NEWS: flooding /dancing / sad losses / more housing plans

News-in-brief  from Draycott-In-The-Moors & District in mid Nov 2023.
In this post we have news of…: implications of the recent flooding / dance studio success / Shelagh and Brian will be missed / housing plans for Tenford.
There are also many many events coming up in & around our district – including the build up to Xmas with fayres and dances. See our What’s On page for details of this & many other events.

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Floods

The weird weather patterns just don’t stop, do they? Temperatures just seem to have a mind of their own.
However, as far as Cresswell is concerned, it’s rainfall that’s the main issue. The twenty days from October 15th onwards saw huge amounts of rain – with consequent flooding. On the village facebook site, there were dramatic pictures of the River Blithe rising and rising: from a modal height of 0.22metres, it was at 1.35metres on October 20th.

The River Blithe in late October, photographed from Cresswell bridge

The big question is: is weird weather (due to climate change) to be the new normal?
As maps show, lower Cresswell is already in a flood-zone anyway – which is right on the perimeter of where Elan Homes want to build 160 homes… In fact, in their objections to the plans for this estate back in 2014, the former community group VVSM said that there was a real danger of boggy ground here in the future, which was one more reason not to build on it.

What’s more, it was certainly no fun travelling about on the night of November 2nd, which is when the incessant rain reached its peak. Round here, motorists had to bust through deep road-floodings – on the road to Fulford especially, but also in Cresswell near the lay-by.
Some of our local flooding was due to blocked road drains (council maintenance being so bad!), so it’s nice to report that the ‘Draycott Lake’ did not appear as feared (the work on the culvert under Uttoxeter Road a couple of years ago seems to have done the trick). However, Highways officers have warned that it could come back…

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RIP

Talking of VVSM, it’s sad to report that one of the main figures of that group has died. Shelagh Wood, who only moved away from here a few years ago, was a lovely but feisty lady who stood no nonsense. She’ll be missed.
Sad also to report the death of Brian Blackwood. He was so into doing things for the local community (he managed the Draycott Community Transport Service among other things) that many of us urged him to stand for the village council. However, he was too modest to think of it. Another who’ll be missed.

Thinking about the passing of these two, it just seems that the number of local folk like Shelagh and Brian who were willing to put masses of their own time & effort into supporting the community seems to be dropping – especially since Covid. Or is that an illusion? …your thoughts would be welcome.

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Congrats

Special congratulations to Duncan & Hannah, the couple that run the Quick Quick Slow Dance Studios & Ballroom in Cresswell. They took the title (for the third consecutive year!) for the Inventive Dance Competition at the Blackpool Sequence Dance Festival (see pic right).

The pair work incredibly hard, which is why QQS is one of the most successful dance studios in this part of the world. As well as dance-classes, for all ages, there are weekly social dances, and glamorous balls too at least once a month.
As you’ll see from our What’s On pages, QQS is holding a huge number of events in December, enhancing the holiday season for us locals.
Thanks to the pair of them for making Draycott an even better place to live than it is already…!

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More, yes, more housing

The amount of applications to build housing estates in our area continues to grow. It almost seems like there’s a new one every other month!
The latest is one for 80 homes in Tenford Road, which is officially in next-door Checkley Council’s area, but which is only just outside Draycott area (about a couple of hundred yards from The Anchor Inn).

Nobody would mind so much if there were ever enough affordable homes in these plans, but there never are.

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Doctors’ surgeries highlighted

Anyone interested in the way our local doctors’ surgeries work will want to know that there is a three-day event in late November featuring what they do. Both Tean and Blythe Bridge surgeries will be represented among others.
Mysteriously, there are not a lot more details anywhere about this event, but it all takes place at Painsley Sixth Form College in Cheadle on 27th-30th November from 9am-5pm.

If you go, let us know what you thought of it!

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