In 1951, our Society began with six people on the stage of Eagle Brow schoolroom, Lymm. The play was "The Rotters" (no one has heard of it since) and the aforementioned six people were all in the play, as well as doing all the stage work, make up, providing all the furniture and properties. If anyone forgot their lines they just had to prompt each other. But, small though it was, Lymm Amateur Dramatic Society was born.

After the first two or three plays, we had enlisted a few more members and we began to "tread the boards" at the old cinema in Lymm. This meant going to the second house on a Saturday night, so that we were there to take down the cinema screen when the film finished, then spend all day Sunday erecting the set and painting the scenery. Sadly Lymm cinema closed in 1962 and Rainbow Nursery now stands on the site.

However, our time at the cinema was not very profitable, so back we went to Eagle Brow, where we remained and progressed - albeit slowly - until 1968.  During our years at Eagle Brow, the Society made many good friends and we especially thank our audience, who supported us so loyally in those early days. Without them, we just wouldn’t have survived all these years.

We cannot let memories of our years at Eagle Brow pass without paying tribute to two of our most devoted members, Sam and Elsie Owen. They were with us in our very first play and, after Sam died, Elsie remained with us and practically carried us about. When plays were in production, we filled her house with costumes and bits and pieces and nearly emptied it by borrowing much of her furniture for our stage set. It was a great loss to us all when she too died in 1968 and both she and Sam will always be remembered with gratitude and affection.

Unfortunately, our long stay at Eagle Brow came to an end in 1968 as they needed the hall for themselves and we suddenly found ourselves homeless. Our last play there was "The Captives" – a very moving play that will not be forgotten by those who saw it.

So there we were, with nowhere to stage our plays, nowhere to store our scenery and equipment and all feeling very despondent, believing that our Society had met its end. But every cloud has a silver lining, and our good friend, Bill Burrows, allowed us to store our goods and chattels in his old smithy at Heatley.

Mr Hall from Heatley station gave us some storage space in one of his old waiting rooms, and we finally managed to move ourselves out of Eagle Brow all in one evening.

As we couldn’t find anywhere in Lymm suitable for staging our plays, one of our former members suggested we approach the vicar of Thelwall with the view of using the church hall. We were greeted with great enthusiasm and Thelwall became the new home for Lymm Amateur Dramatic Society.

After making a few alterations to suit our needs, we produced our first play at Thelwall in January 1969, "Bonaventure", a play we had presented some years previously.

We found the vicar and officials at the Parochial Church Council most helpful and co-operative, and our audience in Thelwall most enthusiastic. Since then we have grown our membership and audience. We are deeply grateful to all our loyal supporters who come from Lymm to see us and also to all our new friends from Thelwall and surrounding districts.

Once it became obvious that Thelwall was going to be our new home and we were there to stay, we decided to change our name to the "Bridgewater Players", this being the common link between Lymm and Thelwall in the form of the canal that runs through both villages. It was hoped that this might draw in more members and audience from both communities and over the years this has certainly been the case.

Of course, the dream of any drama group is to have "a place of its own" but with the ever-increasing costs associated with staging plays and running a hall it remains a dream unless we find ourselves a very rich benefactor.

Our main concern, of course, is to continue to entertain our audiences. We hope that in the past we have managed to amuse, to frighten and sometimes even to reduce the audience to tears, always in the hope we have managed to hold their interest and given them something to think about. In the meantime we continue to make progress at Thelwall and have now performed over 160 productions, which we are extremely proud to have achieved.

In closing, may we thank all our members, both past and present, for all their hard work that is done both on stage and behind the scenes. Without their willing help and support, The Bridgewater Players would not have reached the happy state we are in today.

Anyone interested in joining our Society should contact us on 0845 331 2958 Option 0, 1 or 2. (Local call rate applies in the UK)

Link to their website: www.bridgewaterplayers.co.uk    (Information supplied)

Newlove Warrington           

The Newlove Warrington Campaign aims to make the town a safer and better place and hopes to improve the sense of community and opportunity across the town. It was inspired by Helen Newlove, who lost her husband Garry on 12 August 2007 when he was brutally murdered by youths after confronting them about vandalism outside his Warrington home.

The goals of the campaign are to inspire, motivate and provide.
• Inspiring people to lead a more purposeful life
• Motivating people to enrich their lives
• Providing opportunities for positive interaction within communities

Between 28 June and 12 July 2009, the Newlove FM community radio station broadcast 24 hours a day from Golden Square Shopping Centre to promote the work of the Warrington-based charity. Contributions came from the leaders of the two main political parties.

For more information about the charity, link to their website www.newlovewarrington.co.uk

Ethan Connolly               

Ethan Connolly suffers from a rare lymphangioma, a cyst on his face which enlarges his features.  He was born in Warrington hospital in May 2004 and immediately diagnosed with Cystic Hygroma. He was transferred to intensive care and eventually to Alder Hay hospital. He was given a tracheostomy to help him to breathe. During a tube change he went into a respiratory and cardiac arrest and after resuscitation he later suffered a punctured lung. In July 2007 he flew over to Berlin for the first of a series of operations to remove the cyst. To find out more and make a donation to the £50,000 appeal to cure his condition, see his myspace website.

The Shannon Bradshaw Trust   

A Charity helping children with life-threatening conditions - and their families.

SHANNON'S STORY

In February 2002, doctors at Alder Hey Hospital, Liverpool, diagnosed Shannon as having a life threatening condition - Aplastic Anaemia. She had just turned 7, before that she had been a happy, healthy little girl.

After being told a bone marrow transplant was her only hope of a cure, but with no suitable donor on the register, her aunt Jackie organised Blood Donor clinics throughout the North West. This resulted in over 6000 people registering with the Anthony Nolan Trust, an organisation specialising in matching patients with suitable bone marrow donors. Unfortunately, by the time a perfect match was found Shannon was too ill to have the life-saving operation and sadly on the 17 July 2002, just 5 short months after first diagnosis, Shannon lost her very brave battle.

See more on the charity's website www.shannonstrust.org.uk

Dallam & District Angling Club   

Penketh & Old Hall Angling Society - Celebrating 25 Years

www.pohas.co.uk

We have a Junior development fund which provides matches, transport and food free to our Junior club members (the League consists of six matches spread across the Summer school holidays), we also give away free tackle to the Junior club members who attend our annual prize night, which is held in October.

We usually give away in excess of £1,000 worth of equipment which is purchased by our fund and enhanced with donations from equipment manufacturers and local tackle shops.

Members who supervise Junior matches are all CRB Approved (Police Checked). We have a child protection policy in place, and we are in the process of sending members on a Level 1 coaching course, which is a nationally recognised course, and we have had help and funding from our local Environment Agency office.

As you can see we are a forward thinking club and continue to develop with the times and help enhance our local community.

For more information check out the society's website www.pohas.co.uk.

Life for a Life - Mersey Meadow   

On the Trans Pennine Trail in west Warrington you will come across a new memorial forest and gardens called Mersey Meadow, operated by 'Life for a Life'. Life for a Life is a NOT FOR PROFIT, NON-DENOMINATIONAL, registered charity (Reg No 1096422). It offers you the chance to commemorate your loved ones by planting memorial trees and installing memorial benches in one of thirty woodland locations across the United Kingdom. See Warrington Green page for photos. Also check out their website www.lifeforalife.org.uk.

Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Peace Foundation

Following the IRA bomb attacks on Warrington town centre in 1993, the choir became involved in promoting peace and an end to violence in Northern Ireland. Links were forged with Irish peace groups and, for more than a decade, cross-community concerts for Peace and Reconciliation were performed throughout the island of Ireland, to help break down sectarian divisions. The fostering and financing of ‘grass roots’ reconciliation activities with young people in the interface areas of West Belfast contributed to the choir’s initiatives being acknowledged at the highest level by the Irish, British and United States governments. In 1996 Terry Waite CBE became Patron in tribute to the choir’s humanitarian role, and now frequently supports the choir’s performances in British and Irish prisons, assisting rehabilitation programmes.

The choir were National Champions of Great Britain 1994-1997, and Runners-up at the Llangollen International Eisteddfod in 1998, to name just two of their many achievements. To find out more about the choir or to join up, check out their official website.

GEORGE & DRAGON, GLAZEBURY

Launched in October 2007, Roof Shop’s search for the nation’s favourite cafés has drawn to a close, but who was crowned as the North West’s ‘Best Caff 2008’? 

After an immense response from cafés and tradesmen nationwide, Roof Shop, a national roofing merchant brand, has now announced its winning caffs! On March 27^th 2008, the competition culminated in an awards ceremony held at the Belfry, in the West Midlands, where all café finalists attended together with Roof Shop (sponsor and organiser of the competition) staff and suppliers.

Nine regional cafés were awarded for their nominations, the North West’s winner awarded to Shelly’s Restaurant, Warrington. The ‘Best Bacon Buttie’ accolade was presented to last year’s overall winner JJ’s Café and the overall national winner 2008 went to the Giggling Sausage, Northampton, who received the accolade of ‘Britain’s Best Caff 2008’ and a holiday prize worth over £2,000.

The traditional ‘caff’ has become iconic within the construction industry. Roof Shop’s competition has finally put the spotlight back on the country’s treasured and long-established cafés. Café customers have been given the chance over the past few months to vote for their favourite café by handing in nomination forms to their nearest Roof Shop branch.