News-in-brief from Draycott-In-The-Moors & District in late July 2022.
In this post we have news of…: do you want the proposed helicopter factory? Gandhi Restaurant in line for award / combined walk & quiz for Cresswell / Draycott church goes national…
There are also loads of events in & around our district this next few weeks! Sports camps for kids in Draycott is just one of the highlights: please go to our What’s On page
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Helicopters … wanted? needed?
As we reported in our last post, suddenly a lot of big planning issues are hitting Cresswell.
However, the most urgent one is the question of the proposed helicopter factory (see our last post for the details).
Is it needed? Is it wanted? Those are the questions we are being asked to respond to by the local planners… and the deadline to make any comments is now upon us.

The residents’ group, the BPDWG, is certainly worried, so they have been busy delivering leaflets about the issue (see above) to all local households – which makes that the second set of leaflets they’ve delivered in a month (the first leaflet was about the proposed junction in the middle of Cresswell).
There are so many odd questions about this development: –
# Why is the decision being rushed through? Why is the decision being left to planning officials rather than put before the full planning committee?
(Could it possibly be because the company’s order book is already full to 2025, so somewhere to actually build the aircraft is now urgent?)
# Why has the company, Hill Helicopters, chosen this site in particular?
# Will the 200-approx employees be trained here, or have to be brought in?
# If the factory starts production in a year’s time (as Hill hopes) how soon will they be turning out the 1000 aircraft a year that they are aiming for? (Incidentally, the BPDWG estimates that this rate of production means around sixty test and delivery flights each working day in our skies.)

If you want the full set of details, it’s worth checking out the case review-document produced by the residents’ group.
Whatever, time is of the essence. As we said, it’s all being rushed through, so if you want your comments to be registered, you need to put them in very soon. Go to the SMDC Planning Page 0275, find the button which says ‘Comment On This Application’, click on it, and jot down your views.
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A walking quiz
As it’s summertime, we’ve updated the Cresswell Trail – a two mile walk around the hamlet. It combines the walk with a quiz about local matters – the questions are suitable for children and adults. There are around fifty questions, so plenty to get stuck into!

To find it, just check out our Local Walks Page, where you’ll find details it and of even more walks around Draycott.
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It’s back…
Slowly but almost inevitably, it’s been creeping back into our lives. Yes, Covid infections are up again, back to late-2021 levels in fact. Even the President of the United States is one of the new victims.
Thanks to the vaccinations programmes (with more to come in the autumn), it’s not the horrific disease it once was for most of us, and most of the folk we know who’ve got it recently have come down with a very nasty but fortunately not terminal attack (though, sadly, yes, there are still fatal cases).
Still, the message is obvious. Especially around the vulnerable, we need to be careful… again…
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Curry wonders!!
Great news is that the Indian restaurant in Cresswell, the Gandhi, has just been nominated as one of the finalists in this year’s English Curry Awards (West Mids section).
As you can imagine, this is a very tough competition, with the best of the nation’s curry-houses all vying to be recognised.

The Gandhi’s achievement is even more special when you think it is one of the very few countryside eateries to be selected for the finals: it’s up against some top-notch city restaurants from Birmingham and the Black Country. The black-tie awards ceremony will take place on 22nd August at The Holiday Inn in Birmingham.
We wish them the best of luck!
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St Margaret’s diary date
One event that should go into your diary now is the Heritage Day at Draycott Saint Margaret’s Church on Sat Sept 17th.
St Margaret’s is one of the very few Staffordshire churches to be selected to be featured in the National Heritage Open Days events.
On the day, there will be guided tours of the church, fun-quiz sheets, and stewards available to answer questions.

It’s expected that visitors will be coming from all over the region, especially to see the 600 year old tomb-statues inside the Lady Chapel and the dragons (yes, dragons!).
However, local residents are especially welcome – so do please put the date in your diary, and then do come along and look round this fascinating & ancient church of ours.
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