It was sad to learn at the start of the month about the death of Councillor Stuart Parker. Whatever your politics are, he served the people of this Parish and the area, with distinction. He was always available to talk, and regularly supported village groups with grants from his local funds. I know that the Village Show and the Pit Group were beneficiaries, the Village Show on more than one occasion. He would regularly attend the Show and the Fete, and one of his greatest legacies was to be part of the creative team that planned Storyhouse in Northgate Street and to appoint Alex Clifton as its first director. Alex, a pupil at both Christleton Primary and High Schools, planned and inspired so many creative activities in his time at Storyhouse, that the concept has been copied all across Europe. Alex is now based in Hong Kong a senior figure in the Disney Corporation. People in Christleton and Chester are poorer for the death of Stuart Parker, and we can thank God for his and wife Margarets contribution to our community over many years.

The Parish Hall was extremely busy for the Christleton Parish Council Open morning in mid-April, with lots of exhibits and stands to see, many of which are reflected in the collection of photographs below. Our local MP, Aphra Brandreth was a popular visitor, speaking to groups of villagers and councillors, and visiting all the displays. There was a delightful floral cross outside the Chapel over Easter, and all wildflowers seem to be earlier than usual this spring. A succession of traditional narrowboats passed through the village along the canal for a two-week period around Easter, going to and from the 5oth Anniversary of the National Boat Museum at Ellesmere Port. I was also lucky to watch the cob from the swan’s nest at Egg Bridge get cross with the “Over the Rainbow” charity narrowboat coming along the canal, and within seconds of this, seeing both a kingfisher and sparrowhawk sitting on opposite perches across the canal just before bridge 117.

Lady’smock or the Mayflower was showing well along the canal during the month, with marsh marigold, and ramsons (wild garlic) appearing along the north side of the canal. Another flower that has done extremely well this month are beautiful yellow cowslips, and in addition to having them grow in our gardens, we’ve seen tens of thousands of them, along roadside, and especially motorway verges, across the country. Our village is surrounded by fields of bright, almost luminous yellow oil seed rape again this year, but the usual crops of potatoes were also being planted in the fields between Rowton and Christleton. Lots of baby birds have appeared in our garden, including robins, hedge and house sparrows, and I’ve had reports of a male bullfinch, green finches, black caps and common whitethroat being seen in the village. The railway cutting behind the Scout Hut seems to be a good place to spot common whitethroat. A superbly marked mistle thrush was feeding on worms in the big field between Rowton Lane and the A41. Several pair of mallards seem to have been doing well along the canal with lots of ducklings. There are also two pair of greylag geese at the Pit, which were disputing territory when I saw them in late April. These are probably the parent birds and several of their young that bred at the Pit in 2025.

The most disappointing news is that again this year there are fewer and fewer sightings of swallows and house martins. The total count for April was four swallows passing through, and another sitting on a power line. No martins seen at all, but I haven’t yet checked the nest sites at Walk Mill. I just hope that things will improve, as we will all be poorer from the lack of annual visits of these delightful creatures.