The grand plan is to form The Felixstowe Fund, which will probably be a Community Interest Company (CIC), these have just been created by the government (1 July 05) and are designed to stand between charities and commercial companies for those wishing to establish social enterprises. I'll explain all this in more detail at www.spapavilion.co.uk but they seem to fit our requirements.

This fund could act as an umbrella organisation to market all amenity and leisure activities within Felixstowe.

However its most pressing task is the Spa Pavilion. The present management contract will expire in June 2006. We now have the pre-tender enquiry documents from Suffolk Coastal Council. It's a long tedious document but we shall apply. I understand that six commercial companies have also been invited, including Clear Channel the present contractors.

Now we need more people prepared to stand up and say 'Yes I'd like to get involved in some way'. Later we will require company directors and those capable of raising finance.

The pre-tender application has to be returned by 4 August, so there's very little time to make serious plans before then.

If you are seriously interested, please email me as soon as possible. Although we have an impressive list of potential directors and supporters we need many more.

It's not easy to obtain information from SCDC, partly because they don't yet know themselves but the present contractors receive about £175,000 a year, plus maintenance and insurance costs covered by SCDC. No doubt the Council will want to see that commitment reduced, but I'm sure they will be prepared to take a term view if the plans submitted are professional, and show increased benefit to the community, and an improvement to the theatre.

As a CIC we will be in a far better position to attract funding and income support from a wide variety of sources. One distinct advantage of CIC over a charity is that shareholders can receive a return on investment.

Last year the Spa managed 102 performances, half of those amateur productions. A lot more can be achieved, the demand exists but the present cost to hire the space is often prohibitive.

The building has hardly changed since 1960, when the restaurant was added. We know a lot needs to be done, but Felixstowe can become a centre of excellence, providing mainstream entertainment, conference facilities, meeting rooms and a social centre.

The Olympics are not far away, and with over 300 coach companies within a two-hour drive of Felixstowe we could have huge potential.

We need community involvement. Let's grab hold of this opportunity and show the world what can be done.

ICE: In Case of Emergency

Entering the acronym ICE – for In Case of Emergency – into your mobile's phone book, so that the name and number of someone who should be contacted in an emergency can easily be found.

It's a simple idea, the brainchild of Bob Brotchie, a clinical team leader for the East Anglian Ambulance NHS Trust. Vodafone say that more than three-quarters of us carry no details of who they would like telephoned following a serious accident.

Bob, a paramedic for 13 years, said: “I was reflecting on some of the calls I’ve attended at the roadside where I had to look through the mobile phone contacts struggling for information on a shocked or injured person.

It’s difficult to know who to call. Someone might have “mum” in their phone book but that doesn’t mean they’d want them contacted in an emergency.

Almost everyone carries a mobile phone now, and with ICE we’d know immediately who to contact and what number to ring. The person may even know of their medical history.”

The campaign was launched this week by Bob and Falklands war hero Simon Weston in association with Vodafone’s annual Life Savers Awards.

Adopt the ICE advice so that your mobile will help the rescue services quickly contact a friend or relative – which could be vital in a life or death situation. Perhaps it could also be used for Donor information. Tell your contact friend or relative what you want to happen to your body in the event of your death.

Think carefully about who will be your ICE partner - choose someone sensible and reliable - particularly if that person has to give consent for emergency medical treatment.

Last night I went dancing: the tango and the salsa at the Waikiki in Ipswich. Marvellous bunch of people, we had great fun, even though I'm still not sure I have mastered the basic footsteps. When someone suggests it is left forward, right forward, left back, right back, tap then... Ok, let's just say I get confused.

Tonight it's samba! The Ipwich Samba Band - you can see a video of them in action at Felixstowe TV. Should be plenty of fun and action. They will be joined by a band from Norwich, perhaps 100 drummers on stage at the Regent, Ipswich. (Aren't they planning to close that place? If so they could all come to the Spa Pavilion).

On the Edge

The Suffolk Coast & Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is a triangle of land of 430 square miles that is sandwiched between the A12 and the North Sea running from Kessingland, at the eastren edge, not far from Lowestoft to the Stour Estuary, where the port of Harwich stands at the mouth. There is one notable gap in this long strip of carefully nurtured landscape and that’s Felixstowe and its neighbouring villages. It seems as if Felixstowe has been ignored by planners or is just left as the largest container port in the UK and the end of the A14, the only arterial route that has dual carriageway that goes any real distance across Suffolk.

To local and regional planners this fine town is little more than the home of lorry drivers and a resort for those poor folk of Ipswich who cannot afford a holiday on the Costa Plenty.

Yet Felixstowe has more to offer than the trendier coastal villages found further up the coast. I have a friend who lives in Sussex who says she comes to see me but, in reality, she get more enjoyment rummaging around the large number of charity shops found in the town. That may seem to be something of a joke but it has serious intent. Felixstowe does have an attractive shopping centre, with several major brand names at its centre and a host of smaller shops, most of which are owned by local traders. I fail to understand why councils make us pay for car parks in such centres, yet allow retail sheds and supermarkets, often outside town, to have huge car parks. Such a help to glovbal warming, and to the heart of town communities!

That there are too many empty shops also has much to do with our system of calculating business rates. It is very difficult to become an entrepreneur and take a chance when huge bills plop on to the doormat before you’ve even taken a penny. It would be far more sensible to follow the system used in much of Europe, where shopkeepers are taxed on their profits, not just for existing, and are seen as a valuable local service.

There are advantages to be gained from living in a town that receives so many visitors. For me, being a fat foodie, it’s the host of little cafes and restaurants. My week needs to be carefully planned. On Monday I may visit Ann, my neighbour, who works in an old-fashioned teashop upstairs above the shops opposite the main Post Office. She brings me freshly baked cheese scones and a pot of tea together with a plentiful amount of cheery conversation.

The next day I stroll along High Street East to a teashop with a difference. This one mixes antiques and bric-a-brac with freshly cooked food, and you may browse through the books for sale as you eat. There's an interior design sho p next door, then the baker’s shop next door provides a fresh loaf and a wonderful home-made steak pie for my tea. That parade continues with the best butcher's in town, Michael's meat excels, is locally sourced and he provides friendly service. There's also an excellent chines takeaway, a newsagents and the Moove-In estae agency. A parade toi visit, with the butcher, the bake and the candlestick-maker.

Wednesday, and I need to slow down slightly but the temptations of Mrs Simpsons café along Undercliff Road East are always compelling. The Mrs Simpson, the American wife of one of our former kings waited in Felixstowe while he abdicated, in a building that once stood beside this café. The house was knocked down, probably as a poltically correct gesture. My good friend Gerry Eden ownes this establishment, which provides excellent tea and cakes and sea views.

Thursday and it could be time for a treat. One of my favourite places provides a great three-course lunch of simple good food for not much more than a fiver. As a single, if old, man I’m also attracted by the lovely waitress who always remembers me, and smilingly asks if I’d, ‘like a half of bitter with that?’ In my dreams I pluck up courage to ask her out for a meal, or something more exciting, although this fat foodie is daunted by her talk of playing squash, with a man eight years younger than herself, and of her swimming regularly and starting work at 7 am at the Orwell Hotel before coming to work six days a week at the restaurant. She clearly deserves a rich man to look after her, and I’m not sure I’m up to that. You can see I know a lot about this lovely lady, in fact I feel as if I know everything except strangely enough, her name.

Friday and it’s time to pull myself together. It’s a good stiff walk to the viewing platform down at the port. It’s marvellous walking along the promenade that stretches for miles at Felixstowe to watch the huge ships make their way into the port and then a scramble across the nature reserve (no, it’s not part of the ANOB – but it should be) to Languard Fort and Museum. I’m a member of the museum that has been lovingly put together by a wonderful bunch of volunteers, totally without my help I must admit. The Fort is part of National Heritage, so a little more austere, and quite expensive but its well worth visiting this old fortress, founded by Henry Eighth. It was responsible for repelling the Dutch invasion of our shores in 1667, the last time foreign invaders touched English soil. Once the viewing platform is reached I can relax, buy a cup of tea, and perhaps a slice of bread pudding, from the lovely lady who runs the tea stall. Have you noticed that all the ladies in Felixstowe are lovely?

Saturday and I really do need a long walk. I set off past the Spa Pavilion, a 900 seat theatre that should be better used and walk east along the promenade past the spot where the Duchess of Windsor, yes that Duchess of Windsor, waited for news of an abdication. It’s a pity it was pulled down some years ago as I’ve always fancied acting as the housekeeper for somewhere with grand associations. At the end of the promenade the Environment Agency have been tackling coastal erosion with a grandiose scheme, which frankly has not worked very well. From there on it’s a scramble along the beach over the huge wooden groins that seem to get taller every time I pass that way. As the beach erodes more of their foundations are exposed. How much longer will it be?

Soon I’m back on another promenade, strolling past beach huts and finally onto the sea wall that skirts along the edge of the golf club and two imposing Martello towers before reaching the Ferry. During the last war this golf links was used to release hundreds of balloons that drifted across the North Sea to Germany, often loaded with explosives and other dangerous devices.

At the Ferry I ignore the pleasures of both of the popular pubs and head instead for fish and chips at the café. This is housed in a rickety wooden shack but the food is satisfying and service is fast and efficient. Yes, there’s another lovely lady. This time her sweet smile seems to have remain unchanged for the fifty years I’ve been popping in here for a mug of tea, a full English breakfast or a slice of cake.

Full and refreshed I pop round to the artists gallery or dream over the yachts for sale then pop into the Fisherman's Shed for some fresh fish for tea. After the fish and chips for lunch perhaps a light snack of whatever has just been landed will suit me just fine. A slow walk back along the sea wall back along the other side of the golf links and walk back home past the grander houses of Felixstowe, admiring the shiny company cars that stand in the drives.

At the end of such a week I’m no longer worrying that Felixstowe is not worthy to be part of the ANOB or any other specially designated area. Having been largely disregarded by officialdom for so many years it is largely unchanged. It has a huge whelk of a housing estate stuck behind the port, and many of its traditional shops have disappeared. I may not like the amusement arcades along the front but in the summer the place is full of visitors, most of whom are happy enough just walking up and down the prom. If the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, then Felixstowe works for me, and I've not yet started to mention the evening restaurants. I'll save those for another time.

The Alex

The Alex is a bar/restaurant at Undercliff Road, Felixstowe. Built recently it offers a new experience, for it is not a conventional English 'pub', but has something of a continental flavour. On two floors there is a well-appointed restaurant on the first floor, with access by life or staircase. One side of the restaurant is fully-glazed allowing an uniterrupted view of the sea, looking out towards Holland and Belgium, which are barely 40 miles away.

The ground floor is a bar, with heavy wooden tables and a covered terrace that leads to the pavement. In the evening this terrace is heated with overhead heaters, allowing the sea air to be enjoyed, while sipping a drink.

The charm of The Alex comes from its flexibility and open environment. Anyone can use the place, and everyone does. A woman can sit alone, without fear of disturbance, and all day long the changing scene contains people of all ages.

The menu, most of which is served on both floors, is varied and very well-prepared. There is good variety, have a snack with a drink - perhaps just a few nuts and olives (both delicious and good portions), or scrambled egg on toast, fish and chips, tagliatelle or whatever takes your fancy. They serve food all day long, and are content to provide a coffee and biscuit or several courses for a dozen people.

This is now the most popular bar (pub) in Felixstowe. What is difficult to understand is why other pubs cannot see how to make their own premises successful. Felixstowe is a young town, and does not have any traditional pubs, all have been built in the last 100 years or so, so they can be adapted, but somehow the publicans don't seem to get their acts together.

Only one criticism can really be levelled at The Alex. It still allows smoking, albeit not at the bar or the raised seating area in the lower bar, nor in the restaurant. Having gone this far why don't they ban it everywhere?

Great place, that seems to be maintaining its standards. May they last for ever.

She Loves Me

Gallery Players

New Wolsey Theatre Tues 21 - Saturday 25 June 2005

Reviews often seem pointless. By the time they are read (if they are like this one), the show is over. They can provide some idea of the value of an amateur production company, but unless they are part of the advertising package, and prepared some time before the event, then they are of little practical use. This reviewer would like to be invited to rehearsals.

She Loves Me is set in Budapest in the 1930s, based on a classic 1940s film The Shop Around the Corner, which was directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starred James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan. Two lonely, anonymous pen pals, fall in love.

The music is not memorable, you don't leave the theatre humming a tune. However this performance by The Gallery Players at the New Wolsey is stunning.

A classic Art Deco opening sets the character for the whole show. There's nothing important to criticise, everything is just stunning, and brings a professionalism rarely found in many theatres, even those whose actors are paid good money.

Sound, lighting and set design, indeed all aspects of stage management, which are too often disregarded, could not be faulted. The Wolsey is not the easiest stage to work, especially when a live orchestra has to be accommodated, somewhere. The Gallery Players have ingenious solutions, with slick set changes, allowing the action to keep moving. The sound and lighting guys worked well, with sound mikes juggled expertly, and only on one occasion did an actress muffle her voice, albeit briefly, as she slipped her fur stole over her radio mike.

The cast were magnificent. The leading lady deserves a place on a West End stage, truly magical acting, and a voice that left me buzzing. Brilliant. Young Mr Lazlo's short solo was very impressive, and a shop assistant played with an (authentic) northern accent provided excellent support throughout, as did the whole company.

This is amateur theatre at its very best. If you don't make this show, then shame, but do not miss their next show. Will they come to the Spa Pavilion? Let's hope so.