Trophies and triumphs in an action-packed year . . .
HERE is the first part of our review of the Year:
JANUARY
A COMMUNITY group that began life in 1927 celebrated its 90th birthday. The Heald Green Ratepayers Association, which aims to promote civic pride and improve the life of residents, organises events, campaigns on local issues and takes members away of trips.
They celebrated nine decades in operation with an anniversary party at Heald Green Village Hall, complete with a presentation, raffle, quizzes, music and refreshments. NEW Year’s Day was pretty eventful for the people of Romiley, who spent the day trying to catch a heavily pregnant lost sheep, seen wandering the streets.
The desperate villagers put a message on Facebook looking for help, after hours trying to snare their woolly opponent, and staff from the nearby Agricultural and Rural Centre came to the rescue.
The rescuers finally caught the sheep, nicknamed Sunny, and found she had come all the way from a farm in Yorkshire, so she was safely returned home.
FEBRUARY
A PAIR of singing sisters were given a taste of the limelight, when they were selected as judges on television talent show, BBC’s All Together Now.
Tracey Richley and Maria Grimsley from Stockport were chosen to be part of ‘The 100’, a panel of 100 singers an performers judging the acts on the show.
Tracey and Maria, who grew up in Romiley and now live in Davenport and High Lane respectively, had the task of joining in and singing along with the acts that they liked the sound of during the six-part series. NURSE Kelly Foster, from Romiley, lost eight stone and was set to take on the gruelling London Marathon.
Kelly, who works at St Ann’s Hospice in Heald Green, change her diet and embarked on an exercise programme to slim down from 20st to 12st, and was training got the road race on April 22 to raise money for the hospice, dressed in her uniform. HOLOCAUST Memorial Day was marked in Stockport with an event organised by Stand Up to Racism.
The group met on Warren Street in the town centre, along with representatives fro social, political and religious organisations in the area, for speeches, a minute’s silence and a talk by Bethan Turner who had recently returned from a visit to Auschwitz.
MARCH
YOUNG dancers scooped eight awards at the UK Street Dance Challenge.
The girls, aged six to 13, all members of DWN dance group in Offerton, won eight trophies and eight medals in all disciplines. A MICRO-PUB named after its owner’s late father celebrated a year since opening by winning an award.
Jake’s Ale House in Romiley was named the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) Pub of the Winter for High Peak, Tameside and north east Cheshire. SOMETHING new and exciting started up in Stockport’s parks – a game to rival Pokemon Go, called Findar, went live in 15 parks in the borough over the Easter weekend.
In the game designed by dad-of-three Chris Hunt, from Davenport, people could hunt for patterned signs using an app they had downloaded, then scan it with their phone to get a character to appear on it. Each park had four hidden characters to find.
APRIL
WE paid tribute to a film star dog who featured in blockbuster movie Transformers: The Last Knight.
Cross pitbull and Staffy, Freya, from Cheadle Hulme, passed away at the beginning of the month, and owner Ray Collins said: “Freya was there with all the stars, there were helicopters, tanks, fast cars and explosions. She was the only dog on set but was fantastic.” APRIL also saw the launch of a boutique hotel for cats in Romiley.
Self-confessed crazy cat lady Catherine Hone, aged 49, of St Christopher’s Drive, converted her garage into a ‘home from’ home for moggies, the Puss in Boutique Hotel for Cats.
MAY
A VICAR who likened his work spreading the word of God to his former career as a comedian was set to have his life made into a film.
Lawrie Adam, aged 80, from Cheadle, had worked with big names such as Ken Dodd and Max Bygraves in the 1960s and 70s, but went on to become a vicar after a ‘conversion experience’.
He released a book called From Stage to Pulpit and was in negotiations with a production company over the film rights to it. MORE than 1,000 women and girls joined forces in the fight against cancer by taking part in Greater Manchester’s first Race For Life, which kicked off in Stockport.
The event took place in Woodbank Memorial Park and raised around £60,000 for Cancer Research UK.
Royal wedding fever also swept the UK with the Marple Bridge pub hosting a party to toast the marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. There were street parties across the borough, celebrations at Abney Court car home in Cheadle, and royalthemed quizzes and games at a party at LHS auto on Greek Street, Shaw Heath.
JUNE
AS summer arrived, crowds flocked to the 2017 Stockport Beer and Cider Festival.
More than 16,000 pints were sunk by 4,100 visitors at the three-day annual event at Stockport County’s Edgeley Park ground. AT Merseyway in Stock-
port town centre, firefighters scaled the height of Everest in a ladder climb.
Kev Downey, from Whitewatch at King Street Station, led a team of colleagues through the challenge, as they climbed 8,848 metres as they continually climbed from the precinct to the first floor walkway, raising £750 to be split between split between children’s charity When You Wish Upon A Star, the Firefighters Charity and Manchester Burns Camp. REDDISH creative arts charity Arc held an exhibition on volunteering to mark Volunteers’ Week.
‘We Make A Life By What We Give’ showcased the work of volunteers past and present, since Arc was launched in 1995. »»See next week’s paper for July to December 2018.