CIVIC PRIDE

Glimpsing a member of the public reading one of the town information boards (pictured) the other day set me thinking of the debt the community owes to the volunteers of Brigg Civic Society.
They put up the boards which tell town centre visitors about distinctive buildings and famous people, such as musician Percy Grainger, who have connections with Brigg.
They also replaced old name signs on town centre streets with the current, attractive black and gold ones, and were behind the attractive 'Welcome to Brigg' signs which greet motorists as they drive into town.
Unfortunately, with its ageing membership, the civic society is now defunct, having been unable to get sufficient new blood involved to keep things running.
It did a lot of good work for Brigg and it's sad the organisation has now passed into history.

Here's a brief potted history of some of its achievements and successes down the years, contributed by one of their former officials:
1) In the Summer of 1988, Diana, Princess of Wales launched the Brigg Regeneration Programme.
2) Subsequently, a partnership for its management was formed by the Civic Trust, Humberside County Council, Glanford Borough Council, English Heritage and the Rural Development Commission.
3) The Civic Trust said the Programme would not succeed unless the people of the Town became involved and the best way to do this would be to form a Civic Society. Under the professional guidance of the Trust's Officer, Mrs Daphne Kelly, a Steering Committee was formed.
4) Ninety nine people attended the Society's Inaugural Meeting which was held at St. Mary's Church Hall on the 20th September 1990 and it was chaired by the Chairman of Hull Civic Society. The more recently formed City of Bradford Civic Society attracted - only fifty-nine people to its inaugural meeting.
5) The membership reached a peak of 159 which was quite remarkable for a town with a population of 5300.
6) By the year 2007 we had become an ageing society with only 49 ine members including the committee of seven, two below the minimum required by the constitution.
7) Only one member of the committee was below the age of 70 and as were unable to attract any younger members, who were prepared to manage the society, its winding up became inevitable.
8) Sadly, the society was wound up at a Special General Meeting held on Thursday, 25 October 25, 2007.

PROJECTS COMPLETED BY BRIGG AND DISTRICT CIVIC SOCIETY EITHER SOLELY, OR JOINTLY WITH OTHER ORGANISATIONS
1) At a meeting of the Civic Society, Glanford Borough Council and Peacock and Binnington resolved their differences regarding the inner relief road, thus avoiding delays to the Regeneration Programme.
2) Paved Morley's Yard with York stone.
3) Created the gardens, railings and pavement at the Wrawby Street entrance to St. John's Church.
4) Built the Bandstand. At the eleventh hour, this had to be reduced in size and sited in a position that differed from the plans and at that point we should have re-named it The Pavilion!
5) Produced black and gold street signs in and around the Conservation Area.
6) Erected the new Town Entry signs and associated stone planters.
7) With the permission of the Magrath family, moved the memorial seats to Old Courts Road because the algae from the overhanging trees, made them unusable in East Park.
8) Compiled and erected History Boards in three locations in the Town centre.
9) Painted copies of the Toll Boards and erected them in the original positions in Wrawby Street and Bridge Street.
10) Old Courts Road:-
i) Persuaded Boots to clear up the rear of their premises and paint the rusty
prefabricated building in their corporate colours.
ii) Persuaded Ewart Gillard to remove the rusty, decrepit bollards from his
property.
iii) Helped Paul Hutchinson to remove undergrowth and litter from his car park.
iv) Persuaded Poundstretcher to have less obtrusive skips at the rear of their
property.
11) Worked with Highways Department to stop utilities replacing York stone pavers and tegular with tarmac and concrete in the pedestrianised area. Also worked with them for repairs and maintenance of the infrastructure in the Town centre.
12) Frequently made minor repairs to, and painted graffiti out of, the Tin Tab.
13) Brigg Town Trail - Council Tax payers receive 50p for each one sold in the Tourist Information Centre.
14) Held educational meetings and educational tours hosted by other civic societies.
15) Hosted many educational tours for organisations from other towns, taking the opportunity to market the attractions of Brigg.
That's quite a list of achievements.