Latest news with #Wem
BBC News
4 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Scaffolding installed to make derelict Wem pub safe
Scaffolding has been installed on a building that a council says is causing "blight" to a town White Horse Hotel in Wem was bought by Shropshire Council in 2023 after standing derelict for a number of years.A conditions and options assessment for the building identified movement in part of the rear of the building, caused by a longstanding authority said the side alley would open to pedestrians after the scaffolding has been installed, which will make the building safe. "This is a long-standing problem building in Wem that residents have been concerned about for many years," said Roger Evans, cabinet member for finance."The council is now looking for a long-term solution for it, and this latest work to put scaffolding in place is part of us ensuring it remains safe and the public is protected."Alan Holford, councillor for Wem, added: "Councillors are working with officers to explore funding opportunities for a scheme to repurpose this listed building and bring it back into use.""We'd also like to thank residents for attending the engagement event in the library back in March and providing their views on the options that our architects have proposed." Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Shropshire's Alex Harris leaves roadie life to open music shop
Alex Harris could never have imagined a chance encounter with Slade guitarist Dave Hill would lead to 20 years as a roadie for some of rock's biggest despite working for the likes of Slade, The Waterboys and The Futureheads, he still had a dream to fulfil - to open a music now, back home in Shropshire, he has taken the step to unveil Big Al's Music Emporium, in Wem, stocking everything from Fender Stratocaster guitars to clarinet reeds and violin bows. "I've always had a dream of opening a shop," the 50-year-old said. Music has always been part of Mr Harris's life - his parents were semi-professional musicians who met in a Birmingham youth orchestra."My dad played trumpet, my mum played violin, so as a child I was always around music," he said."But I went down the rock and roll route." 'Roadie was unwell' After a stint in the Army playing the trumpet, Mr Harris returned home to it was while working in a Shifnal music shop for acclaimed guitar designer Jamie Davey, Mr Harris got the opportunity of a lifetime."Dave Hill, from Slade, was in the shop one day looking at guitars," he said. One of the band's roadies was unwell, and, needing someone to cover, Slade's lead guitarist asked whether he wanted to step in for him."I was like, 'Uh, yeah!'." After that first tour with Slade in December 1999, Mr Harris' career took off as a roadie and guitar technician. "From making contacts on the road, I ended up touring with [...] people like Midge Ure, The Waterboys, Howard Jones, The Futureheads," he eventually life on the road started to become too much, especially after getting married and becoming a father."I know too many guys who don't see their kids because they're always on tour around the world, and I didn't want that, I wanted to be a proper dad," he coming off the road having worked in the "high-pressure" events industry, the 50-year-old said that initially he was "feeling lost." 'Wide range of budgets' Opening his own shop was "always a dream" and his new venture seems to be serving the need he was left with having come off the Harris is keen to appeal to a wide range of budgets - not just top-drawer, pricey instruments, but pre-loved ones too. "I know that my local community in Shropshire can't necessarily afford thousands of pounds to spend on a guitar," he said. Despite the booming success of online shopping, the 50-year-old said he is not daunted by the prospect of competing with internet retailers."Your instrument needs to speak to you and feel right in your hands," he said. "If you buy an instrument off the internet, you do not know what you're getting.""You need to go to a place that's got several instruments you can try, and find what feels right for you." There are some first-day nerves, but Mr Harris feels confident he will be welcomed to Wem's high street with open arms. "The support and feedback I've had locally has been absolutely immense," he said."I'm crossing my fingers - as long as I can put fuel in my wife's car, take my daughter to school and put food on the table, that'll do!" Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
26-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Campaign to promote Market Drayton gets under way
An initiative to promote a Shropshire town and help its businesses has said it wants to bring people closer it Market Drayton is due to launch on Thursday evening with an event for local McCabe, who is leading the campaign, said she felt the town had a lot to offer, but it was sometimes hard to find out what was going on and businesses did not always talk with each other."[The project is] just really about bringing businesses together, supporting each other and just sharing how great the town is," she said. Ms McCabe, who ran a similar initiative to help Wem, started planning the Market Drayton campaign in February by walking around the town and getting to know said it was a "vibrant" place, which "just has so much" to conceded, though, that traders were often "busy building their own business", so sparing time to meet up was meetings offered the chance to confer over how the town's trade could grow, she first networking event is fully booked, but future events are planned, including one for voluntary groups, plus a community event in July. Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Miami Herald
21-02-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
It's time to lock our arms and stand strong for Black rights. Let Mandela guide us
'No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.' — Nelson Mandela The words of the late Nelson Mandela seem to be more relevant today than they when he spoke them. That is because in this month when we celebrate love, and the history of Black Americans, the love of one's neighbor seems to be off the table. This is because fear has taken the place of love in America. I almost hate to watch the news or read the paper these days. People are losing their jobs. So, families fear the future — will they be homeless, living out of their cars, or on the streets? Will they be able to feed their children? Clothe them and educate them? Simply put, will they be able to make ends meet at all? There is the fear of dismantling Social Security, so the elderly, who paid their share each payday, with the hope they would have some kind of security in their golden years, now fear that it can all end with the swipe of a pen. They worry about how they will survive if this happens. Then, there is the fear that the strides we have made toward equality for all of America's people will abruptly end as laws like the 1965 Voting Rights Act, a landmark civil rights law that outlawed discriminatory voting practices and gave the federal government power to oversee voter registration, was effectively gutted by the U.S. Supreme Court. You ask, what does love have to do with voting rights? Everything! It's called loving your neighbor as yourself. It's called being concerned about the well-being of others and knowing that we are all in this together. When love goes out the window, fear comes in to take its place. And fear can cause utter chaos in our country. Already I see signs of it creeping in. As one who has lived through the post-slavery Jim Crow era and the segregation that it brought, the Civil Rights era and the hope that it brought, I was always amazed at how the battle of segregation and Jim Crow was fought and won, mainly by showing love and concern for each other. People of all races and cultures joined in the fight for equal rights for Black Americans (and women, too). Some of them even died for the cause of freedom. If that isn't love, then I don't know what love is. The spirit of all Americans — especially Black Americans — seems to be depressed. And, for good reason, too. Since the pandemic, we've seen many of our books banned. (When I learned that one of the books banned in Florida was the story of Ruby Bridges, who integrated an elementary school in New Orleans when she was only 6, I knew we were in trouble.). Already, much of our history has been snatched away. But we Blacks know what to do. If our teachers are no longer allowed to teach our children and other children our history (and it could very well happen at any time), the burden falls on us. We must tell our children their history. We must tell it with pride and love, thereby passing it on to those who sit at our feet. I want to remind anyone who is low in spirit because of the way things are going these days, to take a look back at how far we've come and how we got from there to here. We simply stood strong together. We tried to make our country better. We loved out loud by locking arms and saying, through our actions, that we wouldn't take it anymore. And so, with arms locked and feet shod with the shoes of freedom, we took to the streets, unafraid. We marched peacefully, prayerfully, purposefully. We knew the task ahead would be hard. There would be fire hoses and spitting dogs and police nightsticks to contend with. But we marched on, out of love of self and for our fellow human beings. We marched on to Freedomland. As I write this, it seems like that was so many years ago, and I would never again, in my lifetime, have to go through or witness such a time again. But, my friends, history sometimes really does repeat itself. Because of the state of America today and the fear of what is to come, we have come full circle. There are rumors of new peaceful protests and boycotts, the tools that helped to bring about freedom for Blacks in the America we love. But those early protests were not non-violent. Many of the protesters still have the scars to remind them of those days. Others carried the scars with them to their graves. When I hear of future protests, I think, haven't we been there and done that? We have. We protested proudly, out of love for our fellow human beings and to make our country live up to what it says in the Constitution – that all men are created equal. And if peaceful protests and boycotts can help us to back on the right track of moving forward, I say let's get rid of the depression that is hovering over us. If it comes to peacefully protesting, let us lock arms once again and do it together. Let's honor Nelson Mandela's memory and let it be a lesson in love.
