about. See, 2009 doesn’t look so bad now, does it?

Happy New Year everyone......