February 2013
BRIDGER 143
FEBRUARY 2013
The chairman opened the meeting be welcoming everyone and asking for apologies.
Bridger
Following my appeal in the January Bridger for sponsorship or ideas to raise money to pay for the future printing of the Bridger, we have had a fantastic offer from MURBROS, Johnson Street, Howe Bridge.
Murbros have offered to print the Bridger FREE of charge for the benefit of the residents of Howe Bridge. This is an excellent gesture from Murbros and we look forward to working with them in the future.
You will probably notice improvements in the lay-out and presentation of the newsletter, a very welcome progression.
Gardeners Bowling Club.
The renovation and refurbishment of the areas around the bowling green are progressing very well, a small number of volunteers have been working for several months on this project and completion is very near.
The success of this project has been possible by the fantastic support and donations by many local companies and also from support from companies outside of our area.
Part of the project has been to create a safe practical footpath around the bowling green that would be suitable for wheelchair users. This required several different types of materials and lots of hard work, the work was done by members of the Bridgers and the Bowling club, the materials were provided either FREE of charge or at very good discounted prices.
Timber Shuttering was provided by BOYDELLS TIMBER, LEIGH at an excellent price.
Weather shield Paint for the shuttering was provided by RE-BUILD, BURY and B&Q, LEIGH, very cheaply and some donated.
The hardcore that we used was the remains of the dilapidated building that was at the side of the green, this had been demolished prior to our project starting.
The top surface of hardcore was provided FREE OF CHARGE by FISHERS, ARLEY WAY, ATHERTON, this was in the shape of very excellent fine road scrapings, because it was so fine, it made the
job of creating a level surface for the concrete to be laid on quite easy.
The concrete is being provided by AMIX, HORWICH LOCO WORKS, HORWICH, again for a very good price.
Part of the “ gulley “ had to be suitable to enable drainage of the green to take place, for this we needed washed pebbles, these were provided by TBS OF TYLDESLEY at a discounted price.
During the renovations we had to use a Powered Air Pick, this was loaned to us FREE of charge by
SUM1 MULTI-TRADES-BUILDERS, BOLTON.
Also during the renovations we were also assisted by BM PLANT REPAIRS, LEIGH.
Another part of the project was levelling off the area that used to be the old building, this was done and the area was turfed, the turf was provided by AMBROSE TURF SUPPLIES, MORLEY`S LANE, ASTLEY.
The reason that I have highlighted all the help that we have received is because all the companies we have used have gone out of their way to assist us in every way that they could and I would like to take this opportunity to say a MASSIVE THANKYOU to ALL of the suppliers and also to ALL of the volunteers that have turned out in all weathers to work on the project.
I would recommend all of the suppliers to you because of what they have done for HOWE BRIDGE.
For this they deserve OUR SUPPORT
The ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING of the bowling club is being held on SUNDAY FEBRUARY 3rd at 1-00pm in the Gardeners, old & new members to attend.
North West In Bloom.
Following the decision at the January meeting to accept the NWin Bloom judges suggestion that we enter the URBAN COMMUNITIES CATEGORY in the 2013 awards, we have made enquiries and discovered that the criteria for the judging in the Urban category is exactly the same as in the village category, with one difference, we will be allowed more time with the judges on judging day, this would be to our advantage because we never seemed to have enough time to show them all the village, now we will have the opportunity to impress then even more.
Guest Fold
By now, everyone affected by this project should have received a letter from Kath Godfrey regarding the meeting and gating issues, I understand that Kath will be visiting
all residents affected and this will be followed up by a meeting between Kath and Michael Fishwick in late January to discuss how to proceed with the development of the site.
Decisions will have to be made quickly so that the start of the growing season will not be missed.
Food Bank.
There has been a good response from residents of the village to the food bank appeal.
There is to be an OPEN DAY for people who want to volunteer to help with the food bank, this is being held on SATURDAY JANUARY 26th BETWEEN 10-00AM –2-00PM in St Annes Hall, Atherton Parish Church.
A training day for volunteers is being held on WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 6th in St Annes Hall between 10-00am—3-00pm, lunch will be provided
If you want more information, please contact Warren Done on
07980 881925 or
donewarren@yahoo.co.uk
St Michaels Church.
An Open day and Gift day is being held in the church on SATURDAY FEBRUARY 9th
On display will be both church and school records and artefacts.
Richard Sivill will be giving two talks, one at 11-15am and one at 2-00pm about “ A Parish at War “
The Vestry cafe will be open serving hot and cold food for the duration of the open day.
Sunday March 10th
Mothering Sunday All Age Service at 9-30am.
New Footpath.
The new footpath between Leigh Road and the Bypass is now almost completed, a few questions were put to Councillor Loudon regarding the path and she informed the meeting that she would find out the answers and report back to the meeting, she also informed the meeting that she had £1000.00 to spend on plants, shrubs etc for the pathway, but she would have to seek advice on the best way to spend this money.
Howe Bridge Shield
The shield has now been replanted for winter and looks amazing, comments have been made that this is the best it has looked since it was created.
Thanks to ALL the volunteers who turned up to work on the shield, the turnout was excellent.
Massive thanks also to MOSS BANK NURSERIES for supplying the plants.
Moss Bank are the most influential and valued partners we have and without their continued support we would not be able to carry on as successful as we are, hopefully this year we will be using them more than in previous years, it is our intention to hold more plant sales than before.
Scouts Notice Board.
We are having temporary problems with displaying notices at present, there is a problem with water seeping through onto the notices, hopefully this will be resolved very soon.
St Michaels School.
We are trying to create an historical book on St Michaels School, we are looking for information about the school from when it was built in the 1870s, including photographs, names of past Head Teachers, Teachers, Caretakers and other staff and any other information that would help to create a historical picture of the school, any anecdotes that could help people to understand what the school was like in days gone by would also be helpful, if you can help in any way please contact Natalie Haynes on
Prospect House.
Another historical query was put to us recently, has anyone any information about the history of PROSPECT HOUSE, Bolton Road, Atherton, we have found proof that it was there in 1844 because of survey maps, what we don`t know is, who built it, lived in it and why was it built, if you can help, please contact Terry Daly on,
Mining Artefacts.
Has anyone any information about how we could obtain old mining artefacts, a coal truck or something similar that could be used as a centre piece for Colliers Corner, does anyone know where there are any not being used or have been discarded.
If you have this information, PLEASE CONTACT Terry Daly on the email above.
The date of our next meeting is Thursday February 7th at 8-00pm in the Scout Headquarters, Leigh Road, Atherton.
One agenda item will be,
FUNDRAISING FOR THE VILLAGE, if you can help, PLEASE ATTEND THE MEETING
Last edited: 05/07/2021
