NOT EVEN THE PIG'S WHISTLE WAS LEFT !

   If I hadn't been there, I don't think I would have believed it - a couple buying cheese to pack in their baggage for France ! Our neighbour across the channel has probably more varieties of cheese than anywhere in the world. But, let's face it, a goodly hunk of Cheshire takes a lot of beating. And so this Saturday I found myself outside Goostrey's Crown Inn buying cheese from the same stall as the couple at the launch of the monthly farmers' market. They lived in France they told me but there was nothing like a bit of local farmhouse to remind them of home !  The market was flagged up for several weeks and in spite the bitterly cold day with more than a passing hint of snow flurries there was a  fair turnout of stallholders doing a brisk trade. So much so that several ran out of produce long before the end.  The lady selling cheese was doing a good deed standing in for the stallholder after her own craft-baked bread stall sold out. And a delighted Pig & Co from Blackden didn't even have the proverbial pig's whistle left to offer latecomers !

  Penny Clark from Wilmslow, who makes a range of special preserves with an old  school pal Sarah Langley, said she was delighted with  support from the village and would certainly be returning in March. "I didn't expect so many would turn up because it is so cold and this was the first market but the support of people has been tremendous," she told me. Julia Ryding from Billinge, Lancashire, a regular at seven other markets with her hand-made cakes, agreed it had been a wonderful atmosphere and would be back with her stall, too. "It took me only half an hour to get here so it really is good."   Huw Rowlands offering beef from his herd of red poll cattle at Mickle Trafford was also a very happy farmer but concerned if he would have anything to sell the next day at Whitchurch  such was the demand for his home-raised meat.

 All in all it was a great  morning out for the community - some I know had been in the pub the night before but still managed to rise early - and a tribute to the new owners of the Crown, optimistic the monthly event on the car park will become a regular feature of village life.

    Goostrey's next farmers' market is on March 30.

Meanwhile, the deadline for public comment on Cheshire East Council's proposed Local Plan looms on February 26 but the parish council has been working hard to rally support in its bid to have Goostrey's designation  changed from a Local Service Centre to a Sustainable Village. This would minimise the amount of future development for the life of the plan up to 2030.Every household should have received a model letter  with space for individual comment  to send off before the deadline. The alternative is a Goostrey possibly swollen by new homes for more than 1,000 newcomers ! The LoveGoostrey website has all the details.

  

      COUNCIL'S CALL TO VIEW HOMES PLAN

 In a call to arms  reminiscent of  Lord Kitchener's famous  poster "Your Country Needs You" of World War One, Goostrey Parish Council  finally is urging villagers to examine  the proposed Cheshire East Local Plan. Last week households were leafleted by the council with the call "Your Village Needs YOU..." to comment on the plan at two information sessions this week in the village hall tomorrow (Wednesday) between 4pm and 8pm and on Saturday, between 10am and 3pm.  Large scale maps of development sites to home possibly 1,000 newcomers will be on view.
 Not only that councillors will be on hand to discuss the issues and the fact that Goostrey is one of 13 parishes designated as a Local Service Centre. I guess in planners  speak that means it has a population and area large enough to absorb a massive increase in population in one big speculative estate and on smaller developments. But as I implied in my previous blog the term LSC must have been coined by a faceless Whitehall mandarin.
 The arrival of the council's leaflet must have come as a bit of a surprise, if not shock, to  many villagers, despite the good offices of a new website LoveGoostrey set up by a group of concerned residents to make people aware about the impact of the proposals.  It appears that few of us ordinary folk were "in on" the plan which could so easily have slipped through without comment before the deadline of February 26.That's less than two weeks away ! 
 Yet I learn that  several potential developers are in  advanced state of negotiation with Cheshire East Council and landowners.But I have to give credit where it's due - the parish council acted fast when it was realised  that so few people in Goostrey were aware of the local plan due to a lack of publicity.  It was certainly not a hot topic on the village's hourly bus - always a good source of local gossip - or around the bar at the Crown or Red Lion.
 Like LoveGoostrey, I would not want to be accused of being a Nimby as I think there is scope for the village to grow in a far more modest way over the years but, as said previously,  land by and large should  be earmarked only  for local needs,
 But as the parish council says in its leaflet: The future of your village is in your hands !

A WAKE UP CALL FROM HIBERNATION

  I'm afraid it has been a few months since I last "blogged" but I have now been shocked and stirred from  my winter hibernation! By courtesy of a village group called LoveGoostrey I learn that we have yet another battle on our hands. Yes, you can guess, if not already informed, we are about to face another invasion from the developers who believe that Goostrey's green fields are ripe for what on the Spanish costas would be labelled urbanisation . Hand-in-hand  in consultations with Cheshire East Council's Local Plan several builders are already  rumoured to have quietly crept under the village radar to discuss at least three sites ( off Station Road. Main Road and Mount Pleasant) where 234 new homes can be plonked on green acres.What is more insulting is that in planning speak we have been robbed of our rural status and an  ancient name that was mentioned in  the Domesday Book of 1086. Goostrey is now classed as  a small town, lumped together in Cheshire East in 13 areas known as Local Service Centres, including Holmes Chapel, Chelford and Alderley Edge, where 2,000 new homes will be built if developers and, no doubt, housing associations have their way.  The insane council  mandarin  who thought up this one must have been breast-fed on George Orwell's 1984!
It may be of news to many that with less than a month to go before discussions on the proposals must end on February 26,  the bid to expand Goostrey is currently part of Cheshire East Council's consultation with the community over its Local Plan. Now, I know I have been a little inactive over the past few months but until the LoveGoostrey newsletter arrived on my mat from its chairman Martin de Kretser I was largely ignorant of the issues unfolding about the Local Plan, or that my views were being sought. I must have missed out somewhere.  Even local newspapers serving the area appear to have ignored the story although I am sure it must have been given a mention. But it seems sad I have to rely on a residents newsletter to keep informed. Fair enough, Cheshire East Council does have a website devoted to the issue but take your eye off the ball and how do you know it exists ? Or that you can look at the draft plan in Holmes Chapel library!  Surely in this age of mass communications it was not beyond the wit of the council to send a note to all households seeking their comments.Get behind with the rates and I'd bet they would soon be knocking on the door!
According to LoveGoostrey (website http://LoveGoostrey.wordpress.com) there is now the opportunity (if belatedly) for residents to make their views known to influence where (or if) all these houses will go in the village. "The Local Plan affects everyone in the village but you can influence how Goostrey will look in the future," the LG say. The initial reaction to the proposals is that it currently appears to encourage a disproportionate development of Goostrey. Rightly it maintains that too much development would affect everyone in the village  with too many additional houses, people and cars and all the infrastructure  to support them. "If you want to go on living in a rural village you need to act now and add your comments to the Consultation to limit the development." Few would claim that Goostrey is one of those pretty postcard villages beloved of chocolate box makers but it does have its own charm and picturesque corners. The rash of development in the sixties and seventies managed to take place without the loss of its soul and  was welcomed by and large by its inhabitants of then little more than 1,000. It seemed to me to have been a seamless merger of new and old, and certainly I have yet to meet anyone who has not felt a  genuine welcome in the village. But there are limits to this kind of  passive acceptance and overkill can lead only to resentment. Over the past 30 years Goostrey has grown at a slower, more natural rural pace, with any new housing on a small scale or in individual plots.  Needs of local families should now be the issue for a Local Plan - not several hundred mansion-style homes (and no doubt a few so-called affordable houses) built by speculators and  designed for wannabe country people at asking prices far beyond what any young couple from Goostrey can afford. 
I would urge anyone interested in the future of the village to log on to the LoveGoostrey website to read its well argued assessment of the Local Plan. Cheshire East's website for comments is:     http://cheshireeast-consult.limehouse.co.uk/portal/planning/

    GOOSTREY'S CROWN REIGNS AGAIN ! 

Since scaffolding went up around The Crown in Goostrey several weeks ago villagers have  waited anxiously for completion of its transformation. The Crown is more than just a pub though. It has been a centre of local life for generations - albeit in recent times a dubious title as the sadly missed  late Gerry Bridgwood and his wife, Cynthia, struggled against all the odds to keep it open.
 Now under a new team it is being reborn this Friday (September 28) and among the feast of food and beers on offer Gerry has not been forgotten - a real ale called Bridgwood has been created in memory of the former landlord and ex-professional player with Stoke City!

New team in charge at The Crown, Emma and Chris

 The business duo Simon Kalton and Edward Barlow, who have taken over and transformed the Swan at Tarporley,and several other pubs in their quest to "reinstate the traditional British pub  in the heart of Cheshire" have performed the same magic in Goostrey
 With a minimum of structural change, the  inn has been sympathetically refurbished  to become a true village local, in appearance I guess more than it has been for  a century or so. Anyone who feared it was destined to become a trendy chromium plated eatery filled with gastronomic overload will be delighted at the result. 
 I had a sneak preview with Edward Barlow as  a battalion of tradesmen fought to finish off before the 5 pm  opening deadline. It is astonishing what has been achieved in such a short time - and only the incessant rain this week prevented  the completion of the outside face-lift and removal of scaffolding.
The man in charge at The Crown, Chris Jennings, formerly manager at the Church House, Bollington, and his assistant manager, Emma Small, say they will be working all out to put the Crown back on the map at the hub of village life.
"We're a local team and we think we know what's been missing in Goostrey - our concept is simple, we want to recreate what we believe is a true village local and a fabulous place to eat, drink and be merry." 
  And I think we  can all say cheers to that!

  CROP OF HARVEST FESTIVITIES

  Goostrey's parish church has organised one of its most ambitious harvest

  festivals  since its foundation more than 800 years ago.

   St Luke’s is holding the week-long celebration of harvest-time in the run up to the church’s  traditional harvest thanksgiving service this coming Sunday (September  30).

Harvest in the sun!

  With so much rain lashing down it has not been much like harvest but each  day this week is being marked in the church with an event and displays. 

The  displays of  harvests of  grain, ocean,  garden, earth and flocks is also  providing

   children from Goostrey Community School and other local schools with the opportunity to take part in hands-on activities  such as pottery making,  weaving woollen thread, sowing seeds and even making a boat to illustrate a Bible story from the Sea of Galilee.      

  The event called Harvest Experience, which is being arranged by a team of volunteers, is based on the success of the Easter Experience held at St Luke’s two years ago.

  Adults are being invited to take part in activities in the church linked to the harvest displays on Thursday between 7.30 pm and 9 pm.

    A harvest supper open to all together with  a folk band in the village hall on Saturday has also been organised as part of the celebrations.

    The vicar, the Revd Ian Gregory, tells me the events will focus on the religious  significance as well as the practical aspects of the different harvests.

   “Harvest festival is one of the most important times in the rural calendar and as such it was felt it was more deserving of attention during the week leading up to our celebration week-end,” he says.

    St Luke’s was built around 1220 and rebuilt in the 18^th century when the timbered church  was demolished, but a place of worship may have existed on the site since the Anglo Saxons.

 The first recorded vicar was Abel in 1220 and a yew tree in the churchyard has been identified as 1,200 years old.

    

TRYING TO GET ON THE RIGHT LINE

  I've just returned from another little adventure on the bus to Northwich. It was quite a jolly jaunt but this time the round trip took no more than five hours ! But it did include a spot of retail therapy before returning via train from Sandbach  station. Now, I've  often joked at being "confused of Goostrey" - some say it is no joke ! - but on this occasion after the bus dropped me off outside the station I can honestly say I was totally confused. So too was the lady I asked if she knew which side of the station did the Manchester-bound trains stop ! She confided it was also her first visit to Sandbach  station as a Secret Shopper to check on the station staff and she had no idea either. Like many stations on this line, it was securely padlocked, not a soul or fellow traveller in sight and certainly no rail staff to point the way. Several other passengers arrived and, like me, they had no idea but as in TV's Who Wants to be a Millionaire one of them phoned a friend who guessed we'd be on the right tracks if we crossed the bridge to the opposite side. Sure enough, I then spotted a sign on the platform saying Manchester trains - only trouble was there was also an arrow that appeared to direct us back over the bridge  the way we came! All very confusing but by this time my lady  SS had vanished after ascertaining no staff were ever on duty so I decided to stick it out. Wise move as moments later the train came,but it would be helpful if Northern Rail marked its up and down lines clearly.
A notice on the platform told me that moves were afoot to revive Friend's of Sandbach Station.



Station master with five staff at Goostrey Station
(Click on picture to enlarge)

  This is an excellent idea. Since such a group was formed at Goostrey, the station has regained some of its old sparkle with fresh plantings of flowers and hacking back the jungle of grass by enthusiastic volunteers. I hear there are more improvements planned to make the station a more pleasant travelling experience, including the possibility of a shop in the old waiting room. I can hardly believe that in living memory Goostrey   was a hive of activity with its own station master and staff but the evidence is in the picture I reproduce here.
I have no beef with Northern Rail and have no idea why Sandbach station deserved a Secret Shopper. Just to keep the record on line, I've always found its train staff excellent and most helpful !

 JODRELL BANK IS THE MEMORIAL TO SIR BERNARD

   It seems an eternity since the night in Congleton town hall when a slightly-built, academic-like figure held a capacity audience spellbound with his vision of outer space. I'm afraid his world of planets and pulsars were way beyond my horizons. But then Professor Bernard Lovell, later to become Sir Bernard, was on a mission to show Jodrell Bank radio telescope would not be a blot on the landscape. Many years later when Jodrell Bank was not only well-established but had listed status as an iconic structure of the 20th century, I had good reason to thank Sir Bernard for his powers in persuading the planners to allow its construction. Most people are unaware that JB has the final say on significant developments because of the increased risk of electrical interference to its operations.

Sir Bernard  Lovell

 So when I wrote three paragraphs for the Manchester Evening News about a housing development given the go ahead in Goostrey, with a friend and colleague, Maurice Weaver, we snapped up adjoining plots in Mill Lane. We have  long since moved on, Maurice now settled in  happy retirement in sedate Surrey, and I am across the village in a cottage in Blackden Lane that once served as a meeting house for local methodists and Goostrey tennis club ! Yet, like me, I am sure at times Maurice pauses to thank his lucky stars for Jodrell Bank and the few paragraphs that encouraged our move to the village - in the nick of time  before the property boom went into orbit !
 Sir Bernard, as everyone is aware, died earlier this month at the great age of  98, still in the house at Swettenham where occasionally as a cub reporter I would call with my news editor, the late John Condliffe, who in later life took over the ownership of the Congleton Chronicle, in search of the hottest news from Jodrell Bank. He was always most courteous and I don't believe he ever sent an inquiring journalist away without a nugget for his paper.

First moon landing

 Over the years I have filed stories speculating about messages from little green men from space, the Russian race into space with its Sputniks monitored by the radio telescope and the landing of the first man on the moon by the Americans. It was on moon landing night the Crown Inn had its 15 minutes (or I should say a day) of fame when the world and his uncle descended on the village after the news the pub would open all night to celebrate the occasion. Landlord John Lawton and his wife, Margaret, always friends of the press, put on a media"moon punch" served from a silver bowl in the kitchen as the drama unfolded on TV ! 
  The funeral service for the telescope's founding father is to be held appropriately in the tiny church of St Peter this Thursday in his village where the radio astronomer  played the organ for some 40 years.  I hear the great and the good will be present, the church filled with family and close friends, the service relayed  to the overflow congregation on closed circuit TV in a series of marquees on the car park of the Swettenham Arms.  Sir Bernard's final request was for a simple burial in the churchyard with his wife, who died in 1993. And I guess his most fitting memorial will  be that giant neighbour of ours towering above the Cheshire landscape.