September 2008 www.audleycommunitynews.ik.com ISSUE 21 Donations Are Welcome / Free Issue Local ‘Sparks’ Fire and Ice Challenge News Baking & & Views Cookery Poetry Trivia & & Rhyme Quizzes Tales Information & & Stories Advice DIY Adverts & & Gardens Time Tables Sports History & Martin Thomas, local parish Electrician and performer with the Audley & Games Theatre, can be seen above during his epic charitable journey up Mt. Memories McKinley in North America. Read his hazardous story inside on page 11. Fun Questions & Successful bid by Newsletter for LMIS grant. & Jokes Audley Community News is most grateful to Answers Staffordshire County Council and County Councillor Tips Edward Boden for their recent granting of funds to Opportunity & to Advice purchase much needed equipment, which will help them to continue producing the Audley Community News. Have More Printed by Alsager Print Email us at: [email protected] Editor : E Moulton Published at the Audley Community Centre in the Parish of Audley Beware Email scam. There is a computer virus going around at the moment. Emails appear to come from UPS with an invoice number saying that they have failed to deliver your parcel. They then ask you to open and print an attachment which contains the virus and it infects your computer. NEVER open attachments in emails unless you know the sender or are expecting the mail. Dawn Dobson. Dear Readers I must say that the past few months have brought to me some wonderful surprises. The first of my surprises happened when I was told in May 2008, that I had been nominated by Lee Moss of The Children of Audley Residents Association, for a Sentinel Our Heroes Award, in the Good Neighbours category. I’m quite sure there are many more people out there who do lots of voluntary work and deserve these awards more than I do. Audley should be proud of its unseen heroes, our village would be a sad place without these dedicated people who think only of others. It would be unfair for me to name just a few as I do not know every organisation, but there must be hundreds of local people who give their free time to make our village a better place. Thank you Lee for the nomination. I hope that the hard work you and your committee at The Children of Audley Residents Association do fulfils your dreams of building your new recreation area in Wereton. I continue with more good news for the Audley Community News: we were informed, in May, that we have been successful with an application for a Local Member Initiative Scheme Award from Staffordshire County Council. We wish to thank our local County Councillor, Edward Boden, for his help to enable the Newsletter to obtaining this award. The money allocated to the Newsletter by Staffordshire County Council will provide us with much needed equipment, which will hopefully help us to produce a better magazine. The Local Members Initiative Awards is funding provided by Staffordshire County Council, then allocated to local County Councillors to assist local organisations, clubs and individuals throughout the area who require funding for their project. If you wish to apply for a grant, please contact your local County Councillor, or you can go on line to Staffs County Council and download an application form and then post this on to your local County Councillor. The Newsletter Team hopes that you enjoy your September issue and would welcome your comments. Ernie Editor. Stan Taylor-Reading Award. Crackley Bank School, Chesterton, have introduced a new student award to their annual Award Celebrations. This year they have introduced for their Reception Class, The Stan Taylor Award for reading. This is in memory of the late Stan Taylor of Audley. He was a volunteer at the school and was so passionate about helping the children of the school to read. The award will be a book token and a shield, on which the wining student’s name will be recorded. On Friday July 11th 2008, Stan’s two daughters presented the 2008 winner with their award. Mrs Taylor and her family wish to take this opportunity to thank the school for this lovely tribute. Audley Brass Update Audley Brass is now enjoying the use of their new band room in Dean Hollow. The project took much longer than was first anticipated but thanks to the tremendous support we received from St. James’s Church and Audley Theatre in providing us with rehearsal facilities, we were able to continue to function throughout the disruption. The band room project has been a wonderful example of community effort and support. Our neighbours in Dean Hollow have been extremely patient and supportive and the Male Voice Choir and Audley Rotary Club have been supportive both financially and practically. These days we hear and read a lot about communities breaking up, this project has been the absolute opposite and is a credit to the village! Our new Musical Director Shaun Farrington is young, enthusiastic and extremely talented and we are already feeling the benefit. His approach is fair but firm and he knows what he wants from the band, a real breath of fresh air! We have had a busy summer concert programme, playing at Leek bandstand, Congleton Park, The Dorothy Clive Gardens, Staffordshire University Graduation Celebrations and a joint concert with the Male Voice choir at Wolstanton Methodist Church. Autumn looks equally busy with the run up to Christmas always a heavy period. With all the disruption there have been inevitable casualties, many of whom have moved on to local Championship bands and the band is currently looking for new recruits in the local area. If you play, or have ever played a brass instrument, feel free to contact Shaun on 07701017501, or come down to the band room any Friday or Sunday between 7.30 and 9.30. If you have never played a brass instrument, it’s never too late to learn. Our Training Band under the direction of Chris Neufeld, rehearses each Wednesday from 7.30 to 9pm. For £1 a week (50p for children) you will be loaned an instrument and receive tuition. Our latest recruits Harry and Patrick (trombone) and Sam (trumpet) seem to be enjoying themselves immensely and are already making progress on their chosen instruments. To keep up to date with the goings on at Audley Brass visit our website on www.audleybrass.co.uk. There you will find contact details and read the latest news about the Audley Brass Band. Hello Editor Readers Letters. Firstly, let me thank you very much for the June issue of the Audley Community News, as always we all enjoyed the read. However there was one article that I especially took note of and that was the one about the Halmer End Institute. Before we came to live in Bignall End we lived for a time in Halmer End and that was a very enjoyable time for us, apart from the period that we endured the Open Cast Mining with its daily blasting & shaking of people’s homes. That’s where the story begins:- Halmer End woods as you are well aware, varied from flat land to rugged terrain and despite the remnants of past mining history was a great place to roam. When the mining authorities arrived to tell us that the area was subject to open cast mining we were promised a number of facilities that would be provided once the mining was finished. I understand that the well respected Roy Gilbert spent a lot of time & effort on behalf of the village and the Halmer End Football team in which he had a keen interest. Roy requested that the Borough Councillors negotiate with the mining company for the institute to be either modernised or demolished and rebuilt. All they actually wanted & deserved were changing areas and showers that were fit for purpose. Even 25 years ago, the building was far from suitable and needed modernising. Considering the millions of pounds that the mining company would make from extraction of coal, even a figure of £100,000 then would have provided a splendid building with hire facilities for any function the local community or individuals required it for. Considering its enviable location, with far reaching views towards Wales it would have certainly been “fit for purpose” and what the village deserved, after the disruption caused by the mining. I am reliably informed that when open cast mining took place in Tyneside, the local villages were well rewarded for their patience and given sports & leisure facilities that were second to none. What did the village actually end up with? Answer:- a lake surrounded by a lunar landscape with the sub soil so poor, that if you walked around it your feet sank into the mud, with a number of trees and park benches added. As for the Institute building, well Councillor Edward Boden should not be surprised with the reaction to his comments regarding the loss of the lottery funding, because Halmer End were let down big style by the Borough Council and the mining companies got away scot free. The situation should never have got to this stage in the first place. I am sure I am not the only ex resident or resident to feel strongly about this. Regards Paul Eyres & family. To the Ex Opencast Committee Great Oak. Dear Editor Dear Editor. In his book, “A History of Bignall End Cricket Club”, the A number of years ago I attended a meeting at the Audley late Arthur Burgess gave details of an amateur dramatic Workingmen's Club, objecting to the proposed open cast mining in the Great Oak area.