Each month this year I’ve reported on the weather, as it has had a significant impact on the village. August has been the driest month of the year, when it usually is the wettest, and this has caused problems for our farmers. Most crops have been ready much earlier, and harvesting already taken place, but yields are down. I guess there is always a balance for the farming community, but the extreme wet weather at the start of the year, and the intense sun and warmth of the summer has made the growing season a real issue.

I’m delighted to report that the Church Development Fund continues to do well, and my next talk towards the fund is on 11th October at 7.00pm in the Parish Hall, when I’m paying tribute to the late Phil & Pat Hodges, followed by a talk on the History, Wildlife and Scenery of the Isles of Scilly. All welcome. There is no charge, but please let us know you are coming by letting me kn0w on 332410 or on the list at the back of church.

Two weeks ago, a marriage took place at St James at St James’ between Thomas Harding and Sian Leake. The Church was filled with beautiful wild flower arrangements, created by Diane Lloyd, who grows flowers in a field near Tarporley. Her work is outstanding, and you can see two of her arrangements, outside the church porch. The displays were a wonderful example of locally grown cut flowers and foliage.

Fund Raising

Each summer, Churches together in Christleton, carry out what is now a superb example of fund raising, by their Sunday afternoon Teas at the Chapel. This year’s charity is Medicine sans Frontiers who carry out work all over the world, and particularly this year in Gaza. It is a popular venue for teas, and you are guaranteed excellent cakes!!!!! Open each Sunday 2.30-4.30pm.

Thanks to the support of The Parish Council and Dr Susan Robson, six more plaques have gone up this season to make villagers and visitors more aware of our heritage and history. I’ve included a shot of Ivy House again as I’ve discovered that there are strong links between Christleton House & Ivy House. The Pickering & Hodson families respectively were related through marriage, and shared interest in Soap Manufacturing. I’ve been shown a copy of The Edinburgh Gazette on Friday October 19th 1849, when the Pickering family (Thomas Pickering was a Yeoman farmer) applied to Queen Victoria, to change the name of their Royal Patent for Selling Soap and family business, due to marriage. They are granted the request at Whitehall on 16th October 1849, and the right to trade under the Royal warrant as Hodson Soap Manufacturers. At that time they had premises in Cuppin and Lower Bridge Streets in Chester. There are a number of graves at St James’ Churchyard, with burials of both Pickering and Hodson Families, some dating back to the late 1600’s.

It seems that all Christleton Cricket teams are doing well this summer, and I called in at Little Heath a week or so ago and watched a very high scoring match, between Christleton 1sts and a team from North east Cheshire. Christleton batted first, scoring 278 for 6, with Max Dunvaband scoring 95 and Captain Josh Morgan Jones 56. In reply North east Cheshire scored 259, with Sultan Raja taking 3 for 40, enabling Christleton to win by 19runs. Is there a more beautiful ground anywhere than our Cricket and Football Ground at Little Heath?