Goostrey

Goostrey is an old farming village in central Cheshire, in Congleton Borough. It is located off J18 of the M6 and is near Jodrell Bank Observatory.

Geography

The village of Goostrey sprawls along a single main road, stretching about three miles. There are two main concentrations of houses, one in the west of the village containing the local shop (The Trading Post) and a small sports venue, and the other in the centre of the village. The east end of Goostrey is marked by the railway station, which sits on the Manchester-Crewe line.

Goostrey boasts a village primary school, a Methodist Chapel and St Luke's Church, Goostrey. There are two pubs - The Crown Inn, run by Gerry and Cynthia Bridgewood and The Red Lion, run by Mike and Karen Garnet.

It has five shops; a general store, cafe and bakery called The Trading Post, a Post Office located in Mrs. Kettle's Shop, a newsagent called Goostrey News, a hairdressers and a butcher's shop. There are also a number of small businesses in the village.

The rural public footpath which runs through the woods at the edge of the village is known as "The Bongs" or "Bum Path" and features in Alan Garner’s play "Holly from the Bongs" which was performed by the children of the village in the 1960’s for the BBC. Alan Garner lives in the village in Toad Hall and based his popular novel ‘The Weirdstone of Brisingamen’ in nearby Alderley Edge. The village was also featured in a five part ITV documentary in the 1970's called "The Village" about "Bumming".

Goostrey is very near Holmes Chapel- most of the village children attend Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School after leaving Goostrey Primary School. Goostrey is also near Knutsford, Wilmslow, Alderley Edge and Sandbach.

Community and Culture

Goostrey Rose Day is the annual summer village fate which is held on the last saturday of June. The village children, organisations and the young at hearts dress in fancydress costumes and parade through the village. To mark the 100th anniversary Goostrey held a scarecrow competition for the whole village to participate in which has now become an annual event in the village. Photos of past Goostrey Rose Days can be seen in the Crown Inn.

There is a very popular local tradition of Gooseberry growing, with the annual Goostrey Gooseberry Show. A plaque in the Snug of The Crown Inn lists all the proud winners over the years.

Goostrey is a thriving village with a close knit community and has many clubs and organisations for all ages. The village boasts a youth club, a village hall as well as a park and children's play area. The village also has its own sports pavilion and facilities which are available to village residents and include a bowling green, football pitch and tennis courts.

The History of Goostrey Village

The Parish of Goostrey, Cheshire is the 4th largest in the Borough of Congleton, excluding the four towns, with a population of 2,180 at mid-1997. Its area of 10.26 square kilometres (2,535 acres contains 900 houses of which 14 are listed buildings and are considered as being of historical or architectural importance.

It is possible that Goostrey was a meeting place or even a settlement when Christ was born, for stone and bronze axe heads and the barrows within the Parish boundary show the area was inhabited before the Iron Age. The 1,200 year old Yew tree suggests that the mound on which the church is built was a focal point for a community during the 'Dark Age' of the first Millennium but by the beginning of the second Millennium Goostrey had arrived in history with two entries in the Domesday Book of 1086.

When St. Werburgh's Abbey was founded at Chester in 1119, the Norman Earl's barons contributed to its endowment and Baron Hugh of Mold, who owned Goostrey, gave it to the Abbey. The Parish of Goostrey-cum-Barnshaw remained ecclesiastical property until the 14th century, leased out at first and then managed by the Abbey directly. Abbey records mostly relate to maintenance of ditches, mills and fish ponds and we imagine a scatter of small farms set amongst woods and heath supplying wood, flour and fish to the great Chester Abbey, some later gifted to the new foundation of Vale Royal.

After the Dissolution, the land was purchased by the Mainwaring family of Peover and remained part of that family's estate until the 20th century. From the 17th century, farming techniques improved and farms became bigger and more prosperous. Dairy farming and particularly the Cheshire speciality, cheese, thrived, shielding the county from poor harvests and low prices. Goostrey became a centre for a comparatively well-to-do farming community. The church, St Luke's Church, Goostrey, a wooden framed building built around 1220 was replaced by the present one of brick in 1792. The first recorded school early in the 17th century was rebuilt in 1775, a replacement built on another site in 1812 and that replaced by the present 'old' school in 1856 when some 62 boys and 40 girls were pupils. In addition at that time, the village provided at least two pubs, the mill, a blacksmith, two tailors, a shoemaker and two or three shops.

The first big change to the old way of life was the arrival of the railway in 1891. It offered a market for milk and produce and brought in occasional trippers. Temperance groups or Sunday schools out for a picnic. The villas appeared along Main Road and cyclists began the connection which continues. After the First World War, motor cars were more frequent and the Annual Goostrey Horse Races became fashionable. World War II over, things carried on in much the same way until the second big change in the late 1950's when mains drainage was installed for post-war Council housing needs. In 1963 the first of three new estate developments was started and by 1970 the number of houses had quadrupled.

Goostrey took the invasion with typical Cheshire calm and soon the 'Incomers' were active members of village clubs and societies. Indeed, so much was going on that in 1976, I.T.V. made a series of 5 one-hour programmes entitled 'Goostrey - A Village'- to the mixed views of the inhabitants.

Community spirit has grown with the village. A dream started in the 1920's of a Sports field has become a reality in the 1990's and it was a mixture of 'old' and 'new' residents that decided to plan for the Millennium well in advance. The sports pavilion is now in full use and a new children’s play area in Boothbed Lane was completed in 2005.

External links

• www.goostrey.info
• www.stlukesgoostrey.org.uk
• www.goostreyroseday.org.uk
• www.goostreynews.co.uk