Town councillor to be made Freeman of Evesham

8:59am Thursday 1st May 2008

AN Evesham councillor and a former Mayor with over 40 years unbroken service on the town council is set to be made an honourary freeman of Evesham.

Cllr Ron Cartwright, of Hawthorn Road, Evesham, was given the news at a meeting at the Town Hall on Monday and will officially receive the honour at a ceremony there on Thursday, May 10 from 7.30pm.

He said: "I was astonished when I found out because there are greater people than me who could receive this honour.

"I have enjoyed being on Evesham Town Council, there have been many ups and downs in my time and I've witnessed a lot of changes.

"But I've always enjoyed my time there and my happiest days were when I was sitting on the council and working for the BBC, meeting lots of people and being involved in the life of the town."

Cllr Cartwright was the first Mayor of Evesham after Wychavon was formed and the Borough of Evesham ceased to be in 1974, and was later Mayor again from 1985 - 1986. Along with his time on the town council he was also a District councillor and was chairman of Wychavon District Council from 1988 -1989.

During this time he also worked as a sound supervisor for the BBC in an opportunity that came about after he was denied entry to the RAF with a dodgy kidney.

Current Mayor of Evesham Alan Booth said: "40 years is a marvellous achievement. As a friend and colleague I'm really happy for him."

Cllr Cartwright joins the small list of just seven previous Freemans of Evesham, the last of which was Noel Frank Davies, who died earlier this year.

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