For four days in May, Malpas and the hamlet of Hampton, will play host to an exciting selection of performing  arts, concerts, exhibitions and speakers.  A small team of local media and arts professionals have been working together to produce  a plethora of inspiring entertainment for all ages.

The Festival will be officially opened on the Thursday afternoon at the performing arts venue, Broomy Bank, Hampton,  by Britain’s leading television dramatist, Jimmy McGovern.  Jimmy’s recent controversial series “Accused” on BBC1 gripped audiences nationwide and he will be discussing this and his other Bafta winning programmes such as “Hillsborough”, “The Street” and “Cracker”.   On the Friday and Saturday evenings this venue will hold the premiere performances of the musical, “Saffron and Green”, written by International Award winning writer, John Oakden and Bafta, Grammy and Emmy Award winning Composer, Keith Hopwood. The play will star two young musical theatre actresses, Michelle Barlow and Gwen Oakden, both returning to Malpas for the premiere.

The Classical music section of the Festival will be launched by the President of the Chopin Society, Rose Cholmondeley, with her colleague Charles Grant.   They will perform in St Oswald’s Church – one of Cheshire’s finest medieval buildings – on the Thursday evening. Their show has recently toured  America to rapturous acclaim.  An evening of beautiful music interspersed with readings from Chopin’s letters will ensure a memorable experience.   On the Sunday, one of Britain’s greatest actresses, Sian Phillips, is bringing her current London cabaret show “Crossing Borders” to the provinces for the first time.  Closing the Festival is the legendary Peggy Seeger, who will perform in the marquee at Broomy Bank. Peggy is the sister of Pete Seeger, partner of the late Ewan McColl, mother of the lamented Kirstie McColl and subject of the iconic song, “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”.  No folk music fan will want to miss this rare opportunity to see their leading lady.

Mixing alongside internationally acclaimed authors such as Saul David, Erica James, Kate Long and Adam Williams will be, amongst others, childrens’ authors Ceci Jenkinson and Pam Kavanagh.  One of the great names in guitar playing, Pete  Berryman, joins forces with Cornish playwright, poet and Bard, Pauline Sheppard to perform “The Ghosts of May” and David Shaw from Radio Four’s “Cornish Tales” performs his wonderful, “Ragged-assed Kids”.

In the Jubilee Hall there will be an Art Exhibition which will be open all through the Festival with refreshments available inside.  The Red Lion pub hosts Blues, Jazz and Folk Music as well as a seminar on composing music for screen from Keith Hopwood.

For the creative, the Short Story Competition is open to three age groups, 8-11, 12 – 18 and adults (further details call 07976 719721)  and for those who themselves aspire to write, a free, creative workshop will be held on the Sunday covering Fact to Fiction, writing for TV and radio, and Poetry.

On the Saturday and Sunday Malpas High Street will come alive with a local cast presenting a Promenading Street Theatre …’Larkton to Cuddington’ accompanied by craft stalls, entertainers and a true Festival atmosphere.

There will also be a shuttlebus on Saturday and Sunday that will enable those who want to attend events in the village and at Broomy Bank, Hampton.

It is hoped that the Festival will become an annual event.

Bookings for all events can be made online at www.malfest.com or from Chester Information Centre, Town Hall, Chester.

Note Saturday 21st Family Day – Not to Be Missed!
Finalists of the Short Story Competition will be reading their stories, childrens authors and storyteller in the afternoon plus Teddy Bear Treasure Hunt and the Street Theatre.

For more information visit www.malfest.com

Malpas fabric arts group

Patchwork and quilting

Exhibition

Jubilee hall malpas

Saturday  2 april

10.00 – 4.00

Entrance  £3

Includes Prize draw

And

Refreshments

Donation help for heroes

Malpas Family Weekend 2010

Come along to the inaugural Malpas Family Weekend! – there’s a packed programme of events all around the village from Friday 25th to Sunday 27th June.
Events include -

• Concerts
• Childrens’ Art Exhibition
• Fashion Show
• Wheelbarrow Race
• Tractor Gather
• BBQ’s & Hog Roasts
• Bowls Tournament
• Treasure Hunt
• Cycle Challenge
• Childrens’ Fun Fair
• ‘Try it yourself’ display by Cheshire Fire Services Display Team
• Children’s service at St Oswald’s Church
• Refreshments by Whitchurch Lions Club

The Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Chester are guests of honour.

See the free programme or ‘My Village New’ for details.

Malpas Biznet event at the Jubilee Hall – details to be announced.

Saturday 26 June 2010 10am-3pm at the High Street Church.

In partnership with Malpas Family Weekend, please come to the wellbeing day, for information, advice and freebies.

• Mocktail Bar! Alcohol Free Cocktails
• Ways to keep fit and active Cycling and Walking
• Step by Step Weight Management Programme
• Childrens Centre activities
• Do you want to stop smoking? We can help
• Age UK for information and advice
• And much more!
]]> http://www.malpas.org.uk/?feed=rss2&p=1076 0 http://www.malpas.org.uk/?p=1073 http://www.malpas.org.uk/?p=1073#comments Mon, 07 Jun 2010 19:48:52 +0000 mcginnly http://www.malpas.org.uk/?p=1073 Western Rural Round-up


Week Commencing 7th June 2010

NPT- Voicemail. 0845-458-6377

1. We received reports this week of a vehicle’s occupant’s cold calling in Kelsall. The vehicle was a Blue Ford Transit flat back index number PV 05 JCO and the vehicle we believe originates from Middlewich.
2. Sightings please for an Isuzu Trooper index number J 475 GDM. I have given observations for this vehicle out on several occasions over the past year and I believe that this vehicle is linked to a burglary at a premise in Tattenhall.
3. A notorious gang from Widnes were sentenced to a total of 56 yrs imprisonment this week following the conclusion to Operation Blackbird. 8 men in total were involved and these people stole vehicles all over the North West. On my area they stole an Aston Martin from Cuddington and Audi RS Turbo from Huxley. The organised nature of their operation is reflected in the sentencing of these men and I am confident that their sentencing has greatly impacted upon the reduction in vehicle crime in my area.
4. We have arrested a local man following a break in at Mickle Trafford Scout Hut over the weekend. He has been bailed pending forensic analysis.
5. Cold callers in Malpas this week claiming to be collecting for ‘Keep Britain Working’. These were possibly legitimate callers; however, their website does highlight the fact that some bogus collectors have used their charity name to collect goods. Please report any incidents to us.
6. We had a couple of vehicles stolen in Littleton this week. Audi’s appear to be the favoured vehicle at present and I would ask that wherever possible car keys are not left on show as criminals are entering houses in order to steal keys for vehicles.
7. We conducted speeding enforcement this week in Waverton and Farndon. 7 motorists were reported for excessive speed and illegal use of mobile telephones.
8. Reports of prowlers around Elton in the middle of the night trying to gain entry to sheds. The offenders were disturbed and made off in a Blue Ford Fiesta with a part registration number of DK 04.

Regards

Inspector Phil Hodgson

]]> http://www.malpas.org.uk/?feed=rss2&p=1073 62 http://www.malpas.org.uk/?p=1071 http://www.malpas.org.uk/?p=1071#comments Mon, 07 Jun 2010 19:39:48 +0000 mcginnly http://www.malpas.org.uk/?p=1071 June 14, 20107:00 pmto9:00 pm

June’s parish council meeting begins at 7pm at the Jubilee Hall with an open forum. The agenda can be found here.

Topics for discussion will include discussion of the Malpas Garage planning application by Harry Tuffin’s, the community pride competition, and a report concerning the Malpas Renewal funding bid to revamp Leech Lane.

]]> http://www.malpas.org.uk/?feed=rss2&p=1071 0 http://www.malpas.org.uk/?p=1061 http://www.malpas.org.uk/?p=1061#comments Sun, 30 May 2010 15:27:43 +0000 mcginnly http://www.malpas.org.uk/?p=1061 Being a bit demob happy after having completed my 2 year stint as the Chair of Malpas Parish Council, an idea popped into my head recently which we may live to regret. Until next January, as far as practicably possible, my fiancée Joyce and I have decided to source everything we need from within our local area. I have nervously accepted the challenge of writing up the experience every week.

There are a few reasons for this apparent lapse of sanity. We hope to promote the great local businesses that help make South Cheshire a wonderful place to live. If there’s something we can’t get, then that could highlight gaps in the market, which someone might choose to fill. It should also reduce our carbon footprint and improve our quality of life. We also hope it will demonstrate the Malpas Biznet idea of the money-go-round.

I would love to claim I coined the phrase, but I think the credit goes to either Jerry Brunning or Steve Farmer at i7 (although some lazy Google research reveals a 1970s Kinks’ album called “Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround” which makes me like it even more). The rather attractive idea is that the money in the local area should circulate between ourselves. Hopping down to Tesco’s in Whitchurch, nice as they are down there, only really benefits the staff and shareholders of Tesco and the money flows out of the area. So it’s goodbye to the £9 meal deals and hello to friendly local shops who know you by name and will have a chat while they’re bagging up your groceries.

“Ooo that’s going to be expensive!” was a fairly common reaction from people we talked to, or simply “You’re going to struggle”. I’m a bit more optimistic, but part of this venture is to answer some questions. The most important of which is “is it actually more expensive?” A 10 mile round trip to Whitchurch immediately adds £4 of fuel before we have bought our first pint of milk. Wrexham adds a £9.60p premium not including parking and Chester comes in at a whooping £12. So even if we accept the premise that local shops are more expensive (which I’m pretty sure they’re not), we’d have to make some pretty big savings to justify the cost of travel vs. walking out of our front door.

We have drawn up a few rules: Ordering from the internet is cheating, unless the business originates within the ‘zone’. We are very keen this isn’t seen as some way of eliciting special treatment; so if we are offered deals, they must be available to everyone. There are 3 lifelines for buying outside the area – so if we do run out of underwear or something absolutely essential, we do not have to knit our own – these will hopefully be last resorts. There is currently nowhere to source fuel from the area, and because of the shear soaring price of the stuff, we are reserving the right to get it where ever it is cheapest. Similarly I am not going to prejudice the interests of my business, so the company is free to get the best deal it can – although I am quietly confident I can get most of what I need locally. There will be no paying friends to nip down to Whitchurch on our behalf. Later in the summer we’ll be taking a holiday. I was rather saddened to hear someone from Cornwall on the radio a few weeks ago, bemoaning the supermarkets down there for similar money-go-round reasons – the tourist buck is flying out of the local economy. So we’ll be eschewing chains wherever we go, but it’s obviously impractical to ship my G&T’s to whichever sand bar we end up at.

I’ve never written a blog before and I’m terrified we will run out of things to say, or worse, bore the readers. So if anyone has any ideas for things to include, please contact me. This will all be my own personal, probably idiosyncratic outlook and shouldn’t be taken as representing the Parish Council, Biznet or anyone else. We might start with little profiles of businesses each week, the odd recipe here and there, appeals for help sourcing things (might be pleadings actually) and general musings.

So that’s us; at the mercy of South Cheshire for the foreseeable future. It is going to be a bit of an adventure……

Russ McGinn



]]> http://www.malpas.org.uk/?feed=rss2&p=1061 108