As 2011 draws to a close I thought I would take a look back at the biggest news stories of the past 12 months in Wilmslow.
During 2011 we have managed to publish 678 articles and our free iPhone app, which we launched back in February, has been installed on over 1,100 devices.
In November we had our busiest month with 10,538 unique visitors visiting wilmslow.co.uk. In total there were 16,596 visits in November and 45,136 pages were viewed.
The year started with Waters Corporation announcing that they intend to build a new corporate headquarters in Wilmslow. Plans for the £60m research and development facility were given the go ahead in May on the agreement that the American-owned corporation will pay Cheshire East of £371,000 plus monitoring costs and £16,000 towards a National Trust bridge.
Construction began on the 37-acre Stamford Lodge site in December, the first phase of the development is to build a 742ft2 house for the bats currently residing in Stamford Lodge. The development is expected to be completed late 2013, with occupation due to take place during 2014.
Royles, the independent multi sports retailer, started the new year by opening a second store on Grove Street housing their running, swimming and triathlon range.
In February Cheshire East Council announced plans for a new lifestyle centre in Wilmslow, bringing the leisure centre, library and some social care services under one roof. This news generated concern amongst a number of our readers regarding the future of the existing leisure centre and library, should they be sold to a developer, whilst others raised concerns about the possible siting of the lifestyle centre.
During the same month, the Chancellor George Osborne formally opened the new operating theatre, education suite and extended pharmacy at Wilmslow Health Centre, which now offers a range of secondary care services.
In March, thirty people were evacuated from their homes following an explosion on Beech Lane. Andrew James Speakman, 44, was later charged with making an explosive for an unlawful purpose. In August he was sentenced to eight months but he was released due to time served while on remand.
The struggling off-licence Oddbins closed its Water Lane branch without much warning to either staff or customers in March, whilst Wilmslow Library reopened after a 4 week closure for refurbishment works.
Thousands of runners enjoyed ideal conditions for the 27th ASICS Wilmslow Half Marathon on Sunday 27th March. Incorporating the England Half Marathon Championship, for the 3rd consecutive year, the race attracted 3800 runners who set off from Wilmslow Rugby Club for the 13.1 mile course.
At the end of March, Crew Clothing Co became the latest addition to Wilmslow's retail portfolio with a new store on Water Lane. The shop opened in the premises previously occupied by the women's designer clothes shop Caroline, selling casual British clothing.
In April we broke the news that Morrisons had applied for a licence to operate a convenience store at Whitecroft House on Water Lane, Caroline Castigliano closed the doors of its Wilmslow store, only seven months after opening, and Nevada Bobs golf shop on Alderley Road re-opened under new management.
On April 29th local residents were joined by the Mayor and Mayoress of Cheshire East and Willliam Roache MBE to celebrate the Royal Wedding with a traditional street party on Grove Street.
Following a visit from Ofsted inspectors in April, Wilmslow High School was proud to be judged outstanding and exceptional. The school was recognised as an outstanding school with an outstanding sixth form and an outstanding capacity for sustained improvement. In fact they were judged outstanding in 29 out of the 31 categories - an achievement matched by only a handful of schools nationally this year.
In May, 1st Wilmslow Guides held an Open Afternoon at The Guide Hall to celebrate 90 years of Girlguiding in the town, where local residents were invited to enjoy photographs, past uniforms, and happy memories.
Local elections took place on May 5th, when five Conservative candidates made it a clean sweep and the new Wilmslow Town Council was formed with Tories taking all 15 seats.
With 550 entries, a record number of people took part in the 2011 Wilmslow Triathlon in May. In the 'Elite Wave' of the event there was also a record number of eight GB athletes.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer met up with the Incredible Edible team of volunteers in May, who have spent the year encouraging us all to "Grow our own" through various initiatives - including planting herb beds in overgrown planters around the town and helping Transition Wilmslow create an orchard for Wilmslow - work on which started in December with the planting of ten trees in Gravel Lane Park.
In June, the 58 bedroom Pinewood Hotel was purchased by owners of the award winning Castle Green Hotel in Kendal and two friends, who set up Cheshire Tile Studio together five years ago, relocated to a bigger showroom on Alderley Road.
Just after 5.30 am on Wednesday June 29th, fire crews were called to reports of smoke coming from Wilmslow Garden Centre. Over 70 firefighters tackled the huge fire which raged through the buildings causing extensive damage. The blaze, believed to have been caused by an electrical fault, burnt out four large greenhouses and killed a number of small animals and fish, which were in the pet centre. A temporary garden centre building opened on the site in October and Klondyke plan to build a new centre and restaurant in 2012.
At the beginning of July we broke the news that Wildings Camera Centre had shut its Wilmslow shop, having gone into voluntary liquidation after almost 63 years of trading, and Yogberries, a new frozen yoghurt shop on Water Lane, was officially opened by actress Sheree Murphy.
Scarecrow fever hit Wilmslow in July when over 100 wonderful straw creations took over the streets bringing colour and fun to the town centre for the second year running. Retailers, solicitors, pubs, restaurants, barbers, garden centres, a church, a Brownie group and eight local schools took part in the two week festival which culminated in a special Scarecrow Parade. If you were in Wilmslow at the time you couldn't have failed to hear the very loud Lancaster Batala Samba Band as they travelled through the town providing a very visual and entertaining display, joined by two 12ft scarecrows.
The following day the 100th Wilmslow Show proved a tremendous success with at least 7000 people gathering at Wilmslow High School to enjoy a great day out for both the young and old. To mark the occasion a whole host of events had been organised including a special flyover by the RAF Battle of Britain Flight's Dakota.
July was certainly a busy month in Wilmslow, following the two week Scarecrow Festival and 100th Wilmslow Show the town hosted its first artisan market which was an overwhelming success. Organised by Vicky Jackson and Denise Valente, the market totally exceeded expectations with many of the traders completely sold out by lunchtime.
Wilmslow Artisan Market has certainly been one of the highlights of Wilmslow's year, having gone from strength to strength in the past six months it has become a firm fixture in the social calendar of hundreds of local residents.
M Local, the new Morrison Local store opened on August 1st and the following month Mandarin Stone officially opened their new showroom, also on Water Lane. Having taken over the building previously occupied by Caffe Amma, Sitar Bar and Restaurant also celebrated their reopening in September with a drinks reception attended by the Mayor of Cheshire Cllr Roger West.
Initial proposals for sweeping changes to the Parliamentary constituency boundaries were announced in September which could see Wilmslow divided between two constituencies. If the proposals are passed, the area of Wilmslow which is south of Moor Lane/Chapel Lane and west of Alderley Road will be part of the new Northwich constituency, whilst the rest of Wilmslow will move into the Macclesfield constituency. Consultations over the initial proposals have now closed and final recommendations will be made to the Government by 1st October 2013.
Children and parents gathered in the glorious sunshine at the end of September, to celebrate completion of the new play area at South Oak Lane. The project took almost two years, but was worth the wait as The Pleasure is proving a big hit with local families.
Having welcomed its pupils on the first day of term in September as an Academy, Lacey Green Primary Academy was officially opened by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in October. Rated an 'outstanding' school on two successive Ofsted inspections, Lacey Green Primary School has become Wilmslow's first academy.
In October, David Anthony celebrated the opening of his Wilmslow salon, the Big Blue Fish & Chip shop opened its doors on Alderley Road and a Greek restaurant called Stolen Lamb opened on Grove Street serving old family recipes with a modern twist - which we have received some very positive reviews for.
Cheshire East transformed its waste and recycling collection service with the Think Silver, Think Recycling scheme in October. This saw the introduction of the new silver bin, enabling residents to recycle more using just one bin. The latest figures show that the amount being sent to landfill by CEC has reduced by 2000 tonnes which represents a saving of £200,000.
The Combined Charities Christmas Shop, founded by Wilmslow resident Sheila Hallas MBE, celebrated its 40th year when it opened at Wilmslow Library at the end of October. Forty years on and the enterprise has generated sales of nearly £4m, whilst sticking to its original ethos that every penny raised goes to the participating charities.
In November we reported on the Romany Society's appeal to the people of Wilmslow to help raise necessary funds in order to restore Romany's caravan, one of the town's main tourist attractions. Owned by broadcaster Reverend George Bramwell Evens, the caravan has now been taken away to North Wales where it is being restored by a specialist repairer.
In the same month we revealed that Cheshire East Council has joined forces with Wilmslow Town Council to develop ambitious plans for the town centre. These will include a look at how cultural and sporting facilities can be enhanced and, as reported in February, could include the development of a lifestyle centre, bringing together a range of public facilities including leisure, library and the arts. A theatre, enhanced public open spaces, retail and car parking could also be included.
Boutique Babylon, a new fashion store, opened at Banks Square in November, and the following day a second fashion store called Fizz opened temporary on Grove Street, in the building previously occupied by Blacks.
Daniels, a women's clothing and shoe shop also opened on Alderley Road, in the property briefly occupied by Aquascutum Menswear, and make-up artist Lauren Shippey, who works for the BBC and a cosmetic company, launched her new beauty business Doll Face at Banks Square.
Crowds gathered on Grove Street on November 25th to see Diva Fever switch on Wilmslow's new Christmas lights, with the help of Father Christmas. The lights switch marked the start of the 10 day Wilmslow Christmas Festival which included the Christmas market, an ice-skating rink on Banks Square and Santa's Grotto in the Romany Caravan.
Looking forward to 2012, hopefully this year's wonderful community events will take place again. In addition, Wilmslow Town Council will be holding their first Civic Service on Sunday January 29th and they are currently working on ideas for celebrating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in the town, during a special 4-day bank holiday at the beginning of June.
Hopefully Cheshire East Council will reveal more details in the spring about their ambitious plans to revitalise Wilmslow.
We would very much like to thank you all for your support and the very generous feedback we have received to date. We also want to express our gratitude to all the local businesses who have supported us by advertising on wilmslow.co.uk.
Those who have advertised with us for some time include: Alderley Edge School for Girls, Alderley Pilates Studio, Collect Art, Gusto, Highams, James Doyle Opticians, Mailboxes Etc, Pepperberry Nurseries, Pinewood Hotel, The Saffron Room and Wilmslow Prep School.
We would like to wish you all a very happy, healthy and successful new year and please do email me at [email protected] if you have any news you would like to share, a story you wish to be followed up or if you know of a local event we can help to promote.
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Do share your highs and lows of life in Wilmslow during 2012, and your predictions for the new year in the town via the comment box below.
