Chatbox

Progress at last probably due to the helpful emails.
This below is from a report of a site visit.
"After the landowner agreed to reopen the footpath he has been asked if the access down to the towpath can also be opened.

He has agreed to review this with our local engineers with a view to reopen as we have no objections from a customer operations point of view.
So looking positive."

Well said Bob. The newly renovated clubhouse and scorer's box look fantastic and hopefully are strong enough to ward off any potential Termite attacks. Well done John and the team

Consistently good and interesting reports . Keep up the good work John . Who knows could be the next C M J . Well done mate . What a pity the village sports facilities are not in the same league as either the cricket or bowling club .

Hello,

Just to let you know that Whitchurch Cleaning Services have some cleaning availability in Audlem on a Wednesday and Thursday. If you would like more information please get in touch with Lucy on 07843480815.

We are approved members of the Domestic Cleaning Business Network and preferred suppliers of Sykes Holiday Cottages.

Here is a link to our Facebook page if you would like to take a look at our reviews and photos.

https://www.facebook.com/whitchurchcleaningservices

Many Thanks
Lucy

I forgot to say that in 2016 several more walkers and runners filled in usage forms.

I was absolutely furious when I realised that the Shropshire Rights of Way team had comprehensively blocked up the towpath gateway. In 2004 when I started the process of reopening the footpath I had 12 people submit forms claiming 20 years unobstructed use of the towpath circuit and recently I have been in touch with the team several times about replacing the gate when they removed the obstructions. However as it is on CRT land they have to be involved. Shropshire should have been in touch with them long ago. I was glad to hear of several emails asking for action and I hope there were plenty more. At the very least it will show public interest. I have been told one of the gates on the bridge has been propped open. If you go that way please close all the gates though I suspect it was not done by a walker.

Does anyone know an older gentleman who was in Turnpike field this evening with a dog he described as a rescue dog? The dog ran up to some Guides who were collecting some blossom for hats they were making. The dog was being friendly, which apparently led to the owner shouting at the guides, claiming they were scaring the dog who was licking their legs and telling them to 'f@#* off'. And claiming that the girls were on private property. So the guides ran away, as 10 year old girls being shouted and sworn at by an aggressive old man might.

Audlem Carers support group meets at the Shroppie Fly every 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month from 10.30am to 12 noon.
If you are a carer for a family member or friend please feel free to pop and join us for a coffee and chat. It's a great way to meet others in a similar situation and get much needed support!
Laura

I was very sad to read, this morning in the window of the old priesthouse cafe that they had closed due to the increased energy costs, which has had an impact on their trade.
What a shame! Lovely couple, fantastic customer service, great environment and chocolate brownies to die for.
How wonderful, it would be for local people to step in as they did for the white lion at Hankelow and save our iconic village cafe.
I split my coffee's between the two cafe in the village, as I was trying to support both of them during this difficult economic climate

I hate to see local business go!

My very best wishes

Absolutely fantastic work by all involved with the gate at Turnpike I can't understand why anyone would have any issue with that's been done.

P.S. My niece in Bangor, the daughter of my older brother, having seen my comment about my father and the suffragettes, phoned me to say that she had heard the same story from her father, but did I know the sequel? I did not. My father was a regular contributor to the Welsh press of the day. Following his experience at the Royal Albert Hall he wrote an article about it to the papers describing the event in detail. He describes in Welsh how the women ("gyda swn aflafar") with 'harsh, horrendous sounds' had chained themselves to chairs, so when the police came they 'had to saw off the legs – of the chairs of course!'

I think the new gate looks fantastic and well done to the people that did the work. However surly planning should have been looked into. All it will take is a few complaints and all that hard work will be undone and someone will end up with a big bill. Great work again just fell a little short sighted by the council and turnpike working group on this one

Audlem Parish Council was asked on numerous occasions from various members of the public when the gateway alteration was discussed in the last couple of council meetings. If they had sought guidance and approval from highways and Cheshire East planning. The minutes for the 3rd of April 2023, states that 22/168 "Action: This would be verified as part of the associated works".

So did Audlem Parish Council take this action or proceed without the approval from highways and Cheshire East planning?

I would like to thank Peter Morgan for his informative chatbox post and the volunteers, the Turnpike Committee and Dylan Jones for their hard work in making the Green Lane entrance to the Turnpike field safer. We are lucky to have volunteers who take it on themselves to make a difference to the village . A welcome change from the negativity that some people are only too anxious to display. Perhaps if the person who felt it necessary to complain to the council had taken the time to go over and speak to the volunteers/committee, and maybe even rolled their sleeves up to help them, the site visit would not have been necessary.

Maybe these incidents won't match Celia's Peterloo connection but Sue, my wife, saw Laurel and Hardy live in Shrewsbury on their last UK tour in 1951.

My own connection with the world of entertainment is that the choir I was in in 1957, the London Welsh Youth Choir, was once invited to sing with Harry Secombe in the popular TV show of the time – Sunday Night At The Palladium. Appropriate maybe for the day, if not the venue, the song was "Bless This House"!

More seriously, my father who died in 1932 when I was six months old, was in his day in Wales a reciter of note. He won the men's recitation competition at the Welsh National Eisteddfod when it was held in the Royal Albert Hall, London in 1909. At some stage I was told the story that on that occasion, pacing the corridors trying to compose himself prior to going on stage, he was disturbed by the sight of noisily protesting women being carried out by burly policemen. Suffragettes !!

Unfortunately Peter I've had a problem at a previous property similar works and it turned out planning was needed especially as the surface has been changed I just put the post up as a warning that any changes to a gateway like the work that has been done onto a main road requires planning and seem it's been done without. the council could end up in serious trouble. As i say I'm taking from very expensive experience

At the end of last week, the entrance to the T. F. was upgraded to improve the safety of all vehicles entering or leaving the field. It was extremely hazardous for all traffic both on the highway or those vehicles entering or leaving the field. The bend the gateway is on was hampering visibility which, combined with the speed of the traffic leaving the village proved highly dangerous.
It was finally agreed, despite opposition in some quarters, to move the existing gate back into the field by some eight metres to allow long vehicles to enter without holding up traffic on the highway and to improve visibility for those leaving. A safety bonus all round. Our plan was approved by the parish council on the grounds of safety and also, no doubt, because it would not involve any cost to the parish council themselves as all the costs have been covered by ADAS and a local donor.
The work has been carried out by our local contractor, Dylan Jones and with the able, and sometimes less able, assistance of three volunteers, Steve Elliott, Nigel Mottershead and myself. But there is no doubt that the success of the whole job is down to Dylan, his equipment and knowledge.
The work, as advertised on AoL, commenced on Thursday morning and within an hour or so, we received a visit from a Highways gentleman from Nantwich who informed us that a complaint had been received of works on a new entrance to the field. We assured him that it was an existing entrance of over a century's standing and following a quick scan of Google Street View he was satisfied that the objection was, to say the very least, incorrect, if not deliberately misleading. We had a very useful talk with Highways, particularly in relation to the need for an improved pedestrian and disabled access and so his time was not entirely wasted.
We are not able to remove the hedge to the North of the gate without Highways approval which will be a future project and one that will hopefully include a facility to accommodate the Wheely Bus along with a pedestrian/disabled access point for wheelchairs and mobility scooters. I hope you will agree with us that the project has improved the safety of this facility and will be a bonus for all future event users. Let's take this village forward once again.
Peter Morgan

Has planning permission been given for the gate adjustments on turnpike. from past experience when making a entrance gate wider and adding a new surface planning permission must be gained before the work goes ahead. would hate for the council to be hit with a massive bill if this has not happened.

Over the weekend I did receive a leaflet from the Conservative candidate. I've also discovered that the other candidate lives in Nantwich so not very local!

Who was the oldest person you knew when young? Did they ever tell you that they had met some person from farther back in time? An Audlem resident told me they remembered Lloyd George visiting. In a telephone conversation a lady said she had seen the scar on an arm from the Peterloo Massacre in Manchester. Might be some interesting stories out there!

Geoff Seddon is quite correct and spoilt ballot papers are recorded. If you listen to election results being announced the returning officer actually announces the number of spoilt votes. So much better to record your view in this way than not to vote.

I am surprised that although I have received a leaflet from the Liberal candidate I have received nothing from the Conservative candidate.......one reason why I may well spoil my ballot paper! Does anyone know where the Liberal candidate lives.....his literature says he is local but that could be anywhere in East Cheshire!

As an avid supported of Hedgehogs (we have a few visiting our garden) I thought others may be interested in the below link. Sadly last year we had 2 dead hedgehogs, one had a strimming injury that RSPCA Stapeley couldn't save, the other was flattened on the lane! Join Hedgehog Street and make some Hedgehog Highways...enjoy

https://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/hedgehog-awareness-week-30th-april-6th-may-2023/

I'm not sure which counts Ann Simpson has attended. I can assure her, from being part of a counting team on a number of occasions, that spoiled ballot papers are counted and recorded as part of the result. So it is better to spoil your ballot paper than not to vote at all.

For the. "Don't vote then a low turnout will make them do something" Theory to work you first need politicians with a conscience......mmm good luck with that one!

As I was the sad person who submitted the Chatbox post that initiated the debate about local council elections I feel obliged to offer an update. A couple of days after my post we had a visit to our street from Rachel Bailey (Conservative) who was delivering leaflets. Rachel informed us that this visit was coincidental and not prompted by Chatbox posts. We had a brief conversation about local issues along with some of our neighbours so consequently we are somewhat better informed.
There has been no contact or information from the other candidate John Phillips (Liberal Democrat) which is surprising in the circumstances and effectively means I don't have a real choice of candidate to vote for in this election.
Personally I am a great believer in using my vote since, as has been noted, they have been hard won over periods of history (not just suffragetes as important as they are) and are the only way to make lasting political change. It would be a great shame if the only message we can send is by a spoilt ballot paper – but it may have to reluctantly come to that for some people. Over and out :-)