It looks almost certain that the long-awaited opening of the new Wetherspoon pub in Wellington will be on time – Tuesday, August 30.

The Iron Duke – the name was chosen by readers of the WWN – has been a long time riding in.

There was even talk it might never happen and it was announced in April that asbestos which had been discovered would cause a six-week hold-up.

The proposed pub costing £2.3 million has ended up with the biggest scaffolding job in town I’ve ever seen. It’s massive and almost a work of art.

Why is it so important for the town, the pub I mean. Two things really. One is it will create 50 new jobs and that can only be a good thing.

And two, and more importantly, it will mean so much to the look of the town centre.

Wellington is an expanding town and it has to look right to encourage newcomers to shop here and not go elsewhere.

We’re getting there but we just need a few more shops to be occupied.

There’s no doubt the town has a big future because if it didn’t the big banks would have moved out of Fore Street long ago.

I­f anyone thought Wellington was not capable of putting on a show which attracts thousands they obviously missed Sunday’s big Street Fair organised by Wellington Carnival committee.

It started out in 1985 like many things – just a small event – but it has grown in popularity to rival the carnival as one of the major free shows in town.

The problem I have though is the proximity of a roasting pig to my office.

How can you work with the whiff of pork crackling floating through the office?

The trouble is, I know it’s going to happen every year. I’ve even thought about asking them to move the damn thing before they fire up.

And I know that at some point I have to go out there and have a pork roll, regardless of whether I’m having Sunday lunch.

No wonder I’m piling on the pounds and joining the fat club of the UK, which is becoming the biggest club of its kind in Europe, even rivalling the United States. Oh man, you can’t be serious.

Yes, I am. Apparently we’re getting bigger as a nation every year.

Where would British tennis be without Andy Murray. Alright, so he lost to Djokovic in the final of the French Open on Sunday but at least he was in the final.

I think I’m right in saying no British singles player survived the first week in the championship. How many times do we say this after major championships?

I remember the comments made when we won the Davis Cup. The media described it as a great team effort. Why they said this I don’t know.

Andy Murray won the Davis Cup for us. If he had not played we would not have won it. Why do we kid ourselves?

It’s mainly because those who commentate on the game are ex-players. They are not trained journalists who deal with the facts.

Where is the next Andy Murray coming from because he will soon be in his 30s?

Millions of pounds from Wimbledon is ploughed into British tennis every year but there is very little to show for it.

You may not be a football fan but you may be at the end of the European Championships which start in France on Friday.

I regard the England squad as the best we’ve had in years and Roy Hodgson, to my disbelief, has picked some young and exciting players. You don’t need experience. You need players in form, players who have that little extra zip, which is the difference between winning and losing.

It’s been a long time since I have had so much faith in our lads going into a tournament.

Forget about displays in friendlies. They are friendlies and Hodgson, hopefully, will have used them to make the final selection for his starting line-up.

I think most of the team now pick themselves. The only worrying thing for me is that Gary Neville is still assistant manager.

If he bores the players as he does me when on the box we have no chance. If I were you Gary I wouldn’t say too much and then you can bask in the glory when we win the cup.

No-one would argue that Muhammad Ali was probably the greatest sportsman of the 20th Century. But did the media go over the top with coverage of his death?

News channels devoted much of their time to his passing away on Saturday. But was there not any other news in the world?

The reason, of course, is they knew he was seriously ill and most had prepared their programmes with plenty of material from the past. It is what I call lazy journalism.

BARRY KNOTT