Out of hibernation

According to the Sunday Times' weather forecaster, as far as meteorologists are concerned, March 1st is the start of spring. That date certainly brought with it a respite from the icy blasts and rain, rain, rain we'd been experiencing over the last few weeks, replacing them instead with temperatures reaching double figures and low-lying mists blanketing the distant hills and obscuring my view of Weymouth town and beach.

The early mornings and evenings are noisier now with the sounds of blackbirds, robins and sparrows announcing their presence, calling for mates and guarding their territories. In the distance, flocks of gulls cry out as they follow the fishing boats in the harbour.

There are bulbs flowering all over the place and every twig has a bud on it, straining with suppressed energy and waiting for the right moment burst open.

Around the town, cafés, restaurants and B&Bs that have been wrapped up for the winter are emerging from under their covers and flexing their muscles in anticipating of the coming season.

So what will the legacy of the 2012 Olympics be this year and beyond? Weymouth beach has recently been voted the seventh best in the country with two other Dorset beaches in the top ten (see here) so the prospects are hopeful. The local businesses are supporting the Weymouth BID (Business Improvement District) initiative to turn Weymouth around into the vibrant centre that it should be.

Weymouth Pavilion, host to pantos, concerts, exhibitions and events in the past is closing temporarily as the local council can no longer afford to run it, but a bid by the local community to lease and run it has been approved, though not finalised yet, by the council. (See here).

In the middle of February, a gloriously sunny weekend coinciding with half term brought families, donkeys and surfers out onto Weymouth beach, in spite of - or because of - the biting easterly wind. Around the town, characters dressed in 17th century costume re-enacted several aspects of the civil war.

But we mustn't be tempted into thinking that spring has arrived just yet. The forecast for next week is for near-zero temperatures again. We won't be packing away the hats and scarves just yet.