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Published in Go Local Sandbach - January 2025 By Greg Hall Happy New Year, fellow Sandbachians. Now that Christmas is done and dusted for another year, many people turn their attention to making resolutions for the coming twelve months, even though the vast majority fail to see them through. The most common resolutions naturally focus on improving your life, whether that be in terms of health, wealth, or making some other changes for the better. Exercise more, lose some weigh

Published in Beartown Voice - January 2025 By Mark Edwardson Last month we featured Nala the sophisti-cat who’s won the hearts of the people of Congleton. Now, it seems, our little town has upcycled “the things that everyday folk leave behind” into a global phenomenon. Meet Andy Bailey. By day he’s a mild mannered digital creator. But his growing world wide reputation has come from litter-aly nothing. Andy is the famous “Bins of Congleton” social media star. “My obsession sta

Published in Go Local Sandbach 2025 By Greg Hall Well, that’s January out of the way for another year, although I’m not convinced February is much better. Sorry, I know that’s not the cheeriest of openings, but I’ve always found the second month of the year to be a struggle, not least because I turn one year older (I’d argue this is the worst month for a birthday, as everyone is still skint from Christmas and no one fancies going out to celebrate) and it’s usually still freez

Published in Go Local Sandback - March 2025 By Greg Hall As you might know, Sandbach has an illustrious sporting history for a town of its size, with various opportunities for participants of any age. Our football club, Sandbach United, was formed in 2004 when Sandbach Albion and Sandbach Ramblers merged. The club now boasts more than six hundred footballers across forty teams, starting as young as five all the way up to veteran (which, I’ve discovered, is reserved for peop

Published in Beartown Voice - March 2025 By Mark Edwardson Let me start by apologising for my absence from last month’s edition of Beartown Voice. Somewhat reassuringly, quite a few regular and keen-eyed readers have been in contact to enquire about my no-show. I humbly appreciate their concern. One asked if I’d been on an exotic trip to a remote rainforest with no internet connection. A few others, who know me well, simply assumed I’d forgotten to submit my article in good t

Published in Go Local Sandbach - April 2025 By Greg Hall. Due to our printing deadlines being approximately one month prior to each edition of Go Local Sandbach landing on doorsteps, I distinctly recall writing my previous article in late January/early February, at a time when it was cold, dark and wet. How lovely, therefore, to be sitting here penning these words in bright sunshine and (comparatively speaking) warmth. Spring, by the time you read this, will be well and truly

Beartown Voice - May 2025 By Mark Edwardson Regular readers might recall I've been more than a little bit mobility impaired for the last few months. "Get fit and go for a walk" they said. I did and ended up breaking my shoulder slipping on ice at Glencoe. Four days later and getting used to my new varifocals I took a tumble downstairs after misjudging the location of the top step. But you're not here to listen to me moan. The point is I'm getting out again. Slowly. As I've be

Beartown Voice - April 2025. By Mark Edwardson Cast your mind back a few issues of Beartown Voice and you might recall a very handsome young fellow who goes by the name of Milo. If you can picture him with long hair and an even longer back propped up by some of the shortest legs in the canine world you've won my appreciation for being a regular reader. Yes, Milo is a Skye terrier and as such is amongst the rarest of dog breeds in Britain. Now he's also a star of Crufts havin

Go Local Sandbach - May 2025 By Greg Hall While Sandbach is famous for many things, such as our Saxon Crosses, weekly market, and that pothole on Bradwall Road which is now so vast it was recently twinned with Luxembourg, our civil parish actually contains four settlements: the town itself, plus the neighbouring villages of Elworth, Ettiley Heath and Wheelock. The latter, Wheelock, is first mentioned in the Doomsday Book [published in 1086 by William the Conqueror and availab

Published in Beartown Voice - July 2025 By Mark Edwardson There's been a changing of the guard in Congleton recently. We have a new Town Mayor in the form of a dear friend of mine, Councillor Robert Brittain. Bob has got big shoes to fill. He succeeds local businesswoman, activist and mum of four, Councillor Kay Wesley. And he can expect to be very busy over the next twelve months. I caught up with Kay shortly after she handed over the mayoral chain. Kay was the first Women's

Go Local Sandbach - August 2025 By Greg Hall By the time you find yourself reading this article, August will be upon us and thoughts will be turning - if they haven't already - to the summer holidays. Of course, if you are planning on jetting abroad this summer, you will almost certainly have selected your destination months ago and been looking forward to getting away from it all ever since. We are lucky in Sandbach that we are a sensibly priced taxi ride from three of the U

Published in Beartown Voice - July 2025 By Mark Edwardson Regular readers will know I like to keep this column on the lighter side. Well, this month I'm going to break with that tradition in an attempt to celebrate a life well lived. Many of us knew Willie Stevenson as a Congleton character, cherished friend, beloved family member or football legend, He was born in Leith and spent most of his life in Congleton. Willie's professional career started at Glasgow Rangers where he

Published in Go Local Sandbach - July 2025 By Greg Hall With printing deadlines for this magazine being roughly one month before publication, I'm currently penning this article on the last day of May, and what a month it has been. Aside from both of my sons celebrating their birthdays, the climax of the football season (although, bearing in mind which team we support, the less said about that the better) and the excellent news that my teeth have passed their MOT and I don't

Go Local Sandbach - June 2025. By Greg Hall Assuming you are reading this month's Go Local Sandbach magazine shortly after it was delivered to your doorstep, rather than having stumbled across an old copy while waiting to see a doctor/dentist/barber/hairdresser/podiatrist etc., then you should be aware that it's nearly Father's Day, which is without doubt one of my favourite days of the year. Ok, it may not have the overall excitement and festive build-up of Christmas Day, t

Beartown Voice - August 2025 By Mark Edwardson It’s amazing what comes from a casual conversation with a neighbour. Usually it’s a friendly “how are you?”, or a request to put out the bins when you’re on holiday. With a neighbour you’re close to it’s probably something a bit more meaningful. But I didn’t envisage a conversation that’d reveal our Congleton home was once ground zero in a major criminal investigation. Its title deeds have changed hands at least three times since

by Katy O’Regan If, like me, you have a child in Year 11 preparing for their GCSEs, your household is probably a whirlwind of...

By Katy O'Regan. As you meander through your everyday life in Holmes Chapel, you might not realise the array of dedicated professionals...

By Katy O'Regan When Goostrey Lane Vets opened two and a half years ago, we decided to move our pups there, and more recently, we found...

By Katy O'Regan Nestled in the heart of Leek, Protech Domestic Appliances is a family-run retailer that has been serving the community...

By Katy O'Regan There is one man in the village who has made us feel very welcome since we moved here in 2012. He makes an effort to...