Village Fund Raising

During the evening of Wednesday 20th December members of St Mary`s Church along with the Reverend Janice Collier, the Freemen of Hale and Father Christmas himself, sang carols around Hale Village at the same time collecting for local village charities.

Father Christmas rode in a horse drawn sleigh provided by Mr Mal Sutton of Hale Hall Gardens and Carriages, the sleigh was pulled by two of Mals lovely horses, Dana and Marco who where under the supervison of Mals wife, Bobby. Also,, Mal provided the use of his flat-bed truck which was rigged up with a sound system to provide the music for the carols, the unit was supervised by Jeoff Holt and Ron Antrobus.

The evening started at St Mary`s church where everyone met and then progressed onto the High Street. During the 2 hour route around Hale, children and helpers made door to door collections with people donating what they could, also Father Christmas in the sleigh was able to make numerous stops at houses where children had come to the front door to greet and donate. The route included most of Hale village, such as High St, Pheasant Field, the Wimpy, Cocklaid Lane, Pepper Street, and the Curlender Estate.

Several volunteers in high viz jackets were on hand to marshal the procession around the village for safety precautions, along with Mark Woodward who provided a rolling marshal via the use of a 4×4 with hazard and safety lights at the rear of the procession. Apart from one silly driver who startled the horses, the evening passed without incident.

At the end of the evening everyone gathered at the park entrance for their collection buckets to be handed in, during this Mal thanked everyone for their help and one or two of the group made a fuss of Mals horses,, Dana and Marco.
Carol Parry who took part in the evening, informs us this week, that the evening raised a grand and worthy total of £320 !

Many thanks to those who gave generously on the night and to those who took the time to help out!

Christmas Day morning in Hale Village

All is quiet on Christmas day morning here in Hale Village, apart from the odd tree over-run with starlings chatting away and making a noise, you can hear how quiet Hale Village really is.

While several members of my family walked to Hale Church to lay a wreath on my Grandmother and Grandfathers grave, there was hardly anyone around, no cars nor aircraft, only a handful of village residents out for a morning walk and several others walking their dogs. We greeted two friends in the church yard who also where paying their respects to a deceased relative, we wished each other a Merry Christmas and All the best.

Below, Church Road on Christmas day morning.

Below, Hale High Street on Christmas day morning.

The High Street and main roads where deserted, even the lights were still on, on the Village Christmas tree at the entrance to Hale Park.

Refuse Collection Arrangements

The following changes will be made to the refuse collection service during the Christmas and New Year holiday period..

If a collection is due on: Monday 25th December 2006 Monday 1st January 2007

It will take place on: Saturday 23rd December 2006 Tuesday 2nd January 2007

Monday 25th December 2006 Saturday 23rd December 2006

Collections will return to normal as from Monday 8th January 2007.
More information can be obtained from Halton Council’s Waste Management Division on 0151 907 8300.

Community Pride Competition

Ian Trimble informs us that he went along to the Community Pride Competition in Tatton park on the 28th September.  Ian comments that Hale done very well this year and came 5th out of 14 and that Hale were short listed,  the final mark sheet showed that Hale got 190 marks,, not bad considering that the maximum is 220.  This result is better news than 5 years ago seeing that we where at the bottom of the pile.
Comments were made regarding John from the Post Office saying that when the judges returned,,  that he had kept the flower boxes in good order.
Let`s hope Hale does even better in 2007.