This week pupils from St James Primary School visited Parliament. It was great to meet them and answer a whole host of questions about life in Westminster.

I was also delighted to have the chance to be a part of the 100th Anniversary celebrations of the 2nd Brownhills Scout Group. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting the group and left feeling truly inspired by their work especially the igloo made from plastic milk bottles.

On Friday there was time for a bit of gardening, helping Pelsall Cllr Garry Perry and children from Ryders Hayes, The Village School and St Michael’s with summer planting in the village. Then I visited Aldridge-based RMD Kwikform to learn about what they do and to congratulate them on being shortlisted for the Construction News Awards 2015, in the category of Specialist Contractor of the Year.

Then off to Longwood Canal Festival on Saturday, a long-standing event I had in my diary and one I really looked forward to. I discovered that it would take 10 days to get to Westminster on the canal network from Rushall Top Lock! That would be a long commute!