ONE of Dave Taylor's last acts as York's Lord Mayor was to utter some words of calm common sense in the wake of the terrorist attack on the Manchester Arena.

Contacted by The Press for his thoughts on how we should respond to the bombing, he got straight to the point. "We have to be calm, and we have to carry on with business and with life as normally as possible," he said. The terrorists, he added, wanted nothing more than to provoke a reaction and to create divisions, as they did after 9/11. "We mustn't let them," he told The Press. "We mustn't let them drive us into intolerance. Ordinary Muslims are not responsible (for what happened) in the same way that you and I were not responsible for attacking Iraq."

Three days later, he had ceased to be York's first citizen, handing over to incoming Lord Mayor Barbara Boyce in a ceremony at The Guildhall. But those words, spoken just hours after Salman Abedi had blown himself up, killing 22 innocent civilians - many of them children - will not soon be forgotten.

It has been quite a year for York's first Green Lord Mayor.

Over the last 12 months, he's visited China; attended a 105-year-old's birthday party; taken part in a schools dancing competition; visited the Royal Mail delivery office in York during the Christmas rush; played the Taiko drums at Fulford Show; tried his hand at being a station announcer in York; met Princess Anne when the men of 2 Signal Regiment were presented with the Firmin Sword of Peace for their humanitarian work in Nepal ... and played bass guitar live on stage with Chris Helme.

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Playing bass guitar live on stage

That last was at the Great Yorkshire Fringe on Yorkshire Day last year, and was probably no more than you'd expect from a man who was once part of a (semi) successful Punk Rock band, Sister Rain, which was played on the John Peel show no less than four times.

Just a couple of days before his term of office came to an end last week, The Press caught up with Cllr Taylor and his Lady Mayoress, Susan Ridley, to ask for a recap of their year.

He had loved every minute of it, he admitted. "Every day has been an adventure!" But it had also been exhausting. "It has been seven days a week, sometimes five events a day, with occasionally a day off when you don't know what to do with yourself!"

Just the day before, the Civic Party had been to RAF Linton on Ouse, where the Lord Mayor had got to fly a jet. Not a real one, sadly, just a simulator. "But I flew under the Humber Bridge, which you can't do in real life."

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Playing the Taiko drums at Fulford Show in 2016

So how would he find it to go from that to being an ordinary Green party councillor again - and resuming his day job in the marketing department at City Screen?

"It is going to be a difficult thing to stop being Lord Mayor!" he admitted.

But then, that's what it means to be York's Lord Mayor. One moment you're the centre of attention, the person everyone wants to take a selfie with. And the next, it is someone else's turn in the spotlight, and you're expected to fade quietly into the background again.

The individuals who hold the office may move on, but he believes the role of Lord Mayor is a hugely important one.

Yes, there's a bit of pomp and ceremony associated with it - the hat, the chain of office, the ceremonial. "But it has immense history. There has been a Mayor of York since 1212 AD, and a Lord Mayor since 1389."

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Meeting Gwen McDermot on her 105th birthday

It is a purely ceremonial role, he agrees, but he wouldn't want it any other way. And just because the Lord Mayor has no executive power doesn't mean he or she is insignificant.

"It's an ambassadorial role, but I think it means a lot to a lot of people. We have visited so many people - businesses, young people in school, older people in care homes - and it really makes a difference to the life of the city.

"So many people have said 'it was great that you came'. People appreciate it. They want to be photographed with you, have a selfie with you."

There's a real business benefit to having a Lord Mayor, too. As a result of his 12 day visit to China - the costs of which were almost entirely met by the Chinese - York has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Nanjing, an ancient walled city that is a major economic and cultural centre in China. "That should have lasting benefits in terms of inward investment, tourism, cultural exchanges and so on," Cllr Taylor said.

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With Lady Mayoress Susan Ridley at the Chinese consulate in Manchester

More recently, he attended a conference of the Society of Dyers and Colourists, which brought dyers from all over the world to York. "It's an international conference, but they said that next year, they'd be coming back to York!" he said.

There is also the Lord Mayor's charity role. He adopted four charities for the year: York Civic Trust; St Nicks, which looks after St Nicholas Fields and the York Environment Centre; York LGBT Forum; and York Racial Equality Network.

Throughout the course of the year, he reckons he and his fundraising team raised more than £40,000 for these charities. "So they should each get at least £10,000," he said. Plus some very welcome publicity.

Another highlight of his year was signing a document proclaiming York to be the UK's first Human Rights city.

Perhaps the most important and rewarding part of his job, however, has been getting out and about and meeting people.

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Trying his hand at being a station announcer at York Railway Station

There had been some wonderful surprises along the way, he said.

There was the 2016 Yorkshire Schools Dance Festival, which brought together children from schools across Yorkshire and the wider area at the University of York's Central Hall. "It was great to see the kids really enjoying themselves!" he said. "In fact, if we're over £40,000 in our fund-raising, I might see if we can donate some money to support that this year."

And then there was the time he and the rest of the civic party were asked to visit all the city's council-run elderly people's homes so they could judge a competition to put on the best event.

That was a real eye-opener. One home had staged a Hawaiian beach party. But even that was topped by the home which had put on something even more outré.

"They had created a mini Stonehenge and were having a rock festival," said the former punk rocker. "It was great fun."

So it must have been...