THERE was beautiful weather on Sunday for community coronation celebrations, despite the traditional drizzle for the ceremony itself on Saturday.

I enjoyed sitting in the sun in Market Street in Wotton, with a cup of tea and some delicious cake, provided by volunteers from The Keepers Community Hub and Wotton Heritage Centre, while listening to the fabulous silver band. Thanks also to our wonderful Town Crier, George Carpenter, and everyone else who contributed to the weekend festivities in Wotton and across the district.

Thanks to recent spring showers, No Mow May has got off to a good start this year. The charity Plantlife, is encouraging gardeners to liberate all (or just a small part) of their lawn, allowing space for wildflowers and providing a feast for bees and butterflies. Since the 1970s, we’ve lost nearly 97% of flower rich meadows. If some of the 20 million gardens across the UK join No Mow May, that will bring huge gains for nature. In my local area, Wotton Town Council has been working with the Wotton Area Climate Action Network to create No Mow May spaces on the council’s land, which has included planting cowslips and other flowers.

Looking ahead to next week, Stroud District Council will be supporting Vegetarian Awareness Week, which is one more way to take action on the climate and nature emergency. This year’s theme is ‘Make Your Meals Better By Miles’ to highlight how by simply eating more vegetarian and plant-based food, even once or twice a week, we can each do our bit to help reach our national target of ‘net zero’ carbon emissions by 2050.

Whatever the weather, there will be opportunities to enjoy the great outdoors next weekend at the Canal Spring Festival in Stonehouse (www.canalfestival.co.uk) with walking and running challenges on Saturday, and family friendly stalls and activities on Sunday.