Skip to content Skip to left sidebar Skip to footer

All Posts

Retirement of Long Standing Parish Councillors

A TRIO with more than 80 years of service to their village between them are retiring from council life this May.

Bob Wilkinson, Bill Anderson and Peter Davies are not standing for re-election to Great Budworth Parish Council.

Bob has been a councillor for more than 30 years, Bill for 35 years and Peter for 16 years.

“For me, 35 years is long enough,” Bill said.

Peter said: “I’m 80 so one of the reasons I want to step down is to hand it over to younger people with fresh ideas.”

Bob, 70, has a lifelong link with Great Budworth as his family moved to the village when he was just eight months old.

They lived on a farm in High Street before the current family farm, New Westage Farm, was built in Heath Lane in 1953.

He was following in the footsteps of his dad Roger when he joined the parish council.

Bill and Peter are relative newcomers to the village, with Bill moving to Great Budworth in 1965 and Peter in 1994.

Both Bill and Peter decided to join the council because of the community spirit in the village.

Peter said: “I came to the village in ’94 and the community spirit was always there and I just wanted to help to keep the village as it is.

“It’s such a social village and there’s so many things going on – there’s the tennis club, bowling club, gardening club, cricket club, WI, village hall, church – it’s very very busy.”

Bill and Bob have been involved with expanding the village hall over the years and one of Bill’s highlights is helping to work out how to repair the pump at the bottom of High Street and tracing the spring that feeds it.

Although they are standing down, the three will still be kept busy as Bob is chairman of the bowling club, Peter is treasurer for both the garden club and cricket club and Bill is the events organiser for the Friends of Arley.

Great Budworth Parish Council is the only parish council in the Northwich area which will hold an election on May 7 as there are 11 candidates standing for eight seats.

Bill, 75, said; “We wish all the new Councillors success and hope they enjoy it as much as we have.”

 

Is this the tiniest library in Cheshire?

Is this the tiniest library in Cheshire?

Villagers in picturesque Great Budworth are the latest to find a novel use for a redundant telephone kiosk – a book exchange. Using money raised at last year’s Jubilee celebrations, the dilapidated kiosk has been carefully restored to its former glory, the parts sourced from a specialist restoration company in Surrey. The plastic windows have been replaced with glass, and the cast iron framework rubbed down and given a fresh coat of the genuine shade of red paint.

Local tradesmen John Eaton and Ted Parry carried out the renovation and paintwork – and once that was complete, Nev Griffin designed and donated shelving and a rack for magazines.

The project was spearheaded by local Councillor Lesley Hopkinson: ‘Since the closure of the shop at one end of the village, we needed a focal point where neighbours can meet and pass the time of day. Using money raised at our Jubilee celebrations seemed particularly appropriate for renovating such an 
icon. This model was known as the Jubilee Kiosk as it was originally designed for the silver jubilee of King George V.’

At the grand opening of the unusual book exchange, the honour of cutting the ribbon was given to Ruth Parker, an avid reader who has lived in Great Budworth over 40 years. She has just retired after 34 years on the governing body of Great Budworth Primary School.

Ruth welcomed a new source of reading material so close to her home, open seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day.

Great Budworth is a village that loves its books. It welcomes the mobile library service every Wednesday. Every Sunday between April and October, there is a second hand book sale in the Parish Hall along with the – even more popular – teas and cakes. (Source: Cheshire Life)