Award winning Drayton Manor

Sue Bailey accepting the awards for Drayton Manor Park

Drayton Manor Park has been awarded UK attraction Of The Year 2009 at the Coach Tourism awards ceremony, held at Coventrys Ricoh arena earlier this week.

The award was especially pleasing for Drayton Manor as this years saw a huge number of entries and the winner is picked by the readers of Coach Monthly magazine.

When announcing the award, they said;

“A huge investment back into the site, particularly in Thomas Land™, backed up by an impressive marketing campaign has established Drayton Manor as one of THE top UK attractions, and the readers of Coach Monthly obviously agree.”

Colin Bryan, Managing Director of Drayton Manor Park said;

“It is a great honour to win this award, especially as it voted for by the readers of Coach Monthly. We have made huge investments into the park and we are delighted that has been recognised and appreciated by the public.”

Baby Boom at Drayton Manor

Drayton Manors latest addition to the Marmosite family

A recent baby boom at Drayton Manor Parks Zoo is expected to provide families the chance to see many new families this upcoming Bank Holiday weekend.

Over the past couple of weeks the Zoo staff have seen an increase in numbers with numerous of the species at the zoo.  The new arrivals include Marmosets (right), Rhesus Monkeys, Tamarins, Cameroon Lambs, Ring Tailed Lemurs and Red Tailed Squirrels.

Visitors to the Zoo will be able to watch the new additions explore their new surroundings under the watchful eye of their mothers.

Tamworths Heritage trail launched

St Edithas Church and Colin Grazier Statue

Tamworth Borough Council have this week launched the Tamworth Heritage trail, which takes walkers on a journey through the towns rich history, taking in sites that long time residents of the town might not know the history off.

The guide is available within the Tamworth Information Centre or from their online page.  As well as a pleasant walking route, the guide highlights each locations brief historical background and some quirky facts.

Councillor Bruce Boughton, portfolio holder for Economic Development and Enterprise said of the Heritage trial guide,

“The Heritage Trail is a celebration of our historic monuments, large and small, famous and not so famous.

We have so much history for people to come and take the time to enjoy, set amongst beautiful backdrops. This is a real practical approach to history where people can see these actual monuments and learn about their role in our town’s heritage. This is a great free activity which also gets people out in the fresh air and taking some light exercise. I think even a few of the locals will be surprised at the background to buildings we all walk past every day.”

Celebrate Tamworths Anniversary this Whitsun weekend

Tamworth Castle

The Whitsun weekend (23 – 25 May) gives the people of Tamworth the chance to celebrate Tamworths history with special events planned by Tamworth Borough Council.

Tamworth is alive with history, the former capital of Mercia, Sir Robert Peel delivering his historic Tamworth Manifesto and who can forget the Reliant Robins?

For those who have lived in Tamworth all their life, or those who are relatively new to the area, this is a chance to learn about what has made Tamworth the place it is today.

Events over the weekend include costumed guided tours of Tamworth Castle, performances from the Shoebox Theatre, exhibitions displaying photos of iconic Tamworth buildings and family events around the Castle Grounds.

On Bank Holiday Monday, visitors to the Band Stand within the Castle Grounds, can become a part of Tamworth History through making a commemorative tile for use on a mosaic showing the history of Tamworth.

The schedule of events for the weekend;

Saturday 23 May

• Walkabout Characters Dynamo Man and Medieval Princess around the town
• Shoebox Performances under the Canopy
• Soup Kitchen and Photographs of Tamworth’s Past in the Assembly Rooms
• Tamworth Historical Exhibition in the Town Hall from 11am to 4pm
• Police, Action, Go Come meet your local officers in the town centre. Try on uniforms, try out some equipment and get to know more about your local service

Sunday 24 May

• 500 years of the Stafford Knot Staffordshire Regiment Museum 10am to 4pm
• Costume Guided Tours Tamworth Castle 12noon to 5.15pm (discount admission)
• Middleton Hall Garden Party
• Photographs of Tamworth’s Past in the Assembly Rooms

Monday 25 May

• 500 years of the Stafford Knot Staffordshire Regiment Museum 10am to 4pm
• Costume Guided Tours Tamworth Castle 12noon to 5.15pm (discount admission)
• Reliant Robin Display St. Editha’s Square
• Shoebox Performances in the Castle Grounds
• Family Activities in the Castle Grounds from 11am to 4pm
• Tamworth Historical Exhibition in the Town Hall from 11am to 4pm
• Mobile Museum: ‘It’s Our Games too’ explores the Olympic games throughout the ages
• Police, Action, Go Come meet your local officers in the town centre. Try on uniforms, try out some equipment and get to know more about your local service
• A Piece of History Come to the Bandstand and make a tile for our commemorative mosaic celebrating Tamworth’s History

St Georges Day Celebrations in Tamworth

The Sealed Knot Parade

Tamworth Borough Council bought St Georges Day back to Tamworth with a weekend of celebrations including a re-enactment of the capture of Tamworth Castle, performed by Sealed Knot. This page includes images from the Saturday as captured by Tamworth Blog. If you have any pictures you would like to add then please email them to Tamworth Blog.

Over 9,000 people attended the events in the castle grounds this weekend (25/26 April) to witness not only a live re-enactment preformed by The Sealed Knot but also experience life as it was when Knights ruled the kingdom.

The weather didn’t even damper the spirit of St George with the sun coming out for the afternoon on Saturday and all day Sunday, giving visitors the chance to enjoy some rare sunshine.

The Sealed Knot camp on the lower lawn Castle Grounds

Attractions over the weekend included a full re-enactment of a siege at Tamworth Castle, puppet shows for the kids, interaction with the members of Sealed Knot, a march through the town centre and a chance to experience medieval life in the camp site set up on the lower lawn in the Castle Grounds.

Councillor Bruce Boughton told Tamworth Blog;

“I am delighted that Tamworth Borough Council’s second St Georges Day event was a big success.  The weather was mixed but that didn’t seem to deter the crowds.  The Sealed Knot re-enactment was superb and I really enjoyed walking around the camp on the lower lawn.  Well done to all the staff and partners who organised the event.  They did a great job.”

The St Georges Day celebrations bought the town out to celebrate the patron saint of England’s day and open the summer with a bang (and it was a loud one next to the cannons).

The March coming back from town

Enjoy Staffordshire Card for discounts throughout the county

Destination Staffordshire have launched the Enjoy Staffordshire card, a card that enables you to save money on attractions throughout the county.

The Staffordshire Enjoy card is aimed at the 1.2 million residents of Staffordshire to allow us to enjoy the attractions that sit on our doorstep, including Drayton Manor, Snowdome, Tamworth Castle and Alton Towers to name a few.  Card holders will receive discounts and events around the countys attractions.

To apply for your free Staffordshire Enjoy card and discover the offers available go to www.enjoystaffordshire.com.  The card is available for all residents of Staffordshire.

St George’s Day Celebration Timetable announced

St Georges Cross - Photo: Steve Webster

Happy St Georges day to everyone who is reading this on Thursday 23 April.

Tamworths celebrations (as reported by Tamworth Blog earlier in April) though are planned for this weekend and the council have released the timetable for events at the Castle Grounds this weekend.

The FULL running order for both days

10am – 17th Century Living History will open on the lower lawn, this will show people the day to day aspects of life during this time, this will include demos on musket ball making, wearing of clothes and armour, cooking demos and much more.

10.15am – An Officers and Guards from the Royalist garrison walk through the town centre warning the people of Tamworth that Parliament are on their way.

10.30am – A puppet show of St. George and the Dragon will take place at the base of the Castle.

10.45am – Officers and Guards from the Royalist walk through the town centre make a second proclamation.

11.00am – The hiring fair and auction of apprentices takes place on the upper lawn.

11.45am – A second puppet show will take place at the base of the Castle.

12 noon – Pre battle displays take place on the Pleasure Grounds, Parliament are getting ready firing muskets, doing exercises, there will also be information on the battle and how the public can get involved.

12.30pm – A puppet show of St. George and the Dragon will take place at the base of the Castle.

1.00pm – The Royalist march in force  through the town, they march on George Street, up Colehill, through St. Editha’s Square, then left down Holloway before turning back into the grounds ready for battle.

1.15pm – A puppet show of St. George and the Dragon will take place at the base of the Castle.

1.40pm – “St George and the Dragon” by mummers at the base of the Castle.

2.15pm – Parliament form in the Castle Pleasure Grounds for the battle.  Royalists march out to confront them

Battle Re-enactment

2.30pm – Phase One – The main battle, this involves cannon and musket firing, pike and sword fighting.

3.00pm – Phase Two – The Royalists retreat to the bridge

3.30pm – Phase Three – Parliament progress onto Living History area.

3.35pm – Phase Four – Parliament storm Tamworth Castle and take control of the town.

3.55pm – Tamworth Castle has been taken and William Comberford is shot.

4.15pm – Final puppet show of St. George and the Dragon will take place at the base of the Castle.

4.15pm – Adults and children to handle musket, pike and drum and meet the soldiers.

The schedule is the same for both Saturday and Sundays events.

Also this weekend, admission to Tamworth Castle is only £1 and it has extended it’s opening hours, as well as fun within the Castle Grounds including trails, arts and crafts and entertainers.  All this is free and promises to be fun for all the family

Tamworth getting ready for St George

St Georges Cross displayed proudly in Ankerside

St Georges Day is this Thursday (23rd Apr) and Tamworth is getting ready to celebrate with a busy weekend of events in the Castle Grounds this coming weekend.

Ankerside Shopping Centre is also getting in the spirit of St Georges day with four St George crosses taking pride of place in the main atrium opposite Boots.

This year let’s celebrate our own patron saint as much as we celebrate St Patricks day.

An update on the weather for this weekends events is for showers on Saturday morning but pleasant the rest of the weekend with temperatures in the high teens.  To keep up to date with the latest weather for the events click here.

Road improvements around Drayton Manor

Thomas the Tank Engine at Thomas Land, Drayton Manor

The bank holiday weekend is now over and for many Fazeley based residents the traffic chaos is also over.

With the immediate success of Thomas Land, that opened at the park last year, residents have been subject to regular gridlock at peak times in the season.  With reports in the Birmingham Mail saying that journeys from nearby Ventura Park taking over an hour.  Although some could argue this isn’t caused by Drayton Manor, but more the bad design of Ventura Park.

After 8 months of negotiations though, a plan is finally in place to hopefully ensure a more pleasant trip for tourists and residents alike.  During this 8 months, Staffordshire County Council and Drayton Manor have worked on addressing these issues and trying to ensure the best solution is used going forward.

County Councillor Ellis said: “This has been a complicated piece of work. With several public agencies involved and national as well as Staffordshire transport policy around traffic management to deal with it’s not been as easy as I first hoped a year ago.”

The first stage of improvements were piloted over the Easter weekend including a faster entry system and 1,500 hard placed parking spaces within the park itself.  It has also been agreed by all local road authorities around the park to improve and change the routes used by tourists to alleviate the pressure on the infrastructure around the Ventura Park area.   Although not confirmed I would anticipate this improving sign age on the M42 and A5 to avoid the shoppers and associated traffic.

Colin Bryan, Managing Director at Drayton Manor said: “The instant success of Thomas Land last year was beyond all expectations. We’re very aware of our obligation to deal with issues that arise from a greater numbers of visitors.  We could not have achieved the proposals for better traffic management on our own. County councillor Ellis worked hard to make sure the public authorities played their part in making it happen.”

Only time will tell if these improvements are successful, with a recession hit Britain and many looking to holiday at home, it seems it will be another busy season for Thomas, his friends and staff at Drayton Manor Park.

Strykers a clampers paradise?

Strykers Car Park Notices - New "Warning Notice"

Bad news for those who use Strykers car park as a place to leave the car for that quick trip into Tamworth.  The car park is now regularly patrolled by Alpha Traffic Management.

For anyone caught using the car park facility without visiting the Namco owned bowling alley runs the risk of being clamped by Kettlebrook based Alpha Traffic Management.

The aim of the scheme is to ensure that only those visiting the facilities benefit from the free car parking provided.  Since the barriers went up at the Snowdome, Strykers has been the last of the free parking site in the town, encouraging more people to use it to quickly pop into the town centre, avoiding the charges levied by the council and Ankerside management.

To visit the town centre, car drivers now must either use Ankerside and hope they are less then 30 minutes and pay 50p or pay the £1.20 demanded by Tamworth Borough Council for 2 hours parking, in all their pay and display car parks.