Its MO Laughing Matter

Due to increasing personal and work strains Milnrow Online will no longer report any local news and will revert to being an aggregator of information published on Twitter and Facebook by trusted sources.

I would like to thank all of our readers who over the past 18 months have helped us grow to over 2,000 subscribers, unfortunately time is our biggest enemy. My dream was for Milnrow Online to become a service to the people and businesses of Milnrow as the likes of Littleborough Local has become to Littleborough by being engrained in local activity and news however the time needed to find stories; validate them and write them up at the right time before posting has become too much alongside my 9-5 job in Manchester, trying to develop the website and my musical exploits in Cheshire.

I believe the only way to sustain a project like MO is to be local and be available, unfortunately too often I cannot promise either of those things. I would love for MO to live on and grow so if any local businesses or driven individuals would like to take over the reigns please do get in contact.

Jonny Shaw - Editor
Milnrow Online

Milnrow Throw Away Winning Position

Milnrow threw away a winning position in their home game against Middleton on Saturday and lost by 22 runs. From being 188 for 5, and looking like they would see the game home comfortably, Milnrow lost their last 5 wickets without scoring another run. It was a defeat that was tough to take for all at Ladyhouse, particularly as there were again encouraging individual performances, and the need for more resilient batting was again obvious.

Middleton came to Ladyhouse on a run of seven straight wins and their confidence showed as they made an excellent start. Tierney and Walker put on a century stand for the opening wicket and the Middleton professional Ernest Kemm again batted confidently for his 63. Milnrow stuck resolutely to the task, however, and Wilkinson put in one of his best performances of the season to record figures of 5 for 65 from his 20 overs; a fine return. Milnrow also fielded very well and there was a sense through the team that they could chase the total down.

Milnrow's openers did not last long, however, as both were back in the pavilion with the score on 3. Again Milnrow turned to professional James Price for a commanding innings and he did not disappoint. He batted superbly to reach his third century for the club. He played fluent, commanding shots and looked like he would lead the team to victory. Along the way he was given support with knocks from Power, Dryden and Wilson but with the score on 188 and with Price on 112, he was clean bowled by Rutter. This led to a disappointing collapse as the last five wickets fell in just two overs. Milnrow need to pick themselves up as they face the weekend games against Elton and Crompton and continue trying to build the team performances that will bring points in the second half of the season.

Contributed by
Colin Williamson
Chairman, Milnrow Cricket Club

Brett Becomes New Chairman Of Ellenroad

The new Chairman of the Ellenroad Trust is Councillor Allen Brett. Allen who was a founder trustee is there for the interim and has made two initial pledges; first to increase membership and second to increase visitor numbers. Allen said that if all the people in Milnrow, Newhey and Ogden were to visit who have told him it is on their to do list then numbers would rocket.

The next steaming is this Sunday 5th July

Milnrow Help Boarshurst On The Road To The Nationals

Last Sunday Milnrow Band treated the audience at Boarshurst Band Club to an excellent fare of brass band music with no sign of a march, overture or traditional arrangement to be heard… what ever would the traditionalists of this centre of local brass banding think?

The concert was to help raise funds for Boarshurst Bands appearance in the British Brass Bands National Championships Third Section Finals at Cheltenham in September 2015, competing for the pride of North West Bands.

It was a total surprise when the band commenced with 'All Night Long' the up beat Lionel Richie hit with a Caribbean feel from 1983, MD Mark Bentham then explained that in an endeavour to present something a little different the programme would feature music of styles and groups from the 'rock' and 'pop' era of the past.

The first solo offering of the evening was The Police / Sting (alias Gordon Sumner) hit 'Fields of Gold' and featured the lovely silken tones of Haley Moore on solo cornet - since her return to the band Haley has successfully taken on the role of Principal Cornet and recently was adjudged best solo cornet at the Grotton village Whit Friday contest (2015).

The band then gave us the “Elephant Medley”(ten items) from the feature film of 2001 'Moulin Rouge' and the audience was invited to 'name those tunes'.

Kenny Payne (Soprano Cornet) then stepped up to take the stage and wowed us with an arrangement of the Carpenters` hit 'Solitaire' from their 1975 album 'Horizon'.

In 1975, Stevie Wonder produced his composition 'Sir Duke' which featured in his 1976 album 'Songs in the Key of Life' in which he paid tribute to greats of the big band era such as Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald, Milnrow Band continued its unique programme with this well received item.

'Bohemian Rhapsody' by Freddy Mercury (Queen) was announced as the next item and it was explained that the first minute and a half was always sung by Mercury, so here was another surprise, the members of Milnrow Band laid down their instruments and regaled us with a beautiful acappella choral version of those first few minutes of the rhapsody before entering into the full version of this Queen favourite.

Final offering before the interval was a through the ages Beatles Medley, after which the band retired for some well earned liquid refreshment.

Upon its return Milnrow Band continued its homage to the past with 'Ruby Tuesday', recorded in 1966 and released in 1967 this was the bands` tribute to Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones.

Remembering the Carpenters and listening to their hit of 1972 'Goodbye to Love' was easy especially when performed as a solo by 15 year old Ellena Newton, this was a superb mature performance from the bands' solo trombone player, who has taken over the top seat from Chris Binns who has moved on to play with Black Dyke Band. Then more than a 'nod' to Michael Jackson, Bernstein and producer Quincy Jones with a full blooded version of 'Beat It' from Jackson's 1982 album 'Thriller'. Once again the band excelled with some choral accompaniment completed by a final solo shout of 'Beat It' rendered by BBb Bass player Stephen Armitage.

'The Way We Were', a Barbara Streisand hit of 1974 from the film of the same title which featured Robert Redford, encouraged Mick Morris (Solo Euphonium) to show off his versatility on the euphonium and he received a standing ovation for his efforts.

After such a varied and listenable programme the MD can be forgiven for including one of his own arrangements with which to delight us, and being a 'Madness' fan he had the band launch into a medley of Madness classics ,'It Must Be Love', 'Baggy Trousers' and 'House Of Fun'. 'Complete Madness' was a very apt title.

A Philip Sparke arrangement of 'Music' by John Miles, a hit in 1976 from his album 'Rebel' .was the final item but the audience coerced the band into a 'curtain call' and the band obliged with a version of hard rock 'Final Countdown' a hit in 1986 by Swedish group 'Europe'.

Thus ended a musical trip through the years with passing references to styles of music such as Ska, Rock, Soul, Big Band and groups such as The Beatles, Rolling Stones, the Carpenters and solo artists such as Lionel Richie, Sting, Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, and Stevie Wonder.

Janet Payne (Secretary of Boarshurst Band)announced that the event had raised £500 and she thanked Milnrow Band for giving its services and stressed how the friendship had grown between the two neighbouring bands, she also emphasised how important it was for all good soloists to have a good band behind them and the audience agreed with her that Championship Milnrow Band had provided an excellent programme of a very interesting and listenable nature.

Contributed by
Ken Watts - Band Presiden, Milnrow Band

Milnrow First XI Fall As Seconds Win Fifth In A Row

Milnrow were beaten by 64 runs in their game at Radcliffe CC on Saturday. Milnrow bowled Radcliffe out for 176 but were not able to capitalise on this and were bowled out themselves for 112. This was a disappointing result following last week's successful chase at Werneth.

Milnrow lost the toss and bowled first and struggled to make inroads into the Radcliffe batting. Price took the first wicket in the ninth over but the next wicket did not fall until the 20th over. The Milnrow attack did well to restrain the scoring with Radcliffe reaching 100 in the 28th over, but then Wilkinson, Price and Jack Wynn started to take regular wickets and from 105 for 2, Radcliffe collapsed to 176 all out. Wilkinson finished as the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 48. Price finished with 3 for 54 and Wynn finished with 2 for 27.

Jack Wynn's performance was the shining light on a disappointing day for Milnrow, in that he was the latest player from Milnrow's youth section to get a taste of first team action. He bowled well to take two top order wickets and took a good catch. Wynn, who also plays for Lancashire's under 14s, is one of Milnrow's most promising youngsters and will learn from this experience.

When Milnrow went into bat, they did not get the good start that was needed. Crabtree was bowled with the score on 5 and when professional James Price fell with the score on 34, it was clear that captain Max Power would again have to lead a rearguard action. In his usual resilient way he moved his score to 20 and stabilised the Milnrow innings, with suppport from Wilkinson and Wilson. With the score on 96, however, he was given out LBW, a decision that was questionable. From this point on, Milnrow's resistance crumbled and they were all out for 112. Radcliffe pro, Raheel Majeed, former Milnrow professional, finished with figures of 4 for 8 from 7 overs. Milnrow's search for consistency continues.

On a more positive note, Milnrow's second team won its fifth game in a row. It was also the fifth consecutive game that they have bowled the opposition out. The highlight was 102 not out from John Lowe, who struck a six off the last ball of the innings to go to his century. Milnrow's score of 243 proved way beyond Radcliffe and they were bowled out for 133, with Charlie Lloyd Jones and Matthew Owen taking four wickets each, Owen narrowly missing out on a hat trick.

Milnrow Bounce Back From Defeat To Heyside With Win Against Werneth

On Saturday, Milnrow struggled in the face of some excellent bowling and fielding from Heyside. Heyside's professional, Shadley van Schwalkwyk, opened the bowling and bowled with real skill to remove Milnrow's top three batsmen with the score on just 21. Van Schwalkwyk moved the ball both ways and with real zip, whilst also varying his pace. Many observers commented on the level of skill being shown and Milnrow's batsmen struggled all afternoon with the accuracy. As he has done many times, however, skipper Max Power had to lead a rearguard action and again he did it with real skill. He batted doggedly to rebuild the score, receiving good help from Wilkinson, Wilson and Diplock, but in the last ten overs he batted brilliantly to get Milnrow to a score of 177 for 8. Power was out in the last over, having scored 82. His last 30 runs came in 10 balls and included 2 sixes and a four in the 49th over. This gave the Milnrow supporters and players some belief that they could defend their total. However this was quickly blown away by some aggressive batting by the Heyside openers, particularly Holt who scored 84 from 66 balls. Milnrow were never able to sustain any pressure and Heyside reached their total in 28 .1 overs. 

This meant that the team had to bounce back on Sunday, away at Werneth, and the team struggled to contain the batting of former Milnrow player Ali Muzzafar, who scored 139 not out. The other Werneth players faced some good bowling from the Milnrow attack and only one other Werneth player made over 12 runs. 

Most notable performance from the Milnrow lads was Aaron Brown's 5 for 82 from 22 overs. Brown has been performing really well this season and this was a great return from him. All the other bowlers chipped in with a wicket each, but the total looked a high one and much of the responsibility of getting there rested on the shoulders of Milnrow professional, James Price.

To the delight of the Milnrow supporters, Price batted brilliantly and made his second century of the season. His 104 came from just 75 balls and he showed his full range of classy shots. His innings included 15 fours and 3 sixes in an opening stand of 147 with Rob Wilman. Wilman's innings was also appreciated by the Milnrow players and supporters. He batted resolutely, understood his role perfectly as Price dominated the bowling, and played some excellent shots himself as he hit 5 fours. Price was out with the total on 147 and Wilman batted with captain, Max Power, to take the total on to 176 before, disappointingly, he was out on 46, four runs short of a maiden 50 for the first team. Wilkinson was out for a duck before Power and Dryden led the team home fluently. 

The Werneth total was reached in the 42nd over and Power and Dryden finished on 45 and 37 not out respectively. This was a fine win for Milnrow considering the disappointment of the previous day.
Also worth noting was the first team debut of another one of Milnrow's talented youngsters. George Booth, 15 on Saturday, came in as replacement wicketkeeper and performed very well with the gloves, taking a couple of catching and a stumping over the weekend. 

Meanwhile, the second team had a brilliant win against top of the table Royton, largely thanks to an unbeaten 40 from 12 year old Keelan Shipley. He took the team from 88 for 8 to 190 for 9 and this set up a great victory in which he also took four catches as Royton were dismissed for 106.
Milnrow are trying to give their emerging youngsters games in their senior team and are being repaid for showing this faith. The club now looks for consistency in all its teams as they try and build on positive individual performances.

Contributed by
Colin Williamson
Chairman, Milnrow Cricket Club

Looking Back On The Carnival

Carnival Secretary, Claire Kierans reflects on this years carnival. Thousands of people lined the streets to watch Milnrow & Newhey Carnival and attended the family fun day at Milnrow Memorial Park. 

In its 47th year, the carnival parade was the largest parade for 40 years with 22 groups participating. Ten large floats made the carnival procession an impressive sight. Captain Jack Sparrow led the parade followed by Milnrow Brass Band and the carnival queens. There were princesses and pirates, fairy tale characters, under the sea themes, gnomes, Jesus Christ Superstar themes, steel bands, street dancers, Morris dancers, footballers, drama groups and all kinds of fancy dress.

At Milnrow Memorial Park a new larger fun fair was in the park with a full range of rides catering for all ages from toddlers to adults. The rides included waltzers, ghost train, teacups, toddler train, trampolines, huge inflatables, hook a duck and a firm favourite of the day: the superb flying chairs ride. Children and adults alike enjoyed paintball, which is a new addition to the event. It went down so well it is already booked for next year!

The entertainment was top notch this year, thanks to Vibe Youth Music of Rochdale for providing the professional sound system, highly acclaimed group The Scattering and the hugely entertaining group Sunday@One was enjoyed by all. Milnrow Brass Band played at the park and the Az Kabile Tribal Belly Dancers did two fantastic displays.

At the park there was a wide variety of stalls including toy stalls, book stalls, face painting, hair accessories, handbag stalls and crazy golf. The committee was delighted to support the launch two new local businesses at the event - Mrs Barbers Bakery who offers a selection of delicious unique cakes and biscuits and Busy Beans coffee, a 5 star rated mobile specialty coffee and tea business, perfect for any event.

In addition, Kidz Club Milnrow were on hand with craft stalls for the children to participate in along with nail painting and sand art.

A prize give away took place in the afternoon, with meal vouchers for The Cedar Tree and The Italian Job, numerous bottles of wine kindly donated by PTG Holroyd, Tesco and the Co-operative Food Milnrow, children's toys, cakes from Mrs Barbers Bakery, hot a stones therapy session at Abbey Rose Holistic Therapies, glasses case and voucher from Yates and Suddell Opticians, a gift voucher for Do Dig Doggy, bags of cookies from Subway and a £50 on the spot cash prize.

The committee would like to thank all who took part in the parade. We are always amazed by the effort put in to the costumes and float decoration and we are immensely grateful for their participation. In independent panel judged the parade entrants and the winners were:

Best Children's Float: St Thomas C of E Primary School
Best Adult Float: The Fancy Dress Shop
Best Walking Display: Milnrow Pre-School
Best Children's Fancy Dress: Newhey Community Primary School
Best Adult Fancy Dress: Captain Jack Sparrow
Spirit of the Carnival: Loud Studios

The committee would like to thank EMR Recycling for their support. Also a huge thank you to Graham Poole Transport, Minky and Holroyds for providing vehicles and drivers for the event. Thanks are offered to the Waggon Garage, All about Flowers, House of Flowers, The Beauty Spot and PW Greenhalgh for their contribution to the carnival queens float. We would like to thank Milnrow Bowling Club for re arranging their fixture list, Kenny Smith for his invaluable assistance at the park and Balfour Beatty for revising their road work schedule to allow for the parade to pass easily and for large vehicles to gain access to the park.

Finally, the committee would like to extend its gratitude to all who watched the parade and attended the family fun day. The date for next year's carnival is Saturday 11th June and we always aim for bigger and better each year. If any groups or companies would be interested in sponsoring the event, please call the Carnival Secretary on 07786 850266 or email milnrowcarnival@yahoo.com for further details.

Milnrow Library Rennovations

Milnrow Library has been under renovation recently bringing the upstairs of the building back into public use after more than 25 years of being nothing more than a storage room.

The space will be available to use as a meeting space within the next few weeks and local councillors are keen that as many community groups take advantage of the new space as possible.

For further information you can contact the library directly, cllrs Brett and Butterworth or Tracey Knight of the Pennines Township Committee.

Milnrow Down Oldham After Rain Stops Play

Milnrow put in a good performance to beat Oldham in a rain-shortened game on Saturday. Milnrow were put into bat by the home side but had to rally after a bad start in which they lost pro James Price and overseas amateur Brandon Diplock in two balls. At 20 for 2, opening batsman Lee Crabtree and captain Max Power had to re-build and they both worked hard to score their runs. Crabtree, already having a very good season, again showed his developing skills at the top of the order by getting into his stride and scoring several boundaries. He hit 2 fours and 3 sixes as he got used to the difficult wicket and reached 66 before being caught by Fazil off Hussain. Power showed his experience and resilience in grafting out his runs, rotating the strike with skill and making sure he batted through the innings. His 41 not out was crucial in helping Milnrow to post 141 from their 25 overs. This looked a challenging total on the difficult wicket.

Milnrow still needed to bowl well in order to defend their total and Brandon Diplock ensured that Oldham never really got near to it. The 19 year old from Zimbabwe bowled fluently and with skill to take six Oldham wickets. He bowled right through the Oldham innings, removed pro Hassan for a duck, and finished with figures of 6 for 56 from his 13 overs. Wilkinson picked up a couple of wickets and Milnrow ran out winners by 23 runs, as Oldham finished on 118 for 8 from their 25 overs. Milnrow's season is now gathering a little momentum with three victories in a row, including an excellent T20 victory at Middleton, and the Ladyhouse team will look to maintain their form with next weekend's games against Heyside and Werneth.


Contributed by
Colin Williamson
Chairman, Milnrow Cricket Club

Milnrow Bounce Back To Winning Ways At Elton

Milnrow CC bounced back from a disappointing series of results with a five point victory at Elton CC. The victory was secured by a brilliant innings by professional James Price who scored 124 not out from 107 balls. The Soth African showed his class with some superb shotmaking all round the ground, scoring runs freely right from the start. His innings enabled Milnrow to claim their first victory for five games and lifted the spirits and confidence of Milnrow's players and supporters.

Milnrow bowled first and although Elton made a good start, reaching 100 for the loss of only one wicket, the introduction of talented 14 year old old Lewis Ashton gave the whole team a lift. Although Lewis did not take a wicket he bowled accurately and showed real potential, and this gave Milnrow some momentum. Leading the way was Wilkinson, who bowled impressively. He took 4 for 66 from his 22 overs and this included three wickets in one over. This reduced Elton to 154 for 8 and although there was a late rally, two wickets in the last over kept Elton below 200. Their 191 all out included 4 wickets for Price.

Although there were two rain breaks in Milnrow's innings, Price batted with real skill and momentum to lead Milnrow home. He was ably supported by Lee Crabtree who played some good shots in his 20 and Steve Dryden who hit some excellent shots through the offside in making 25 not out. Price reached his 50 off 32 balls, his 100 off 88 and finished the game off in real style by hitting four consecutive sixes off the last four balls. His match winning innings was just what Milnrow needed and could be the platform for further progress in the next few weeks.

Milnrow are really trying to bring their young players through the system and it was noticeable that as well as Lewis Ashton's debut for the firsts there were other highlights on a day when all three Milnrow teams won their matches. Keelan Shipley made his debut for the second team aged just 12 and the third team had a crushing victory at Blackley with 16 year old Danny Crompton making 60 and 12 year old Alfie Lloyd-Jones making 41.

Contributed by
Colin Williamson
Chairman, Milnrow Cricket Club

Milnrow Master The 'Salute To Youth' In Kettering

Milnrow Band members with the BBC Radio Cambridgeshire Award.

Milnrow Band came second in the All England Masters International Brass Band Championship at The Lighthouse Theatre Kettering on Sunday 24 May 2015, picking up £1,500 and the BBC Radio Cambridgeshire Award.

Competing in the ‘Masters’ for the first time and against an exalted company of brass bands from England and the continent, Milnrow Band, under the direction of Mark Bentham, was placed above 12 other competitors with its performance being surpassed only by the winners, Virtuosi GUS Band (formerly the Munn & Felton band).

Playing from the number six position, Milnrow provided the audience with a sparkling and robust performance of the test piece, ‘Salute to Youth’ by Gilbert Vinter.

Written in 1961 the piece was used at the National Brass Band Championship qualifying rounds in 1962. Reflecting aspects of youth, it comprises of three technically challenging sections ‘resilience’, ‘romance’ and ‘relaxation’. It was Vinters' first composition for brass bands and in the period until his death in 1969 he was to have a great influence on music of the brass band genre. The first movement portrays ‘resilience’ with the use of a theme and heroic fanfare with a 'full blooded' ending.

Milnrow gave its all in a fantastic show of brilliant sound and team coordination, what a start to Milnrow's musical contribution, it has been proved in the past that Milnrow Band has the quality of soloists and support players with which to give any band a ‘run for its money’ in the smooth, sweet and lyrical playing such as required in the second movement ‘romance’.

The playing in this ‘love story section’ was as exquisite as it was impressive, with the band evoking a sense of true emotion, somewhat endorsed by the adjudicators favourable remarks.

Thus having so far provided the audience with what some listeners perceived as a near flawless performance, it was imperative that the players did not lose concentration and power in ‘relaxation’ the final movement. Musically anything but relaxing, this final movement, exhibited, in turn, youthful exuberance, drive, and energy with a reprise of the original theme, all in all a test of stamina for competing bands.

If the stamina of this ‘young’ Milnrow Band was ever in question, all doubts were confounded with its playing of this last section with which it completed its musical offering with a flourish, leaving both players and listeners with a sense of pleasurable exhaustion.

Adjudicators Mark Wilkinson and Stephen Roberts were suitably impressed with one remarking: "The performance was a technical tour de force, the detail was brilliant."

Ken Watts, Band President said: “We would also like to give thoughts and appreciation to past MDs and members who have made it possible over the years for Championship Milnrow Band to still exist and enjoy its most successful period in its long history of 146 years.

“Well done everyone, we are proud of you.”

Milnrow Post Office Theft And Violence

At about 8.30am on Friday 22 May 2015 three men entered the Post Office on Dale Street and, whilst one of them distracted the member of staff, the other two stole some sweets.

All three then left the shop, but a few minutes later one turned back and when he was asked to leave by the staff member, a scuffle ensued.

The offender tried to grab a pair of gloves on the display, at which point one of the other offenders came back into the shop and threw a punch at the staff-member, but missed.

All three then fled the scene on foot in the direction of Station Road.

The man who was asked to leave the shop is described as Asian, about 18-years-old, about 5ft 9in tall, of slim build and was wearing a dark hooded top with the hood up.

The man who threw the punch is described as white, about 18-years-old, about 5ft 7in tall, of slim build and was wearing a hooded top.

The third offender is described as white, about 18-years-old, about 5ft 5in tall, of medium build, and was wearing hooded top with the hood up.

Detective Constable Rich Shelton of Rochdale division said: “The victim was left shaken by this ordeal and we want to catch these men as soon as possible.

“If you saw three men matching the descriptions or saw the incident unfold, I would urge you to contact police immediately.”

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 0161 856 4646 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

Source: GMP

Lib Dems Need Farron 'The Campaigner' Says Andy Kelly

Andy Kelly (right) with Tim Farron (left).

Local Lib Dem Champion and Milnrow & Newhey Councillor Andy Kelly has today given his backing to Tim Farron’s campaign to become the next Leader of the Liberal Democrats.

Farron was re-elected at the recent general election for a third straight term as MP for the Cumbria constituency of Westmorland & Lonsdale.

He has already received significant endorsements from the leaders of Scottish and Welsh Liberal Democrats, many former MPs and over a hundred of the party’s parliamentary candidates who stood at the general election.

Getting Andy’s support will be a further boost for Farron, who is also backed by fellow MPs Greg Mulholland (Leeds North West) and John Pugh (Southport) and Mark Williams (Ceredigion).

Commenting, Andy said: “I have worked closely with Tim Farron for many years now. Tim is a proven campaigner and outstanding communicator. He is the distinctive, liberal voice that our party needs and this is why I am supporting him to be our next leader. I am urging people in Rochdale, Heywood and Middleton to do the same.”

Tim Farron added: “Andy has been a fantastic Lib Dem champion who has done so much for local people in Milnrow & Newhey and in the Rochdale Constituency. I have seen how hard he works for constituents and so to have his support for my campaign will be invaluable.”