Mayor of St Neots — November round-up

Director of Neotists Richard Slade was elected as Mayor of St Neots in May 2024 and has been writing a regular column for the Hunts Posts since then. For those who don’t get the paper delivered or subscribe we it thought it would be useful for members to  read about it too.

By Richard Slade

Autumn is an exciting time for us all, and once the clocks change, mayors across the country start to prepare for remembrance, fireworks, and Christmas.

It’s no different for us in St Neots with our annual remembrance parade, service and laying of wreaths to honour and remember those we have lost in war. I had the privilege of joining the parade alongside the air and army cadets, guides, scouts, veterans and military associations just to name a few. It was especially poignant for me this year as I wore my grandfather’s medals and gave a reading at the service. The next day the mayoress and I proudly took part in the Veteran Day Ceremony at Cambridge American Cemetery which honours the thousands of overseas soldiers who fought and died alongside British servicepeople.

This month I was at 45 different meetings, events, services and other civic events, it’s the highest for the year so far and has left me feeling a bit exhausted. My spirits were lifted last weekend though with three days of culture and sport. On Friday the mayoress and I, along with two former St Neots mayors and partners went to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. The fantastic adaption was put on by VAMPS of St Neots and held in St Neots Parish Church. It is the first time the church has been used as a theatre and the perfect backdrop for this wonderful immersive performance. The performers were joined by a choir and orchestra that used the full acoustic brilliance of the church.

Saturday, we watched the premier of Assassination, a play by the St Neots Players which dramatised a true account of the murder of a British Prime Minister by local resident John Bellingham. It was a wonderfully informative and inciteful evening.

Finally, on Sunday the big day had arrived and the chance to run my first half-marathon. The weather forecast the week before the St Neots Half Marathon was awful but I wasn’t going to let that stop me. Luckily the sun shone, twelve weeks of training paid off and I eventually crossed the finish line in 966th place. I couldn’t have done it without the support and kindness of fellow runners councillors Becky and Ben, and officers Andrew and Lucy, It was also a great experience to be given the chance to start the race and I eventually caught up with my colleagues. Your generous donations have added nearly £700 to the mayor’s charity. This takes the total fund to over £7,000. I’ve now swapped my shoes for a bike and back to training for an epic 543km cycle to Cornwall in May 2025.

I spent an interesting morning on a guided walk around Priory Park with the open spaces team from the district council. Their work to improve habitats in the park has now begun and it was great to hear what they are doing to support the wildlife above, on and under the water. The biggest change you’ll see is the pond, which will be dug out to its original level and a new platform installed so you can observe aquatic life up close.

The work to restore and improve the surface of the ramps at St Neots Skatepark has now been completed and it was great to meet up with Sam and Chris who were the driving force behind the project. This jointly funded project between St Neots, the district council among other groups will ensure the ramps are safe for the next generation of street skaters.

This month two new independent shops opened their doors on our high street and I popped along to Church Walk to officially open one of them — Pink Rooster, a shop that specialises in selling retro, upcycled and vintage goods to raise money for their charity. Their purpose is to improve the health and well-being of people in the local area, especially those with dementia.

This weekend was due to be our annual Christmas lights switch but I’m afraid Storm Bert had other plans and like many other towns we had to cancel our outdoor festivities. The indoor events still went ahead and there was a great atmosphere at the four venues across the town. In the run up to Christmas the council have lots of workshops and events planned so keep an eye out for updates on our website.