Well Dressing Celebration

Disappointed that there will be no Chadkirk Festival this year?
Enjoy the last weekend in July differently. Visit Chadkirk on Saturday 29th July for our Well Dressing Celebration. Delightful space, gentle country walks, nature and historic buildings, friendly people and foody treats.

It’s on Saturday 29th July 2017 from 12 noon onwards, presented and organised by the Friends of Chadkirk.

The Well Dressing Blessing is at 1pm.
Stockport Silver Band will be giving performances at 2pm and 3pm.
Light refreshments available.
The ever popular plant stalls will offer healthy plants at bargain prices.
Friends of Chadkirk will offer locally produced items for sale,including cards by local artists. A second hand book stall and a Tombola. Something of interest for all ages.
For one day only The Organic Food Store sets up it’s stall in Chadkirk Chapel.
Other food stalls will be available.

ADMISSION and car parking- FREE

Well dressing in previous years… what will this year’s design be?

2017 Chadkirk Well Dressing Blessing and Celebrations

For many years, many people have reserved the last weekend in July for our annual Chadkirk Festival.Then in 2016, the re-opening of Bramhall Hall meant that the Festival couldn’t happen as in previous years. Instead Friend of Chadkirk organised a smaller event while we all hoped for a return to the full festival.However, this year I understand that funding/staffing issues have meant that Stockport MBC is unable to offer the support to enable the kind of Festival we have come to know and love. Nevertheless the Friends of Chadkirk are an adaptable bunch and they have a different kind of day for your delectation!

Yes, it’s on a smaller scale, though now there’s free admissions as well as free car parking. It will have some of the hallmarks of the bigger festival: music and stalls, refreshments and games, crafts and treats. As usual, it offers an afternoon in a delightful space, milling and chatting with other fine folk in a friendly setting.

Proceeds from the Friends stalls will add to their funds and so help Chadkirk Chapel and Country Park thrive and continue to offer a place for all to enjoy. We look forward to seeing you on Saturday 29th July 1-4pm.

It’s on Saturday 29th July 2017 from 12 noon onwards, presented and organised by the Friends of Chadkirk.

The Well Dressing Blessing will take place at 1pm.
Stockport Silver Band will be giving performances at 2pm and 3pm.
Delicious and tasty light refreshments will be available.
The plant stalls will offer healthy plants at bargain prices. As these sell out fast, keen gardeners get there early.
Friends of Chadkirk stalls with items for sale including cards, & 2nd hand books.
There will be a chance to have a go on our Tombola.
Other stalls of local interest will include The Organic Food Store.

ADMISSION – FREE

A little apology and a big invitation…

Please accept my apologies for recent gaps in the flow of information here.
While personal stuff has meant that I have had a lull in writing this blog, others have continued to put in the hours at Chadkirk.

For the many visitors to the site, I would like to offer a warm welcome and the very best wishes of the Festive Season.

Once we’ve ushered in the New Year, the organised activities begin again at Chadkirk. New members will be very welcome.

If you’ve visited Chadkirk and want to do a little (or a lot!), there’s plenty of different ways to bring some TLC to the woodlands and meadows, the gardens and the paths, as well as caring for Chadkirk Chapel.

By joining the Friends of Chadkirk, you can do just that. Please scroll through the blog to get an idea of the flavour of the possibilities for you and for Chadkirk. You’ll find information about how to join and an idea of the pattern of activities.

And…here’s a date for your new diary: Thursday 5th January 2017
At 7-30 Friends of Chadkirk will gather in the Chapel on the Twelfth Night to take down this seasons decorations and look forward to the coming year.

Happy holidays, Merry Christmas
and All Good Wishes

from me and the rest of the team at Chadkirk.

Harvest Supper: change of date

THE FRIENDS OF CHADKIRK
INVITE YOU TO THEIR

HARVEST SUPPER
& QUIZ
Friday October 21st
7.30 – 10.00pm
at Chadkirk Chapel
Hotpot, apple pie, BYOB

TICKETS £6.00 per person
Order from Stockport Tourist
Information, 30-31, The Market Place
Tel: 0161-474 4444

Book now as numbers are strictly limited

Well dressing

This year, for one year only, there’ll be Well Dressing Blessing on Saturday 30th July.

With the Blessing at 1pm, an opportunity for refreshments in Chadkirk Chapel, and the plant stalls and Friends of Chadkirk stall with a range of small treats on offer. Outside the Stockport Silver Band will play.

We’ve had some beautiful designs in the past on a range of interesting themes.
What will this year’s design be?

The preparations can be viewed in the Chapel
from Tuesday 26th to Thursday 28th.
Modest refreshments will be
available on these days from 11am till 4pm.

Drawing the design on the clay block

Preparing the clay blocks

We are already looking ahead to a full festival in 2017.
As part of the celebrations there’ll be a special publication.
Chadkirk High Teas.

This special recipe book will be for sale at
our 20th Chadkirk Festival.

We are looking for contributions from cooks and budding Masterchefs out there. Please give your recipes to Lesley at any of our friendly gatherings. Alternatively you can email…

Easter Bank Holiday Weekend at Chadkirk

Yesterday’s vernal equinox marks a change. From now, until September, days will be longer than nights. At first, by minutes and then by hours. As we move into spring and look towards summer, there are more daylight hours to spend out and about.

This coming weekend, there’s even more to celebrate. Our clocks spring forward by an hour at midnight on Saturday 26th March, so there’ll be an extra hour of light in the evening.

Plants affected by the lengthening daylight add new growth, or open into flower. A recent spell of dry weather, some blue skies, sunshine and warmth, all encourage growth and blossom in the woodland, meadows and hedgerows of Chadkirk.

By the time the weekend arrives, there’ll be newly invigorated bees and butterflies visiting the flowers in the garden, searching for food. A little something to energise them for their spring activities.

Bees and butterflies will feed off the nectar of the spring flowers. Meanwhile, there’ll be something sweet on offer for the young of our own species on Bank Holiday Monday.

On Monday 28th March between 2pm and 4pm, volunteers from the Friends of Chadkirk offer a bit of fun and a sweet treat for participants in our popular Easter Egg Hunt.

Hidden eggs in the garden and grounds wouldn’t be much fun for anyone – they might melt in the sun, get washed in the rain, eaten by animals. So as an alternative there’s a game of scrambled eggs. Follow the clues and at the end, there’ll be a creme filled egg for each child taking part.

Entry is 50p per child.
The game is suitable for children upto 8 years of age, accompanied by adult carers.

In 2015 this was one of our most popular events, organised by volunteers, in a spirit of generosity. They made a choice. The emphasis is on attracting young ‘uns. Time enjoyed here means that they, like us , will have a special connection with this special place. For the Friends of Chadkirk, while this event may not add much to our funds, it spreads the joy… what Easter, holidays, friends and Chadkirk are all about.

There’ll be a different kind of delight for those who join our Easter Sunday service on 27th March at 3pm which will be led by Rev Jon Lyndsey-Scott of St Chad’s Church in Romiley. At this service there will be an opportunity to donate to a local charity. All money collected will contribute to Romiley Arc.

Agricultural and Rural Centre cic
http://www.arc-cic.co.uk/
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A is for Access : A tale of two footpaths

Do you remember Autumn 2014? And, among other things, the surprising news that somehow someone had the idea to close one of the most popular footpaths at Chadkirk? The footpath threatened with closure was the one from the main car park, alongside the stream, over the bridge, through Little Wood and out on the lane by St Chad’s Well.

One way it seemed possible to save this footpath was to apply to have it dedicated as a footpath. Any footpath that is dedicated and recorded on the Definitive Map showing public rights of way could not be closed. So Friends of Chadkirk started the ball rolling….

The appropriate forms were filled in and submitted to the appropriate officials. Most of the land is owned by Stockport MBC. A small part of the path is not. Establishing that walkers have used the path as a right of way for many years can be a way to have a footpath dedicated. Setting this process in motion seemed vital, given the proposals to close the footpath. The application has been in the hands of Public Rights of Way officials since June 2015.

In the event, after a series of meetings, the Werneth Area Committee rescinded the plans. The footpath remains open. For now. But what of the future? As an application has been submitted and supporting statements made by regular users, might it be best to continue to see if the footpath can be dedicated and thus protected for future walkers in Chadkirk Country Park?

If you visit Chadkirk and have been walking this path for a period of years, then this experience can be the basis of a brief user statement. This can then form part of the evidence that would be part of the case for footpath dedication.

The link to the form to be filled in is here:

http://www.stockport.gov.uk/services/leisureculture/walkinginstockport/publicrightsofway/

Completing a form (under Form tab) and passing it to the Friends of Chadkirk is one way that you can take part in the process of protecting this footpath for future generations.

Issues of Access in Chadkirk Country Park Estate.
Come along to a Friends of Chadkirk meeting.
New friends welcome.