David Pickup, a solicitor, considers the laws on growing up.
Now every year His parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up as usual… When the festival was ended …the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem …After three days they found Him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. From Luke 2
This familiar story is the only account of Jesus in His boyhood years. Because of her fright, it would have been one family story that Mary never forgot. At the age of 12, in that culture, Jesus would be just about to become a young man, and therefore have been eager to begin adulthood. Jesus knew He was not lost but in the right place. He said, “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
Children grow up by enormous leaps and bounds. Turn your back for a minute and they have aged years. In Britain, the law does not fix any one age for when a child is suddenly a grown up. Instead, it is a gradual process.
At age 10 you can have your ears pierced, but your parent may have to be with you, and you can be convicted of a criminal offence.
From age 13 you can work part-time. I remember getting a card from a doctor to show I could legally work. I carried it around with me on my milk round and was slightly disappointed the police never asked for it!
At 14 you can enter a pub, but only if the landlord allows it. You cannot buy or drink alcohol, only soft drinks.
At 16 you can marry, with your parents’ consent. You can also ride a moped, and drink alcohol in a restaurant with a meal. You can open a bank current account and get a debit card.
Once you are 17, you can hold a driver’s licence.
At 18 you can vote, get a tattoo, bet, and buy and drink alcohol in a pub.
At 21 you can apply to adopt a child, become a driving instructor and apply for a licence to fly commercial transport aeroplanes and helicopters.
I suppose reading all this you might be wondering “why didn’t I do all these things as soon as I could?!”
Under lockdown, millions of us who rarely walked around our immediate locality are now well acquainted with every nearby driveway, every crack in the pavement, and every pothole in the road. We have developed views on our neighbours’ gardens, on their oddly coloured garage doors, and on their dogs, children and cars. If we go out at the same time every day, we may even be saying hello to the same people we don’t know every day.
For many of us, that daily walk has become the high point of our day. After all, it is one of the few liberties we have left. Some of us go early, to enjoy the relative peace and quiet. Some of us go midday, to at least see other people, even if we can’t talk to them. Others of us opt for dusk, the dark comfort of a street with lit houses and stars in the sky.
Whatever time you most enjoy, make sure you do make the time to go for your walk. Your mental and physical fitness can only improve!
This new book, researched and written by the Local History Group of Holmes Chapel & District U3A, describing the history of St Luke’s, has been published. It describes the key events and people across the centuries, as well as the many historic details of the building itself and its contents.
The book runs to about 166 pages, is printed in A5 format and includes various coloured plates and has been so popular that a second print-run has been required. Copies are therefore now available to purchase.
The book is available at a price of £15 per copy. All profits will go to St Luke’s Organ and Lighting Appeal (see stlukesappeal.uk), managed by St Luke’s PCC which is underwriting the cost of publication.
If you would like a copy please write to me at 15 Jodrell Close, Holmes Chapel, CW4 7HH, or by email to papscotton@sky.com, providing your name, address and phone number. I will contact you to arrange payment and delivery.
I hope I find you all well in these unusual times. It’s the point in the year when we focus on Operation Christmas Child and the Marys Meals Backpack project. Operation Christmas Child sends gift filled shoe boxes to children in need in the world at Christmas time and the Mary’s Meals backpack project provides school equipment and clothing for children living in Malawi who need these things to get an education. St Lukes will be continuing to support these initiatives. However due to the current restrictions it will not be possible to have a packing Sunday where the church gets together to pack boxes and backpacks ready for sending to children in need in different parts of the world and so Fiona Pulle and I will be working together to coordinate events.
This year we will only be able to collect completed boxes and backpacks, therefore our launch date for these projects will be on 27th September which is earlier than normal. We have decided on an earlier start date so that everyone has extra time collecting things they need to complete their box or backpack. Leaflets for both projects will be available from church or myself and we can also drop off empty shoe boxes or leaflets if required. You can also get the information on packing a shoebox from: https://www.samaritans-purse.org.uk/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/how-to-pack-a-s hoebox/ or alternatively you can pack an online shoe box if you prefer, details can be found on the same link.
To pack a Mary’s Meals backpack all the information you need can be found on this link. https://www.marysmeals.org.uk/get-involved/campaigns/the-backpack-project Remember that this initiative encourages recycling so equipment and clothing does not need to be new.
I know that we have some busy knitters and those that sew at St Lukes and we would be happy to accept your beautiful work for sending in additional boxes Fiona and I can make so that children will receive your lovely gifts. Also if you would like to make a monetary contribution towards buying items for additional boxes and backpacks Fiona and I make or towards postage then please provide this in a sealed envelope by 25th October.
Our shoebox and backpack finale will be on 1st November 2020 and the church hall will be open from 8.30 – 9.30 to receive your boxes and backpacks.
Thank you in advance for your continued support of these projects, children in need will find excitement and joy in receiving a shoe box or backpack filled with love.
Liz and Stu have been busy this month by tackling one of our community problems – road safety. We have regularly used our Trucam speed enforcement gun at locations in the villages targeting 30mph roads. The recordings from these sessions are sent to our Central Ticket Office where the driver’s history is reviewed and a decision made on whether they are given a speed awareness course, a fine or points on their license. We have also used our ANPR camera systems to stop check vehicles showing no insurance or tax with a car being seized on the A50 Cranage last week.
There has been an appeal for information in the area due a series of incidents involving windows that have been smashed with a ball bearing, presumably from a catapult. All of these incidents have occurred between the hours of 23:00-06:00. The areas include Holmes Chapel, Brereton, Sandbach and Wheelock. These incidents are not only costly but, more importantly, very distressing to those who have been victim to it, many of whom are elderly. We are appealing for anyone with information or CCTV which they believe would be of interest, to call 101 quoting ref: IML720227 or email crewe.lpu@cheshire.pnn.police.uk
As we cannot hold our usual weekly community meetings, we are also holding an online surgery on the Dane Valley Police Twitter and Facebook social media pages. These are held once a week and the dates are below:-
Thursday 2nd July 14:00-15:00
Thursday 9th July 09:00-10:00
Saturday 18th July 13:00-14:00
Thursday 23rd July 14:00-15:00
Thursday 30th July 09:00-10:00
If you are also interested in more of our activities and advice during this time then please follow us on social media where we are able to speak directly to you as members of our community about incidents and crimes we are finding in the area. Your local officers social media pages are ‘Dane Valley Police’ for Facebook and ‘@DaneValleyPol’ for our Twitter account. You can also contact us by e-mail at Crewe.LPU@Cheshire.pnn.police.uk
Once again, to each and every one of you that is helping us and your community to stay safe, thank you.
Liz Chesters – Police Community Support Officer Cheshire Constabulary Crewe Local Policing Unit, Civic Centre, Crewe, CW1 2DQ
