Maghull Civic Awards

Maghull Town Council has for decades had a Civic Award Night. I was pleased to be invites to the 2016 event and to see such a good turn out in the Town Hall

The evening began with the former Mayor presenting a cheque to he chosen charity. The current Mayor June Burns introduced her charity The Honeysuckle Bereavement Service and there was a presentation of the work they do.

The awards:

Maghull Business Award Strong Guard Security UK

Maghull Environmental Award
Debbie Jackson (Winner)
Maghull In Bloom

Maghull Educational Award Rory Millington (Winner)
Associated Merseyside Partnership SCITT
Brandon Groves
Amanda Bennett

Maghull Youth Award

Deyes High Year 11 Pensioners' Party Committee (Winners)
Maghull High Anne Frank Ambassadors (Winners)

Maghull Civic Award Steve Little & the Maghull & District Lions
Ronnie Wilson
John Morris
Gill Pietrasanta
Rita Addison
Ian Taylor
David Hughes (Winner)
Ian Porter
Viv & Mike Pen
Ben Kelly

Maghull's Legally Blonde...

I'm not sure that I would normally have ventured out on a cold November's evening to see an amateur performance of Legally Blonde. I am mightily pleased that I did accept Maghull's Musical Theatre's invitation to attend their production of the show.

It was a 'wow', so much energy, so much talent and so much youth was on show, not to mention so much pink, even the band had pink tee shirts. I fully expected the two dogs in the production to have pink coats on. (Those dogs were very well behaved and some dog owners could benefit us all if they got their animals so well trained).

The big thing that stood out for me was the participation of so many young people. MMTC deserve praise for their success in engaging so many talented youngsters all of whom had obviously work exceedingly hard to reach the high standard on display in this production.

Without exception the principals turned in outstanding performances and the show was frequently interrupted by applause.

The night I went the Little Theatre was packed the audience thoroughly enjoyed the show. Again one of the most noticeable things was that there were lots of young people in the theatre.

On every level this was a success. Congratulations to the company.

Deyes High Awards evening

David Stewart and I after the presentations

I was pleased to be invited to attend the Awards Evening at Deyes High School in Maghull. It is always uplifting to hear the stories of young people and their successes. At Deyes I heard not only about their academic and sporting prowess but also their service to the wider community. When there is far too much negativity about young people it is important that these stories are heard.

The guest speaker, former Deyes student, David Stewart spoke about his journey from Deyes High to a top job at QPR. He was a football obsessed teenager whose parents guided him to maintain his academic studies. At University he recognised he wasn't going to be a top professional and saw an opening in performance analysis. After an unpaid internship he got a permanent job and subsequent promotion. His talk was well received by the school.

Without doubt to two best delivered presentations of the night came from Head Boy, James Thompson, and Head Girl, Amy Louise Baker. It was very impressive that two young people spoke so compellingly,-theirs was not a flat monotonal offering but something where both the content and the way it was delivered commanded attention even at the end of the evening.

When I got home I checked out the school website and found that they had taken up World Mental Health Day and this piece appeared in the school newsletter:


World Mental Health Day took place on Monday 10th October 2016. This week during form time, Year 12 students have been discussing different mental health problems, to raise awareness of this important issue. Some of the conditions students have been discussing include stress, anxiety, depression and post traumatic stress disorder. They have been discussing how to recognise the signs of mental health problems, coping strategies and sources of help.

As regular readers will know I have done my best to raise mental health issues during my Mayoral year and a few days earlier had hosted the first ever Mayoral reception to mark the day. Well done Deyes High.

Opening the new Manna training centre Maghull

I was asked to open a New Day centre in Maghull run principally for people with learning difficulties. The sun shone as we assemble outside for the opening ceremony> Indeed the sun shone so brightly we had to move in door to do the photos of me cutting the ribbon

It was great to meet so many of the people who are going to use the centre and to see their enthusiasm. The team have great and ambitious plans for the future and I wish them every good fortune.

Congratulations to Maghull Canal Fest a brilliant event 200 yrs of the Leeds Liverpool canal

on board the Pride of Sefton 2 with the Mayor of Maghull (and Josh her consort), Peter Gill the chair of Aintree Parish Council (and his wife) and Bill Esterson.

As the clouds darkened over Melling I set sail on the Pride of Sefton at the head of a flotilla of narrow boats making their way into the Canal Fest in Maghull.

The Canal tow paths and bridges on our way were lined with people joining in the celebrations for the 200th anniversary of the Leeds Liverpool canal.  Our destination was the Canal Fest being held at the Maghull Cricket ground.

On our way we passed many things of interest and we were lucky to have such an informed guide the Captain of the Pride of Sefton Dan

It is hard to grasp just how important the canals were to the growth of industrial Britain. 200 years ago the new canal had a transformative impact of the North of England. It would be good if we could have a modern day equivalent-say HS3?

Dan also pointed out the pill boxes that were build in WW2
and which I have posted about separately.

Josh, the Mayor of Maghull's consort, was also a mine of information, he frequently walks the tow paths and as a child had an arrangement with one of the local houses to stop off  to collect apples as he kayaked down the canal. Nowadays he fishes this stretch for pike. I was sorry to hear that he threw the fish back as I believe that it is good to eat

Arriving at Maghull cricket ground

When we arrived I met Adam Ryan who was very keen to come on board. Dan did the honours and after a photo gave him a tour of the boat

It was good to bump into my good friend Tony Robertson who took the next two photos. You can read his write up of the day here


As regular readers will know I had to choose the winner of a model boat building competition yesterday and I chose The Sarah after one of my grandchildren. This rather left her twin sister out of it so I was delighted to spot a boat in the flotilla named The Lily May

photo by Tony Robertson

The band entertained the crowds

By now the threatened rain had begun in earnest. Bill and I said words of welcome from the stage and headed off to the tea tent. The catering came from Scrummies Café in Maghull and was excellent. They had even baked a cake for the Mayor -but that is another story

another cake that got away......

Leeds Liverpool canal Wartime defensive 'stop line' still visible

the pill box we passed

 On board the Pride of Sefton on Sunday as part of the 200th anniversary celebration for the Leeds Liverpool canal I had the pleasure of the company of Captain Dan. As we made our way from Aintree to Maghull he provided a fascinating commentary on the canal and its history

Of particular interest are the war time defences that were established along the canal in this part of Lancashire. Dan explained the 'stop line' to me and pointed out the pill box that we passed.

Captain Dan explaining about the war time defences. Photo courtesy of Amanda Bennett

When I got home I 'googled it' for more information and found from the Tow Path Treks website that:

Lancashire has a coastline with flat beaches ideal for amphibious landings. Inland from the coast is the Lancashire plain, flat agricultural land which would be a good landing zone for paratroopers or for gliders and transport planes to crash land.  To defend against this a defensive "Stop Line" was built. The Western Command Stop Line Number 14 extended from Wigan to Liverpool and was based around the Leeds Liverpool Canal. Stop Lines were based on anti-tank ditches and pill boxes. Their aim was to slow down the enemy's advance and to allow counter attack. Villages would be defended to become islands of resistance. The canal and its embankment would act as the anti-tank ditch. Concrete pill boxes and fortified buildings were places at bridges and at points with good views over the fields below.  The stop lines were designed to combat light tanks and infantry not the Panzers and blizkrieg that the Nazis used so efficiently in Europe. The defences were built quickly, some are based on official designs others unique to their location.

To be fair that is almost exactly what Captain Dan explained to me

Maghull Community Sports and Fun day

Well who knew that Maghull used to have a Rhubarb industry, I thought that was confined to the Triangle in Yorkshire. The church keeps alive the memory of the site where they built their chapel by calling their Newsletter The Rhubarb Patch
I was met by Chris Fazakerley the organiser who explained how the Day had grown. The Baptist church are on good neighbourly terms with the RC Primarily School, St George's, on whose playing fields the event is held.

I was then met by the new Minister Keith Parr who recently arrived from Coventry. He is lucky to have come to such a vibrant and active church.

The first thing anyone tells you about Maghull Baptists is that they are famous for their baking. Well, in my experience church fairs are amongst the very best place to get good baking but nothing had prepared me the sheer quantity and quality of the cakes that arrived in the refreshment tent. All were freshly baked.

All the fun of the fair was at this Fun Day, Archery, Rugby skills, football, bouncy castles and crazy golf

My partner was much better at avoiding Peppa pig than I was

This was a genuine community event and it was good to see the generations enjoying themselves together.

I was shown round the Chapel and the two hall-one a sports hall land the other a community room with excellent kitchen facilities. I met a former Minister who had come back in retirement to Maghull. He was telling me about the churches link with Moldova. It was good to hear that the members compassion was not limited to these islands and that the internationalist values that have always been a part of non conformity are alive and well.

As I was about to leave and just before I had time to grab one of the very fine hot dogs from the barbeque I was accosted by two ladies from a health food stall who were keen to get me to try one of their smoothies.......

A green breakfast Colon Cleanser made with spinach, celery, kiwi apple, wheatgrass and chai seeds

Maghull's South Pacific

The cast of South Pacific backstage after the show.....

South Pacific is a show full of hits. I'm gonna wash that man right out of my hair, Some enchanted evening, Younger than Springtime, Happy Talk are among the Rodgers and Hammerstein numbers many people who have never seen South Pacific may know. On Wednesday night I was lucky enough to invited by the Maghull Musical Theatre Co to their production at The Little Theatre in Southport.

First I should say what a friendly company the Maghull folk are and they put on a really enjoyable show with some great individual and ensemble performances. The comic rendering of Honey Bun almost stopped the show. Mind you we needed a laugh to break the tension. I thought the Maghull cast handled plot exceptionally well. This show deals with racial tension and prejudice. It was first performed in 1949 in America still scarred by racial segregation. It was 14 year before Martin Luther King shared his dream  and South Pacific does not shy away from challenging attitudes that were prevalent in many parts of the USA. One such place was Little Rock where schooling was still segregated, this is the town that Nellie Forbush the heroine of the show hails from and we see her struggle with the prejudices acquired in childhood. Make no mistake Rodgers and Hammerstein set out to write a hit musical that had a clear progressive message on racism. The Maghull production got that message across whilst still achieving a really good evenings entertainment.

I particularly liked they way they did 'I'm gonna wash that man right out of my hair' and, as I've already said their Honey Bun was a delight to behold.

I talked with members of the cast after the show including Nellie, played by Kew Woods TA Kay Williams and Luther Billis, played by Les Gommersall who were the two who pulled off the brilliant Honey Bun routine-Les sporting a coco shell bra. Backstage I also met the Company's Chair Betty Hall. She had not been hobnobbing with the likes of me me but instead was busy back stage. And I should say it was hot. In fact the temperature and humidity matched the South Pacific.

Next up for the Maghull songsters is Legally Blonde and that promises to be another great night's entertainment judging by the performance I saw. They did Maghull proud,