Crewe

As if you didn't know, the Crewe & Nantwich Festival is under way with stacks of events ongoing across this week. CNBC Mayor Brian Silvester officially opened the festival with a ribbon cutting ceremony over at Nantwich's St Mary's church. Accompanied by the Mayoress he met people and organisations who have helped prepare for this year's events. It all culminates with the carnival at Queens Pa

We've mentioned Quakers Coppice a few times on Crewe blog. It's one of those little gems that often go unnoticed. Tucked away behind the business park off Crewe Road (map here) and adjacent to new warehousing units and car dealerships off University Way, this oasis of calm is conveniently situated on the edge of Crewe. You can walk, bike or catch a (no.20) bus to it, there are plenty of (free) pla

How exciting has this Olympic games been? Edge of the seat stuff, from slick cyclists to the well-oiled oarsmen and women who have scooped gold after gold. For Crewe, most of the pre-games hype surrounded Beth Tweddle, the accomplished gymnast who has a World Championship to her name and was expected to excel in Beijing. There was a stutter in the team event when she clipped one of the bars but cl

Look close enough and you'll find a creepy side to any town. We have more than our fair share of the stuff around these parts and it extended over to Crewe Station last week courtesy of TimP and his Crewe & Nantwich Ghost Tours. Indeed, a tour of the creepy side of the station took place as part of a Drama and Dance Residency Week, itself part of Crewe and Nantwich Festival. The group took in

UPDATE: The Dream in the Park production at 3pm on Monday 18th August will go ahead in the park cafe if the rain continues, so get along regardless. Don't forget the week-long series of events that make up this year's Crewe & Nantwich Festival. A few bits and bobs started on Saturday that you might have seen advertised, but projects, performances, workshops and displays take place across the w

The national news stories surrounding property prices continue to be gloomy. Here in Crewe it's obvious that we're also in the thick of it despite seeing the value of properties rise for years. It had to end. Some streets now boast a ridiculous number of To Let/For Sale signs, so surely it's a buyer's market? Trouble is, as the banks clamp down it's hard to get a mortgage. So where next for Crewe

Never say that there's nowt to entertain you around the borough. From free stuff in the town centre to pubs, clubs, concerts and exhibitions. Loads on if you seek it out. Here's a selection....Star Search: Fancy yourself on the big stage, a slot on the X-Factor maybe? Well, CNBC’s Town Centre Management, in partnership with The Market Centre and Wulvern Housing, wants talented residents to join

Had a call from one of the friendly chaps at Network Rail the other day. He wanted to clarify a few things. There are loads of rumours about the train station, its future, Basford and of course CREAM, the campaign group being led by Cllr Roy Cartlidge. Basically, no decision has been made about the station. There is a lot of investigation work to complete. They are, apparently, keeping an open min

There was a familiar face back in Crewe on Saturday. In fact, there were some very familiar looking shirts as well. Whatever, it was great to see some footy of a Saturday afternoon. Back to the story and older Alex fans will recall a talented, tough-tackling midfielder called Steve Walters. He had the tracksuit on but the boots have been hung up as the Crewe lad is now concentrating on management

The footy friendlies are upon us but we thought it was about time that the girls should enjoy a bit of publicity instead. The Crewe & Nantwich Girls Football Club was founded 18 years ago to provide local girls with an opportunity to play competitive football against other girls' teams. They now have teams at U10, U12, U14 and U16 age groups - all playing in the Cheshire Girls' League. The clu

The last week has been dominated by knife crime, violence and death. I'm talking about national news and yet it dawned on me over the weekend that Crewe has had its fair share of high-profile crime stories of late. Just last month Adam Swellings from Meredith Street made the papers when he was sentenced for his part in the killing of Gary Newlove from Warrington. Then on Friday, 19-year-old Lauren

We promised some artists' impressions of what is planned for Crewe's Sherborne estate, so here they are. Residents of the Wulvern houses off Middlewich Street and anyone who has passed through the area (Sherbourne Road, Haslemere Way, Greenacres and Roedean Walk) will know that it's in need of a revamp - to say the least. .Well, over the last 12 months the Wulvern team based at one of the estate'

After the big news about the South Stand being build theres been loads of transfer news, i’m going over all of them but there is one that sticks out. Gary Roberts has staying in the UK while Crewe are on a pre-season tour in Bulgaria. Apparently he’s going to be chatting with ourselves and Cardiff. [...]

Crewe’s historic Christ Church is celebrating The Victorian Heart of Crewe as part of National Archaeology Week (NAW) on Saturday 12th July. “It’s easy to think of archaeology as just finding things in the ground from centuries ago, but it is as much about seeing the stories in the buildings, landscape and townscape which give the historic environment we all live and move in - whatever that

Remember to take a look at what local events are taking place around the borough. The What's On Crewe & Nantwich? blog can be accessed here or by clicking on the icon on the right. Latest additions include the festival taking place at St Andrews this weekend, the Nantwich Family Fun Day next Saturday and a request for exhibitors later this year...

Hi allI was passing the petrol station along Crewe road in Wistaston last night (Tuesday 1st July 2008) and noted that the cost of fuel was as follows.Unleaded 118.9 pence per litre.Diesel 131.9 pence per litre.If you have any up to date petrol prices drop me a line and I will include them on the blog.RegardsPete

Who doesn't want to save a few quid on the fuel bills? Add to that the whole environmental argument and installing solar panels and wind turbines. Well, a Renewable Energy Exhibition will be held at the Manchester Metropolitan University, Crewe Green Road, Crewe campus on the 5th July 2008. Organised by the Energy Saving Trust advice centre and Cheshire Renewable Energy Initiative, visitors will b

This weekend’s local offerings, which you can also check out on the What’s On Crewe & Nantwich blog here or by clicking the button on the right...Saturday 21stWistaston Village Fete, with the Rose Queen Procession from 1.15pm and the official opening at the Memorial Hall at 1.45pm. Vintage cars, belly dancers, dog display, bouncy castle, fancy dress, stalls and games. All the ingredients,

Flick on BBC1 last week and you might have seen New Blues, a three-parter that followed the fortunes of a few PCSOs during training and later on the beat around West Yorkshire. There's a blog penned by a PCSO here and the author wasn't best impressed with what she saw. To be honest, some of the kids that the new PCSOs had to deal with in the series were verging on feral. Grim stuff. Back here in C

We promised that we'd keep you bang up to date with Edward Timpson's work in and around Crewe and Nantwich, so here's one of his first releases regarding his communications with Modus. There's plenty of unease about the lack of progress on Crewe's town centre regeneration and our newly elected MP has been pushing the developer for information. Apparently, he was over in Manchester meeting with the

Not as hectic as last weekend, but here are a few local events taking place around the borough....Friday 13th.Running all weekend, you can catch the Middlewich Folk & Boat Festival in, er, Middlewich. Loads of family stuff on show, with craft exhibitions, music, boats and floating gardens, plenty of stalls and bits of historical stuff on show across the town. Website here....Saturday 14th.The

With the by-election dominating proceedings in recent weeks it's easy to forget that we have now entered the final year of administration under Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council. A couple of weeks back, the first meeting of the Cheshire East Unitary Shadow Council took place at Crewe's Municipal Buildings. A fitting place but will Crewe emerge as the best location to establish a base for the new

If you didn't know, it's Cheshire's Year of Gardens 08. Now apart from Queens Park (and that's not so hot right now) you don't associate once industrial Crewe with much green space or indeed gardens, do you? The "green" business park has gone some way to addressing that, and most of the new estates have incorporated recreational areas. They even tarted up Jubilee Gardens in High Town but that ofte

More from Edleston Primary School's day of celebration that took place last Saturday morning. The guest of honour, Margaret Simmons, cut the tape as the event started (see above with headmistress Mrs Bagni), before guests enjoyed photos spanning the school's 133-year history and then went on to take part in fun and games in the playground. A few bits and pieces are summed up in one of those cheek

I've had this image hanging around for a while. Chatting to the lads from the Riptides (first band on at The Waldron the other week at the start of the Crewe Live 08 weekend) they said they fancied doing an Abbey Road-style picture of themselves walking over a zebra. So, any local bands fancy grabbing the chance at this spot with the old Technical Institute as a backdrop? Get in touch and we'll so

Hopefully a new feature, a place to highlight, promote and showcase local events taking place over the weekend. Forget the paid-for, commercial stuff - they can look after themselves. We're talking proper local people and places, garden parties, charity events, car boots, duck races, the unusual things etc. So, this weekend... Saturday 7th June.Edleston Road Primary School (pictured) has been runn

I took the above snap of Crewe bus station on Monday morning. Depressing, eh? At least the local birds haven't deserted us yet! I've tried to remain positive about many Crewe-related issues but the bus station is an eyesore too far. It's almost beyond help. What makes me laugh is the local and national drive to get people using public transport. How on earth can anyone be expected to use a facili

This in from Cllr Roy Cartlidge (Labour Group Crewe & Nantwich Borough Council), blog reader and unhappy bunny on the back of last week's by-election defeat for Labour. His thoughts about how borough life will be under a Tory administration and MP...."Yes the By-election result was very bad for the Labour Party both locally and nationally! But what’s this change people are talking about - ch

I popped into Copnall Books on Meredith Street the other day. I'd wanted to ask Peter Ollerhead if it was ok to turn his walks around Crewe into photos. Peter produced the excellent Crewe - History & Guide book earlier this year and, towards the back, are three walks that take readers around various bits of Crewe. As I've probably poked my nose into most bits of the walks at some point or othe

Quick mention to Shanaze Reade from Crewe who scooped gold at the BMX World Championships in Taiwan (see BBC report here). We've covered a load of Tipkinder BMX stuff of late and we'll try and grab some snaps with the Crewe star when she returns. This win installs her as favourite for the Beijing Olympics this summer. Yesterday, Cheshire Ghost Rider Marco Dell'Isola took a world 5th in 25-29 men's

I'm going to start a new section of links for Days Out Near Crewe. Just yesterday, when Mrs Crewe blog said that she'd join us and take the day off, we wondered where to go, what to see. There are the usual suspects but we fancied something a little different, somewhere we hadn't been before but no more than half an hour away. .So Cotebrook Shire Horse Centre was spot on. It's just outside the bo

You might have seen a snippet in the press a few weeks back announcing a funding initiative that would benefit a number of local organisations. Indeed, around £7m has been awarded by the Housing Corporation as part of their National Affordable Housing programme. This cash does not go to the local council but to individual organisations, hostel/housing related. In this case, the recipients are Wul

After a few years at The Peacock the annual Crewe ASi Family Footy Day is nipping over the border into Dabber Land. The Alex fans' group have always set out to promote footall and friendship across the borough so it's great to see that they will stage this year's tournament and fun day at the Wrenbury Sports & Social Club on Sunday 8th June. As well as the pitches there are superb kiddy facil

I've been pondering why it is raining so much seeing as it is a Bank holiday week and half-term for the schools. C'est la vie, probably. I've had to think of alternatives for days out. Days in with two small children are not necessarily as easy, at least for me! Gordon Brown must be thinking along similar lines. "Why is it raining, politically that is, such dire stuff all the time?", he contemplat

The play-off weekend is great. Except when your side isn't involved. Moreover, you haven't been involved in the promotion race at all. In fact, having spent the bulk of the previous season scrapping around at the foot of the table it's all a load of bobbins really. Worse for me is the on-off chat about transfer targets. Now I used to love it all, part of the pre-summer build-up. Waiting for the fr

I first met the NSS lads back in 1992. I'd gone back to univ and they were playing up in Middlesbrough, The Mal, in fact, a big club in Stockton where Pete Waterman used to film The Hitman & Her. Memories. Anyway, my mate Richard was playing trumpet for the NSS in those days, as well as belting out the odd tune at Gresty Road on the old Popside terrace. Again, memories! .Still, the NSS were a

The music is ongoing at pubs across Crewe on Sunday but don't forget you can see Va-Voom and Crewe's NSS (Sweet Sensation) at the M Club later on, from 9.30pm on High Street. Just £4 to see two quality bands. Pictured: Ade and Al from NSS, plus Chris (centre) from the M Club...

The Crewe Live 08 festival kicked off at the Waldron at, well, about 8.40pm. When did a band ever stick to the script? In fact, it nearly didn't happen. . ..The Riptides (pictured above on the Crewe library steps) are a decent outfit and when they rolled into Crewe from Birmingham they wondered why they hadn't been given the big stage at the M Club. They're not big-time Charlies but these lads can

From funk to punk, rock to pop, there really is something for everyone at the first Crewe Live music festival. There's a fantastic spread of bands playing at pubs and clubs between Fri 23rd and Mon 26th May. Visits the pubs and support the bands. Check it all out here... oh, and please send any snaps into the blog plus get your moby phone clips uploaded to YouTube and send us the links. Enjoy...

Unsurprisingly, the Tories have won the Crewe and Nantwich by-election, with a majority of over 7,000.Harriet Harman does not think Labour's campaign had anything to do with it.I beg to differ.One wonders how secure Gordon Brown's job is. Maybe Frank Field will launch another offensive, although he did himself no favours apologising to Mr Brown.Nick Robinson views the result as a sign David Camero

The Crewe ad Nantwich result ahs just been announced: Tamsin Dunwoody, Labour 12679. Elisabeth Shenton, Liberal Democrat 6040. Edward Timpson, Conservative, 20539. Mike Nattress, UKIP 922. Greens, 359. Several smaller parties not included. Rejected Ballot Papers: 67.

It's hardly been a secret over the last few days and in the early hours of Friday 23 May 2008 Edward Timpson was confirmed as the new MP for Crewe and Nantwich. The actual result was a bit of a shocker, with Timpson taking nearly 50% of the vote! Addressing the audience at Nantwich Civic, the new MP said the following to the people of the borough: "I'm on your side and I won't let you down.".The C

The Crewe ad Nantwich result ahs just been announced: Tamsin Dunwoody, Labour 12679. Elisabeth Shenton, Liberal Democrat 6040. Edward Timpson, Conservative, 20539. Mike Nattress, UKIP 922. Greens, 359. Several smaller parties not included. Rejected Ballot Papers: 67.

Longer-term blog readers will recall the unfortunate family in the Wistaston Road area that saw their back garden literally explode when the sewers burst open last year. Well, the heavy rain the other week saw it happen again with another monster hole appearing where their kids usually play. The smell is pretty bad too! The appropriate services have responded a little quicker this time but that’

Well, to Crewe blog. Thanks to Tamsin Dunwoody's campaign team who promised to grab some comment from the PM - and they delivered. Following Nick Clegg and David Cameron, a few words from no.10 for you. No snap of Mr Brown, so we bagged one from t'web...."Gwyneth Dunwoody was a much-respected,wonderful MP who was held in high esteem by people on both sides of theHouse of Commons. She is greatly mi

That's pounds for Hope House, not season tickets for the Alex! The Crewe ASi fans’ group is delighted to announce a guaranteed £750 donation to Hope House Children's Hospices, money that was raised at their Christmas Party and recent Race Night. In an attempt to increase that amount beyond the magic £1,000 barrier, ASi Secretary David Coleman completed the BUPA Great Manchester Run. David take

Cheers to TimP (who was in the audience) for the sharpish snap from tonight's Channel 4 News slot and debate at Bombardier (old Crewe Works) off Dunwoody Way. The studio was set up in one of the old erecting shops where locos and stuff get assessed, maintained and fixed these days. Bit of a cliche background but Crewe well and truly in the news...

Dang! Missed him. The Flying Brick, the official Monster Raving Looney Party's candidate, was outside the Grand Junction pub today. I'm sure he had some serious points to make and I'm grateful to Richard (blog regular) who grabbed the snap. I've got him finishing a comfortable 8th at the moment, ahead of the petrol tax guy and, maybe, UKIP. Is he worth your vote?

Cheeky boy Lembit Opik MP has been out and about in Crewe and Nantwich today. He's part of the Lib Dem bandwagon that most of the nationals believe has hit the buffers. Look at the bookies' latest odds and you'd be wasting your cash if you backed Elizabeth Shenton in the by-election. Still, the senior figures have been out backing her and refuse to give in (as you'd expect). Lembit joined the Wulv

We had Nick Clegg last week and now, cheers to the local Conservative campaign team, we have a blog from David Cameron. It's a bit party political broadcast, but it's a gesture. Will we get something from Gordon? Anyway, here goes (picture from last week when he went walkabout with Edward Timpson around Nantwich)...."As I think readers of the Crewe blog will know, I’ve been up to Crewe and Nantw

The waiting is nearly over, the venues and bands are in place... we're ready for the big launch now. That honour goes to The Riptides, a tidy Indie-Pop outfit from the Midlands who kick-start the Crewe Live 08 at The Waldron on Prince Albert Street this Friday night at 8pm. Free to get in, as are most of the venues, just support the pubs and bands in this first Crewe music festival that will hopef

If only a small number of these MPs were genuinely concerned about Crewe our town would be transformed overnight. Sadly, we'll be short on politicians come Friday morning. They'll be back in Westminster. Unless Gemma Garrett has a late surge on the back of tabloid promotion, we'll be left with one of the big three's candidates to take us forward. Tamsin Dunwoody hopes it's her and brought Jacqui S

If you noticed the Politics Show on BBC this Sunday you'll have seen the three main candidates being prodded and poked by another presenter hoping to draw them on local issues, being a toff and the price of bread. They all stood up well, and didn't the Duchess of Sutherland look impressive in the background? If you didn't know, Crewe's Heritage Centre is just off the entrance to Tesco and is well

Some news from blogger Guido Fawkes on the Crewe-by election.Labour have a tories soft on yobs logo, although the colour scheme makes no sense. the liquid dripping should be red, not black.He also says that the Labour high command has condoned the campaign, despite denials from Labour ministers.It would be nice if the Lib Dems won this seat, given Labour's vile campaigning.

Here's a gorgeous local lass who is hoping to win the Miss Photographic heats, which is held by the organisers of the national Miss England beauty competition. South Cheshire College student, Adele Prior, aged 18, has made it through to the heats and needs your vote to progress, hopefully landing a place in the Miss England finals. I met Adele in Market Square on Saturday as she was out and about

But no Mike Nattrass. He couldn't make it this weekend but will be around on Monday in Crewe dishing out leaflets and chatting about his party. Later, he'll be addressing the public at a meeting at Nantwich Town's Weaver Stadium (starts at 7pm I believe). If you'd like some more info about UKIP and their Crewe & Nantwich campaign you can check out their website here or visit their Crewe HQ at

Received this the other day, from Nick Clegg no less. His office mentioned in passing that he'd be happy to do a bit about Crewe and the Lib Dem candidate Elizabeth Shenton, but I didn't expect it. Still, here goes his piece... ."One of the things I most enjoy about being leader of the Liberal Democrats is getting out from the Westminster bubble and meeting people all around the country through my

The media circus had several Crewe options today, but delayed trains from down south caused scheduling chaos! I grabbed time after lunch to nip over to Bombardier (Crewe Works) where Lib Dem candidate Elizabeth Shenton was joined (for the second time) by party leader Nick Clegg. As you can see, there was a fair old pack awaiting the campaign team, inc a persistent chap from Newsnight. More later..

Once is good, twice impressive (as of Monday afternoon) but with a third David Cameron visit in the pipeline you've got to conclude that the Edward Timpson (Conservative) Crewe & Nantwich campaign is serious. They really want to win this seat! With an aborted meet and greet outside Crewe police station (above) because of a rent-a-crowd bunch of hoodies, the Tory bandwagon rolled on to their Cr

Ever wanted that few minutes of fame, or a chance to put your point across to a few of the country's politicians? Well, BBC Newsnight is coming to Crewe & Nantwich to host a special edition from the constituency two days before next week's by-election. The special programme - broadcast live on Tuesday 20th May - will be hosted by Jeremy Paxman alongside a panel of senior politicans and an audi

Here's one for the music fans. Not part of the Crewe Live 08 bash, but due at Crewe's M Club a couple of days later on Wednesday 28th May are Some Velvet Morning. Just shows if you don't ask you don't get, as the guys emailed the blog asking for a plug. A London band, they've notched up over 200 gigs already. As their blurb says there's a bit of U2, Blondie and the Police in their sound - so not b

According to an ICM poll for the Mail on Sunday, the Conservative candidate in the Crewe and Nantwich by-election has a good chance of winning the seat. Could the Tories be on target to snatch a win from Labour for the first time since 1982?The poll puts the Tories on 43%, Labour on 39% and the Liberal Democrats on 16%. Whatever the Labour Party may be telling the electors of Crewe it doesn't seem

What has come out of the last few days is outsiders' lack of knowledge about Crewe. It's something that we have all known for years, that the town struggles for identity with - effectively - two town centres! Queensway (above) is one of the main shopping areas, but speaking to visiting photographers and journalists yesterday most of them thought that the station and Nantwich Road area were Crewe's main drag. That really does need addressing. I discovered a fascinating snippet from Network Rail yesterday that could have gone some way to fixing that (more of that news on Monday), but the current Modus scheme is something that now concerns me..I have been positive about the redevelopment of Crewe town centre for over a year now and still believe that our town will be transformed beyond all re

Bit of a surreal one today. An early start up at Crewe station to see Nick Clegg roll into town as he gave his full support to Elizabeth Shenton of the Lib Dems. I caught a great moment (image below) that deserves to be a photo caption competition. If you do post comments, keep 'em clean! Anyway, there was a burst of activity around the station when the party leader arrived, the obvious handshaking and photo opportunities with party campaigners and then they were whisked into town where they did an interview with the Crewe Chron (when they walked along Victoria Street they must have been impressed by the full window display poster that advertises Edward Timpson's Conservative party - next door to the Chron office). . It was all cameras and journalists but, last minute, a film crew arrived

Keeping it simple, here's the full list of 10 candidates who will seek your votes on May 22nd to become MP for Crewe and Nantwich....The Flying Brick - Monster Raving Looney PartyTamsin Dunwoody - LabourGemma Garret - Beauties for BritainMike Nattrass - UKIPDavid Roberts - English DemocratsElizabeth Shenton - Liberal DemocratsRobert Smith - Green PartyPaul Thorogood - Cut Tax on Petrol & DieselEdward Timpson - ConservativeMark Walklate - Independent.Just for fun, there's a poll on the right. Click on your choice to give us an idea of how the Crewe & Nantwich by-election will pan out. It's just a click, you don't have to identify yourself...

Cracking view from the top of Rail House, here looking across some of St John's ward towards the town centre. For new arrivals to Crewe or this blog, Rail House is the high-rise building that many see as they pass through the railway station. Mixed offices these days, many different companies within. You must wonder about its longer-term future, though. What if (and it's still a big IF) the station is shunted south towards Basford? Surely many of the offices would follow, affording the best possible access to/from work for their employees. If Rail House is currently prime site in terms of commuters it will not be if Network Rail opt to build a new station around revamped track and signalling. Rents would drop, the building would become like many office blocks in the middle of nowhere. Mayb

UKIP are getting more professional and they have just launched a by-election site for Mike Nattrass MEP who is the UKIP candidate in Crewe and Nantwich. They have a battle bus too, so this should add to the fun as well as the publicity!

Always like to post other people's photos on the blog, plus any comments they might have. Kevin Ruscoe mailed us the following thoughts on last weekend's Buzzcocks gig at the M Club, plus some great shots of the band. You can see his other Flickr snaps here....."The Buzzcocks were fantastic and a pretty decent turn out, too. Messrs Shelly and Diggle et el ripped through all there best known tunes including Oh Shit, Orgasm Addict, What Do I Get? and closing with Ever Fallen In Love. Perhaps the only slight niggle was the sound was a bit loud and seemed distorted a little but that might just have been my aging ears. I enjoyed the gig anyway good to see another top band visit Crewe."

We've talked about other gateways to Crewe before, like West Street, Hungerford Road, Macon Way etc. Here's another one, the old Chester Bridge that feeds cars, buses and pedestrians directly into Market Square. To the right of the snap most of the shops and offices are now taken but the land either side of the bridge has been derelict for a while. Noticed the other day that a fresh agent's sign has gone up suggesting that there's a push to offload the plot again. I'm told that it was part of the leisure complex land but, for various reasons, has never been developed. One reason was financial elements that restricted the sell-on and subsequents profits, but that's another story. Over the road there are plans to breath life into the land that borders the path by Lloyd's bank. Not sure if I'

The Crewe and Nantwich By-election will be upon us very soon. An unseemly rush to hold the election, an unseemly scramble for candidates to be nominated. All very unseemly in the unseemly world of New Labour.The election will be on the 22nd May and Labour have announced that Gwyneth Dunwoody's daughter Tamsin will fight the seat. There has been a long tradition in British politics for spouses or other relatives to take over the party cause in by-elections. Some would say this is a way to keep the electorate on side with a sympathy vote, others think it gives a natural feeling of dynastic continuity. After all, an MP in the Westminster model of democracy is very much wedded to a constituency. In fact, constituents are known to get the hump on occasions as with Mark Woodnutt in the Isle of W

Crewe rock chicks The Tommys are set to unleash their explosive self-penned punk on their hometown. The all-girl rockers (their MySpace page here) will be tearing it up at the Crewe Live 08 Festival at the end of the month in a Saturday night headliner at The Box. Following an exhausting tour of Europe the band have been busy working on new material and are set to record a new single at London’s Universal Studios at the weekend. The playfully titled Dead End Town will hopefully prove to be an irony, with the likes of The Tommys and the three-day festival putting Crewe on the musical radar. Having played in front of 80,000 people on the same stage as rock legends Motorhead, it is not to hard to understand that returning to Crewe could be seen as a bit of a comedown for the girls. Guitaris

Just yesterday I bumped into Edward Timpson (Conservative candidate for Crewe and Nantwich) at the Alex. He's been a few times this season and it's obviously good profile for him. We agreed that we shouldn't really be covering the forthcoming by-election on the blog until after the funeral of Gwyneth Dunwoody (next Thursday, 8th May). However, the Labour party yesterday issued a new release detailing who their own candidate will be - none other than Tamsin Dunwoody! They have to prepare properly for the by-election so it's no surprise that the announcement has been made early. Still, with personal issues to attend to, it won't be an easy week for the Dunwoody family..Apparently, because of the national interest likely to be generated by the first by-election after recent local voting, Crew

I've had this snap for over a week and wanted to post it because a) I like it; b) it shows the Muni; and c) I like having an artistic fiddle with photos. As it happens, the minimal splash of red is representative of Labour's current foothold in the town. Limited. A landmark day that, in a few weeks time, will see the area's residents asked to vote once again. What colour then?

Tick, tock... only a few weeks until the town's first proper music festival in years. If you've followed the blog or local papers recently you'll know that the Crewe Live 08 event kicks off over the weekend of 23 May to 26 May. There are loads of bands now scheduled to play the pubs and clubs that we haven't managed to get down the right-hand column of the blog, so here's a selection with links to their MySpace pages if you have appropriate access....The 100 Club hail from Manchester and will be in town on 13 May as well as the Live 08 weekend. I always love the way bands bill themselves, so here's their blurb: The 100 Club play a brand of alternative rock that features pounding drums and heavy bass with soaring melodies over the top. Smart guitar lines and assured vocals mark them out as

I didn't expect an announcement about the C&N by-election so soon, but it appears that Gwyneth Dunwoody's family have been keen to move things along. It's what the great lady would have wanted. So Labour's Chief Whip, MP Geoff Hoon, will today move the writ in Parliament to call a by-election....A spokesperson for Labour North West said: "The Labour Party today confirms we will be calling a by-election in Crewe and Nantwich, which will take place on Thursday 22nd May, five weeks after the sad passing of Gwyneth Dunwoody, the much loved Labour MP for the area for 34 years. The process for selecting the Labour candidate to contest the by-election will commence with immediate effect. The decision to call the by-election now is in accordance with the family's wishes to see, as soon as poss

Only a few days to go, here are a couple of local Independents who will be standing in the Crewe North ward in Thursday's Cheshire East elections....Maggie Bray was born and bred in Crewe and has have lived in the Grosvenor Ward since 1977: "I care about the area and want to be part of the decision making process for it in the huge new East Cheshire Council. As an Independent, I'm not constrained (or financed) by the policies and decisions of political parties based in London. I aim to protect and improve the wellbeing of this Ward and the whole of Crewe." ."I want more graduated kerbs to make mobility easier for people using wheelchairs and prams. I want public lavatories back. I want our green areas protected. No more school and other playing fields sold to developers, and allotments ava

Despite being the gateway to the north (we are, apparently, although some might contest that) one sport that has never taken root in the town is Rugby League. The Crewe and Nantwich Steamers ARLFC lads hope to change all that and train and play at Bentley's Legends facility off Sunnybank Road. The first game of the new Rugby League Merit League season takes place at 2.30pm on Saturday 10th May. With the footy season over, why not try something a little different? You can check out the Steamers' website here...

I'm sure there are others (Lib Dems?) but this is possibly the last of the local councillors to be featured who will be standing in the Cheshire East elections next Thursday. The Crewe North Labour candidates are Peter Nurse, Maureen "Mo" Grant and Terry Beard. In their promo snap they have managed to grab a good slice of Coppenhall in the background as well. Anyway, on with their details….Peter Nurse was a lecturer at Staffordshire Polytechnic and was elected to Cheshire County Council representing Crewe North in 1981. He was chairman of the Education Committee for 15 years and has a great interest in schools and learning. He was also chairman of the South Cheshire College board of governors. He is currently chairman of Driving Crewe Forward, an agency that has contributed to the develo

Not a quiz snap as such but can you guess where this photo was taken? Not one of mine, in fact I think I can retire as so many seem to have come in from Crewe blog readers recently. This one's from TimP who does the Crewe and Nantwich Ghost Tours (see here). He took this about four years ago...

Se tudo correr como se espera, esse será mais um jogo emocionante, equilibrado, e decidido por detalhes, daí algum risco mais elevado para essa pick. Isso porque será um jogo entre aflitos, entre dois times que lutam pela permanência na League One, mas que é quase certo só haver vaga para um deles, e mesmo estando [...]

I tell you, some people are just trigger happy and seem to carry a camera more than yours truly! That Railwayman for starters who seems to churn photos out daily! All good stuff, though, and he took advantage of being in the right place at the right time last week when he spotted two Crewe Works legends side-by-side at Shrewsbury. Both locos pictured were built in Crewe Works - the 47826 was built in Crewe around 1965 and the 48151 was built at Crewe Works in 1942. Both locomotives belong to the West Coast Railway Company, which is a private company... .

Just last Friday I was walking under the library car park and out into Municipal Square when I overheard a couple chatting about the memorial. "Didn't that used to be in the shopping square," asked the bloke. "Not sure," replied his wife, "it looks as though it's been there a while." Couldn't help myself, so we had a brief natter about how Britannia came to move from Market Square, later installed on its new base in October 2006. It turns out they were from near Holmes Chapel and hadn't been to Crewe for a while. The photo, taken from the council offices balcony, came from Terry Beard's collection...

There's something really encouraging to see the bigger names arriving in and around Crewe and Nantwich of late. We've heard news about Girls Aloud and McFly at Pop in the Park, I'm hoping that we can announce the household names scheduled for Queens Park (August Carnival weekend) soon, successful soul nights have recently been staged, the Limelight Comedy goes from strength to strength with sell-out gigs and national comedians now gracing the stage, the Limey itself is being transformed (hopefully get more on that soon), there's big-time BMX due at Tipkinder and amateur boxing is back on the Crewe map. Fantastic stuff, and you certainly can't complain about a lack of decent entertainment these days. Noticed today that the M Club have now signed up a few "names" on the back of some criticis

One of the benefits of developing a new track and having a decent home side is that regional, national and (eventually) international events will come to Crewe. That's now the case with Cheshire Ghost Riders and the Tipkinder BMX track off Victoria Avenue near the park. It's already a popular venue with riders coming from all over the country to try out the course and experience the sport under floodlights. I've been down to the track a few times over the last year and the progress made has been fantastic. Membership has soared, safety has been improved, there's secure lock-up facilities and starting gates went live last month..On Sunday 25th May, round 4 of the North Region BMX Series comes to Crewe. Anyone can go along to watch (free), just take the advice of stewards who will ensure tha

Here's another of the local clubs that deserves a bit of publicity. Hard-working athletes of all ages, dedicated volunteers and some miserable weather to endure!.Had an email from a work colleague who said it would be ok to take a few snaps, so with Sunday lunch tucked away in th'oven and bubbling away nicely I popped over to the Cumberland track at the bottom Thomas Street (as an aside, the parking there is due to become a paid car park soon. Does this mean that young athletes will also have to pay on a Sunday? Hardly an incentive that, is it?). Anyway, it was all part of the Cheshire Track & Field League, with around 40 events scheduled across the wet afternoon. The top photo shows the start of the 3000m race (ladies and gents starting together), with a famous Crewe landmark in the b

By the start of May you should see the publicity for Crewe Live 08 really kick in. Some fantastic artwork has been created by STA who work alongside LC Charles SEAT car dealership. Posters and flyers are almost ready and you'll also see a huge billboard advert as you come out of the rail station. More local companies have added their support, including Re-Lay and Taylor Hollinshead who also support the blog. That's great news. Anyway, on with the bands... Alium (top left and below) is a four-piece that plays a fusion of punk and metal. The band was formed 18 months ago by four friends and has been playing pubs and Battle of the Bands gigs around Chester and Northwich. Their music is influenced by NoFX, Trivium, Rise Against and Iron Maiden. The line-up is James on lead guitar and vocals, M

Ok, a mixed bag. Started the day down town with Mrs Crewe blog and managed to grab myself half an hour enjoying a coffee and a read of the paper while herself did girlie shopping stuff. She's off to she her mum and dad in Jamaica next week and has some serious purchasing and packing to do. Personally, I'd leave it all until next Saturday! Anyway, Marco rang around lunchtime asking if I was going to the Pig (British Lion) for a pre-match pint. Doh! I had a moment of panic. I'd been planning to go to the footy all week, hoping to see the Alex secure League One safety. Trouble was, the lads were due at Coppenhall Leisure Centre for a birthday party. In fact, it was the Godson's 9th, a roller-skating bash. So a brief thought about leaving Mrs Crewe blog to it was concluded with a heavy dose of

The latest book about our town is Crewe - History & Guide, by Peter Ollerhead. I grabbed it from town but you can pick up a copy direct from the author at his shop, Copnall Books, at 18 Meredith Street (just check the opening times, 01270-580470). It's a comprehensive work, a thorough history that looks to complement works that have gone before it. It's not a picture book as such although the pages are illustrated by 130 images. Having just read Pies and Prejudice I was happy in the knowledge that Crewe was the gateway to the north. However, the cover of this latest work describes us as "one of the Midlands' youngest towns" on its cover. Whatever, I'm 3/4 through the book and will post a few more thoughts next week. What I'd prefer is to hear the opinion of you lot, if you've had chanc

That blog regular the Railwayman has certainly got a decent photo archive, whether you're looking for railway stuff, speedway snaps or Crewe Alex memories. Here's one of his many photos that show the August intake of trainees at Crewe Works. The British Rail camera was usually on hand! The whole intake - which consisted of 100-plus in the 1970s - would be snapped in groups. Check out the 70s hair! The one above was from around 1973 and is one of a few that have remained in the archives. The Railwayman has access to a few more should you want the first days of your working life remembering. Anyone spot any faces on the photo, and where are they now?

One of the perks of being CNBC Mayor for a year is the chance to travel in style to each engagement. Current mayor Maurice Jones was over at Bentley Motors last week collecting the borough's new (leased) motor, a dashing silver Continental Flying Spur. I think it's superb that he gets to drive around in one of the town's products and showcases the best of Crewe, Cheshire and even England. However, you often hear mumblings about economy, the environment and how someone like the mayor should set an example. Surely not? A Crewe product must be celebrated, especially around the town it's made. I'm all for green, healthy travel but you can't have the mayor rolling up on a bike - can you?