Fitting a pre-Christmas visit to Parkham proved problematic with a number of activities in Cheshire in our diaries including the grandchildren's Christmas plays and other concerts and parties. We did however manage to arrive on the 5th for a few days, but missed out on most of the village Christmas activities.
It was very good to be back in the village after a busy time in Knutsford where we have had long period of house renovations going right back to September. The last project was the replacement of the roof on our house. Whilst not leaking, it definitely was coming to the end of its life and we decided that we might as well get the benefit of the new roof sooner rather than later. It was a longer job than anticipated with the first scaffolding going up in the middle of October, work was on-going when we were in Parkham in November but it was not until the end of the month that the last of the scaffolding was removed. It was at that point that our home felt our own again after many weeks of clambering around scaffolding to get in and out of the house.
We arrived in the village at the end of a spell of very cold weather and despite the central heating being on a low temperature throughout, there was a definite winter chill about The Granary on our arrival. It takes some time for the thick stone walls to warm up again and the rooms lose heat again very quickly when there is no fire.
We had not planned to do a lot on this visit and in the main our time was spent catching up with friends as well as taking the dog for walks. Even on dull winter's days we still enjoyed walking along the beach and when the low sun did come out we definitely benefited from just a little warmth in the rays.
The weather did become much warmer during our stay but, with the warmth came more rain and winds.
We were able to visit the Christmas Tree festival at St James' Church where there were trees representing a range of village organisations ranging from the WI to the Pickleball Club. For the uninitiated pickleball is a racket or paddle sport in which two or four players hit a perforated, hollow plastic ball over a net. It was good to see the creativity in a number of the displays and I particularly liked the shuttlecock decorations on the Badminton Club tree,
We returned home after only 6 days in the village calling in on the way to see our old neighbours in Stourbridge.
We wish everyone in Parkham a Happy Christmas and may 2024 bring you peace, joy and happiness. We look forward to seeing you again in the New Year.
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