There’s something in the water

Be it Severn Trent in the mother town or United Utilities in Crewe we’ve got something to thank our often berated water companies.

True, they’re more use to fielding customer complaints than compliments but this time credit where credit is due.

They’ve gone and put something in the water.

A sprinkling of magic, some fairy dust, call it what you will but how else do we explain the FA Cup first-round success enjoyed by our local clubs?

Port Vale’s away win at Huddersfield in the first round of the FA Cup and even more impressive, Crewe Alex’s first win since September against Ebbsfleet United. Surely, the thank-you must go to the water companies.

Perhaps Robbie Williams enjoyed a glass of council pop when he visited his nearest and dearest, and Port Vale.

What else can explain his sudden and somewhat unexpected testimony that he “also supports Man Utd“.

I was in Burslem on the day Robbie was at Port Vale and I said to some young lads, quite excited to see the home lad on his home turf: “Robbie’s meant to be here, have you seen him?” “Neh, sorry, if I see him I’ll tell him a girl is looking for him”.

Surely that’s the story on his life? I can only wonder what Robbie would then do with this information. Would he then be wandering around looking for me? The mind boggles.

You have to hand it Robbie. The boy done good. He dreamed he would head to the stage and via his Take That days he became England’s biggest solo star.

And ambition is not a bad thing to have.

Now, also signed to Robbie’s label is teacher Elinor Moran from Blythe Bridge. She is due to go on tour performing hits of Gilbert and Sullivan. The album deal is worth an estimated £1.5m. Fair enough it’s not the £80m Robbie secured but most people would be happy with that success.

But would 11-year-old Gemma Mills be satisfied? She recently put pen to paper to write about the new Famous Five book. She came up with her own story to clinch the prize.

But the pupil doesn’t dream of writing for a future job. Oh no. Pah.

She considered being Prime Minister but then decided that wasn’t good enough and her new ambition is to be a high court judge.

When I was little I wanted to be a spaceman.

Just to clarify, I’m not a spaceman. If it was I’d include more pictures in my blog!

Five go to Smugglers’ cave

What child didn’t like the adventure that Enid Blyton offered in her books? I was, make that am, a thoroughly delighted fan of Blyton be it the Famou Five exploring the Dorset coast line, the Secret Seven finding intrigue closer to home or the multiple mischief at various boarding schools – Mallory Towers, St Clairs.

So bearing this in mind I was thoroughly delighted to find that a secret tunnel was discovered at a St Edward’s Church in Leek.

I can only imagine the excitement of Brian Hartley who found the tunnel.

Incidentally, the Famous Five has been brought up-to-date for a new series for the Disney channel. The story behind the new five is that they are the sons or daughters of Blyton’s original five. The jury’s out on the decision to update in the way it has been.

Keith Montgomery is a man whose knows something about adventure.

A regular competitor in the Original Mountain Marathon in Lake District he was forced to abandon this year’s race when hazardous weather conditions moved on to the mountains.

After two-and-a-half-hours Keith, from Leek and his running partner were only 700 meters from the start.

The thought of the race fills me with dread. I love watching running, marathons, athletics, you name it, but to do it myself? I much prefer to head to the gym – aka my second bedroom. Should the event have gone ahead? It’s easy to argue no with hindsight but lets see what happens next year and if more precautions are put in place.