Newsletter July 2026

Clerks Corner

The first stage of the annual audit process has been completed and we’ve sent all the relevant documents to the External Audi-tors and posted them on our noticeboards and website. We ex-pect to receive the External Auditor report before the end of August.

You may recall that we purchased a SID to track volumes and speeds of traffic on Peel Lane and Wall Hill Lane. Sadly, Cheshire East Council installed the mounting post on Wall Hill Lane in the wrong place, but they have now returned and moved it. On the plus side, we had intended to install it on Peel Lane first anyhow.

The SID itself is quite complex and needs to be assembled first, and once as-sembled it will need to be tested and commissioned. Subject to holiday sched-ules etc. we expect this work to be completed within the next few weeks, and the intention is to rotate the SID between the two sites.

Unfortunately the company that used to print and post our Newsletters is no longer trading so we’re looking at some alternative arrangements. If you’re read-ing this in hard copy then it looks like we’ve succeeded, at least for now! But do let us know if you’ve experienced any problems with delivery.

Peter Cliff recently resigned after serving as Councillor for around 20 years. Life doesn’t seem to get any less busy as you get older, and Pete felt he could no longer devote as much time as he wanted to Council business because of his many other commitments. We’d all like to thank Pete for the hard work he’s put in and his commitment to the parish over so many years.

NewboldAstbury &MoretonCumAlcumlowNewsletter:August2026

Clerk’s Corner

WEBSITE:http://astbury-moreton-pc.gov.uk

Thefirststageoftheannualauditprocess has beencompletedandwe’vesentalltherelevantdocuments totheExternalAudi-tors andpostedthemonournoticeboards andwebsite.Weex-pecttoreceivetheExternalAuditorreportbeforetheendofAugust.

Youmayrecallthatwepurchaseda SIDtotrackvolumes andspeeds oftraffic onPeelLaneandWallHillLane.Sadly,Chesh-ireEastCouncilinstalledthemountingpostonWallHillLanein

thewrongplace,buttheyhavenowreturnedandmovedit.Ontheplus side,wehadintendedtoinstallitonPeelLanefirstanyhow.

TheSIDitselfis quitecomplexandneeds tobeassembledfirst,andonceas-sembleditwillneedtobetestedandcommissioned.Subjecttoholidaysched-ules etc.weexpectthisworktobecompletedwithinthenextfew weeks,andtheintentionis torotatetheSIDbetweenthetwosites.

UnfortunatelythecompanythatusedtoprintandpostourNewsletters isnolongertradingsowe’relookingatsomealternativearrangements.Ifyou’reread-ingthis inhardcopythenitlooks likewe’vesucceeded,atleastfornow!Butdoletus know ifyou’veexperiencedanyproblems withdelivery.

PeterCliffrecentlyresignedafterservingas Councillorforaround20years.Lifedoesn’tseemtogetanylessbusyasyougetolder,andPetefelthecouldnolongerdevoteas muchtimeashewantedtoCouncilbusiness becauseofhis manyothercommitments.We’dallliketothankPeteforthehardworkhe’sputinandhis commitmenttotheparishoversomanyyears.

St Mary’s, Astbury – Heritage Open Days

The church will be open daily from 13th to 20th September, between 1.00 and 4.00. The theme is Everyday Histories: exploring daily working life through the ages. We hope people will come and tell us of their family connections with the church. Was an ancestor married or buried at St Mary’s? Were they a bell ringer, a churchwarden or a grave digger?

There will also be two special musical events. On Saturday 19th September from 2.00 to 3.30, there will be an introduction to our amazing pipe organ and an opportunity for would-be players, whether they are pianists or have no keyboard experience at all, to have a go.

On Sunday 20th September, there will be another of our popular come and sing even-songs, with a rehearsal from 2.00 to 5.00, before the service at 6.30. ‘Sing Joyfully’ will include music by English composers from the eighteenth and early nineteenth cen-t uries, which may well have been sung at St Mary’s. All voices are welcome and parts will be taught on the day, but the music and listening files can also be sent out in ad-vance. For more information or to book a place at either event, please contact Sally Drage on 07977 903561, or music@astburychurch.org.uk

ASTBURY MAY DAY 2026

Thank You for Supporting May Day 2026
Although May Day at Glebe Farm now feels like a distant memory, we’d like to take this opportunity to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped make this year’s event such a wonderful success.

It was fantastic to see so many people come together to celebrate our community and enjoy a tradi-tional village day out. Visitors were treated to traditional May Pole dancing performed by the chil-dren at Astbury School, a bustling Makers Market showcasing talented local traders, delicious food and drink, and a full programme of entertainment throughout the day. Most importantly, the event brought together people of all ages to celebrate the spirit of our village.

Thanks to the incredible support of our visitors, volunteers, traders, performers and sponsors, we are delighted to announce that the event raised over £9,000. These funds have now been donated to local organisations, community groups and charities whose work benefits people across all areas of our local community.

Events like May Day are only possible because of the generosity, enthusiasm and hard work of so many people. Whether you attended, volunteered your time, performed, ran a stall or supported the event in any other way, your contribution has made a real difference.
Thank you once again for helping to make May Day such a memorable occasion.

We look forward to welcoming you back to Glebe Farm next year.

Astbury WI June Meeting

President Kate Naylor opened the meeting and welcomed all members new and old. Two new members joined our committee and were presented with Committee badges. Jerusalem was sung accompanied valiantly by Margaret Hollinshead on piano. Our June birthday buttonholes were then distributed. The book swap table was organised by Maureen Steele and we had an excellent artisan table with Linda Brayford and raffle by Carol Steele. Our competition this month was “A photo of your favourite walk” officiated once again by Jen Fagan and was won by Di Malkin with a photo of a walk which she began doing in lockdown and has continued to do.

This month’s speaker was Josephine Gosling, her talk was titled “Following Famous Footsteps”. Josephine has been walking regularly with her husband for many years and has covered many hundreds of miles both in the UK and abroad. She based her talk on walks which are either mentioned in poems or novels by famous writers and poets or are in locations where writers or poets were born or where they have lived. It was a very entertaining and informative talk accompanied by photographs that Josephine has taken over many years. Many subjects were discussed such as Why was William Wordsworth investigated as a spy? How did Jane Austin describe Lyme Regis? What did Charles Dickens think of his grandma? How did Oprah Winfrey’s Book Club change America? And What did Margaret Mitchell change in Gone With The Wind on publication. With mentions of the Bronte Family and their lives and travels. We all agreed it was a very agreeable evening, enhanced by tea and cake and the raffle draw.

We then finished the evening off with our National Anthem assisted once again by Margaret on piano and the meeting was closed. Our next meeting list to be held on Wednesday 2nd. September at 7.30pm all are welcome and should you wish to find any more in-formation about Astbury WI please contact Kate Naylor on 07875691170. We always warmly welcome new members! Dotty Kallis on behalf of Astbury Women’s Institute.

Changes to our recycling service

We will introduce a new weekly food waste collection service for our residents this autumn, representing a major step forward for the borough in recycling and waste reduction. A key milestone of the rollout of this new service is the distribution of outdoor food waste caddies to residents – which began earlier this month (6 July).

All borough councillors were emailed with further details about the caddy rollout to support them in informing and as-sisting residents in their wards. Our website has also been updated with further detailed information about food waste collections: cheshireeast.gov.uk/foodwastechanges and wider service changes: cheshireeast.gov.uk/changes-to-bin-collections

As a reminder, the changes to waste and recycling collections from this autumn include:

• Introduction of weekly food waste collections. Black bin (general waste) collections will move from fortnightly to three-weekly.

• Residents may have a new bin collection day as the routes and ro-tas for collections are being updated to incorporate the new food waste service.

See our media release on the changes to our waste and recycling ser-vice: 30/06/2026 – Food waste caddies make their way to residents as start of new weekly recycling service nears Please feel free to share with community networks and contacts.

Who lived in your house a century (well, 105!) years ago?

There were 30 inhabited properties recorded in the Brownlow Heath/Wall Hill Lane/Child’s Lane area of Newbold Astbury on the 1921 census which was taken on the evening of Sunday 19th. June 1921. (It is unclear from the census records if some houses had a name or number in 1921 or not, so it’s hard to be precise about some properties!)

Moreton Cottages: Thomas Buckley cowman and 9 others.

Moreton Cottages: Frank Cartlidge, blacksmith and 8 others.

Moreton Cottages: Thomas Webb, no occupation and 1 other.

Moreton Cottages: John Vaudrey, farm labourer, and 1 other.

Moreton Cottages: Frank Critchlow, miner, out of work, and 6 others.

Brownlow Farm (Brownlow Heath Lane): Joseph Brindley, dairy farmer and 3 others.

Brownlow (The Oaklands): William G Smith, no occupation plus 5 others.

Brownlow Inn: Frank Bracegirdle, publican and 1 other.

Semi detached cottage adj. Brownlow Inn: Harry Siddorn, farm labourer and 5 others.

Semi detached cottage adj. Brownlow Inn: Charles E Madders, agricultural labourer and 1 other.

Child’s Lane Farm: Samuel Tryno, dairy farmer and 1 other.

Bowling Green Cottage: Charles Cumberbatch, horseman on farm and 6 others.

Next Door: Charles Cumberbatch Jnr. Colliery labr. out of work and 2 others.

Brownlow Farm (Child’s Lane): Edward Bibby, dairy farmer plus 4 others.

Steel Croft (probably) : Jonathan Gibson, dairy farmer and 1 other.

Steel Croft (probably) : Richard Brookes, colliery labr. and 1 other.

Steel Croft (probably) : George Gray, cowman and 2 others.

Bank House: William Barber, poultry dealer and market gardener, and 4 others.

The next 5 entries are just labelled Cottages, Brownlow so it is unclear which properties they refer to, but they probably start with Summit Cottage, going down the hill towards the Methodist Chapel then onwards to Wall Hill.
Cottage: John Lees, potter’s foreman and 8 others. Cottage: Horace P Rowe, furnace labr. And 4 others. Cottage: Sampson Bagnall, bricklayer and 1 other. Cottage: James Goodwin, cowman and 2 others,. Cottage: James Carr, drainer on Moreton estate.

Poplar Cottage: Ernest Brown, house painter and 3 others.

Less a Tree Cottage/No. 58: Charles W Farr, miner and 6 others.

Brownlow (Lesser Reeves Farm?): George Blood, dairy farmer and , and 2 others.

Reeves Farm: Thomas E Boydall, dairy farmer and 2 others.

Charity Farm: George Baker, dairy farmer and 3 others.

Wall Hill Lane Farm: John T Tryno, dairy farmer and 2 others.

Cottage on Wall Hill Corner A534: Ernest Goodwin, farm worker and 3 others.

Cottage on Wall Hill Corner A534: Frank Barber, farm labourer and 4 others.

If you would like more details and a print of the inhabitants of your house on this census, (for a donation of £5.00 to Astbury Church) or if you know who occupied your property in 1921 please contact Councillor Phill Critchlow at:
phill.critchlow@astbury-moreton-pc.gov.uk

(Thanks to Mrs. B. Jelf for helpful information regarding Less a Tree Cottage and Poplar Cottage.)