Reflections on 2013

With 2013 drawing to a close, as with all media at this time of year, we are looking back at just some of the top stories and new features on AudlemOnline over the past year.

Our top story was a video. It appeared just hours after The Big Switch On at the end of November. If you missed it, or would like to remind yourself of a wonderful event enjoyed by all ages, simply click here.

The success of the video came as a big relief to the editor as it swept off top spot his apology for a relative lack of news on 6th October because of his wedding, which inevitably took up most of the day and also kept the rest of the webteam from work.

Archive

The launch of the Archive maintained by Audlem District History Society was the major change in the year and has proved very popular. It's updated very regularly with new material, largely by Celia Bloor, and is really worth exploring. Simply click on Archive from the Home page.

Planning

Amongst the most read stories have been the two major planning sagas – both still live stories with the Little Heath proposal going to Appeal and the Mill Lane application resubmitted and now reduced to twenty six homes from the original thirty six.

Both attracted large numbers of objections by residents and the parish council and have featured as banners on the Homepage so readers can follow all the planning developments conveniently.

Council

As always, Cheshire East have featured in many stories with potholes, planning issues and more recently blocked gullies featuring strongly. We hope our coverage has contributed to the improvements in Coole Lane where resurfacing of significant stretches means it's open to all comers rather than just the owners of all-terrain vehicles. And we are glad to say many other potholes have been repaired.

Sports and other stories

Ralph Warburton's Audlem FC football reports have proved popular with many, as much for his observations on life aside from football where results have often been wanting. During the summer months, the cricket reports from the 1stXI and 2ndXI have been equally welcome.

An uplifting story of a local resident's grandfather's experience in World War, published on Christmas Eve, proved very popular while a dramatic series of stories about a suspected Eagle Owl in the area has also kept the news busy in recent weeks.

New shops

The continued expansion of Audlem's shops with the arrival of The Pinfold cafe, Painted Blue, HodgePodge and the WineGeek in Cheshire Street and BC Boat Management in Shropshire Street was a very welcome development meaning Audlem now has more shops than in a generation or more. The Co-op also had a major refurbishment earlier this month.

And talking of refurbishment, it was good to see possibly Audlem's most famous business, the Shroppie Fly, back on form after a difficult time earlier in the year. The new look interior has gone down well and again the village has three popular pubs. On the food front, the fish and chip shop is now under new management as The Village Chippy.

Making it happen

The village's community groups, notably ADAS, ASET, Audlem Festival, ADCA, 5As and ADAPT have all kept our news coverage buzzing with their events while other groups, such as Audlem Voices have held spectacularly successful evenings, notably their Christmas concert with the Cheshire Police band. If you missed it, their report is well worth a read. Simply click here.

Thanks

Our thanks to all our contributors with a special mention to Geoff Farr, for his series of Feature articles, and Audlem Reporter, who helped keep the news flowing so successfully whenever the editor was away.

For various health reasons, there was one period a few months ago when two thirds of the web team was fired up each day with morphine – whether that affected our coverage then, we leave you to judge. Fortunately both are now back on their normal stimulants, to the relief of Audlem's pubs.

This article is from our news archive. As a result pictures or videos originally associated with it may have been removed and some of the content may no longer be accurate or relevant.