Latest news with #Macclesfield
BBC News
4 days ago
- Health
- BBC News
Meet the Macclesfield grandad sharing his love of the outdoors online
Here in the North West we are fortunate to have incredible countryside, bustling cities, award-winning beaches and not forgetting incredibly friendly year I wanted to reflect on the pride we have of our wonderful region and the people that make it such a fantastic place to I came up with BBC North West Tonight's 25 in 25, a series showcasing some of the best people and places in the north-west of week I met up with Roger Hordley - an 81-year-old walking, photo-taking grandad whose photographs have earned him a following online. Roger's daughter Daniele emailed me about her dad, who enjoys nothing more than walking in and around Macclesfield Forest.I live in Marple. Macclesfield is, as we always say, "down the road" and yet somewhere I am ashamed to say I have never really a morning spent admiring the views I know it is a place I will be returning to - especially with my girls who would love the chance to build a den in the forest, like the one me and Roger stumbled not everyone has that opportunity and that's one of the reasons why Roger takes photos for his blog. "I take maybe 30 - 50 photos during a walk, I'll whittle them down to 15 or 20, put them into a montage and share them."The family can see them and, apparently, I have followers who like them."At the age of 81, some might think it's a time to sit back and relax but not Roger."Why do I walk? To keep fit? No. To keep the joints moving. I'm 81 and it keeps my limbs loose."Walking like this is for my knees, the future me is happy." Roger has walked five miles a day, at least five times a week for the past 10 years, so what motivates him?"Look at it. It's absolutely glorious."The walks are good, the exercise is good. It's just lovely. Who would not want to walk in a place like this?"Throughout our walk, Roger uses an app on his phone which tells him the name of the flower or bug he has stumbled across cotton grass, which looked like cotton wool balls on top of in the cotton a bug hid, Roger's app established it was a slow bug."I see something new every time I come on this walk, no two walks are the same." His advice to those that perhaps haven't got the motivation he shares?"The only thing I would say is don't think of the walking, think about what you're seeing."I wouldn't rather be sat inside watching the telly, I'd rather be here, watching this view." Read more stories from Cheshire on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC North West on X. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
BBC News
28-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Danes Moss: Housing plan for peatland site to be withdrawn
Plans for a new housing development on a peatland site in Cheshire look set to be withdrawn, as the proposals "cannot be fully reconciled" with the council's peat and carbon had been raised about plans for almost 1,000 new homes on a site known as the South Macclesfield Development Area, which is jointly owned by a commercial housebuilder and Cheshire East CouncilA report to councillors has recommended that current applications should be withdrawn and alternative options for the site looked council will discuss the site's future at a meeting on Tuesday 3 June. Cheshire East Council owns 55% of the site, while Barratt Homes owns approximately 41% of the proposed development is situated next to the Danes Moss, which has been identified as a Site of Special Scientific had raised concerns about the proposals, particularly with regard to the potential loss of rare peatland found on the planning permission was granted in January a community group called Save Danes Moss, founded in 2021 (later becoming Danes Moss Trust), had objected to the plans following the submission of the reserved matters application, which afforded further details of the proposed development.A petition in 2022 also received more than 6,000 signatures with Cheshire Wildlife Trust, which runs neighbouring Danes Moss nature reserve, claiming the council had not completed the right studies. Now, the current reserved matters applications look set to be the report to councillors, officers said both Barratt and the council had "concluded that the approved development proposals cannot be fully reconciled with the current council policies relating to peat and carbon management".Officers said they anticipated any alternative plans would include "a reduced number of residential units built on the least environmentally sensitive parts of the site".The report stated a link road proposed as part of the development was "unlikely to be delivered" in any alternative plan, and it recommended the council withdrew from the grant funding agreement with Homes council's economy and growth committee is due to discuss the future of the site at a meeting on Tuesday. See more Cheshire stories from the BBC and follow BBC North West on X. For more local politics coverage, BBC Politics North West is on BBC One on Sunday at 10:00am and on BBC iPlayer.
BBC News
27-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
'Enough is enough' says MP of Cheshire road shut since January
The continued closure of a road linking two major towns is having a "massive impact" on life in a Cheshire village, according to residents and business B5470 between Macclesfield and Whaley Bridge in neighbouring Derbyshire had to shut in January after part of the carriageway collapsed following heavy footfall at the Swan Inn has resulted in its licensee reconsidering his investment plans for the pub in East Council said it understood the "frustrating" situation and was "prioritising the reopening" of the road as soon as possible. During his 19 years as licensee, Robert Cloughley said he had invested in the 18th Century pub by adding a new kitchen and Cloughley said the inn had suffered significantly this year as a result of the road closure."I don't think anybody realises how busy a road it is, and what a thoroughfare it is," he said."Something needs doing because it's impacting us an awful lot, along with businesses on both sides of the works."Mr Cloughley said it had really made him think about the financial aspects of his business."The challenges are there, obviously with the [recent rises in] national insurance, minimum wage [and] business rates," he said."Those are three elements that have gone up massively in the last two months, and obviously we've now got a downturn in trade because of these road closures [which] I find unreasonable and unacceptable."It makes us think about employing new people, trimming hours back to try and restrain costs."We've invested a lot in the business and we have got thoughts about doing other things, but we just can't do it anymore because the cash flow is not there." Opposite the pub is David G Ross Nurseries. The business has been here for 60 years and is now occupies a four-and-a-half acre (1.8 hectare) site."It's having a massive impact on us, in terms of our customers getting to us and to actually get our deliveries here," said operations manager Sue said some drivers were "just not attempting to come to us" and complained that diversion signs erected around the road closure were "inadequate"."At Whaley Bridge where the road starts, it just says 'road ahead closed', said Ms Jeffrey."It doesn't say that local businesses are not affected, so it's very frustrating for us as customers will see the 'road ahead closed' sign and not even bother to come to us."She said the road closure was also causing issues for staff who have to take their children to school in from the councol had been "zero", added Ms Jeffrey. People living in the village also said they were worried about the ongoing road worker Neelanga Uggalle, who lives in Kettleshulme, said he travels to his company's office, near Knutsford, two days a contacted BBC North West to voice his concerns about the lengthy road Uggalle said he now avoided going into Macclesfield at weekends because he believes the diversion - a single track in many places - is simply not safe."A lot of people I've noticed are not familiar with how to deal with it," he said."You just have oncoming traffic without slowing down, even though there is a passing place they could've used," he explained."Occasionally you have an HGV going through even though there is a clear sign on both ends saying it's not suitable."I think they thought 'Maybe because it's a B road - nobody's using it'."While villages like this have a smaller number of people this [road] is actually used to connect two major towns. Because of that there's a lot of traffic." Macclesfield MP Tim Roca raised the issue in Parliament and said the disruption to residents was "profound".The Labour MP said a governor from a local primary school had told him the closure had caused major issues, with it being forced to cancel swimming lessons due to the longer round trip to the pool."The impact of the closure is widespread," said Roca, highlighting issues including the impact on the road being used as a diversion, extra carbon emissions from queueing traffic, and lost school and family time for raising the issue, he said he was "grateful for the new sense of urgency" from the council's highways Pearce, Labour MP for the neighbouring High Peak constituency, said the road closure was "a nightmare" for many residents."Enough is enough," he said. "Cheshire East Council need to resolve this as we've been waiting for too long."Future of Roads Minister Lillian Greenwood said she understood it was a difficult situation and urged more communication from the council."It is so important that local people understand the work that is being undertaken," she said."Sometimes things do take longer than expected, but [Cheshire East Council needs] to explain to local people what they are doing and how they will expedite these repairs." Mark Goldsmith, chair of Cheshire East's highways and transport committee, said: "Our teams have been working hard to get this road reopened following the large landslip. Unfortunately, we cannot simply repair the road."We have had to conduct extensive ecology and drainage surveys to understand how to create a secure platform for the new road to sit on."Other technical investigations will also take place over the coming weeks, which will then allow us to design the engineering solution needed to reinstate the road."Once we finalise this, we will then give the timescales for rebuilding and reopening the road." See more Cheshire stories from the BBC and follow BBC North West on X. For more local politics coverage, BBC Politics North West is on BBC One on Sunday at 10:00am and on BBC iPlayer.
BBC News
25-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
'I was homeless and slept in my car - now I'm Cheshire East's mayor'
It was 2012 when David Edwardes found himself with nowhere to go and ended up sleeping in his returned to Cheshire after being unable to make a living with his family in nowhere to stay and being "more or less broke", he said he slept in the vehicle in Macclesfield Forest, an area of woodland and reservoirs in the hills above the 13 years later he has just been elected as the mayor of Cheshire East by his fellow councillors. "I came back to the UK with my tail between my legs, I just couldn't make a living in Spain and we were there a long time," he told BBC Politics North West."I couldn't find anywhere to live or stay and I came up here and parked up one weekend and stayed there and slept in the car".Here was a small parking area next to Ridgegate is a beautiful spot surrounded by greenery and nature, and Edwardes said it was "very peaceful", although he did get questioned by a local police officer following reports of a stolen vehicle."A councillor who I went to school with contacted me and said 'I'll find a place for you' and he found a place in a friend of his' house. I stayed there until I got more or less sorted out," he said. He has done various roles over the years, including working at his family business making curtains, running pubs and acting as an it was a play area that led to him deciding to enter politics."If there's a catalyst, there was a play area in Tytherington and it was dreadful," he said."There were the officials standing there, grinning away and saying how marvellous it was and the local people in Tytherington were really upset about it, and I thought 'I think I can do better than that'", he said."I don't know quite how I've become mayor of Cheshire East Council, but it happened anyway."He credited a bit of "luck", adding: "If I'm totally honest with you, I'm not politically driven, I'm an independent."It's a very nice job that I'm enjoying, but it is only for a year". 'Love every cobbled street' Edwardes said he was reminded of a comment from one of his friends from his local pub."He says 'money's not important in life, the important thing is to be lucky', and I like to think I've just been fortunate with the way things have gone."So what do his friends in the pub think about him being mayor now?"They take the mickey out of me and they go 'hey mayor, hey mayor'," he said, adding that they do also bow to him in a jokey way."They never give me any sort of hassle or problems about the bins or if there's a pothole, they leave me alone."He was elected mayor at Cheshire East's full council meeting earlier this his time in the position, he said he wanted to meet everyone in the borough who turns 100."I don't know if it's possible but I thought it can't be a huge amount of people who reach 100," he said."But I don't know and I'll probably be inundated with them."Edwardes said the reason he did what he did was because of his love of the local area."I just love Macclesfield, I love every cobbled street and every house, and all the people are fantastic and it's the same with the borough, I just love the whole of Cheshire East."It's a lovely, lovely place." See more Cheshire stories from the BBC and follow BBC North West on X. For more local politics coverage, BBC Politics North West is on BBC One on Sunday at 10:00am and on BBC iPlayer.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
TTE Reading Podcast: Robbie Savage Interview
Charlie Savage's dad joins the pod for a wide-ranging chat about Reading FC, and Charlie's experience at the club so far. Robbie gives a detailed rundown of his take on Reading over the past two seasons, and gives real insight on the team dynamic. Plus, with a hugely successful first season in management under his belt with Macclesfield, Robbie tells Ben and Ross his thoughts on why man-management is such a crucial aspect of modern management. Advertisement Follow The Tilehurst End on Twitter @thetilehurstend AD Follow Ben on Twitter @mrblthomas Follow Ross on BlueSky @ The Tilehurst End Podcast can be enjoyed via PodBean, Spotify, Acast, YouTube or iTunes. A big thanks to all listeners who continue to pledge to our Patreon campaign. Listeners can always get in touch with the podcast via our Twitter and Facebook pages as well as our email, thetilehurstend@ with thoughts on the show, opinions on the team, and potential topics to sink our teeth into always welcome. Download the show here
