Review of 2011 - March

WOULD-BE developer Richard Nightingale – the man behind a third high-profile attempt to regenerate the Tropicana – pulled out of the project.

Weston had already watched with anguish as blueprints by Mace and Henry Boot had fallen by the wayside in the 11 years since the pool closed, but hopes had been high that Mr Nightingale might finally hold the key.

However, irreconcilable difference between council demands and Mr Nightingale’s ideas meant he was forced to withdraw.

WESTON schoolboy Michael McKenzie took his first steps at the age of 12, after a lifelong battle to overcome a disability which saw him born with one leg half the length of the other.

The youngster had undergone a record-breaking series of operations to lengthen the limb by 31cm - leaving proud mum Ginette to say: “I’ve lost count of how many tissues I have got through.”

A TEACHER who drove to work drunk and tried to deliver a lesson while ‘slurring’ and ‘dishevelled’ was sacked from her job at Hugh Sexey in Blackford, and banned from teaching by a professional tribunal.

THE future of Weston Museum was secured, after North Somerset Council – which had planned to close it – agreed instead to hand the facility over to Weston Town Council.

A CROQUET club at Weston’s Clarence Park was faced with closure – because the council could no longer afford to cut the grass on its playing area.

Pic 1: Plenty of tasty treats on offer in Blagdon in March, as villagers celebrated Pancake Day.

Pic 2: Pupils at Banwell Primary School were among hundreds of people in North Somerset raising money for Comic Relief in March.