uttoxeter & cheadle voice issue 63

Uttoxeter& CheadleUttoxeter

& CheadleFREE

New for 2016 - Distribution now increased to 15,000 quality magazines each issue

Covering UTTOXETER & CHEADLE and now Ashbourne - Plus Alton, Oakamoor, Doveridge, Rocester, Bramshall, Stramshall, Mayfield,Leigh, Church Leigh, Checkley, Lower Tean, Tean, Draycott in the Moors, Cresswell, Saverley Green, Fulford and villages in between

Issue 63

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Publisher and Editor: Nigel Titterton The Uttoxeter & Cheadle Voice is published by Community Voice Publications Ltd

Telephone 01538 751629 e-mail [email protected] views expressed in this publication are those of our contributors and are not necessarily those of the publishers, nor

indeed their responsibility. All Rights Reserved. Copyright Community Voice Publications Ltd.Designed and Produced by [email protected]

It was great to hear recently that two ofThe Voice columnists Steve ‘Lank’ Lavinand Dave Jones are recovering from

health scares!I have spoken to both of them during the

past few weeks and I can report our pair ofmuch loved columnists are improving all thetime and are on the way to full recovery.I always say we all take life for granted

and when something healthwise hits us we take a differentperspective on how fragile our existence really is. There is a commonthought that people should ‘live life to the full’ but sometimes takingit steady now and again is the order of the day...I am sure I can say on behalf of all Voice readers and of course

myself we send our sincere best wishes to Steve and Dave, twofantastic blokes!Whilst I was in Uttoxeter the other week I bumped into a dear

old friend Major David McAllister who was puffing on a cigaretteoutside The Smithfield Hotel. We go back a very long way whenDavid was Clerk of the Course at Uttoxeter Racecourse and we bothenjoyed a few ‘snifters’ of whisky from time to time.I vividly remember one particular evening race meeting when we

were having a chat. One of my friends rushed up to me whilst I wasin David’s office and alerted me that former World SnookerChampion and ‘legendary hellraiser’ Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins wascausing quite a disturbance in the main bar!I was the only journalist down at Uttoxeter Racecourse and it

appeared a real ‘scoop’ had presented itself to me!! I quickly bidDavid farewell as I ran towards the bar (David came behind me buthe was never Usain Bolt)! Luckily I had a camera on me so I tookphotographs of the disturbance and tried to interview Mr Higginswho promptly attempted to remove my head from my torso...Eventually it all quietened down and the snooker champ was

ushered away by his friends.So here I was with a 'scoop!' - I quickly returned home and wrote

an article and sent it to 2 national daily newspapers.I couldn’t wait until I got up the next morning and there it was

– Front Page news – my article had made the Front Page and thereit was, ‘virtually’ word for word! It was then that I noticed that thereporter's name was not mine but one which was totally fictitious!Needless to say, I didn’t contact the Nationals again!I hope you enjoy reading this issue of The Voice colour magazine.Nigel TittertonEditor & Publisher

The Uttoxeter &Cheadle Voice is whollyindependent and ispublished at 3 SpodeClose, Cheadle, StaffsST10 1DT15,000 copies aredistributed free tohomes and businessesin Uttoxeter, Cheadle,Ashbourne, Rocester,Denstone, Bramshall,Stramshall, Alton,Oakamoor, Tean, LowerTean, Checkley, Leigh,Church Leigh, Crakemarsh, Combridge, Kingsley, Mayfield, Draycott, Cresswell, SaverleyGreen & Fulford and Doveridge areas. Clients are welcome to view the printing matrix.

ADVERTISEMENT SALES AND EDITORIALTel: 01538 751629 or 07733 466 970 Email: [email protected]

NEXT ISSUEThe next Voice will be distributed from May 27th 2016 News Deadline: May 15th Advertising Deadline: May 19th

BOOK YOUR ADVERT NOW - EMAIL [email protected] or PHONE 01538 751629You can also contact us via social media:

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Dear Reader, HOW TO GET IN TOUCH

NEW FOR 2016 We have increaseddistribution to amassive 15,000quality VoiceMagazines!

4 If you are responding to an advertisement in The Uttoxeter & Cheadle Voice, please let the advertiser know. Thank you for your support.

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Uttoxeter born author Dan Weathererhas released a new book. Neverlight,released via Spectral Press, is Dan’s

third short story collection and his fourthpublished book to date.“I’m delighted with the publication of my

latest book. Spectral Press and a wellestablished and respected publisher of darkfiction. I am pleased with how the book hascome together. The collection contains piecesof short fiction, prose, and poetry that are allbased on the theme of influence. Thoughmany associate my work with horror, I aimto show that I can write across a variety ofgenres, this collection is a testament to that.”Dan (36) of Meir Park is also beginning

to establish himself as a playwright. Recentlyhe was in London as a finalist for theBlackshaw Theatre Showcase award. “Myplay ‘Parents’ was well received by theaudience. It’s nice to see a pieceperformed live as you can witness firsthand what works and what does not in ascene. I was pleased to be awardedsecond place which means that the piecewill go on to be produced as a radioplay. I also have pieces in the final of arespected One Act Festival, but as allentries are anonymous, I am not atliberty to say which.”Neverlight can be purchased online

via Amazon or direct from publishersTickety Boo Press/Spectral Press.For more information about Dan

and his work visitwww.fatherdarkness.co.uk

Local author becomingvery influential

World Book Day at Acorns Day Nursery, Tean

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Just seen your Voice facebook page in regards to the Northern Lights over Uttoxeter.This is one of my images from the night of the 6th March, taken at around 9.30pm. We

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working at our existing practise in Cheadle for12 years now and are lucky enough to havemany patients who travel from Meir Park,Blythe Bridge and Forsbrook. The obvious nextmove was to open a Clinic which would behandier for those patients.Many people are unsure of the scope of

practise of a Chiropodist and Podiatrist... Sohere goes...!All three of us are State Registered

Chiropodists and Podiatrists, we have full Hcpc registration and DBS checks to work withchildren and vulnerable adults. We complete our necessary continuing professionaldevelopment annually and have spent many years working for the NHS and privately.We deal with all routine footcare from the removal of painful corns and callous, reduction

and resolution of unsightly thickened nails and removal of ingrowing toenails with the useof anaesthetic if necessary.We offer two tried and tested interventions to cure verrucae. The first is a series of

chemical treatments over a six week period. The resolution rate is 68%. The second is a newtreatment called ‘ dry needling’ and involves a local anaesthetic administered just behind theankle bone, followed by a small procedure to stimulate the body’s immune system and tacklethe virus. The resolution rate is 75%.It is worth noting that people with diabetes have to be especially careful with their feet,

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Since April 2014, I have been privileged tobe a trustee of Cheadle Discovery Group, acharity run by volunteers, which manages

the Cheadle Discovery and Visitor Centre.Based in Lulworth House on Cheadle HighStreet, we continue to promote the heritage ofCheadle and the local area, and especiallyPugins Gem, St Giles RC church and the workof the world famous Victorian architect,Augustus W. N. Pugin.

I am passionate about the work of Puginand have enjoyed researching and designingmany of the Pugin exhibitions at the centre.Our displays on St Giles Church, AmericanGothic and Australian Gothic, have beenparticularly well received by visitors fromaround the globe. A former teacher, historianand librarian, I have studied Pugin for manyyears and am considered the authority on Puginby the Discovery Group.

This may come as some surprise to youliving in, Alton, Leigh, Cresswell, Cheadle,Stone or Uttoxeter but it is a fact that thegreatest British architectural critic of the 20thCentury, Sir Niklaus Pevsner described our areaof North Staffordshire as Pugin-land.

So who was Pugin and where are thesebuildings?

Pugin was an architect and design genius.He was born in London in 1812. Pugin lookedback to an age of faith where gothicarchitecture held sway in a world full of charity.When he became a Catholic in 1835 manycontracts were closed to him, but there was asilver lining.

The 16th Earl of Shrewsbury, John Talbot,heard that Pugin was just the man to help himbuild many of the Catholic churches in our areaand to help him complete Alton Towers. Pugin’snew building and fabulous stained glass,metalwork and sculpture made the Towers anauthentic gothic home.

Turning to Alton we have Pugin’sreconstruction of the castle with a beautiful

chapel based on LaSainte Chapelle, inParis. Pugin’schapel has awonderful roof ofpolychromatic tilesoriginally made byMinton.

In the buildingsnext door we havePugin, a practicalcaring man. HisChurch andHospital of St Johnwere designed as afree schoolroomand home for theaged, in contrast tothe rigors of theVictorianworkhouse.

At Cresswell wehave a churchcelebrating its200th anniversarythis year. Built in1816, it is not aPugin church but ithas a lovely Puginwindow and achurchyard cross and tombstones, to the samedesigns Pugin used at Alton.

It is from here that the mission to Uttoxetertook place and St Mary’s RC Church was built.Opened in 1839, only ten years after dissenterswere allowed to build chapels it was a simpleone celled building in the Early English Gothicstyle. It has since been greatly extended, but thecircular west window of Pugin is still visibleabove the West narthex.

Moving to Leigh, we have the beautifulAnglican parish church of All Saints which hasPugin designed poppy headed choir stalls,chancel screen, Minton tiles and East Windowmade by William Wailes, Pugin’s glass makerfrom 1842-1845.

In Stone Pugindesigned the smallbut perfectly formedChapel of St Anne.This brick chapelbuilt between 1843and 1844, alsofeatures a windowby Wailes.

At Cheadle Pugindesigned the mostspectacular church ofhis whole career, StGiles RC Church,known as “Pugin’sGem”. It got thisname from a letterwritten by the Earlof Shrewsbury. Noexpense was spared.According to theBBC critic, SimonJenkins, it is rated18th in the list ofBritain’s thousandbest churches. Pugincalled it “Cheadle,perfect Cheadle myconsolation in allafflictions”. We also

have the Pugin designed school, convent andpriest’s house in the town.

To find out more about Pugin and his life,please feel free to visit the Cheadle DiscoveryCentre. It is open on Thursdays, Fridays andSaturdays from 10.00 to 16.00. Amongst theartefacts on display, you will find originalwoodwork and brass work from the Houses ofParliament designed by Pugin and drawings inhis own hand.

Also at the centre you will find rollingexhibitions about the history, geography andindustry of Cheadle and surrounding area.More information about the Discovery Centreand its future activities, can be found on ourwebsite: www.discovercheadle.co.uk

Discover Pugin-Land By John M. Smith


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Just theperfect day...


The day before the wedding it had beenarranged that the close female familyrelatives would meet at the venue, The

Manor House Hotel, who were holding anEd Sheeran tribute night, ten of us enjoyed anevening of food, wine, dance and song beforeretiring to bed. The following morning my two

daughters, sister and I rose to a beautifulwarm sunny day, after breakfast we werejoined by Hollie and Jess, the hairdresser andbeautician who worked their magic toprepare us for the ceremony.We were joined by Denise Wheat our

photographer who calmed us all down as shemoved around capturing the moments wewould all look back upon in later years.My sister Jane assisted me getting dressed,

she had made the trip over from her home inthe USA to be present at the wedding.The months of planning and preparation

were finally falling into place, our master ofceremonies Frank, visited and provided a fewwords of reassurance before escorting me tomeet my son and grandson , Dan my son wasgiving me away, Charlie was page boy.The wedding party, consisting of myself,

son, two daughters, niece and grandsonentered the ceremony room to the classicalsound track titled, “Gabriel’s Oboe”, a wholeworld of emotions swept through the room

as I entered. I could feel the love and supportof our assembled families and friends as Ijoined my future husband Gerry.The ceremony was carried out by a

deputy Registrar Keith Jardine, it was alovely personal ceremony, conducted withhumour, compassion and dignity, he was atrue professional in all respects.The formality of the wedding ceremony

was soon over, throughout the events of theday our photographer Denise Wheatcontinued to ensure our day would berecorded, always in the background buttaking control when she needed to.We had become Mr and Mrs Hogan, the

formal part of the day complete it was timeto meet our guests, enjoy the fabulouswedding breakfast and speeches made by myson and Gerry’s two sons, his best men.After the speeches we were surprised to

receive a videoed good will message, from along standing friend who lives in Australia.We were later joined by many other

friends and family for the eveningcelebrations.This was a special day for so many

reasons, we were fortunate to have fantasticweather, a brilliant venue, with professionalassistance from so many, who ensured thatwe all had a day to remember.

Bride and Groom: Vicki Buttress and Gerry Hogan

The Bride was given away by her son: Daniel Buttress

Maids of Honour : Bride’s Daughters, Ruth Buttress, Kate Buttress-Carol

Best Men: Groom’s Sons, Andrew Hogan- Hughes, Nigel Hogan

Usher: Groom’s son-in-law, Gareth Hogan-Hughes

Flower Girl: Bride’s Great Niece, Evie Grice

Pageboy: Bride’s Grandson, Charlie Peter Buttress

Ceremony: Manor House Hotel, Alsager Cheshire

Photography: Denise Wheat Photography

PHOTOGRAPHY by Denise Wheat BA (Hons) LBIPP

Tel: 01538 723985www.denisewheatphoto.co.uk


Vicki originated from Leek, but moved toBlythe Bridge when she married Paul (herlate husband). She then spent 27 years

living in Cheadle. All their children attendedBishop Rawle Primary School and then PainsleyHigh School. Vicki nursed at Cheadle Hospital for many

years, before moving to the Opthalmology Unit atThe University Hospital of North Midlands, beforeshe retired 12 months ago. Gerry and Vicki - They met in 2005, they had

both been previously married and both widowed,Vicki in 2000 and Gerry in 2001. Their respectivehusband and wife had both passed away due tocancer. Gerry & Vicki were introduced by acolleague of Vicki’s who was also Gerry’s sister inlaw. Gerry proposed to Vicki in 2012 whilst on

holiday in Gibraltar.

The wedding took place on the 4th October2015 at the Manor House Hotel Alsager, ten yearsto the day that they had met.Gerry chose his two sons, Andy Hogan-Hughes

and Nigel Hogan to be his Best Men and GarethHogan-Hughes was UsherVicki chose her daughters Ruth Buttress and

Kate Buttress-Carroll as her Bridesmaids andVicki’s great niece Evie Grice was Flower Girl.Vicki’s Grandson Charlie Buttress was page boyand her son Daniel Buttress gave her away.Following the deaths of their husband and wife

Gerry and Vicki had both been supporters of theDouglas MacMillan Hospice, they did not wantpersonal gifts, they invited their wedding guests tomake donations to the hospice in lieu of weddingpresents. A donation of £1311.32p was made tothe hospice.They honeymooned in Marmaris Turkey.


Just the perfectday...


Photo for illustration only

7 Cross Street (off the High Street), Cheadle ST10 1NP

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Opening Hours: Monday 10am - 8.30pm, Tuesday 10am - 4.30pm, Wednesday Closed, Thursday 10am - 4.30pm, Friday 10am - 4.30pm, Saturday 9.30am-5pm

You are Invited...To book your wedding in The Voice’s hugely popular

‘Just The Perfect Day’ feature! email [email protected] now to reserve your space in the next issue.

It’s totally free and is a wonderful memory of your Big Day!


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Lank’s LoreBy Steve ‘Lank’ LavinGolden Memories from one of Uttoxeter’s Favourite Characters

Afew weeks ago I was walking past a local,school during the children’s lunch hour andwas amazed at the lack of activities taking

place.Most of the children were huddled in groups

playing about with their mobile phones andsending each other text messages instead ofrunning round and getting themselves someexercise, no wonder a lot of them are classed asobese at a very young age.I mentioned this to a work colleague of mine

who has young children at school and he informedme that unlike when we were at school themajority of the games that we used to enjoy arenow all but banned owing to ‘Elf & Safetyregulations. What a load of rubbish, why shouldn’tkids of today be toughened up for the outsideworld when they finally leave school like I waswhen I was their age.I used to love the school playground games

when I was a lad like every other kid did and eventhough sometimes you would get a few knocks ortwo it never really did you any harm, it just taughtyou to be more careful in future and taught you alot of common sense which appears to be lackingin some youngsters nowadays.This subject led my work colleague and I

nostalging about some of the game that we used toparticipte in.

Conkers. A very popular game. We used to goconkering in the local woods (which were moreaccessible than today) looking for a suitablewinning specimen and then going to work on it toharden it up ready for competition, soaking it invinegar and various other concoctions and thenbaking it in your mothers oven. After playing Ihave gone home on many of an occasion withknuckles like the incredible hulk where youropponent was not very good at aiming his conkerat yours or he didn’t like you a lot because theywas a chance that his No.10 conker would getbeaten by your no. 15. (A term used for how manytimes the conker had won a game).

Fagcards. Another game that was playedregularly on the school playground. In my earlyschool days in the 50’s a lot of your parentssmoked (unlike today where it is deeply frownedupon, probably because more research over theyears has found it to be a great risk to yourself andother peoples health) .The packets of cigarettesthey brought used to contain a Fag Card. Coupledwith cards avialable in various brands of packetsof tea, Brooke Bond (Monkey tea as it was called)and Hornimans (A little bit more up market)especially comes to my mind and the Ice CreamMan (Ashmores) and his competitors (rememberthe Ice Cream Supplier Wars!!) who used to standoutside the school dishing them out when youbought a lolly or cornet of them. Picture cards werein abundance in these times. The various cardscame in sets and you could purchase an album tocollect them in, it was not only a great hobbie butalso very educational with all the various themes,birds, animals, film stars, steam trains andnumerous others.Because of this using them for a game became

very popular. We used to line them up against theschool buildings wall and then take it in turn toknock them flat, the person who knocked the laststanding card down collected all the fallers up toadd to his collection, a great game.

Hopstotch & Skipping. Were other populargames played but mainly by the female pupils.These were more energetic and to me watchingtheir skills was amazing.I can remember going to a mate of mines house

after school one day and the kids had assembledto play hopscotch and had not got any chalk todraw out the numbered court with on the road sothey had found a dog turd that had dried up andturned white and they were using that as analternative!!There were numerous other playground

activities that were popular, Marbles, Jacks, DollyPegs, British Bulldog that’s without the usualfootball matches which were played on the school

playground using your school blazer as goal postsmuch to your mother’s disapproval, all of whichhave now virtually disappeared.When I was a lad we used to look forward to

winter with the snow and sheets of ice forming onthe school playground.As soon as the ice appeared hoards of kids used

to congregate in line to take a run up to it and slidedown it ending up in a great heap at the end withcuts and bruises and all their trouser backsidesripped to shreds, nobody including the teachersbothered about the dangers it was all part ofgrowing up. All these games and activities gave you not only

an education and taught you common sense butalso, served as a good exercise programme. ‘Elf & Safety issues have quelled the majority

of the old school games and activities we were usedto.Any sign of ice on the playground now and the

site would be instantly recognised as a healthhazard and cordoned off with barriers, that is if theschool has not already been closed down afterhaving a risk assessment of the situation. Playingwith conkers marbles, fag cards and the like, if theywere allowed at all, would mean that theparticipants would have to wear goggles forprotection in case they got hit in the eye by flyingdebris, poppy cock!Skipping, no way, ropes are dangerous you

might trip up on one or decide to hog tie anotherpupil with one or even hang your mate, perish thethought, the list goes on and on. Little Johnny nowadays unfortunately to me is

totally over protected which leaves him clueless tosurvive in the real outside world without theassistance of the so called do gooders, great shame. I know that times have changed of the years but

are these modern trends all for the good, I don’tthink soTill next time, all the best to you all,Lank.

Playing with Conkers Playing with Marbles A Hopscotch Court

Taekwon-doWe train at The Parkwood CommunityLeisure Centre In Cheadle on Tuesday Night6.00pm to 6.30pm 4yrs to 6yrs6.30pm to 7.30pm Junior/Beginers Grades7.30pm to 8.30pm Senior/Advanced GradesCall John on 07854 806581www.nctkd.co.uk

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A JCB product thatrevolutionised the handlingof loads on construction sitesand farms around the worldtoday passed a majormilestone – the productionof the 200,000th machine. The JCB Loadall

telescopic handler was firstmanufactured in 1977,transforming lifting andloading tasks on buildingsites which until then hadbeen carried out by a smallteam of men. On farms toothe purpose-built machineboosted productivity,stacking bales, loading muckand shovelling grain,replacing rudimentarytractor mounted hydraulicloaders. The first JCB Loadall –

the JCB 520 model – wasproduced at JCB’s WorldHQ in Rocester,Staffordshire, on October3rd, 1977 and in the first fullyear of production less than300 machines were made byjust a handful of employees.Today thousands of Loadalls roll off theproduction line every year and the businessproducing them employs around 800 people. JCB Chairman Lord Bamford said: “From very

small beginnings, the JCB Loadall has become avery important machine for JCB and for theconstruction and agricultural industries.Revolutionary is often a word that is over-used,but in the case of the Loadall it is a perfectdescription. The way loads are handled on buildingsites and farms has never been the same since weintroduced the Loadall in 1977. The JCB teaminvolved in manufacturing and selling the Loadallis to be congratulated on reaching the productionmilestone of 200,000 machines.” JCB employee Richard Jenkinson, aged 62, of,

Hilderstone, near Stone has worked for JCB for atotal of nearly 40 years and was involved inmanufacturing the axles for the very first Loadallsin 1977. He still works for the business producingthem today as a Quality Engineer. He said: “Icannot believe it is 39 years since we built the first

Loadall and that we have now manufactured the200,000th machine. It’s an incredible achievementand I am proud to have been involved since dayone.” It took almost 30 years for JCB to sell the first

100,000 Loadalls but it has taken less than 10 forthe next 100,000 to be sold – testament to thegrowing importance of the product and JCB’sstrength in this sector. Today JCB is world’snumber one producer of telescopic handlers. When the original 520 model was launched it

offered users a rough terrain machine with reachand performance way beyond the capabilities ofconventional rough terrain forklifts. Putting theJCB machine out in front was its unique telescopicboom which brought a new solution to theproblem of handling materials. As the machine evolved, its use widened to all

areas of the construction sector and the conceptquickly spread to agriculture where it is used for avast variety of tasks from loading grain, stackingbales and towing trailers. JCB today manufactures

a total of 90 different Loadall models, 88 of whichare manufactured at the World HQ for globalmarkets and two of which are made in India forthe domestic market. One of the major the innovations over the past

39 years has been the introduction of a range ofmachines with an engine on the side rather than inthe centre which enabled the boom to be lowered,improving visibility for operators by 390 mm. In2008 visibility improvements took another hugeleap forward with the introduction of the Hi-Vizrange which lowered the boom even further. The torque lock system introduced on Loadalls

in 2001 was also a major milestone because itmeant machines could travel quicker on the roadand perform much better up hills – as well asimproving fuel consumption. The patented SmoothRide System gave a major boost to users becauseit improved material retention in the bucket whentravelling over rough ground, boostingproductivity as well as improving operatorcomfort.


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Revolutionary JCB product markshuge production milestone

Loadall MD Ian Pratt (extreme left) and Loadall Operations Director Paul Grys (extreme right) join employees (l-r) IanVickery, Cliff Ferrie, Mick Smith, Dave Bailey, Nick Miller, Paul Stockley and Richard Jenkinson in celebrating the200,000th Loadall milestone.

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Caribbean bliss for lovely local folk!It’s amazing who you bump into when you are on holiday on the other sideof the World! Mark and Derek Fower, Julie Crayton of Cheadle are picturedwith well known people from Tean and Werrington during a visit to aJamaican Rum Factory in the Caribbean recently.


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Take a drive out to one of the area’s most beautiful‘olde worlde’ country inns and restaurants -

and savour a truly delicious experience!Enjoy wonderful views overlooking Croxden Abbey

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Celebrating EasterEaster Sunday, Cheadle Methodist enjoyed a full English breakfast after

their early morning Holy Communion Service. Following the laterservice people decorated a cross with flowers which was duly hung

outside the church. The church was decorated by ladies of the church ablyled by Carole Edwards and Fiona Farrington and included the Easter Gardensmade by the children of Chapel Street Nursery.It was a very happy day.


CON S T R U C T I O N S

Serving the community since 1976

MJ Barrett Constructions, Brookside Business Park, Brookside Road, Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, ST14 8ATwww.mjbarrettconstructions.co.uk Tel: 01889 564 253 • Fax: 01889 564 210

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M J Barrett Constructions supply and erect all types ofagricultural and industrial buildings, including grain stores,equestrian centres, storage buildings, milking parlours, andcattle housing along with a variety of industrial warehousing,office accommodation, retail outlets and entertainmentcomplexes all built to the highest standards.

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Tel 01538 528062 or 07814 972326 for more enquiries

Hi there, I’m Amy Bradley and drawing really is myfavourite thing! I work from my gorgeous studio atSt.Mary’s House in Uttoxeter creating illustrations

for all kinds of projects such as; picture books, branding,wedding stationery, educational projects and SO SO muchmore…Every month I will be giving you a sneak peek into what

I’ve been up to! I’m so excited!!

NEWS from the Studio…

Earlier this month I went to the annual gathering of the‘2%ers’ held by the Art of Brilliance Team at Alton TowersHotel. Yes I already know what you’re thinking: ‘Amy, what the

heck is a 2%er?’Well let me tell you…. A 2%er refers to 2% of the population… It’s a scary

statistic that only 2% of the population CHOOSE to beHAPPY. ‘So what, some of you may ask!’ Well I kinda thinkit’s a big deal because it’s those 2%er’s who live life to the full,make their dreams come true and live a full colour reality! 2%er’s tend to have the following characteristics: FULL

of confidence, have a spring in their step EVERYDAY, areENTHUSIASTIC, are FULL of energy, they LIGHT up aroom, age LESS, & live LONGER. (Why wouldn’t you wantto be one?!) You wanna know the SECRET to being a 2%er?! Well it takes EFFORT and you have to choose to be

HAPPY! Check out this cool infographic which I had thepleasure of designing….

Unfortunately, as you can see it’s far easier to be like theother 98% of the population, leading a BORING black &white life! Even worse you could fall into the trap ofbecoming a ‘Mood Hoover’ - a term that the Art of Brillianceuse for people who tend to light up a room when they LEAVEthe room; they lack energy, live a dull existence and they’llSUCK the life out of ya! (WARNING; avoid Mood Hooversat all costs!) So… the idea behind the gathering was to recharge the

2%er’s and send them back into society ready & raring to go!Wooohooo!!

As many of you may already know I do loads of work forthe Art of Brilliance and in preparation for the event Isupplied lots of illustrations for their NEW beyond brilliantwebsite which was put together by my amazing friend Carl@ IncludeCreative! Check it out: www.artofbrilliance.co.uk.I also designed slides for the presentation and it wasAMAZING seeing ‘The Brilliant Route Map’ I designedscattered across the tables.

I had such a BRILLIANT day! It was jam-packed with areal mix of speakers from the young to the wise (well older!)whom had traveled far and wide, all from different walks oflife with the aim of enlightening the 2%ers with enthusiasm& wisdom!The speakers encouraged the crowd to play with lego,

build with spaghetti and to swap seats (clearly not a boringbunch!!). I took the opportunity to mingle with the HAPPYpeeps, after all, the books I illustrate end up in their hands!Having felt the energy BUZZING in the room I can’t wait

to start work on the next one :-) Watch this space….

Amy x

If you’d like to know more about Amy check out;www.amybradley.co.uk or get in touch:[email protected] – 07870 752480. Enjoy!

Fun, colourfulillustrations

for everyone!!


News from Denstone PlayersA well attended meeting of Denstone Players was heldlast month in Denstone Village Hall.It was reported that the Players’ highly successful

pantomime ‘Cinderella’ in February played to foursell-out audiences.Chairman, Dave Shooter commented:- ‘If ever

there was an example of amateur dramatics at itsmost enjoyable level supported by true communityspirit, this production has to be it.Positive advertising and publicity paved the way

for four excellent performances by a diverse andtalented cast. Scenery, props, make up, lighting andsound effects were of outstanding quality. Four fullhouses were fully catered for by a hard working Frontof House team.The whole enterprise was driven by Gill Brown,

our excellent Director. She knew exactly what she

wanted and had the energy and stamina to seethrough a production of the highest quality, one thatall participants can feel justifiably proud of.In its 28 year history Denstone Players have never

performed to so many people during oneperformance.’The notional profit from Cinderella is £2,018.A unanimous vote of thanks was offered to Gill

in recognition of her sterling efforts and achievement.Stephen Leake was also unanimously thanked for

his sterling work designing and making the set,extending the stage andestablishing the group’s storagecontainer.It was agreed that February

half-term pantomimes shouldcontinue, as there is nosignificant impact on CATSaudiences in Cheadle.A The Chairman informed

members that a joint calendarwith other local drama groupshad been established withaccess provided for:Marchington AmateurDramatic Society (MADS),Cheadle Amateur TheatricalSociety (CATS), St Mary’sEntertainers in Uttoxeter, TheMulberry Players in Doveridgeand The Whodunit Players.Treasurer, Lynn Shooter

reported a very healthy bankbalance of £3,465.20. She wasthanked for her hard workcompiling the accounts andoverseeing ticket sales for allproductions. Those whodonated raffle prizes weresimilarly thanked.It was agreed that

Denstone Players donate £500to The Tom Boden MemorialSports Trust and £500 to theDefibrillator Appeal fund.The Village Hall

Committee will be asked ifthere is anything the Playerscould assist in buying.A full years programme

was then agreed as follows-‘Blithe Spirit’ by Noel Cowarddirected by Marge Stanley forperformance on 7th, 8th and9th July.Two one act plays to be

performed on the 29th and30th September and 1stOctober. The next pantomimeon 23rd, 24th and 25thFebruary 2017.Social Secretary, Sue Davies

reported on the supportoffered by members to manyrecent local Am Dramproductions including thoseperformed by CATS, MADS,The Whodunit Players andjunior member Megan Ash’sperformance of ‘The Lion, theWitch and the Wardrobe’ atPainsley High School.Sue said she is investigating

group visits to future amateurand professional productionsand a members Christmasmeal. Sound and lightingtechnician Pete Smith agreed tooffer the group’s surpluslighting equipment for sale. The AGM was agreed for

Sunday 22nd May at 6pm inthe Village Hall.The meeting closed to

allow for the second showingof the ‘Cinderella’ dvdcompiled by Dave Brown.

Many thanks,Dave Shooter, Chairman,

Denstone Players


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Let The Voice Be With Youby Les Humphries of Rocester

Well Readers, they’ve gone! I refer ofcourse to the plague of starlings whichdescended on Rocester over February

and March, which I mentioned in the last issue ofThe Voice. They appeared in a huge flock whichgrew larger and larger as the weeks went on, untilthey numbered thousands and the sky went blackfor an hour or so at dusk, as they weaved theirfantastic patterns, whilst at the same timedepositing little gifts from their feathery bottoms!Then suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye when

the clocks went forward, they were gone, which nodoubt upset the ‘twitchers’. Yes we even had aplague of them even more turning up after it wasshown on BBC News, but they were too late!Thankfully their exit also saw a couple of days ofheavy rain which washed away most of theevidence (of the starlings, not the twitchers). It’slovely not to have to go for a drive every eveningto avoid having to wash the car, I shan’t miss themone little bit (the starlings and the twitchers!)As part of the last generation to speak the Kings

English correctly (not sounding TH as F andsaying ‘like’ every other word) I am also bemusedat the use of the word Lunch to describe a middaymeal - allow me to explain. We used to haveBreakfast in the Morning, which has not changed,then we had Dinner - my Mum didn’t give meLunch Money, to take to School she gave meDinner money and, in the Army, Dinner wasmiddayish if you had a proper meal, and in theEvening you had Tea, or Tiffin as the old sweatscalled it, which was a light snack, it only becameDinner if you had a main meal. A snack ofSandwiches or whatever in the middle of the dayWAS Lunch because then you had Dinner at night!These days three course meals are referred to as

Lunch, which they certainly are not (I am notconfusing them with light lunches) but peopletrying to be ‘posh’ refer to all midday meals asLunch, and even Pubs get it wrong when they referto themselves as serving Sunday Lunches. It’s

Dinner to me, and always will be, with puddingfollowing my main course, not sweet. I may becommon as muck, but I am what I am, and YOUare what you eat!On Friday the 11th of March, the Town of

Uttoxeter bade a sad farewell to it’s former Mayor,Council Leader and stalwart Geoff Morrison, whopassed away aged 69 following an illness. Alongwith fellow Standard Bearers from the RoyalBritish Legion, the Staffordshire Fire Service, andRoyal Naval Association, plus representatives fromthe Army Cadet Force, I had the sad pleasure ofpaying my own small part in a tribute to this wellrespected pillar of the Community, when weparaded our colours draped in black in front of thefuneral car as it drove slowly through the town heloved to St. Mary’s Church. Hundreds of mournerseither lined the route or were in Church to paytribute to Geoff, where they found out there wasmuch more to the man than many of them knew.Apart from being the Mayor, and long time

County and Borough Councellor, Geoff had alsoheld posts in the British Legion and Fire Service.Probably best known as a photographer, he hadhoned his skills in the Royal Air Force, where heserved 22 years, and some of the time had thedubious task of taking pictures of people whom theSecurity Forces wanted to keep an eye on! A riskybusiness at that time. I came into contact withGeoff at various functions, including taking him ona tour of JCB along with other dignitaries, and hewas a very easy person to get along with, eventhough he was of a different political persuasion tomyself!Mourners included Andrew Griffiths MP for

Burton on Trent, County Council Leader PhilipAtkins, and Borough Council Leader RichardGrosvenor. The Service was conducted by the Rev.Chris Brown, who then accompanied the Family toStafford Crematorium for Geoff’s final journey,where Standards were dipped as the Last Post wasplayed by a member of the Uttoxeter Town Band.

Geoff, who leaves wife Pauline, three daughters,and four grandchildren will be sadly missed by allwho knew him to be a genuine and honest man.On the 2nd of April I finally found my way to

Oldfields to watch my beloved Uttoxeter RugbyTeam in their quest to win the League, and gainpromotion after a sad spell in the doldrums overthe previous season or two. The visitors wereAldridge who are propping up the table, and theywere totally demolished by a Town side in rampantform. In the first half they played some excellentrugby, which brought a smile to coach GrahamMcDonald’s craggy face. However a little lack ofdiscipline following the change round saw themsquander chances. The Voice sponsored the match which

Uttoxeter won by 89 points to Nil with a try fest.The Voice is again sponsoring the last matchagainst Barton Under Needwood, and by the timethis issue goes to press all will be decided. TheAnnual Dinner will be held in Uttoxeter TownHall on the 14th of May.The Churnet Valley Male Voice Choir are back

to rehearsing weekly on Tuesday Nights at theBishop Rawle School in Cheadle, and will haveperformed at Tean Church when this issue goes topress. We happily now have our conductor andMusical Director Janet Downing back in harness,even though she is not yet fully over her problems.Although our pianist John Clark did a great jobin her absence, it is so much better when you haveyour conductor out in front, particularly inConcert.I am going to sign off with a message from my

old mate Razzer, who accosted me in Uttoxeter inthe pouring rain, and asked me to state in mycolumn that the Labour Party never did anythingto harm the Steel or Coal industry. But I am sureall my readers are already aware of that!

TTFN Les...

Bill Badger and myself, recently had thepleasure of escorting 72 year old DougHamilton-Cox and his party through the JCB

Headquarters Factory at Rocester, part of which isbuilt over the old Uttoxeter Canal, and then alongthe old Railway Line past the ruined Woodseat Hallwhere the remnants of the Canal still survive asWoodseat Lake. Doug who was a Boy Soldier ataround the same time as myself in the 50’s, hasbeen a digger driver all his life, including drivingJCB’s in the Army. The following account of Dougstireless work was kindly sent to me by Phillip Balfof Uttoxeter who along with his wife and othersupporters accompanied us on the day. Thanks toBills knowledge as a local ‘native’ and his provisionof maps, we were able to walk as near as possibleto the Canals original route on the day.Doug Hamilton-Cox (ex Royal Engineers) who

is walking the 2500 miles of the UK mainlandcanals to raise money for Help for Heroes, came totown on Wednesday March 30th to walk the lengthof the old Uttoxeter Canal (which closed in about1850) from Uttoxeter to Froghall Wharf, facilitatedby the Caldon and Uttoxeter Canal Trust,Cheddleton Valley Railway and JCB.The 29th of April saw Doug walking from the

Wharf area in Uttoxeter, all the way to FroghallWharf, along roads, public footpaths, Countrylanes and a disused part of the old Railway (With

appropriate permission), but missing out the line ofthe old Canal in the vicinity of the JCB Factory atRocester.The following day, to complete the missed

section of the walk, JCB kindly agreed to allowDoug and his party under the supervision of TourGuides to follow it’s route (as closely as possible)through the confines of the Factory Area

Walking to Help The Heroes


19 Chapel Street, Cheadle ST10 1DUT: 01538 528787

E: [email protected] W: www.rcmrecruitment.co.uk

RCM Recruitment Ltd celebrates successful first year.

Ambitious expansion plans have been unveiled byRCM Recruitment as it celebrates it’s first year inbusiness.

RCM Recruitment Ltd based on Chapel Street,Cheadle, Staffordshire opened on April 8th 2015. Nowthe business employs four people and is looking toexpand further this year due to continued success andadditional business since opening last year.

Ellia Hutchins is the latest member to join thebusiness. Ellia, from Hixon joined the business inFebruary this year as a Recruitment Resourcer and hasalready become a valued member of the team.

RCM Recruitment Ltd are proud of their core values ofhonesty, integrity and quality of service and believe this isthe reason for their continued success. Emma Tideswell,Recruitment Director of RCM Recruitment has said they

are happy to be working with local businesses in the areasupporting their growth and success but also happy tohave further business with existing clients that Emma hasnow worked with for a number of years. Thecombination of the two has meant that in the last yearRCM Recruitment have achieved a lot and are now seenas one of Cheadle’s successful and entrepreneurialbusinesses.

RCM Recruitment are keen to hear from localcandidates looking for work and also businesses lookingfor support in growing their team.

For more information on RCM Recruitment Ltd’sservices please contact a member of the recruitmentteam on 01538 528787 or [email protected]. All current vacancies areadvertised on the website www.rcmrecruitment.co.uk.


Janet Johnson BSc (Hons) Podiatry SRCh

Chiropodist

Treatments include: nail cuts, thick nail reduction,

ingrown nail treatments, callus and corn removal, verrucas, arch

and heal pain, nail surgerybiomechanical assessmentand diabetic assessment.

Based in the NorthgateDoctors Surgery, Carters

Square, every Friday.

Home visits available

£25 per treatment

Mobile: 07951820847

Home: 01889 592855after 6 pm

[email protected]

Checkley church bellsare now good foranother 200 years!

It’s celebration time atCheckley Church with thecompletion of a £100,000 bell

refurbishment project.The old frame housing our six

bells, cast in 1761, was placed onan oak frame produced fromElizabethan ship’s timbers.Following detailed discussionswith both English Heritage andthe Lichfield D.A.C., permissionwas granted to replace the agedframe, but the bells were capableof refurbishment.Thirty years in the planning

stages, the work was started inNovember 2015, and finished byApril 2016.To commemoratecompletion, a ‘Hallowing’ servicewas held on March 7th where the

bells were both anointed with oil and water by the Bishop of Stafford.The old frame remains in its original position, with a new steel unit

positioned directly underneath. This work was expertly undertaken byWhitechapel Bell Foundry, the necessary monies were provided by local andwider afield donations. This was a tremendous combined group effort,ensuring that the ancient art if ringing will be preserved in Checkley for manyyears to come!Jane Titley, now living in London, is a direct descendent of Thomas Titley,

Churchwarden in 1761 whose name is inscribed on the Tenor bell, along withHarry Hancock. It was absolutely wonderful that Jane was able to travel fromLondon to be present at our ‘Hallowing, service. Many thanks to all concernedin any way!

Clive Smith – Checkley Church

A refurbished bell situated on the newsteel frame


Have I got news for youby Uttoxeter’s Gary Hudson, Former BBC Chief News Reporter

Gary Hudson is a member of UttoxeterLions Club, a former BBC Chief NewsReporter and a senior lecturer in BroadcastJournalism at Staffordshire University.

Needles and pints – now it’s time forthe fun part

Loyal readers of this column (a big hello tothe Smith family of Oakover Close) will spota theme developing when I say it’s time tosugar the pill, enjoy the silver lining to thecloud, and savour the smooth that inevitablycomes with the rough.By which I mean it’s almost time for the

Uttoxeter Beer and Cider Festival. It takes place atOldfields Sports and Social Club on Saturday, June11th, with the region’s biggest open mic night theevening before in the beer tent. They’re two of my favourite days in the local

calendar. While they may not have the excitementor indeed the potential to lose your shirt of theMidlands Grand National, or the sheer variety ofentertainment of that other big do at theracecourse, the Acoustic Festival, they are specialdays for those us helping to run them.The medicine which this particular spoonful of

sugar helps to go down is the free prostate cancerscreening at the racecourse, which Uttoxeter LionsClub has been organising for the past three years. At time of writing, I don’t know how many

people turned up on a Tuesday evening in mid-April for the free blood tests, but I do know thatthere is strong clinical evidence that at least 15 liveslocally have been saved over the last couple ofyears because of the tests we offer to men over 50.Without this early warning, they might otherwisehave died from the disease.

We’re going to need a bigger bar

Uttoxeter Lions Club is grateful to the

racecourse for providing the Hoops Bar, but Isuspect the time will come when we have to moveto one of the bigger spaces at the venue. Even moremen are taking advantage of the free tests everyyear.Those tests cost about 15 quid a head. That

money came from you if you’ve ever visited theBeer Festival, and we will be doing the same withthe profits from the event this year. We also have hundreds of pounds raised by

local musicians busking last summer at the MerciaMarina at Willington just off the A50. Thatinitiative came from Karen Moore, who alongsideher professional life as a senior cancer nurse, playssaxophone in a musical trio, calling themselvesMoore and Moore Beer. The name comes fromKaren and her husband David and their friendJohn Beer.I’m delighted to say they will be performing on

the evening of June 10th at Oldfields. The open micnight from about 7.30pm is a sister event to theBeer Festival - same venue, same beers and ciders,and the added bonus that admission for performersis free with a small cover charge for theirsupporters and other guests. If you have a ticket tothe Beer Festival on the Saturday, admission to theopen mic is free anyway. So it makes sense to go to

both and get the best value for your money.

No judges, but a great showcase fortalent

Other local acts expected to do a turninclude Delta Echoes and Temple Hudson(yeah, that’s me and my mate Mick), RichHolmes and Sanjiv Nandi. But the real joy isthat anyone can show up and perform, andnot just singer-guitarists: the completely wackyand off-the-wall Trent Vale Poet has promisedto be there - and I forecast a few ukuleles andmore saxophones than is usually healthy inpolite society.It’s not a talent contest. There are no Simon

Cowells sneering at your efforts, and everyone willbe made welcome. We’ve also learned from lastyear when, although it was early June, it became alittle nippy late in the evening. Heating has beenarranged.In fact, if everyone who has suggested they

might turn up does so – and I promise everyonewho does will get a chance to play – then we willbe looking at easily the biggest open mic event inthe whole of Staffordshire and Derbyshire, as faras I’m aware. If you are an up-and-comingperformer, perhaps with your own music to sell orlooking for a gig, it’s a great showcase.And it’s a great warm-up for the beer festival

on Saturday, when the musical entertainment stepsup a gear with performances from – among others– local artist Jason Callear, who has a new albumout, and our fabulous headline act Upfront, whowould be guaranteed to bring the house down if itwere not for the fortunate fact that the whole eventtakes place in a marquee.Please support either or both events, whether

for the music, which ranges from rock to jazz, thebeer and cider, with thirty varieties on offer, orsimply to have a good time – the possibilities areendless.

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Jack’s nostalgic thoughts...by Jack Hayhurst, of AltonFormer Painsley High School Woodwork Teacher

Personal Banking

Lank’s Lore really rang a few bells in the lastedition of the Voice, didn’t it? May I alsoshare some personal banky experiences with

you?A local Nat West held a modest savings account

for me, but when the interest went the way of allinterests I decided to draw it out to buy an AstonMartin.... the Dinky Toy version. “How do you want the money?” asked Pat at

the counter.“Can you do an electronic transfer to my

account in HSBC?” I asked.“Yes. We can. But the charge will be £20.”This surprised me. We discussed the fact that

customers could do a transfer online at home forfree, but the bank needed £20 to do it.“Well, can I just have the cash in my hand?” I

asked.“No problem”, said Pat, who rustled the

folding stuff into an envelope whilst I put thepeanuts in my pocket.“What are you going to do with it now?” she

asked.So I told her that I was just going across the

road to pay it into my current account in HSBC.Pat smiled. “You’ll be lucky “ she said, “ It

closed down in September.”Never mind! We had a trip in the car, did the

shopping and paid it into HSBC Uttoxeter. Whilst my friend Linda in HSBC (choral society

... nice voice) was putting my stake into thecomputer, she said“It has flagged-up that you have a savings

account that has not been used for some time, andthey don’t like it”“Well” I replied, “It’s just there in case I want

to use it sometime. Anyway we don’t want to missthe interest do we?”Linda grinned. There was 50p in the account.

Anyway head-office didn’t like it .... so I askedLinda to transfer the 50p and close the account.She said “We can’t do that here. Do you ever

go to Longton?”“Not if I can help it”.“Well... phone this number” said Linda, passing

a slip of paper under the screen, “ and they will sortit for you”.Back home I transferred the 50p online, and

then forgot about it. Later that week, however, aletter arrived. “You have a savings account that isnot being used etc etc”..... with a phone number.So I rang it. Up comes the menu. If you need

the toilet press 1. Finally ... “For any other enquirypress 22”.

Result: “We are experiencing a heavy volumeof calls. If you wish to hold, the delay is currently15 minutes”.Give up !As Lank mentioned in his piece, the Co-op

Bank is closing in Uttoxeter. My wife has had herhard-earned loot paid there for years, and she likesto be able to go into a branch and talk to people.Bakewell, Ashbourne and Cheadle branches of theCo-op have all gone. She needs a local bankaccount, so we decided to go into UttoxeterNatWest, because there are also handy branches inCheadle and Ashbourne. NatWest in Uttoxeter has had a make-over: the

main counter, like a shrimp stall on Blackpoolsouth shore, is now in the middle of the room anda new cash machine, a useful addition, adorns thewall where the solid old mahogany counter usedto be. Two TV screens provide entertainment towaiting customers, but the choice of films last weekwas not prime-time viewing. The other thing Idon’t understand is that in HSBC the staff arebehind a bulletproof screen and customers speakinto a little microphone. Transactions are passedthrough a scoop! Does this protect bank staff fromgerms, bad breath or firearms? Anyway we decided not to wait. It’s all

ongoing and part of life’s rich pattern.

Down on the Farmby Angela Sargent

April and spring is well and truly here andwe’ve nearly finished our second lambingspell! Our first crop of lambs are growing

with the increased grass in the fields and our cattlehave been turned out to benefit from the pasturetoo!The birds are starting to sing loudly and

continually in the early mornings and they arenesting in the nearby trees. The green woodpeckersare yaffling in the spinneys and flocks ofyellowhammers skit along the hedges, whilesparrows argue and skirmish amongst them.A flock of a couple of dozen lapwings rise and

fall above the fields and pigeons and jackdawswheel above the woods.All in all a very busy time for animals as they

pair up or give birth to their young and we seemore young rabbits and if we’re lucky, leveretsThe majority of our cattle will begin to give

birth, out in the fields and it’s always a pleasure to

see an addition to the numbers in a morning, upand suckling! Of course, the cows are checkedmore often when a calving is imminent and a closeeye kept once it has properly begun, there is no beduntil the safe deliveryThe hedges and trees begin to open their leaves

to make the most of the lengthening days andspring flowers are abundant- lots of whites andyellows mixed with the blues and pinks of bluebellsand red campion and there is the mound of newlyturned soil, where the mole has left his mark.Tractors roll up and down fields, rolling and

top dressing (fertilizing) the green sward and thecrops already in the ground will get their feeds too.The application window for basic farm

payment has opened, with many farmers nothaving received the last years and, coupled withseverely depressed prices in all the sectors ofagriculture it makes for a very uncertain time-again we’re not on an equal footing with our

European counterparts.This month also sees me try to complete a

round trip of approximately 300 miles in 3 dayson my bike, visiting all the East Midlands livestockmarkets, in aid of RABI. Postponed from last year,when my Auctioneer colleague broke his foot, it isalso timed to take place during Great British BeefWeek-21st-23rd April.One thing I’ve noticed during training- why

does everyone drive down the middle of the road,regardless of oncoming traffic?Anyway, anyone wishing to join us for a leg of

our journey or sponsor us, please contact me orour Justgiving.com/AuctionRingRide page

Angela Sargent www.baldfields-farm.co.uk and follow us ontwitter (@bythebarn)and facebook(baldfieldsfarm) too!

You can now read The Voice at www.uttoxeterandcheadlevoice.co.uk

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Karen’s Cake Cornerby Karen Hill

Carrot And Pistachio Cake

Another big gathering of friends andfamily, and I was requested to make aCarrot Cake. I have such a delicious

recipe for Carrot Cake, but really wanted totry something different. So with this recipe Ihave used rapeseed oil which makes it verymoist and added pistachio nuts, sultanas andlime zest. It was quite different from myusual cake, but very delicious and everyoneloved it.

You will need:-300g plain flour2 tsp baking powder2 tsp ground cinnamon1/4 tsp ground cloves1/2 tsp ground ginger4 large free range eggs275g light muscovado sugar250ml light rapeseed oil400g carrots, peeled and grated100g roughly chopped pistachio nuts100g sultanaszest of 1 lime

For the Frosting -150g softened unsalted butter

400g full fat cream cheese200g greek yoghurt350g icing sugar, sifted

Lime zest and chopped pistachio nuts todecoratePreheat the oven to 160C fan oven.

Whisk together the eggs, sugar and oil. Siftthe flour, baking powder and spices into theegg mixture and mix thoroughly. Next foldin the carrots, pistachios, sultanas and limezest (reserving a few pistachios to sprinkle onthe frosting). Divide the mixture evenlybetween three greased and lined 20cm caketins. Bake for approximately 25 minutes oruntil a skewer comes out clean.Whilst the cakes are cooling, you can

make the frosting. Whisk the butter untilsoft, then add the remaining ingredients.When the cakes are completely cool, layer

the cakes with the frosting and then cover thetop and sides.Sprinkle the top with the remaining

pistachio nuts.I think this will be my new favourite

carrot cake. I have already been asked tomake another the next time my son comes tostay.


Baby Sensoryby Laura Johnson

Babies in Springtime

As we head into Spring there are a wealth ofnew experiences for children of all ages.Your toddler may have been on their first

Easter Egg Hunt, whilst at school children mayhave made an Easter bonnet, experienced their firstparade, or discovered something new about whywe celebrate Easter.Spring can also be a wonderful time of year for

your baby. As the days get warmer and theevenings grow longer, your baby has a lot toexperience in this new season. Why not exploreyour garden together, as the flowers bloom therewill be a wealth of new smells to discover. Fromfresh flowers to newly mown grass, and thefreshness just after an April shower, your baby’snoses will surely be tantalised. Look out for busybees and beautiful butterflies, as they fly fromflower to flower, and listen to the birds singing inthe trees.Taking a walk can be a wonderful experience

too, your little one will love to ride under a treecanopy or listen to a group of ducks quacking onthe water in the park. Breathing in all of that freshair will really make a difference, as it contains lotsof negative ions it can really help with brainfunction and improve your baby’s health. Whenthe sun breaks through the clouds the sunlightwhich contains vitamin D, is essential for strongbones and to help bodies fight infection. At Baby Sensory our Easter and spring themed

classes are full of activities to introduce your babyto the new season. We have smelled flowers, herbs

and hot cross buns, discovered butterflies and beesin our Magic Garden and hopped and bounced justlike baby bunnies. To help babies to learn we also sing action

songs, a great way to introduce yourbaby not only to different gestures butalso to a huge range of words, which canreally help with their languagedevelopment. Songs such as ‘Round andRound the Garden’, ‘Peter Rabbit’ and‘Five Little Ducks’ are perfect for spring.Don’t worry about how good yoursinging voice sounds, your baby loves tohear you sing.

Your baby may be too young to goon an Easter Egg Hunt or jump inmuddy puddles in their wellington boots,but there are still lots of activities theycan enjoy, Once your baby can sit upunaided why not put together a treasurebasket of safe objects for your baby toexplore. This could include a toy egg, asoft toy bunny rabbit, a plastic duck, ashaker and even a spring themed book.Treasure baskets can offer your baby anopportunity to experience differentobjects, exploring their shape, textureand weight and help with their sense ofcuriosity. Spring is a fantastic season for all of

us as we break free from the wintermonths, but for your baby it’s also aperiod of real discovery. Enjoy!

You can find and book onto your nearest BabySensory class by visiting www.babysesnroy.com orcontacting me on 07887 744876 or [email protected].


Talking Pets by Shoshannah McCarthy BVetMed (Hons) MRCVS

Shosh qualified from theRoyal Veterinary College inLondon, and has beenworking as a small animalvet at Blue HouseVeterinary Centre inBiddulph since 2009. Shehas a rescue cat namedBagpuss.

Cats don’t needkittens! Whyneutering ismisunderstood andstill so important

Last week I spent a dayworking with the CatPopulation Control Group,a collaboration betweenseveral different charitiesincluding Cats Protection,the RSPCA, InternationalCat Care and the PDSA,amongst others. Theyattended a major veterinaryconference in Birminghamto speak with UK vets andpromote neutering kittens atfour months rather than sixmonths. I was there to helpthem, because it’s a matterthat’s so important to me.Here’s why...Back in 2014, the

Veterinary Record publishedthe findings of a surveyabout UK cat owners’ viewson neutering. I can only speak for myself, but Ifound the results shocking.

Accidental litters are really common!

In the survey, 80% of kittens born were fromaccidental litters - their owners had no intention ofbreeding their cats. Given that 1 in 7 catsrelinquished to rehoming and rescue centres in theUK come from unwanted litters, this figure isalarming. It means that over 20,000 of the cats lefthomeless each year were born by accident, andnow face an uncertain future.If all female pet cats were neutered before they

become pregnant, we could save over 20,000 catsper year in the UK.

Cats can become pregnant earlier thanmany people think!

Most worrying to me was that more than aquarter of cat owners surveyed thought that femalecats couldn’t become pregnant until they were ayear old. In fact, female cats can become pregnantas young as four or five months of age - andRSPCA figures have found that 1 in 7 litters areborn to mothers under six months of age! For this reason, it’s so important that female

cats are not allowed outdoors until they have beenneutered, regardless of their age.

Brothers and sisters can still mate!

When choosing pet kittens, it’s common tobring home a boy and a girl from the same litter.The survey found that almost 40% of owners didnot know that brothers and sisters could still mate;of course, they can (and do, once their hormones

hit). You should keep your kittens indoors, but ifthey can still mate with each other if they are notneutered in time. Taking your kittens to be neutered at four

months old will avoid any possibility of accidentslater on.

Cats don’t need to have kittens to stayhealthy!

It’s a common misconception that female catsshould have one litter before they are neutered.This is an old wives’ tale and is completely false,but it’s a belief sadly held by almost one quarter ofthe owners surveyed (with another quarter unsureabout whether or not they should).I will categorically say now that there are NO

health benefits to a female cat if she has a litter ofkittens. On the contrary, it puts her at risk ofcomplications during pregnancy and birth, anddelaying neutering will increase her risk ofdeveloping mammary tumours (breast cancer) laterin life. Mating with an unknown tomcat also putsher at risk of contracting diseases such as felineleukaemia and FIV (which can lead to feline AIDS).As for the boys, they are at increased risk of

contracting leukaemia and FIV if they are allowedto roam and mate. Injuries from other males andeven the female cats their encounter can result inmore abscesses and infections, and they are morelikely to roam (which puts them at risk of being hitby cars or harmed by humans).

Cats don’t need to ‘experience’ havingkittens!

Female cats don’t need to experience havingbabies for any psychological reason, either. Theirmaternal instinct only kicks in after the kittens are

born, and when they are in heat their behaviour isdriven blindly by hormones - not a true desire tohave kittens.It’s much kinder and safer to neuter a cat before

her hormones start to kick in.

Neutering is safe and inexpensive!

Vets across the UK neuter thousands of cats peryear, and the operation is quick and very safe. Weusually find that kittens are back on their feet withtheir nose in the food bowl within half an hour ofwaking up, and their overall recovery time is fast.In fact, in my experience younger kittens

recover much better than older cats. Research hasalso shown that younger kittens cope better withthe pain than older cats - so it pays to get it doneearly, and they’ll bounce back quicker.The average UK cost of castration (male

neutering) is £20-40, and is £30-60 for spaying(female neutering). It varies a lot between practices,so do check with your own vet.If you need help with neutering costs, there is

lots of financial assistance available from certaincharities.

• In Stoke-on-Trent, the Hazel Blakeman Clinicin Longton offers subsidised neutering.Contact them for more information:www.hazelblakemananimalclinic.co.uk/

• The RSPCA can offer financial assistance forneutering in selected cases. To see if you areeligible, try contacting the Burton-upon-Trentbranch to enquire:www.rspca.org.uk/local/burton-on-trent-branch/aboutus

• Cats Protection can provide financialassistance for neutering in certain cases. Pleasephone them to see if they can help with thecost: www.cats.org.uk/what-we-do/neutering/financial-assistance

• Blue Cross are currently supporting a £10neutering scheme in Burton-upon-Trent.Check their site for details:www.bluecross.org.uk/burton-and-scunthorpe-neutering-scheme

• If you are outside the Blue Cross catchmentarea for Burton-upon-Trent, you may beeligible for a £20 voucher towards neuteringcosts elsewhere:www.bluecross.org.uk/neutering-grant

Spread the word!

In summary, the kindest thing you can do foryour kitten is to make sure you have them neuteredat 4-5 months old, before they go outside andcertainly before they are old enough to becomepregnant. By doing this you’ll be keeping them safeand healthy, and helping reduce the number of catswho end up homeless every year.Some vets are still suggesting waiting until 6

months to neuter cats. You can ask them if theywould be comfortable neutering your cat at fourmonths of age, as many will if asked. Alternatively,check out the Kitten Neutering Database if youwant to find a practice near you who can neuter atfour months: http://www.cats.org.uk/what-we-do/neutering/enr/menu-early-neuteringEven if your cats are neutered, please help by

spreading the word to friends and family whowelcome new kittens into their home. Together wecan all keep working to keep cats safe and reducethe number of unwanted kittens ending up inrescue.


Ginny’s Community Cornerby Ginny Gibson of Uttoxeter

This month I thought I would find an outdoorcommunity group to feature, after all we aresurrounded by wonderful countryside in the

Midlands. When I was growing up in London, weonly had access to parks, then we moved to theAshdown Forest nearBrighton and I discovered awhole new world, away frombricks, mortar and pavementsand after my initial fears ofhuge outdoor spaces, my loveof the country side began.Moving to Staffordshire fromNorthamptonshire wasfantastic, as a new range ofplaces to explore opened upand Staffordshire WildlifeTrust has 27 such sites to visit. Staffordshire Wildlife

Trust have been actively ensuring our naturalenvironment and open spaces are accessible toeveryone since August 1969. Their literatureexplains that the Trust protects and enhances thewild life and wild places of our county. They alsopromote understanding and enjoyment andinvolvement in the natural world.Jon Owen, from the Trust explained the sites

that the Trust owns, leases or manages, covers over3500 acres; including sites of European andNational importance. It also includes an area ofinland saltmarsh, which is incredibly important.The lowland heathlands, the StaffordshireMoorlands, the limestone valleys, plus an extensivenetwork of rivers, inland waterways and meres adda further dimension to their site diversity.The site that I like to visit is Wolseley Centre,

Wolseley Bridge, near Rugeley ST17 0WT.where there are over 26 acres of grounds toexplore. We normally park in the car park,pay a £1 for parking, which goes straightback to the Trust as a fund raiser and thenstart our walk in the sensory garden, by thesmall lake. Depending on which time ofyear you go, and I go in all seasons, youwill find lots of wild flowers, a swingfor the kids, great sculptures both onthe old walls, in the flower beds and inthe lake, I like the new willow wovenbadger, which is very impressive. But Iadore the bird feeders station, whereyou can stand or sit and see a huge rangeof our feather friends, plus squirrels doinggymnastics to get to the food. The main walk is circular affair; you start by

the river where you can walk through it or over it,depending on how brave you are. Then turn leftto the edge of the waterway, where the likes ofgeese, swans and goosanders are all making use ofthe nesting areas that have been created.Follow the walk around and you get to the

main River Trent where a bench and someclimbing blocks are very nicely placed to take abreak and while away an hour with a picnic, if youhave been that organised. Continuing on the path,brings you to the bird hide, which is fairly new andgives you a covered place to sit with your cameraand wait for the perfect shot of your favourite bird.Across the waterway is another lovely sculpture ofa heron that is a picture in its own right.After leaving the hide you come to the walkway

that is built on stiles over the water; take time tolook for the fish sculptures on the railings, theydouble up as musical instruments, so you can playthem and see if the Swans that live in the centreisland, like your tune. The walkway brings you back to where you

started and if you haven’t bought your own picnic

then you will find a lovely café that will cater toall your needs, great cakes and coffee to eat whileyou are recovering from your walk. Plus there is ahelpdesk where you can join the StaffordshireWildlife Trust and buy a hedgehog house, bird

feeder or bird box, so your own gardenwill be a haven for wildlife. If you do join the Trust, then you will

be part of one of the eight local groups,around 16,000 members, and over 40corporate members, which are spreadacross the whole of Staffordshire. Lots ofthe members become volunteers to lookafter and maintain the Trust’s sites, agreat way to keep fit, be part of thecommunity in Staffordshire and learnnew skills too. Recently the Roaches site, just north

of Leek which is the gateway toStaffordshire’s Peak District (postcode ST13 8UA(nearest) has been doing some great work withPeregrine Falcons. Staffordshire Wildlife Trust isappealing for nature lovers to become part of its2016 Peregrine Watch scheme. As part of ‘PeregrineWatch’, the Trust is inviting local people to join ourwardens to look out for the bird on the Roachesthis spring. As well as recording sightings,

volunteers act as a point of contactwith visitors at the nature reserve nearLeek and pass on information on howto best not disturb them. This year’s

Peregrine Watch has started and both of last year’sbreeding pair have already been spotted during thepast few weeks. Last year’s Peregrine Watch was ahuge success, and thanks to the work of thevolunteers, over 5000 people visited to see the rarebird of prey. Three chicks also fledged, making a

total of 15 chicks fledged since 2007.However, if you want to go and have a look at

an ancient tree, then our nearest one is BrankleyPastures. 4 miles south-west of Burton-upon-Trentnear Yoxall Scotch Hill Barton-under-NeedwoodStaffordshire DE13 8BN (nearest) or to find it,A515 N 1.5 miles from Yoxall, Right to Scot Hill,Left at the crossroads after 1.5 miles. Park on theright after 0.25 miles. Grid Ref SK166 213.Brankley Pastures has been a pasture dating backto 1700 and has trees with gnarled trucks whereinsects, birds, mammals and plants grow. If thetrees could talk I wonder what stories they wouldbe able to tell. Did Robin Hood and his merry menpass by perhaps, or was Henry VIII ever around,discussing which of his wives would be next tomeet their sorry end. Or if you would prefer to know about river

maintenance, then the Stafford Brook is a greatexample where is has been returned to a healthy

river. It was suffering from phosphatepollution and therefore fish were sufferingand other manuals. The trust used woodydebris to form new pools, split channels,debris dams, backwaters, gravel riffles,chutes and silt benches. 33 root balls

weighing 35 tonnes were added to 500 metrestretch of water, which helped to ensure that

habitat was more complex and the river hasnow become a haven for wildlife onceagain. If your children haven’t been exposed to the

full diversity of nature and the wonders that areoutside of the house, then the Trust run classesfor school children and Nature Tots across the

county – find out more on the Trust’s website –www.staffs-wildlife.org.uk where they might getinterested in the world that doesn’t just includelaptops, mobile phones or electronic games.To contact the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, then

try the websitewww.staffs-wildlife.org.ukOr call 01889 880100 Or e-mail [email protected] am including a site map with this article, it’s

not recent, as the Trust is updating it currently, butit gives you an idea of all the places you can visit,hopefully it will ensure you can go out of the housethis summer into our countryside that is there foreveryone to enjoy

Oak Tree in Brankley Pastures


Povey’s PeopleBy Radio Stoke’s Owd Grandad Piggott

‘Ooo’s this character thee coe the Stump?’asked Club Paper Jack.‘Thee reckon y’aft watch ‘im’, replied Owd

Grandad Piggott in a low voice. ‘Ay used bay abouncer at a club in Stoke an’ ay lost afe ‘is indexfinger in an accident ut work... but th’afe what’sleft’s a lethal weapon... if ay jowls thee in thee ribswith it, they’t need a month in intensive care....ay’sgot no feelin’s in it... its lark tempered steel! ‘ ClubPaper Jack lit a cigarette‘What’s ‘ey comin’ dine Tummy Dawkins’s pub

fer?’.‘Ay’s a mate o’ Gummy Webster.. Ay’s comin’

dine ‘ave a drink with ‘im’, replied Owd GrandadPiggott. ‘Marnd thee, Yer dunner know if it’s ratewhat thee say... Ay mit bay as soft as muck’.‘Wale soon find ite!’, said Club Paper Jack.It was a Wednesday night when The Stump

wandered into Tummy Dawkins’s pub and boughta drink for himself and Gummy Webster.‘Ay’s a big lad’, observed Owd Grandad Piggott.

The two of them stood idly watching as GummyWebster and The Stump chatted. Owd GrandadPiggott, ever the opportunist gave a snort.‘Ar dunner reckon ay’s up ter much!’, he

muttered darkly’. ‘Bet thee dossner nick ‘is pint’, challenged Club

Paper Jack. Owd Grandad Piggott was anaccomplished ale thief and to him, The Stumplooked an easy target.‘A, quid on it!’‘Theet on!’Over the next fifteen minutes, there was a bit

of shuffling about – Owd Grandad Piggott askedThe Stump for a light and he obliged, then TheStump went to the gents and when he came back,his beer had disappeared.‘Double or quits?’ said Jack.‘Owrate!’ and Club Paper Jack and sidled over

to The Stump and asked for the time. Again, TheStump obliged and five minutes later, after a bit ofkerfuffling about his second glass of beerdisappeared. Over the next half hour, OwdGrandad Piggott and Club Paper Jack seemed tofind something highly amusing to talk about, thensuddenly, this figure loomed above them.‘Hey up gents’, said The Stump

conversationally.‘Adiw’, muttered Club Paper Jack.‘Ar ‘ear you two’re keen on campin’’‘Eh?’ queried Owd Grandad Piggott blankly.‘Ar dust fancy spendin’ a month in an oxygen

tent?’ asked The Stump.‘Eh?’ whined Club Paper Jack not liking the

close proximity of The big fellow.‘They’st pinched mar ale...’ grated The Stump.‘Eh – not us owd soul... wey’re just sittin’ ‘ere

mindin’ us own... ‘‘Stand up!’ The pair of reprobates rose shakily

to their feet and regarded The Stump hollowly.‘Hey, listen ark... May an’ ‘im wonn just sittin’

‘ere ‘avin’ a quiet pint...’‘CHULP’‘Yarrrrrrooooh’ yelled Club Paper Jack as a

steel rod almost shattered his ribcage.‘SQUIFF – F - F!’ ‘Yow-ow wow!!’ carolled Owd Grandad

Piggott. He’d just had a triple stump in the solarplexus. The two of them collapsed in a heap.Nostrils Moffitt was looking on wide eyed butquickly faded away not wanting to be involved.The Stump and Gummy Webster sank several morepints in the bar of Tummy Dawkins’s pub but thepints of beer stood unmolested and the two friendsquaffed them at their leisure. Owd GrandadPiggott sailed with a definite list to the left over thenext week or so and Club Paper Jack took on agood impersonation of Quasimodo. Despite manydire threats and vile epithets, neither The Stumpnor his ale was bothered again by Owd GrandadPiggott or Club Paper Jack and life returned tonormal.The Stump had a ten year old daughter who, at

the age of three had begun, as many kids do, topick her nose. For the last seven years, she hadboasted to her friends that her daddy had teeth uphis nose because when she was little, daddy hadpicked his nose one day and his nose had bitten offhalf his finger. She never picked her nose again.

Each month Radio Stoke’s Owd Grandad Piggott (Alan Povey) will write a unique insight into ourlocal life and its many characters.

His infectious, humorous slant on people provides a different and unusual mix which hopefully willbring a warm smile to the faces of our readers.

This month: The Stump

Owd Grandad PiggottGo to the new website www.owdgrandadpiggott.co.ukand download tracks from the originalOwd Grandad Piggott LP record whichwas recorded live by Alan Povey inThe George and Dragon pub in Long-ton in 1977 and sold over 6,000 copiesin North Staffordshire inside 6 months.

Chairman Christine Adams welcomed everyoneto the meeting and reiterated that all futuremeetings would commence at 7.30pmShe also reminded everyone that subscriptions

for the coming year were due and would remain at£8 per head and £1.50 for visitors per meeting. Shealso announced that the May fundraiser date hadnow moved to Saturday 14 May 10am-12am) andthat the Garden Guild outing on Monday June 6thwould be to the garden at Tanglewood Cottage inColwich. The outing will leave the village hall at6pm and the cost will be £7 per person whichincludes tea and cakes (attendee numbers requiredprior to this date for catering purposes).Christine then introduced Ray Bassett who was

giving his second talk on the ABC of Vegetables.Ray said as he finished his first talk on L for

Leeks he would commence this one with L for

Lettuce and also talk about salads in general.Ray recommended we try the Red Fire variety

of Lettuce which starts off with green leaves thenas it grows slowly turn to red. His other saladvariety recommendations were Spring Onions –Feast, Radish – Jolly & Cucumber growth.Ray also gave an interesting tip on using a grow

bag for the cultivation of tomatoes. Rather thanlay it flat put it on its edge and insert the pots (withbottom cut out) of tomato plants into the edge ofthe grow bag.This will then give the oot much greater depth

to grow and by inserting bottomless 3 inch potbetween the tomato pots you have an easywatering opening.Ray also provided the meeting with tips on how

best to show off your veg if you enter competitionsusing black velvet as a backdrop on boards or even

a paper plate. He then regaled as with some of hisanecdotes regarding the things people get up to tryand win vegetable competitions!!Ray answered a question from the audience

regarding leeks going to seed. He said thatMay/June were critical months and if during thesemonths there was a fall in temperature predictedthen the leeks must be kept warm and wateredevery 5 days – this should stop the leeks going toseed prematurely.Mr Swales the President thanked Ray for a

most interesting and entertaining talk.The next meeting of the Denstone Garden

Guild will be held at 7.30pm on MondaySeptember 5th 2016 with Nigel Coe giving a talkon the ‘Growing of Gladiolus.’ Please come alongand join us. New members and visitors mostwelcome – admission is £1.50.

Denstone Garden GuildTalk by Ray Bassett on ‘ABC of Vegetables Part 2’

4


The good old daysCan you identify the facesand locations?See Page 49 for some of the namesto the faces.

URGENTLY REQUIREDIf you have any photos that youthink may be of interest to ourreaders of this page please feel freeto drop them into Lavins Printers,High Street, Uttoxeter who will scanthem while you wait and let youhave them straight back. They willthen pass them on to us forpublication.

1

2

3

Photo Credits - 1, 2 & 6: Steve Lavin, Uttoxeter. 3: Joan Titterton, Cheadle. 4: Marcia Titterton, Cheadle. 5: Brenda Waring, Uttoxeter.


5

6

The historic occasion of Her Majesty TheQueen’s 90th Birthday on 21st April 2016, wasa cause of celebration for the whole nation.

Staffordshire Goldies celebrated this milestone inher life and reign by singing her praises at theirsessions last month. Anne Griffiths, StaffordshireProject Leader said, “One of the most popular songsin our Goldies songbook is ‘Congratulations’ by ourpatron, Sir Cliff Richard so we made sure we sangthat! We waved our Union Flags and it was a goodexcuse to have a right royal knees up! Music has thatknack of instantly raising our spirits and making apowerful connection with our memories of the goodtimes we’ve experienced through our lives. Our ‘Singand Smile’ sessions give older people a reason to getout, to be with others, to laugh and sing and to makenew friends.”Goldies have two session in Uttoxeter in May; on

Monday 9th from 2.00pm – 3.00pm, and on Tuesday31st from 11.00am - 12.00noon; both are held in theMethodist Church Meeting Room, High Street,Uttoxeter ST14 7JQ. Anne continued, “There’s always a friendly

welcome for anyone who may be lonely, or who haslearning difficulties or dementia. There is time for acup of tea afterwards, all we ask is that everyone whocomes along makes a minimum £2 donation to ourcharity.”For more information call Anne Griffiths on

01889 562269 Email [email protected] To find out more about the charity visit

www.golden-oldies.org.uk

Uttoxeter Goldies -Congratulations and Celebrations!


Sport is in my blood...by Jeff Wood of Cheadle, dedicated to local sport for a lifetime...

As a pleasant start to this month’s column, Ishould offer my congratulations to RonAlcock on attaining his eightieth birthday.

I well remember playing against Ron when he waswith Woodhead Albion, along with the likes ofIvan Harvey, George Carnwell, the Brattleys, TeddyEmery, Billy Brunt and several others. I recall onegame at Churchill Road in mid winter and underrock hard conditions which ended with no score.I didn’t play in many 0-0 draws in my career butthat one stands out in particular. Ron played in itand he later went on to marry my cousi. I see himoccasionally in Cheadle looking as fit as he did inhis playing days.Almost inevitably I saw a few old footballing

friends at a funeral recently. The occasion was thefuneral of John (Cherry) Wood’s mum. She was inher ninety ninth year and she also married a cousinof mine. I didn’t have much opportunity to speakto Cherry but during his early years he was a morethan useful midfield player (or inside forward as itwas in those days). One incident in his careerstands out in my memory . We were playing awayat Warterhouses, who had a very good team in theearly sixties. Cherry was noted for not scoringmany goals but on this occasion their goalkeeperpunted the ball well into our own half. Cherry wasabout ten yards in our half and he hit it straightback on the volley right over their keeper and intothe net. The ball had never touched the groundand Cherry was around sixty yards out, but whata memorable goal !At the same function I saw a few other old

friends. I was talking to Derek Mills (who I playedwith many times) when a guy came up and shookhands with me. I’m terrible at remembering facesfrom years ago and, when the guy had left us, Iasked Derek who it was. He told me it wasAlaister Maclennan (unusual but that is how hespells his first name – I remember because Iwitnessed his signing on form fifty years ago).Agger has lived in the States for many years now.What a great midfield player he was. His workrate alone was worth at least a point to our sideand he made a fairly average side into a good one.I searched for him after he had greeted me at thefuneral but he had vanished and I never saw himagain. Some years ago when my lad Tim wasplaying for Cheadle SMU under 17s I had quite abit to do with Steve Hammond, who, along withRob Maddox, was the co-manager. I didn’t knowit at the time but I later discovered that Steve isAgger’s nephew. I haven’t seen Steve recently but,if he is reading this column, I would ask him tosend my best wishes to Agger and apologise to himfor my ignorance in not recognising him.On the same day I also saw a couple of others.

Allan Clarke the former Leek Town and WittonAlbion goalkeeper was there. Allan is a realcharacter and I shall have a few things to say abouthim in a later edition.Graham Buckett was also there. I played with

Buck many times but, as with others I see, oneincident is vivid in my mind if the readers willexcuse a little self-indulgence on my part. We wereplaying away at Knypersley Victoria when Graham

took a left wing corner. I was standing beyond thecrowd of players and a few yards inside the farangle of the penalty box when Graham’s cornercame right over everyone and landed at my feet. Ijust smashed it on the volley and I can picture theirkeeper Brian Street (the former Staffordshirecricketer) clawing the air as it sailed into the roofof the net for possibly the best goal I ever scored.Again, apologies for the self indulgence but Ithought I had better record it in the annals beforeeveryone forgets it, apart from myself, Buck - andpossibly Brian Street. I have often been toKnypersley since and I have even shown my ladsthe exact spot where I was standing. Thanks forsuch a great corner, Buck.In conclusion I was fortunate enough to enjoy

a trip to the Houses of Parliament recently. Alsoon the trip was Eddie Brindley of Alton, who I havebattled against many times on both the footballand cricket fields. Eddie was a talented sportsmanand I used to enjoy playing against him. Eddie toldme the sad news that John Jessup had passed away.I had also played cricket against John many timesand we only thought we had a better chance ofwinning if we could get John out, as he was abatsman in the classical style. John also keptwicket at both Blythe and Oakamoor (or Boltonsas it was). J.M.B Jessup was a very nice guy.Unfortunately he had been unwell for some timeand now he is at peace.By the time the next edition is out, we will be

well into the cricket season and I hope to meet afew more characters I can write about.


When Simon Griffiths and Joe Lockerfounded Uttoxeter Bulls basketball inSeptember 2014 their vision was to bring

a new sport into the town and make basketball amainstream sport alongside football, cricket andrugby.A huge number of children and adults have

shown interest and support, and the last two yearshas seen the club visit the Coventry Tornadoesbasketball club and play friendly matches againstthe Rugeley Raptors and, after a long trip to Wales,Aberystwyth University.

With the co-founders now at University, theweekly sessions have unfortunately been put onhold until new coaches and volunteers can befound. Simon, Joe and Liam Cleary are howevercontinuing to run basketball camps in all theschool holidays. The Club took over the sports hallat Uttoxeter Leisure Centre on three afternoons fortheir ‘Easter Holiday’s Basketball Camp’ A crowdof youngsters aged between nine and fifteen tookpart in twelve hours of basketball training, gamesand activities. Simon Griffiths co-founder of

Uttoxeter Bulls said, “We had a great crowd of ladsturn up who were keen to improve their game andit was a pleasure to coach them. Chris Mountford,widely known on the internet and social media as“CMB Skillz Training” came from Stoke to onesession and passed on techniques and impressed usall with his ball control.” Simon added, “I wouldalso like to especially thank John Sewell Garageson Brookside Business Park for their sponsorshipin recognising and encouraging these youngsterswho are so keen on the game and who showedsuch commitment to improving their fitness levelsand taking their basketball skills to a new level.”

Joe Locker said, “The feedback from theparents and the young people was overwhelminglypositive so the club is arranging a trip to seeLeicester Riders, the UK’s oldest professional club,play later in the spring. Details will be appearingon our Uttoxeter Bulls Twitter and Facebookaccounts. We will be running another session inthe summer holidays and are delighted toannounce that Great Britain international, JamellAnderson, who currently plays for the Riders willbe coming along to that, to give encouragementand inspiration to our local ballers.”www.uttoxeterbasketball.webs.com

Uttoxeter Bulls Basketball Club

Alan’s Football Autobiography by Alan Beaman, a local sporting legend

The Premier League has been entertaining iflacking quality! Leicester City are almostholding the trophy, with the so called big boys

all suffering with overpaid under performing players,Man City being the prime example. Their squad justhasn’t showed quality or desire through a gruellingseason, and now we have Guardiola coming to trythe Premier League - he still has a tough job with anageing squad, only Agüero looks top draw so it’smassive clear out to establish their superiority again. Man Utd have been very poor, Van Gaal has

struggled with his negative tactics, he comes over asif he’s educating us all about football and his pressconferences have been baffling but comical withmost people not a clue what he’s talking about.Chelsea have now turned to the volatile Conte

who has been in and out of problems inmanagement in the crazy Italian league, but stillsuccessful and very demanding in his quest forsuccess. Chelsea seem to pop out for an Italian whenever they fancy one, but this one has extra spice lookout!!But overall the quality is sadly lacking in the

Premier League with our teams finding Europe adifficult place to succeed giving a team like Leicestera fantastic chance to have a go in Europe - Raneirideserves a lot of credit for his approach this season.Management has become an even tougher job

over the last few years with players very wealthy andthe agents waiting in the wings manoeuvrings dealsmakes it extremely difficult. Gary Neville took onmanagement in Spain with no experience, but

football knowledge but that isn’t enough - there’s alot more to it and he will learn from his mistakes.Progress has been made at Thorley Drive in

Cheadle after we have a had meeting withStaffordshire Moorlands, where we all agreed workneeds to be done on the drainage and several otherissues. We now await another meeting to see whatGlendale are contracted to do in their maintenanceprogramme for the end of season. Then we can finda way to put the facility back in the condition itshould be in. I now believe we have desire to achievethis at last. My thanks go to Ian Plant who has beenvery helpful with arranging our meetings andkeeping the pressure on .One of the biggest changes in local football is the

desire to play the game, I speak to many managerswho have the same problem, lads have more money,more access to travel and they don’t rely on footballto fill in their leisure time, so their dedication justisn’t as intense as used to be, frustrating for oldschool guys like myself but life moves on.There are still some great lads out there playing

the game with passion, and using the game to fulfilltheir sporting ambitions, hunger is a vital statistic inwinning - I like to see it in their eyes and how farthey will push for success.Cheadle has two teams in the Staffs Senior

League which is a great achievement, now both clubsneed to push on and try to win the league, findingplayers with that desire and ability is the challengefor us all.I would like to thank everyone who is following

our son Daniel out in Dubai, so many people askabout him, living in a Town like Cheadle has manybenefits, everyone chatting and showing interest ineach other, makes the town a good place to live. Wevery often talk about the negative side, but thepositive side people care about each other, raisemoney for good causes and above all talk to eachother in there daily livesWetherspoons has given the town a focal point,

going in for a beer is enjoyable, I enjoy friends I meetin there and many I went to school with and haveexcellent banter.Now for a few memory joggers, when I first

came to Mackenzie School, Mosses Cafe in the HighStreet for soup at lunch time.Faulkners shop which I bought in Tape Street

many years later, Pyatts corner shop - what a lovelyguy the late Mr Pyatt who loved his vehicles and hissons carried that on. Plants cafe and barbers -characters and hard workers in the High StreetWarehams carpet shop where I had my first carpetsfrom - excellent trade people in the town.The Davies Family led by Bill renowned people

again in the furnishing trade. Washburns an excellenthardware store. Peppers was a shop to rememberone light bulb dangling down, the sound of theprinter downstairs, lots of stationery in all sorts ofplaces, it felt like time had stood still, and the warmight still be on. Donald Copes business just startingin 1964, Phil tells me, above Goodwins cake shop,now Don was a true gent.


Bake’s Memoirsby Neil Baker, local sporting legend

Since my last column a lot has been happeningin the sporting world. Football, cricket andrugby union have all been prominent and our

national sportsmen have had some interestingresults and varying success. Winning the sixnations outright for the first time in 13 years wasa fine achievement. After what can only bedescribed a miserable performance in last year’sworld cup changes were made in the managementset up and six months later we can look forwardto watching an England team with fresh youngtalent emerging. Most of the credit must go to theappointment of head coach Eddie Jones. Myself Ifind it disappointing that we have to go outside ourown shores to appoint these coaches but if we dothen we must go for the best available and in thisguy it looks as though the RUC have done that.When you watch his interviews he comes over assomeone who certainly knows what he wants andnobody is going to get in the way. Confident in hisown ability to get the best out of a group ofplayers, quite happy to play mind games with theopposition manager and players. His methods haveobviously been well implemented by the playersand you get the feeling that if they weren’t thenthey would be on their bikes! In Jones, anAustralian who has had success all through hiscareer you feel that our England team is in goodhands.Moving onto cricket and the t20 world cup.

What an adventure we had with our nationalteam! After losing our first game to the West Indieswe then went unbeaten until the final game of thecompetition. I don’t think many of us cricketingfans quite expected us to win the world cup, weknew we had an exciting young batting line up butour bowling was far from the strongest on show.The team grew in stature in each game and almostpulled off what would have been a tremendousachievement. Gayle blew us away in the first gamewith an unbelievable show of power hitting, whenhe’s in that form it is impossible to bowl at him,even when he doesn’t connect properly the ball stillsails over the boundary. Despite a decent total by

our boys his knock ensured a comfortable win forthe WI. Our next game v South Africa wasprobably the match of the tournament withEngland chasing down a t20 world record of 230,Joe Root top scoring again. After a scare and abatting collapse against Afghanistan and anotherlittle fright against Bangladesh we qualified for thesemi-final v New Zealand. This looked a reallytough game on paper but a terrific innings fromJason Roy gave us a relatively comfortable passagethrough to the final. Not a great spectacle but itwould have had any cricket nut on the edge of theirseat. Both sides batted and bowled nervously butuntil that final over it looked as though we weregoing to be t20 world champions for only thesecond time ever. How wrong could we have been!Needing 19 to win and four balls (and sixes) laterit was all over. We can all debate whether Stokesshould have bowled the final over but I think thatMorgan despite having a poor time with the bathandled the team well overall. All the batsmen inthe early order contributed and these players willgive us a chance in any limited over game. Wemissed Finn in the attack and our other wickettaker Rashid has become important to the team, alittle strengthening in this department and we willcontinue to be a force to be reckoned with.Our national football team build up our hopes

in one game then bring us back down to earth soquickly. With the Euros in France just around thecorner we still don’t know quite what to expect. Iwas out in Berlin for a few days enjoying theGerman hospitality; in fact I enjoyed it so much Iwas in the Olympic stadium an hour and a halfbefore kick off! Fortunately for us the bars wereopen and we could carry on sampling the ales ofBerlin. Just after half time I sat there thinking wewere two nil down and haven’t played too badlyat all. How goals change games. Kane’s goal gaveus hope and a Vardy goal put us level before Dierslate winner sent the England fans delirious. Whata night to be an England fan as we rejoiced loudand proud in front of the downbeat anddisappearing home supporters. We celebrated long

into the night, and morning, it was a fantastic fewdays and one I would recommend.Three days later and the Dutch against a

weakened team at Wembley showed us that we stillhave some work to do before we can considerourselves contenders to do well in France. I havebooked my trip to Lens and will probably be in StEtienne again, I was there when we lost onpenalties to Argentina. I’ve said for a while now wehave a group of young exciting attacking playersbut whether we have a good team I’m not so sure.Between now and the squad being selected we willall have our own opinions and play Roy Hodgsonpicking his team.In goal its Joe Hart barring injury (shame about

Butland). Right back I prefer Walker to Clyne. Leftback, Rose came in for Bertrand and I would behappy with either. The centre half pairing willprovide a lot of discussion, Smalling will play if fit,but who will partner him. I think the manager willgo with Cahill with Stones providing cover. That’sthe easy bit! Will he play 4 3 3 or 4 2 3 1 or even4 4 2 with a midfield diamond? In midfield Dierlooks as though he may well have played his wayinto any system. Wilshere plays for me providinghe proves his fitness. Henderson comes into theequation in a three man midfield. We have to finda place for Dele Alli. Do we play with wingers? Ifso Sterling, Walcott and Welbeck come into thereckoning. The biggest debate will be up front.Kane in the form he’s in for both club and countrysurely must play. No place in the starting line-upfor Barkley, Lallana or Vardy, though I’m sure theywill play their part. I think the manager will startwith Rooney as his number 9 and turn to Kanewith Rooney in behind if in trouble. A lot toponder then for Mr Hodgson, system andpersonnel to consider.My team if everyone’s fit. Hart, Walker, Cahill,

Smalling, Bertrand. Alli, Dier, Wilshere. Walcott,Kane, Welbeck. What about yours.

All the best. Bake.

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Town ran in7 triesthrough

Jim Holmes 2,Lewis Bain, DaleSpratt, SamuelBassett, MarkSpringall and

Dan Henderson, with Paul Milward kicking 7conversions. Uttoxeter started slowly with both teams

making early handling errors as the nervesshowed in town’s play. Lewis Bain settled those nerves though with a

poacher’s try. Will brooks and Jake Cabrera hittight phases around the breakdown, and with theruck set up, Bain picked and sniped down theblindside for a try under the posts for Milward toconvert. Playing down the slope, Aston looked to

bounce back and nearly put points on the boardwith a penalty. The resulting drop out lead toUttoxeter scoring the team try of the season.Milward took a quick tap and made the half wayline before popping off to Bain. Bain spun toJames Williams who found Bassett on the wing.With the ball recycled through several phases, Bigprop Jim Holmes bounced off the last tackler fora converted try. It was Holmes who made it 21-0 also. A tap

penalty made it into the hands of AdamTortoishell who set up the ruck. Holmes pickedand went blind and was driven over by thesupport of Will Brooks for another converted try. Aston had time to get a try on the board just

before half time after a good break by theircentre was finished off from close range by thehooker. Half time 21-5. Graham McDonald had stern words at half

time and asked for more concentration fromTown and Dale Spratt duly obliged early in thesecond half. Spratt stripped the ball at the ruck and after

throwing an audacious dummy, ran in under theposts for Milward to convert. Dan Henderson was next to score after good

work from the pack. Dan Meads drove the scrumforward and James Gill made the break. The ballwas spun to Tommy Sherratt who fed Hendersonto run in from close range for the 5th convertedtry. Uttoxeter brought on Jack Bostock, DominicBould, Danny Withers and Harley Finlayson forthe final 20 minutes but town kept pressing. Samuel Bassett then scored a wonderful

individual try, picking the ball up in his own halfand beating 3 tacklers for the converted score. The final try was scored by Bassett’s wing

partner Mark Springall who eyed a gap on theblindside and beat the full back to score underthe posts with Milward converting for a 100%kicking tally. Final score 49-5. The man of the match

selected by Paul Bain of Wabtec was PaulMilward. Captain Gill commented: It was great to seal

the title with such a dominant victory. The resultepitomises how far the side has come in just 12months, this time last year we narrowly lost onthat ground and it felt terrible, now 12 monthslater we’ve notched up our biggest away win ofthe season. ‘Praise goes out to the squad for their

dedicated effort through the season, we have hada lot thrown at us and the lads have shownexcellent spirit to keep coming back andperforming, the work off the pitch has been vitalthis year. Graham Macdonald’s drive has beenvital and he has kept the boys focused; he hasbeen hard on us when we have needed it andpraised us when we deserved it. We’ve usednearly 50 players in the league campaign, somehave had more significant contributions thanothers but we would not been able to achievewhat we have without everyone so I would liketo thank all for their efforts’.

Team: Jim Holmes, Jake Cabrera, Dan Meads,Adam Tortoishell, Pat McGowan, James Gill,Dale Spratt, Mason Small, Paul Milward, LewisBain, Henry Knox, James Williams, SamuelBassett, Mark Springall, Tom Sherratt, TomHarris, Harley Finlayson, Jack Bostock, DominicBould and Danny Withers

Uttoxeter Rugby Club clinch League title with anemphatic 49-5 victory over Aston Old Edwardians.

Sponsored by


& Cheadle

Uttoxeter Rugby Club Coach GrahamMacdonald, Voice Man of the Match againstAldridge Mark Springall, The Voice’s NigelTitterton and Assistant Coach Paul Bain

Nigel Titterton presents Mark Springall with The Uttoxeter & Cheadle Voice’s Man of the Matchaward as they stand with the players in a Team Photograph. Uttoxeter have now been crownedchampions for 2016, a fantastic achievement! Well done boys!


All-time local soccerHall of Fame TeamBy Roy ‘Razzer’ Astbury

Each month Uttoxeter’s best known character Roy‘Razzer’ Astbury will compile his very own ‘All-TimeLocal Football Team’ which in his opinion is the verybest of players past and present.

‘Razzer’ will create a team in each issue of TheUttoxeter & Cheadle Voice which he believesincorporates all the ingredients of a football outfitwhich could be unbeatable!

He will be delving into his thoughts toremember all the terrific players in years gone bywhilst selecting those who are exceptional in ourpresent day.

It should be a fantastic talking point in ourcommunity and no doubt you all will have yourviews on ‘Razzer’s Hall of Fame team.

If you have your own Hall of Fame team then get

involved and just give Nigel a call at The Uttoxeter& Cheadle Voice on 01538 751629, 0776 784 6937to tell him or send your team to: The Uttoxeter &Cheadle Voice, 3 Spode Close, Cheadle,Staffordshire, ST10 1DT or [email protected]

SELWYN GREGSONUttoxeter St Mary’s

A really top notch keeper who hadeverything! Great hands and agility and

very consistent.

TERRY SWINSONAlton FC

Excellent full back whotackled hard and fair

JOHN ‘JACK’ MARSHUttoxeter Town

Well known throughoutthe area, Jack was a topplayer who went on to

become a legend.

JOHNNY FOWERHollington FC

Tough centre half whofrightened the life out

of many forwards!

JEFF WOODRocester

Dedicated player whocould fit into the team in

any position.

JOHN CARTERUttoxeter AmateursExcellent winger withgreat vision. Always a

goal threat.

IVOR WILLIAMSRocester

Talented midfielder andgreat leader on the pitch

ADAM WAGHORNUttoxeter Town

Superb player and verycompetitive and

consistent.

JAMES EDEUttoxeter Town

Fine athlete with greatskill and talent

JOHN SUGAR LUNNElkes FC

Bustling centre forward who hitthe back of the net regularly.

SCOTT STANILANDRocester

Tremendous striker and agoalscoring machine

Razzer’s Hall of Fame May Team

We have inserted one football club each player has performed for. Obviously, many have played for several clubs in their careers.


On the OcheBy Dave Jones of UttoxeterLife President of the Uttoxeter and District Darts League.

Firstly I would like to thank my Editor Nigelfor presenting my column in Issue 62 of TheVoice, Jackie and myself really appreciated

the comments.We would also like to thank everybody for their

best wishes and get-well cards and the phonesnever stopped ringing.When Nigel wrote all the darting community

wished me well he was spot on, the followingleagues have all been in touch - The Tean &District, The Ashbourne, The Burton Valley, TheAlton League, people from the old Tutbury League,Super League Staffs and of course the UttoxeterLeague.Cheadle Cricket Club also sent cards and get-

well wishes, it’s all been very moving....Everybody has been so kind and caring,

stopping me in the street to wish me well. I can tellyou a few tears have been shed......The other week on a Thursday night a mini bus

load of my friends from Ashbourne turned up tosee me and take me out for a few drinks and Imean just a few, we had a good time. When havinga pint in one of the local pubs The Betway PremierLeague was showing the game between MichaelVan Gerwin and Phil Taylor with The Powertrailing 5-1 but then Phil showed his mettle andcame back to form, drawing 6-6 in the end. Whata game from two great players – made my night!People from yesteryear, players and friends all

popped in to say hello with their regards and bestwishes.Today I’ve just read in the daily paper darts

officials are investigating illegal throwing actions!!A little known darts law 01/04 states that the

darts must be released before the arm reaches a170 degree angle – is this a joke? What a load ofbull! I know it’s not April Fool’s Day!Tonight darts players from the Uttoxeter

League will be playing in the new function roomat Bradley House Club for the late PaulMcNamara trophies, a charity event with allmonies raised going to the Air Ambulance, alwaysa good turnout with a lot of the best playersaround.Now may I say I fully concur with Nigel when

he said in last month’s Voice we live in a fantasticcountry and have a wonderful NHS Service. Yes wehave, and I would like to thank everyone at TheRoyal Stoke University Hospital, to DR G Heatlieand all his team for taking such good care of me.Keep up the magnificent work, we are very proudof you.There has been a lot of press about

the young doctors striking, but in myopinion it is not about the money, it isabout stupid long hours, it’s about ifthey make a mistake someone coulddie...There is a solution, if the Fat Cats of

the BMA Union and the politicians take their headsout of their backsides and champion a morebalanced view.Be very careful you don’t shoot yourself in the

foot – our medical people are always wantedabroad!Our NHS deserves the best help available, it

makes me very angry that certain people come intoour country and rip off our welfare system andthen the people who are responsible are left todoctor the numbers and black hole.Very soon the UK will have a referendum on

June 23rd in fact and the Yes voters will spend alot of money doing so, trying to get your vote. Novoters against will spend money. In my opinion themoney would be better spent trying to save the jobsof the British Steel industry which of course is thebest in the world.Yes or No – it’s your vote – and that is

something the powers that be cannot cock up – orcan they?

Till next time, take care, Dave

The Good Old Days photographs onpages 42-43 have been identified as:

1 St. Mary’s F.C. Season 1933-34Back Row: J. Stevens, L. Harrison,G. Crosby, H. Fenton, H. Bloor, L.Nash, A. Hodson;Second Row: F. Leason, C. Tempest,S. Snape, H. Miller, G. Shaw, A.Udale, H. Chatfield, G. Thorley, C.Allen & A. K. Davies; Third Row:W. Harvey, W. Astbury, T. Chatfield,F. Harvey & J. TansleyFront Row: W. Simpson,J. Walker &J. Morin

2 Blacksmiths Arms, MarchingtonDarts Side c. 1980’sLeft to Right: Chris Litchfield, JanetLavin Barry Lavin, Guy Rasdford,Marion Smithy & Pauline Elliott

3 A happy smiling couple fromyesteryear - Bill and Irene Alkins ofCheadle

4 Horse riders celebrate winningtrophies at the Churnet Valley HorseShow presentation evening over 20years ago.Left to right: Shaun Chadwick,Daniel Titterton, ?, James Parkhouse,Ann Chadwick, ?, ?

5 Old Talbot Darts side pictured withtheir opposing side from Burton onTrent after winning the Britvic Cupin c. 1980’s?Standing, Left on Right: BillSkellern, Pete White (Landlord ofthe Talbot), Gordon Waring, ? (BOTPlayer), Dave Ball, Next 5 BOTPlayers.Front Row, Seated: Anne Skellern,Margaret Ball, Brenda Harrison,Brenda Waring, Anne White (TalbotLandlady), Pauline Harrison &Unknown BOT Player

6 Picknalls 1st School, UttoxeterPupils 1967

The good old days

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