ONE of the dangers of seeing someone in the public eye is that you think you 'know' them but you really don't.

It wasn't until I sat down with Sandra Ball, the new mayor of Tetbury, and we talked for an hour or so that I realised just how fortunate Tetbury is to have her.

She has been the mayor before and is returning to a job with which she is familiar, which is an advantage. But places change and so do challenges. I feel that Tetbury, like many small towns, has been suffering from a crisis of identity.

It has been busy being proud of itself but isn't quite sure how to move forward at a time when it faces expansion.

Sandra talked about the need for the town to connect with itself and the bigger world.

One challenge is to increase the footfall of visitors. This isn't easy at a time of retail uncertainty and, while there might be a strong shopkeeper presence, the shops themselves battle against huge competition from bigger towns and those with easier and cheaper parking.

There is nothing that can be done about the parking since owners of car parks have shown they will hardly budge where revenue is concerned.

Shops themselves are burdened with high rents and absentee landlords. There is also the conflict between local everyday shoppers and visitors.

One will want one thing, the others will want quite another. The look of the town needs addressing. There are complaints that it doesn't look welcoming. Bunting or no bunting is the debate. Sandra would like shops to be elegant, updated and, while not being exorbitant in pricing, offering something different and special.

But perhaps the bigger problem is that the organisations on which the social and caring facilities of Tetbury rely are manned by an ageing population.

The town isn't peopled by the elderly (and those coming in will be predominantly families) but getting younger people 'involved' is not easy. Perhaps an internet café would be a first step in modernisation. Without the young connecting with their own town, it will shrink and there will be no-one to pick up the baton.

Sandra does not see politics as her function but a reaching out to people. She listens. Just talk to her and see what I mean.

​MY MOTHER, who saw events both national and personal in terms of what to wear, advised that, with greater age, it was unwise to wear black as it looked as though you were too lazy to change between funerals.

More flattering and less pessimistic, she recommended navy. Freud said there is no such thing as a joke and my mother would have agreed with him. And so, respecting them both though they were invariably wrong, I seldom wear black now, reserving it for the frighteningly frequent memorial services that come our way with age.

Life is very precious and it is awful to watch as others waste it. 'Too few heartbeats left to us,' said an elderly friend. Surely not to be wasted on unkindness or the deliberately cruel act.

The hares on the Cotswold Hare Trail are a symbol of fun and community, as well as works of art, and it was sad to see them damaged. Sad for those who vandalised them, too. They, the hares (one can be less certain about the villains), will be restored, and cheer and positivity will abound.

Meanwhile, after more than 10 years writing this column, I have decided to take A Big Holiday.

Thank you to everyone (or is it both of you?) who have read my weekly words, and to those who have published them. It has been a great privilege and a lot of fun.

I raise a glass to you!