22/04/2017 Midlands Today

Good afternoon. at the earlier time of nine o'clock.

Thousands of people have turned out to see the Shakespeare birthday

With hundreds of jobs depending on tourism,

the parade through the town has become one of the most important

attractions of the year, as Lindsay Doyle reports.

As the works of Shakespeare himself reflected all walks of life,

so too did the now famous Stratford-upon-Avon parade,

today celebrating the playwright's 453rd birthday.

Co-ordinated by the town council with the backing

of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust,

the parade draws hundreds to Stratford, from locals to

as the world's love affair with the Bard keeps growing.

A lot of delegations from all over the world and they actually come

and stay in the town and they love Stratford,

and they do spend a lot of money in the town and they do

a lot of shopping before they go back to their own countries.

So I think, and obviously the restaurants, packed,

As well as the traditional placing of floral tributes,

the town was a draw for mime artists and acrobats.

It was really cool, because it was my first time

here and I've seen my brother doing it before and I really

We weren't expecting this today so it's really good.

Yes, I've enjoyed today and the friends

And the this year, 10,000 sonnets scrolls have been

Almost 70 of them contain a prize. Sadly, not this one.

Thus can my love excuse the slow offence.

With tourism crucial to Stratford's economy,

the birthday parade is clearly one of the most important

And it wasn't just in Stratford where the crowds took

In Kidderminster, The Mercian Volunteers Regimental Association

joined serving members of the armed forces on a march

The parade was held to commemorate the 50th Anniversary

of the formation of the 1st Battalion Mercian Volunteers,

and the disbandment of the 7th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment.

Rail passengers are facing disruption in the region tomorrow.

All lines from Bromsgrove into Birmingham, including

the cross city line, will be closed while electrification

Buses will be laid on as an alternative

We're putting in foundations too, that tie in to the existing

electrification at the Barns Green area and that will be followed by

There's other works along the line of route,

but that's the main activity this Sunday.

Birmingham boxer Tommy Langford hopes to further his dream

of becoming only the second fighter from the city to win a world title.

The 27-year-old, who's unbeaten in 18 professional fights,

takes on Avtandil Khurtsidze from Georgia for the the WBO's

Victory for Langford in Leicester will secure him an all-British

showdown with the reigning world champion Billy Joe Saunders.

This is what it's about. This is what being in boxing is for.

I've always wanted to test myself,

beat challenges against the best operators.

I have done throughout my amateur career and obviously, the

whole idea of turning professional and working your way up is to get

to this stage and I'm at this stage now.

I've got this chance and I'm going to grab it with both hands and

Onto the latest scores in today's football, starting

Questa city turned to have at Swansea. In the championship on song

will send Blackburn Rovers. Latest scores in league when, Port Vale are

losing won- Manila to Bolton Wanderers. And in League 2,

Cheltenham town are losing 3-0 at Blackpool. Finally, in the National

League, Saleh hole was beating EC 2-0.

Right, let's catch up on the weather now, with Mel Coles.

Temperatures are going to fall particularly in rural spots where we

could have Apache frost racing on Sunday morning. Heading into

tomorrow, Claudia started the day, sunshine to get the day going, a

fine day, light winds and temperatures doing well. A change to

come as we had through the next week. It will be turning much colder

Good luck to everyone from the region who's taking part

Our next news is at 6.50pm tomorrow evening.

Hello. No change to the rest of the forecast into this evening, a very

pleasant Saturday night on the way. A few showers across the far north

of the country. The winds are light, it will turn chilly tonight, 5

degrees in town centres, raw spots, a touch of frost.

Tomorrow, some ideal weather for the London Marathon. The clouds will

gather, not too cold or warm. The weather across the UK on Sunday

will be fair, some sunshine across central areas, in Scotland, already

a change, wetter and cloudy conditions coming in is linked to

low pressure and this