NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY HIGH LEGH COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION | DISTRIBUTED AT NO CHARGE TO HIGH LEGH RESIDENTS WINTER 2012 NUMBER 118 In this issue: • Welcome the New Year • Lost Treasures of the with some Pampering North West • World Championship Victory • Become an Athletics Marshall - in Florida High Legh 10K Race • A556 & Localism Consultations • Competition – Embrace the • Evening talk on Arley Gardens Olympics Games in Village Hall • Easter celebrations • Quizzes, dancing, chocolate!! • WI in Forget me not Lane ©High Legh Community Association 2012 For your Winter Household & Gardening needs visit www.hardware2u.co.uk 2 Happy New Year It looks like 2012 will be a year of celebrations and new beginnings in High Legh. In December 2011 St John’s Church was packed, as we celebrated the life of the late Jim Margison, who was very influential in creating and nurturing the culture and organisations that we enjoy in High Legh today. His friend, Martin West has written a tribute to him, and the Bowling Club item tells of his contribution to the development of facilities for sport. Jim was for many years the Chairman of the Community Association and was a prime mover in the drive to set up a Village Hall, bringing together strong and enduring teams of volunteers to raise money, renovate the property and fill it with activities that create a wealth of happy memories. My personal recollection of Jim is that he had the gift of finding the good things in any situation and rejoicing in them. I was pleased to see him enjoying and chatting about the displays last summer, at the Church’s costume day. Although I did not meet Jim until quite late in his 93 years, I have heard others talk about what he did and said, which remain as treasures in our collective memories. Events for the winter period include a new Talks programme, an Olympics competition, Coffee and Create mornings with some old favourites like Quizzes, Bowling, Keep fit, 10K Road Race, Tai Chi, Bridge, Tennis, Photography, Dancing, Chocolate, and Pampering. There will be lots of opportunities to sponsor High Legh people: Philip Langman has bravely committed to racing 150-200Km across Northern Borneo in May, and runners in the High Legh 10K race are supporting many different charities including the School PTA. This Newsletter is written, published and delivered to all High Legh homes, through the voluntary efforts of High Legh Community Association (CA). The opinions expressed are those of contributors, and not necessarily those of the CA. You can have fortnightly reminders plus the latest High Legh news by email from [email protected] .Just send her a request by email, your email address will remain confidential. You can cancel the email update at any time. The deadline for the Spring Newsletter is: Sunday 25th March, 2012 Please send contributions to 11 Venables Way, or [email protected] on or before this date. Advertising rates are set to help local providers, starting as low as £13 for a ¼ page, 800 copies distributed to all residents and to clubs and shops around High Legh – see www.highlegh.org.uk. Thank you to all contributors, advertisers and distributors. Jenny Pearce Editor (01925 756171) 3 Would you like to understand and overcome Anxiety, Stress or Depression? Unable to access help through the NHS and need support? I offer clinical evidence based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Techniques which are highly effective to overcome many psychological disorders. Book a One to One Assessment at The Brookdale Clinic in Knutsford now for £25 (1/2 Price - normally £50) Contact Jane Eastwood on 07736 832310 to arrange an appointment or contact me through www.positiveminds.co.uk Also look out for courses at High Legh Village Hall coming soon..... SMC Heating & Plumbing Serving South Manchester and Cheshire Installer of New Heating System for Village Hall Replacement Gas and LPG Boilers Full Central Heating System Service and Repair Grants Available Energy Saving Solutions Gas Safe Registered Call Steve 01925755915 or 0778 999 1743 4 AGM There was a good turnout of 35 residents at the CA AGM in November. A summary of the activities undertaken for the benefit of High Legh residents, and details of the financial position are posted on the community website www.highlegh.org.uk. The High Legh Community Association is now registered with HMRC, so donations are eligible for gift aid. We warmly welcome all residents to participate in the CA – come along to meetings; help run an event; bring your project management, building design and construction skills or furnishing/lighting/room design skills along to the Village Hall Management committee and help us update the Village Hall. We currently have no Chairman for the CA Council. The CA Treasurer is Tim Pearce and Fiona Martin is the CA Secretary. Social Activities 2011 Photographic Competition and Quiz The 2011 photographic competition was a big success, with over 300 photographs entered. The hall was open in the afternoon for public viewing of the photographs and this proved to be very popular. Congratulations to everyone who entered. The standard was very high. With all events there is a huge amount of work goes on in the background and the photo competition is no exception, so a big thank you to the organisers Dorian Haymes and Helen Barton. Dorian has been helping to organise the photo competition for seven years and Helen for the last two years. They are both now stepping down, so thank you to you both for all your hard work. John and Nell Napier will be organising the next photo competition so cameras at the ready – read on for more details about the 2012 competition. ..... Bruce and I are very pleased that so many people said they enjoyed the quiz. Thank you for coming along, and supporting the raffle so generously. KMTC Christmas would not be the same without a pantomime from the Knutsford Musical Theatre Company and for 2011 they performed their version of Scrooge’s Christmas Carol. The script was written by Darren Humphries and with some great acting, lively songs and super costumes, this made for an enjoyable evening for both the cast and the audience. 5 New in 2012 Have you ever looked up when you come home at night and thought how lucky we are to see the stars? The CA is encouraging an initiative by a group of residents to see how many others are also interested in astronomy. Sadly, Brian Cox does not live in High Legh, but his programmes have enthused people about the wonders of the universe. So why don’t you come to the Village Hall on 17th Jan and find out more! In addition to our established events such as the 10K Race, Village Show and Quizzes , we plan to run another Scarecrow Competition and offer a Programme of Talks that are of general interest and are open to all. Many of us travel far and wide to attend talks, and it seems like a good idea to invite some of the better speakers to come to High Legh, so we can have an interesting evening with friends in our own village hall. If you hear any good speakers who you think would appeal to a High Legh audience, do give me a call, and if this venture is a success, perhaps we can invite them to give a talk later in the year. The opening talk is on Thursday 9th February at 8pm in the Village Hall. The beautiful gardens at Arley Hall will be known to many of you. We are very pleased to welcome Geoff Baillie, Head Gardener , who has given talks all over the country. The second talk on Thursday 23rd February is by Mark Olly , who is a fascinating speaker on the history of the North West . The history talk by Judy Popley a couple of years ago was packed out, so do reserve a ticket early. We will sell some tickets on the door, so come along to the village hall if you find you are unexpectedly back in High Legh by 8pm. Tea, coffee and biscuits provided . Another innovation for 2012 is a French evening , which we plan to run on Bastille Day (July 14th). More details on this and other activities in the spring newsletter. High Legh Robert Moffat Memorial 10K Race This race is continuing to build its excellent reputation. Although we increased the number of runners from 300 to 400, the race filled up faster than ever before. In 2011 we welcomed a descendant of Robert Moffat to run in this race. This year she has encouraged 3 Moffat family members to also participate. So, our race is, once again, an international event. For more details see our sports section. CA Spring Quiz – will be on Sat 28th April – more details in the Spring newsletter. Communication The popular “Whats On” will continue, with the focus on reminding everybody about forthcoming social activities, and also to let you know when CA meetings are taking place, because we would like more people to participate, even if it is just for a few meetings about matters that particularly interest them. Upgrades are planned for the community website and we are looking for people who would like to contribute content – to keep “their bit” of the site updated with items of interest. Trish Adams Chairman CA Social Committee 6 TALKS AT HIGH LEGH VILLAGE HALL Come along and meet the experts and find out more about your local area. THURSDAY 9TH FEBRUARY Gordon Baillie, head gardener at Arley Hall , will be giving a talk. Find out about the inside story of the wonderful gardens at Arley and pick up some gardening tips.