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It has been amazing to see the response to the stories of the Mills which has come about due to local company Waymark securing UKSPF grant funding from SMDC for an oral history project on the town's heritage industry. Waymark's project is called Tape - Recorded, and to complement this the Cheadle Historical Society and Cheadle Library created an exhibition. Local shops got involved too and displayed, and sold, heritage samples made in the local mills.
The shortlist of children's art entered into the competition was on display in Gelato and Cakes window.
The lucky winners were treated to a voucher for delicious treats in the shop, paid for by MJS Transport.
Cheadle Arts is really grateful to Antonia and Keren for administrating this event. And a huge thank you to all the children who drew amazing pictures for the competition.
The shortlist of children's art entered into the competition was on display in Gelato and Cakes window.
The lucky winners were treated to a voucher for delicious treats in the shop, paid for by MJS Transport.
Cheadle Arts is really grateful to Antonia and Keren for administrating this event. And a huge thank you to all the children who drew amazing pictures for the competition.
What sort of Festival would it be without some live music, played by proper bands, up on stage? Cheadle knows how to party and the Guild Hall had it all going on. Bands, bar, the lot.
This year we are pleased to say that a number of our events have enjoyed capacity crowds. Our opening night of Drama and Performances on 30th September was full. The musical evening with Moorland Voices, Madula African Drummers and Mr Will had a great turnout in a very large venue. And the Comedy Night was a sell out success at the newly refurbished Coach House at Hales Hall - and what an amazing atmosphere there was that night. It's a great space for an event.
There is so much musical talent in Cheadle and our Afternoon Tea and Performances was a lovely afternoon showcasing a few of the very active groups in the area. The Guild Hall was laid out for afternoon tea and attendees were treated to wonderful performances from the Alton Handbell Ringers, Uke3A with their ukeleles, and the Cheadle and District Community Choir.
So far, so good with our Workshops! Cheadle Arts is enormously indebted to Thom, Charlie and Dan for volunteering their time and expertise this week to encourage more local people to express themselves creatively.
A new mural is being created at Cheadle Skate Park in an initiative by community arts project OUTSIDE and Cheadle Arts Festival. The ramp walls in the skate park are soon to be transformed, bringing fresh, contemporary art to the young people of the town.
What an amazing start to the Arts Festival! The talented Cheadle Choral Society treated us to some moving favourites from Oliver and Les Miserables. Legato & Licorice wind quartet played a number of popular items and all together it was a wonderful performance in a stunning setting.
We love having the Stoke-on-Trent branch of the Urban Sketchers get together in support of the Cheadle Arts Festival and were pleased to hear that some new faces turned up to swell their ranks. They are a very supportive group and all levels of experience and ability are warmly welcomed. We were very grateful for their lovely feedback:
Regular Urban Sketcher John commented, "Really enjoyed this morning's outing to St Giles' Church in Cheadle. A stunning location - almost overwhelmed by the detail in the building."
Painting with young family always seems like a good idea, but there are a million reasons why it doesn't happen on your own kitchen table. Parents have a To Do list and chores that need doing. The table is covered in so much stuff already. The paints are somewhere, who knows, probably dried up and don't even ask about paper and brushes. And then there's the mess that needs cleaning up afterwards. Plus, it would actually just be nicer to go out and about instead. So....
Does anyone have any connections with anyone who worked for the Cheadle Textile Company (ceased trading in the 1970s) or Brough, Nicholson and Hall at the Oakamoor Road mill, which closed in the 1980s? Similarly, of the Tean Mill?
Creative Cheadle began back in 2016 when we created our very first yarn bomb in celebration of Her Majesty’s 90th birthday. The group of volunteers has grown over the years enabling us to create much bigger creative displays for the community to enjoy. Our most recent and largest to date is the sunflowers currently on the High Street, designed to honour Dougie Macs 50th year.
As the Cheadle Arts Festival gathers pace for the return of a full programme, we are delighted to spotlight Hales Hall. The Arts Festival Comedy Night will be one of the first events to take place in the newly refurbished Coach House.
The Hales Hall chefs are putting on an amazing menu for the night, based on their super-popular pie nights. Add in our amazing line up of professional comedians and you have yourselves a top night out for just £20 per head.
We had a great time at the 2023 Party in the Park. What a great day - there's not much for free these days but Cheadle provided the community with lots of free entertainment. And Cheadle Arts got involved by offering some artistic fun. We had people of all ages painting fabric squares.
In the last couple of weeks, since Party in the Park, our creative volunteers have miraculously transformed all these amazing pieces of art into a banner that will be displayed in the window at Cheadle Library.
Cheadle in Bloom group came to one of our first planning meetings and agreed to get involved. Trouble is, there isn't much in bloom in October. Once it was realised that during the period of the festival the planters in Cheadle would be empty, after the summer plants have been tidied away, but before the winter planting is in place, we all started to get creative.
Nearly 100 pieces of art were created in a packed session at Cheadle Carnival. Our volunteers were rushed off their feet handing out squares of cloth, pots of paint and brushes to our have-a-go artists.
Prior to that we had all pitched in to prep for the event. Not only did we use some of our grant money to buy the fabric and paints, we then had to cut the squares and thought it was easier if there were borders to paint within so we marked them ready.
