High Legh

One casualty of the increasing maturity of the population can be seen in Wilmslow Opera’s recent problems. It is extremely difficult for them to raise a young enough chorus line to undertake such shows as ‘The Mikado’. Make-up is not enough to convince an audience of the youthful innocence of three little maids when they are played by a trio of stalwart grandmothers.
An extract from from"Wilmslow & Alderley Edge - A History & Celebration".

St Mary’s Church is an interesting mixture. The oldest existing part is the 14th century nave. However, this shows signs of expansion later, in alterations in the windows in the clerestory. The south porch is 15th-century, but there is evidence of it being moved to its present position when the tower was built in the early 16th century. This was almost certainly built by Richard Plat, the mason who was responsible for Mobberley church tower, erected at the same time. The chancel was rebuilt by the Stanleys in the 1850s to house the tomb of the 1st Lord Stanley, but it may have replaced an even older 13th- century structure.
An extract from from"Wilmslow & Alderley Edge - A History & Celebration".

In 1645 old Thomas Wright was ejected from the living, presumably because of his known Royalist sympathies and his refusal to give up using the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. A Puritan preacher, John Brereton, probably a relation of the Parliamentary commander, was put in his place. Apparently the Puritans demolished the organ, sold the silver and presented Mr Brereton with a pewter basin to baptise the congregation. He in his turn was expelled in 1660, and Thomas Wright came back, just for one year, as he died in 1661.
An extract from from"Wilmslow & Alderley Edge - A History & Celebration".

While Chorley Old Hall is still recognisable for what it was, and lies, still with its moat, on the outskirts of Alderley Edge village, Hawthorn Hall, originally part of the hamlet of Morley, is embedded in Wilmslow’s residential development.
An extract from from"Wilmslow & Alderley Edge - A History & Celebration".

The auction, which was held in Macclesfield in October 1938, was a spectacular failure, so much so that less than a tenth of the lots were sold. Inspection of the sale catalogues belonging to the people who were at the auction shows bids creeping up and then the lot being withdrawn as it had not reached the reserve price. The developers had created building plots of an acre each all over the Edge, but the farmers were not ready to pay developers’ prices for their land, and the general gloom at the sale seems to have affected many other potential bidders. Anyway, October 1938, the time of the Munich crisis, was not a good time for people to go in for speculation. The failure of the sale did have one good result, as the Edge was saved from residential ribbon development. Dorothy and Margaret Pilkington, who lived at Firwood in Alderley Edge village, managed to get the Wizard Woods protected. They bought some of the land themselves and persuaded the County Council to buy more. After the Second World War had finished, the land was handed over to the National Trust so that they could preserve this open space for everyone to enjoy. Thanks to the Trust, the Edge is now better cared for and understood than ever before and they have proved worthy successor custodians to the Stanleys. Alderley Park itself, where the house itself had largely burned down in 1932, was bought by ICI after the war. They set up their
An extract from from"Wilmslow & Alderley Edge - A History & Celebration".