Community Yearbook 2020

MAY

Newbury Weekly News

Thursday, 16 January, 2020

Motley crews use paddle power HUNDREDS of people

Festival keeps it fresh with a new generation WITH the two-week Newbury Spring Festi- val in full swing, the spotlight was on the young generation of talented artists promoted in the superb lunchtime concerts. Billed enthusiastically in the NSF programme as ‘featuring some of the finest young jazz musicians in London’, the Tom Millar Quartet lived up to the high expecta- tions in their one-hour programme. Reviewer Derek Ansell wrote: Australian-born Millar, who studied music at King’s College, Cambridge and the Royal Academy of Music, was the leader, pianist and composer... his music was fresh, melodic and well-integrated by the quartet. His first piece was Azure Days or should that be Daze, as it had the quality of both floating sounds and up front blowing from the leader and Alex Munk on guitar...The bass line was in the capable hands of Misha Mullov-Abbado, who was likely warming up for his own band’s evening performance at the venue later that day... Dave Storey played swirling drums and punctuated all the high volume phrases effec- tively. The Seafarer was another melodic exer- cise in light, bright swing with Millar’s piano playing a convoluted solo before giving way to an equally high-octane guitar spot. This was a fascinating and enjoyable programme of fresh, original material by the pianist.

Some teams embraced the theme of the History of Newbury. Despite some tense moments, including one team losing a paddle at the start, 13 teams set off from the Dundas Arms pub from 8.30am to navigate – with varying degrees of success – the six-mile stretch of canal. The Crew’s Missile, operated by the East Woodhay Society,

finished in an impressive time of 1hr 21min to claim the fastest-pedalled prize. The society did have an advantage – it had engineer Alan Stapleton among its ranks. The fastest adult prize went to Elivation (1hr 33mins), which was one of two craft manned by family and friends of Hungerford Newtown man James Ballantyne, who died in a collision on the A4 in 2015.

gathered in Victoria Park and along the banks of the Kennet & Avon Canal to cheer on the competitors of this year’s Crafty Craft race. Now in its 45th year, the popu- lar annual event saw a flotilla of wacky homemade boats make their way downstream from Kintbury to Newbury, in a race against time.

Kintbury Krafty Krafters

New Uni centre gets the go-ahead

NWN scoops top award THE Newbury Weekly News was named the best weekly newspaper in the UK at the Regional Press Awards. The awards, widely regarded as the industry ‘Oscars’, were presented at the Institution of Engineering and Technology in London. The paper collected the prize for best paid-for weekly news- paper above 10,000 circulation, which was presented by LBC radio host Nick Ferrari. He said the paper “ features a comprehensive package of strong stories, in-depth community news pages, a vibrant entertainment section and lively letters pages”. Editor Andy Murrill said:“ The NWN won this in 2005 and it’s wonderful to bring it back to West Berkshire 14 years later. “I’m so delighted for all the staff here who work so hard each week to produce the best local newspaper that we can. “But mostly, I would like to thank our readers. Without you, the NWN is nothing and the value you kindly place in this newspaper is the only value that matters to us really.”

Bell named best pub STAFF at The Bell Inn, Aldworth, were celebrating after winning a prestigious pub award. The Bell was crowned West Berkshire Campaign for Real Ale’s (CAMRA) Pub of the Year. Landlord Hugh Macaulay praised his workers, who he described as“ part of the family” and stressed that it was “a real family and staff endeavour”. West Berkshire CAMRA chairman Andy Pickard said: “Great beer is a given for The Bell Inn, as its continuing presence in the Good Beer Guide evidences, but [it] also stands out for its inclusive nature … a traditional pub in its pure form – great beer, wholesome food and interest- ing conversation is the norm.”

A NEW university centre is set to open in Newbury in 2020 after receiving a funding boost. Newbury College was awarded £1.75m from the Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partner- ship (TVBLEP) Local Growth Fund towards the development of the Univer- sity Centre Newbury (UCN) and plans were submitted. Additional funds for the £5.5m project will come from the college and investment from supporting partners.

The result will be a state-of- the-art, digitally-integrated, zero-carbon, higher educa- tion facility in West Berks. It is expected that the first intake for the University Centre Newbury will be in September 2020.

Newbury College principal and chief executive Iain Wolloff said: “We are thrilled with the fantastic support for the university centre from businesses, the local authority, schools and from the local community.”

Vodafone: We won’t use Huawi 5G VODAFONE said it would not use Huawei technol - ogy in its 5G core network. National cybersecurity concerns had been raised after leaks from the National would have a limited role in creating Britain’s 5G network. the Chinese government. Spokesman Simon Gordon said: “We don’t use Huawei in the core network, which is the brain of the system and, in actual fact, all the kit we use is Ericsson in Newbury for 5G.” Security Council revealed that Chinese firm Huawei This is despite risks that the UK network could become susceptible to sabotage or espionage, owing to Huawei’s perceived links to

Tom Millar