New boundary signs for Audlem

In view of the recent decision by Cheshire County Council to put out road signs in both English and Polish, a decision has now been taken to amend the Audlem boundary signs. There are two signs at each of the parish boundaries. One simply states "Audlem" and the other "Welcomes careful drivers".

Our roving reporter, Olaf Proli, can now exclusively reveal that following a comprehensive vehicle survey, the sign stating "Welcomes careful drivers" is to be shown in English, Welsh, Gaelic, Cornish, French, Polish, German, Spanish, Italian, Romanian, Serbo-Croat, Urdu, Arabic, Esperanto, Unwinese and Braille.

Head of Signage, Ali Forlop, said that Audlem had specifically been chosen as the first village in the country to have the multi-lingual signs after having been voted Calor Northern Village of the Year and winning the Defra "Building Community Life" national award in 2005. She stated that the signs are a wonderful example of multi-culturalism and inclusivity and added that she hopes that the signs will be no more than eight feet high and three feet wide.

The signs, which will form part of Audlem's traffic-calming measures, are expected to be in place for the start of the caravan season. Because of their size, each sign will have to be anchored down in three cubic metres of concrete. In order to do this, all roads into Audlem will be closed for three days.

And yet more on how multiculturalism is powering ahead in the area. Audlem Online has been ordered by the Ministry of Equality to publish 3% of its stories in Polish, as from today. This is because 3% of the population in Crewe & Nantwich Borough is now Polish.

A Pole living in Audlem, Prali Loofinsky, said, and we quote him verbatim: "Equality and diversity are essential cornerstones of civilisation. We Poles may be short in numbers, but as we say at home, 'no leg is so short that it cannot reach the ground'."

Prali, who read English at Krakow University and also completed a doctorate in the philosophy of the English metaphysical poets before moving to Audlem, added "The Polish signposts and stories on Audlem Online are a welcome gesture that make me feel at home. I plan to provide Polish lessons to local Audlem people so they too will be able to find their way round once the new signs are installed."

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