Network Rail items find new audience at Kidsgrove Railway Station

A new railway heritage display was opened at Kidsgrove Station on Friday 31 January by Kidsgrove Town Mayor, Councillor Amanda Cartwright.

Stoke-on-Trent rail and canal campaigner Jon Honeysett MBE has donated framed railway heritage items for Kidsgrove Station customers to enjoy. Passengers waiting for a morning train at Kidsgrove already have the luxury of being able to sit in comfy seats and enjoy a hot drink and a snack courtesy of A Spotter Tea. They now have the opportunity to find out a bit about the history and development of the station and local rail network in the 20th century. Items include British Rail network maps from 1948 and 1960, a 1960 timetable and a photo of a steam train at Harecastle signal box.

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Kidsgrove Station improvements back on track

Work on the £5 million project to install new lifts and footbridge at Kidsgrove Station is set to restart following a delay caused by the discovery of historic mineshafts.

The upgrade to install three new lifts at either side of platforms 1, 2, 3 and 4, as well as a brand new footbridge linking the platforms, was underway but was temporarily stopped after unmapped underground mine shafts were discovered and to allow a full survey to take place to fully understand the underground problems.

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Kidsgrove Sports Centre news

The re-opening of Kidsgrove Sports Centre has taken a further step forward with the community group which will run the centre and the Council agreeing to bring on-board a major construction company to fully price the refurbishment.

The Council and Kidsgrove Community Interest Organisation (CIO) agree that procuring this service through the SCAPE national construction framework – with a view to awarding a contract – is the most sensible and practical route to reopening the gym and swimming pool in spring 2021 as planned.

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Knype Pool Charity race 2020

Biddulph Fairtrade Fortnight

Fairtrade Fortnight 2020: 24 February until 8 March

Biddulph is a Fairtrade Town. That means the Town Council and the community work together to promote Fairtrade based on fairness and justice, especially for producers. 

Each year, in Fairtrade Fortnight, we emphasise the need to keep Fairtrade in the minds and hearts of our community.

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Alsager Music Festival 2020 cancelled

Since launching in 2009, Alsager Music Festival has become one of the best free festivals in Cheshire, offering a wide range of music and acts across multiple stages and venues. 

The festival, which is free for all to attend and organised entirely through local volunteers, has become a key weekend in the Alsager calendar and much-loved by the local community.

As the size and success of the festival has grown, so too have the costs required to safely and securely hold an event of this scale and despite exploring new options for funding the festival, it has not been possible to secure the finance required. So it is with great sadness that we announce the 2020 Alsager Music Festival will not go ahead. Instead, the festival will take a break for a year, and look to find the additional funding and support required to hold the event in the summer of 2021.

Pete Weatherburn, Chair of the Alsager Music Festival Committee, said “We’re so proud of how successful the festival has become and we know how important it is to the people of Alsager, so we’ll be looking to find the additional funding and support we need to make the 2021 event the best ever”.

The Alsager Music Festival organising committee will be seeking the additional funding from sponsors as well as holding several fundraising events throughout the year. They will also be supporting a two-day music event to be held at The Lodge in summer 2020. More details to be announced soon. For more information about Alsager Music Festival or to volunteer or support the festival, please contact us through our website www.alsagermusicfestival.co.uk.

All About Health & Wellbeing

Alsager Partnership host a showcase ‘All About Health & Wellbeing’ on Saturday 1st February 10am until 12.30pm.

This event promises to be jam-packed with information delivered by health, wellbeing and fitness organisations that will help you discover how you can make your family’s lives healthier, improve your general wellbeing and explore ways to be more active.

On the day, there will be many health organisations represented, alongside health screening checks available to include Blood Pressure Checks, Body Fat Measurements, BMI Checks, Nutritional Advice, Diet and Exercise.  Also on offer are sample treatments of reflexology and more.  In addition, there will be a room dedicated to free CPR TRAINING, which is very kindly being funded by the Alsager Scout Group (please note, places are limited, so please contact Alsager Partnership to reserve your space; places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis).

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Aldi selected for Biddulph site

Aldi has been selected by Staffordshire County Council to invest in a plot of land off Tunstall Road, Biddulph.

The site was formerly The Meadows School but has been disused for a number of years, with Staffordshire County Council seeking a buyer for the site. A previous deal appeared to have been made with Aldi last year but fell through in the summer. There had also been discussions with different developers regarding the site with another budget supermarket chain Lidl expressing a long term interest in opening a store in Biddulph but it now appears that Aldi is again the favourite to get the site.

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New commitment to Kidsgrove sports provision

The future of leisure provision at Kidsgrove Sports Centre is looking more certain and received further commitment from Newcastle’s Cabinet in October.

In July 2017, a Community Group Community Interest Organisation (CIO) was formed with the aim of re-opening part of the facility, the ‘dry-side’, over the next few years. Plans for the reopening of the swimming pool at that stage were considered too ambitious due to a lack of funding. [Read more…]

Designation of the civil parish of Kidsgrove as a Neighbourhood Area

Kidsgrove sign low resNewcastle Borough Council approved the designation of the Civil Parish of Kidsgrove as a Neighbourhood Area on the 30th September 2019.

On 2 September 2019 Kidsgrove Town Council applied to Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council to designate the whole of the Civil Parish of Kidsgrove as a Neighbourhood Area, Kidsgrove Town Council can now begin the formal preparation of a Neighbourhood Plan. [Read more…]