Karen Bradley

IT’S Easter and this week, at this special time of year, and as my week 43’s Reason to Visit the Moorlands, I would like to focus once more on our wonderful places of worship.

The blossom is appearing on the trees, the Easter Bunny is around and our shops are busy with shoppers preparing for the Easter celebrations.

It’s a time to join friends and families and some of you, myself included, will have given up cake or chocolate or something for Lent and will be looking forward even more to the Easter festivities.

I know that many of you will also be attending church services that are taking place over the Easter period right across the constituency.

The days have flown by since I started my A Year of Reasons to Visit the Moorlands initiative back in June last year, and I have already featured some of our wonderful, local churches.

These include St Edward’s in Leek which features so much of Leek’s history, the Church of the Holy Cross in Ilam which is one of the few Anglosaxon churches where a Saint is buried, and St Lawrence Church in Rushton Spencer known as the Chapel in the Wilderness.

Only last week I wrote about the church of St Bartholomew in Longnor which was founded in the 13th century.

There are many more beautiful churches right across the Moorlands, all well worth a visit, so please do email me if you have special one that you would like me to mention.

Finally, as always, I would like to say a special thank you to all those working over the Easter weekend and unable to spend time with loved ones.

I wish everyone in the Moorlands a very happy, peaceful and restful Easter.