Sally Allen: First Christmas without brother I love so much

This Christmas will be the very first time, since I was born, that I will not be with my much-loved brother, Michael.
No matter where either of us was in the world, when it came to Christmas time, we would make sure that we spent it together. As a family it was always a big deal, so wherever it was, exotic or at home, it was special.
So sadly, this year, there will be no celebrations, no tree, no Christmas turkey or pudding. I have cancelled Christmas!
When we were young, our maternal grandmother always had hotels and so we would always be dragged into the big sitting room to help entertain the guests. This would range from me being placed on top of the piano to sing; usually a rendition of “Que Sera Sera” or the ubiquitous “Sally”. My brother, cousin, father, school friends and anyone else we could rope in, would then perform a play to the very tolerant audience of hotel guests. Positively ghastly I am sure, but they always seemed to enjoy it, and even if not, they were always very supportive of our efforts. This would always be followed by our father, decked out in full Santa costume, dispensing gifts to everyone. It was a heart-warming and inclusive experience for everyone involved.
Very different times to today, when most children seem to have their heads bowed over their phones and communication is at a minimum. I think it is very sad, as we did have so much fun and people of all ages joined in together, particularly when we got to my favourite game, Charades. I think it is so good for all age groups to interact with each other. There is so much for young people to learn about the “old days” and most elderly people need help with understanding the high-tech modern age. A win, win in fact.
Sadly, there are many instances where people don’t learn from the past. One in particular springs to mind immediately, and that is the horror of the barbaric killing off of perfectly good palm trees. Of course, it says ‘removed’ in the post on social media by SwissCo, but in fact ‘removal’ means just that, taking away and placing somewhere else. It certainly doesn’t mean killing them by cutting them down. If I had known, I would have paid to have some transplanted to my own garden. But, as usual, nobody knew what was planned. The Council even had an earlier example of a similar travesty of cutting down trees in Plymouth without prior warning, and the ensuing outcry. Not surprisingly, this act of vandalism has even hit the national newspapers and media.
After all, trees are normally revered, and are supposedly an important part of curbing the building up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Trees take so long to establish themselves and seeing unnecessary felling is especially horrific. It appears that the plan for their replacement is a somewhat minimalist planting of olive and yew trees with what looks like an astonishing amount of either gravel or concrete! Not a very naturalistic look, in fact, far from it.
However, there appears to be some much-needed Christmas cheer around the corner. I don’t want to speak too soon of course, because I have only seen the press releases from the Council and have not actually heard anything from the ‘horse’s mouth’ as yet. The current information is sketchy, but very positive, but it doesn’t actually stipulate the normal requirement of a press release, ergo - how, why, when and where. It does, however, cover the ‘where’ and we all certainly know ‘why’, but we are short on the ‘how’ and ‘when’. I am of course, referring to the Pavilion and Oldway Mansion. Cllrs Thomas and Lewis always say things like ‘positive outcomes’ and ‘ways forward’, but I think we now all need some more meat on the bones. The devil is always in the detail, but I am hoping that this is the start of the serious restoration of these two wonderful buildings. This would be a wonderful Christmas present for Torbay.
I am heartened by the fact that the Council is now not led by one dictatorial political party, but by a coalition of three entities, each of whom will hopefully hold each other’s feet to the fire and ensure that things actually do progress at pace.
The Pavilion and Oldway Mansion are in such dire need after far too many years of abject neglect and the Council owes it to the community to deliver on these two important projects without further prevarication and before any more damp destroys these once very beautiful buildings. Both were jewels in the crown of Torbay, once known as the Queen of the English Riviera. We need to reclaim that crown.
Here’s wishing you all a very happy Christmas and most importantly, a very peaceful and healthy 2024.