1989
did not begin well for the District Council. It was voted “ Most
Philistine” Council in the satirical magazine “Private Eye” for
the second year running. The 1980s locally were dominated by
proposals to redevelop Leek and although there was much local
opposition the Council were determined to press ahead. Matters had
come to a head with a referendum taken the previous autumn in which
the plans were rejected
Another
charge levelled at the authority was its obsessive secrecy and its
willingness to accept the mediocre in terms of building designs for
the town centre and for the new Council chamber. It seems to me as a
long term resident of the town that the lack of openness identified
by the magazine still exists today.
The
Post and Times carried headlines of the mental health strategy of
local health services. It was reported that 120 patients from St
Edwards Hospital were being moved out in the community. These plans
were in line with the tenor of the times. Some years earlier the
Griffiths Report on Community Care had been published which called
for the closure of “asylums” and the treatment of patients in
the community. It was a move generally supported by health
professionals and the users. Long stay hospitals had been built often
in countryside some way from urban areas and the patients tended to
be institutionalised in such facilities. In the late 80s I worked as
a Community Health Council officer in the North west and can recall
some of the terrible stories of patient who had been effectively
incarcerated in huge hospitals like Calderstones in Lancashire. In
one case a woman had been a patient since the 1930s for having a
child out of wedlock.
Bill
Sheldon of Wetley Rocks turned 90 in 1989. He was a First World War
veteran joining the Leicestershire Regiment at the age of 18. He had
a memento of his war experiences in the trenches. A German prisoner
at the end of the war had made him a shaving mirror complete with
the crest of Bill's regiment- the Fox. Bill had a narrow escape in
Flanders in 1917 when he and 5 other comrades including a mate from
Longnor were detailed to go on a night raid to gather information.
There plans were discovered by an alert German machine gunner who
opened fire on them in No Man's land. Only Bill and the Longnor man
made it safely back to British lines
It
was a happy opening of the year for the Riondino family when Tracey
nee Lowndes of Leek gave birth to triplets. Tracey was married to an
evangelist preacher Carmine from Italy and they had given the
children biblical names Melchisedel, Zipporah and Zion. The family
were visiting family members in Leek over the festive period.
Carmine had an interesting past and as a young man was involved with
the Mafia. He bought this experience to good use in working with gang
members and drug user and the family planned to build a church in
Central Italy,
Residents
in Rudyard were outraged at the activities of a local hunt which had
disrupted life in the area over several months in 1988/9. Fox hounds
had crashed into a garden in Devil's Lane causing several cats and a
puppy to narrowly escape with their lives, the dogs had wrecked havoc
in gardens as they pursued a fox some distance. Worse occurred some
months earlier when a toddler witnessed a cub ripped apart in front
of him.
Leek
Ladies had formed a football club and were serious in intent. They
took training seriously going on longcross country runs. The star of
the team was Maxine Brookes who had acquired the nickname “ Mad
Max” given her tenacious tackling ability. It had not gone too
smoothly as in an early fixture they were beaten by the Doncaster
Belles 36-0
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