My scout troop and I went for a tour of Rotherham Town Hall yesterday, which ended in tea and biscuits with the mayor!
First, the person giving us the tour (Tony) brought us into a main area where most meetings are held. It looked like a courtroom: long panels with seating reached to the end, each slightly higher than the last; a main rectangular panel was facing the others, arranged in a semicircle and in the centre lay the Rotherham Crest. Then, the tour guide brought in the mayor and we stood up out of respect. He then placed a gold (18-carat I think) mace beside the mayor with the crown facing her right shoulder. The mayor then introduced herself and joked that she wasn’t scary. She then asked us our names, before answering our questions.
One of the first questions was, ‘Is this a courtroom?’ (it may have been asked differently, but this is how I remember the question). Then, the tour guide revealed that the town hall used to be a courthouse. The remaining questions I’m going to talk about were asked in a completely different order, but this is the order I mentioned them in earlier so please don’t get mad they’re not in chronological order. One of the most interesting questions was about what the Rotherham Crest’s features on the rug represented. The black horse on top represents our history in coal and iron, while the line going through the shield represents the River Don flowing through Rotherham and the stain symbolises a stain that shouldn’t exist! There was also something about vikings and romans, but I can’t be expected to remember every single little detail. Another question was about what the mace was. The mace is a symbol of the royal family and is always placed so the crown on top faces the mayor’s right shoulder. At 1.5m in length (that’s almost my height), the mace becomes a weapon of mass destruction used to protect the royal family when they are present. The mayor was also asked why she wanted to become mayor. She said that it was her dream and that if she could become mayor anyone can.
Then, the tour guide took us around the rest of the building. The corridors were lined with photos (or paintings) of previous mayors. They were all clothed in red, except one. The exception was the first mayor who wore black. However, red was later introduced to show authority (though it would also suggest the mayor was very dangerous). The guide then took us to two smaller meeting rooms, each featuring a large table. One had a table made by Rotherham apprentices, while the other was a plain old Ikea table. These next two things may or may not be in chronological order: the guide took us to see the offices of the mayor and mayoress, before showing us a Star Wars secret. The Star Wars secret was the Darth Vader-shaped shadow of a cup. However, no one noticed this. While, we were looking at the cup, the guide also showed us where the mace and its plans are stored.
Next, we went into a dining area where we had tea and biscuits (well, orange/cranberry juice and biscuits) with the mayor herself! However, the biscuits came in very small packets and I couldn’t get the biscuits out. This resulted in my pulling off small bits of biscuit until I tried turning them around and finally got the remainder out in one piece. The tour guide also gave us gifts on behalf of the mayor: a pencil and a badge, each featuring the Rotherham Crest. Finally, we signed a guest book where we put our name and something we wanted to say. I wrote, ‘Thank you for having and teaching us.’
For me, the best part of the trip was having ‘tea’ and biscuits with the mayor. How many people can say they’ve met the mayor and out of those how many had tea and biscuits with them? One of the most interesting facts I learned was that the registration of the mayor’s car is the exact same as that of the first car to be registered in Rotherham (ET 1) and was sold to the council on the condition it would always belong to the mayor’s car. Overall, I really enjoyed this once-in-a-lifetime trip and opportunity.