THE BLOXIDGE TALLYGRAPH

Dateline:  28 February 2009

A simple enough job, you would have thought.  Remove a rusty old fountain, neglected for decades apart from the odd coat of paint.  Cart it away to Brum, give it a sandblasting and a respray, replace four cherubs, install a new pump, and return it home safely for installation on a smart new base.  Cue a round of civic pomp and ceremonial back-slapping, and after the fuss has died down, quietly forget the erstwhile local icon for another century.

Of course, in Walsall, things are never that simple, especially when they're not in Walsall, but in Bloxwich, beyond the pale...

The latest restoration of the legendary Bloxwich Fountain has seen a roller-coaster ride of ups and downs over the past year - yes, year!  Was it really necessary for all this to take quite so long?  Could the project have been handled better? Ask the Friends of Bloxwich Parks and they will certainly give you one answer.  Of course there are two sides to every argument, and unexpected problems do crop up in every project, but it is the way those problems are dealt with that defines how it is seen in the public eye.  Perhaps the best thing to do now is to set aside the past and move forward.

However the story is not yet over.  The botched base which has become an eyesore in the heart of the village now has to be cut down in size, and reworked to a more professional standard.  All the rubbish dumped in the pool has to be removed, and the dislodged slabs replaced.  Then our favourite fountain, which is after all one of the six iconic Bloxwich memorials (the others being the Anvil Stones, the Preaching Cross, Samuel Wilks' gravestone, Pat Collins' Clock and the Bloxwich Tardis), has to be safely reinstalled and put back into operation.  Hopefully it will then work for decades to come.  It had better be a good job, because it is unlikely to get any regular maintenance.

Of course there are other issues with the fountain area of the Promenade Gardens.  The paving around the pool is in very poor condition, and a lot of work is needed there.  And then there are the missing planters - can these be added in future?  Have a look at the photographs in our Bloxwich Fountain Flickr album, and you will see that this whole area was far better in years gone by, including the quality of the flower beds.  Money will have to be raised to sort these matters out, and it will be up to the Friends of Bloxwich Parks to try and build up the momentum for this.

The Bloxwich Fountain Fiasco has once again stirred up the age-old rivalry between Bloxwich and Walsall in the minds of local people, dating back to the Civil War and the centuries-old disputes between the Borough and the Foreign.  There is a feeling that has never really gone away that says that while Walsall benefits from the best, Bloxwich is lucky to get the rest. 

Whether that's true or not - and you must judge for yourself - one thing is clear.  Out here in the sticks, community matters, not political posturing.  Something to remember for the future.

The Edditer

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