JOHN Mulhall’s sad passing this week coincided with a long rumination for Podium on the merits of the City of Culture bid.

For many raw Guardian reporters, an early morning phone call from John Mulhall was something of a rite of passage.

Whether it concerned his impassioned pleas on Arpley waste tip, for the Agenda 21 committee, to his work with the Community Law Centre, or any one of a cornucopia of issues he became embroiled in, it was great fun watching a young hack attempt to build a narrative off the back of what was being said.

Prolific Guardian writer he could proudly claim to be, an unsuccessful Independent council candidate on more than one occasion, my favourite tale concerning the Whitecross campaigner was his attempt to progress a planning application for a new school on the treasured home of Lymm’s Cllr Sheila Woodyatt, in the wake of Longbarn Primary’s closure.

His righteous indication occasionally required more discreet channelling, but his impassioned entreaties could give our City of Culture team leaders pause for thought.

Because I’m just not feeling the verve our masterplan should be dazzling the nation with right now.

Marvellous that all the usual suspects are lining up with warm words but where’s the grit, which makes Warrington stand out.

Pete Postlethwaite, Pete McCarthy, Walking Days, Joseph Priestley, Ossie Clark, fine and dandy.

But what drives our efforts still further?

Where is the visionary ready to install a mini-version of Manchester’s Royal Exchange inside The Pyramid to fill our theatre-shaped hole?

Who can mould the undoubted musical talent to be found within our boundaries into an outdoor epic much grander than the dear Old Fish Market could possibly muster?

Why is our greatest impresario, Simon Moran, not at the forefront of proceedings?

A man who knows a thing or two about seizing the zeitgeist, from V96 to the return of both the Stone Roses and Take That.

Like a very astute Guardian letter writer mentioned last week, the libraries fight showed there’s plenty of vigour when it comes to the cultural struggle in Warrington so let’s demonstrate just that.