you are going around the roundabout so they don’t pull out in your path and you don’t get cut up by cars trying to exit via the Bromsgrove Highway. The instructions should be changed in line with the


Highway Code. Alan Gillbanks, via email Long wait spoils benefit


of new train timetable Dear Editor – In common with so many travellers who have looked forward to the extension of the Cross City line to Bromsgrove, I was dismayed to find that trains stopping at Barnt Green at 19 minutes past the hour result in a wait of over 40 minutes at Bromsgrove for a connecting train to Worcester and beyond. It beggars belief that this was not taken into consid-


eration when deciding which trains would stop at Barnt Green, and negates the advantage of opening up the line to Bromsgrove for those who use Barnt Green station and wish to travel to Worcester and beyond by train. I have written to West Midlands Trains regarding this


matter and have received no response. I am copying this letter to the parish council in the hope that they can make representations and have more success. Richard Yewdall, Barnt Green


Left: The first of the


extra trains arrives at


Barnt Green from


Bromsgrove Pic/Trevor Boardman


WHERE’S VINNY?


11-YEAR-OLD Hannah Dale, of Alvechurch, was the latest winner of a Mini Vinny in our monthly competition – having been entering for more than two years! If you want to win one for


yourself, you’ll need to try to locate the little hedgehog hiding somewhere in this magazine (the one shown above is just a guide!). Just tell us where he’s hiding via phone, email or post – please include your contact details, especially if leaving a voicemail message – and we’ll draw a winner at random. The closing date is midnight on the 18th of every


month. We’ll let you know if you’ve won and you can collect your Mini Vinny from our office – and pose for a photo with your prize!


TheVillageView . . . T


here is an entry in our 1998 office diary from Monday September 28 saying, simply: “Village #1 to press.” And here we are, 20 years later, still


just about to go to press, for the 193rd time. We don’t often blow our own trumpet, and the


October issue will be our official 20th anniversary edition where we will no doubt do so, but we can’t resist pre-empting that occasion just a little here to look at how much everything has changed for the magazine, and to peer into the future. Twenty years ago, that October issue would not


have come back to us as printed magazines until at least two weeks later, if we were lucky. The digital revolution was in its early days and we still had to use crayons to crop and size photographs, and ballpoint pens to write instructions on pieces of paper, with the contents of each page in its own plastic bag. Everything went backwards and forwards (driven in cars and vans) until it was just about right, and only then would it go to print; and even then the printing company might decide it was more important to get The Rolling Stones’ concert tour programme printed on time than The Village. These days, there is no to-ing and fro-ing: we get the magazine how we want it on screen, then press a button and a few days later we get 10,000 magazines back in Alvechurch, packed neatly into boxes. It’s not quite that simple, of course; there are still


considerable skills required, most importantly the journalism and advertising sales at the heart of the magazine, as well as the technical knowledge to bring it all together in just the right format. These skills are why we are still here, as strong as ever, 20 years later. Which brings us to the rarely-asked question behind any publisher’s endeavour: what gives them the right to present reportage and views to the public at large? Is it just because they have the ability and means to do so? This is pertinent with the advent of so-called “social


media” allowing anyone and everyone to be a pub- lisher if they own a smart phone. We are now seeing where that leads and it appears to be a dark place in- deed, with those taking us in that direction decrying the “fake news” of the established, responsible media. Newspapers around the world are fighting back,


despite having their revenues shredded by the unbridled power of the internet giants – and here at The Village we are delighted to be able to do our bit at a local level, shining a light when necessary into the corners some people would prefer were left in the dark.


The Village September 2018 19


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