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Alton is a picture postcard village in the Staffordshire Moorlands, famous for the theme park just up the road, and just on the fringes of the Staffordshire Peak District.

The villagers are served by three churches; St Peter’s, St John’s and the Methodist chapel.
The Anglican parish is 'Alton with Bradley', comprising St Peter’s and the smaller St Leonard’s, which is in the hamlet of Bradley just over a mile away.

A year long profile

'A Country Parish' will be written up here on the web month by month through 2008 with photos, interactive comments and audio interviews.

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March '08 - Part 1 of 'A Country Parish'

We’ve all watched the Vicar of Dibley and maybe thought the scriptwriters are asking a lot of us to believe it’s really like that.
We’ve seen large congregations on Songs of Praise and wondered exactly how many turned up the following week when the cameras have gone.
I’ve even spent many of the years I’ve lived in Alton looking out for three or four daft old men roaming the village getting up to no good just like in Last Of The Summer Wine.

But the reality of life in a rural community can come as something of a shock to people who have only experienced it through the make believe of television.
The problems are the same as anywhere – it’s just that the setting is prettier.

'A Country Parish' tells it like it is – often mundane, often amusing, but rarely insignificant.

Now let me introduce you to some of the main characters in this action...

Vicar

Welcome to Michael Last.ÌýÌý Michael is the Vicar – not just in Alton. He’s a former BT Engineer, married with two sons.
Over the past 12 months there’s been a major re-organisation of the parish. Sometimes on Sundays in the summer he has to battle the long convoy of traffic heading to the Towers theme park to get to his services on time.Ìý
Hear my interview with him by clicking on the link just down this page.

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Here are Bessie and Herbert .ÌýÌý She still links her arm through his and gazes into his eyes – this from a couple who married 68 years ago and met as babies in prams!
They have a long association with the church in North Staffordshire as well as Alton & Bradley.

Herbert worked at Shelton Bar for many years; Bessie was a community midwife and nurse, having delivered nearly three thousand babies. Herbert wanted to go into the clergy but family circumstances stopped him.
Now, in their early 90s, the church is still very much in their lives.

Bessie has written many stories and poems about her adventures in the community while she was working. This one was written after a friend came to visit her in Alton shortly after she and Herbert had moved there. Her friend warned Bessie that the village was far too quiet and that she would find it frustrating……
Hear my interview with her by clicking on the link just down this page.

The Churchwarden & Tower CaptainÌýÌý

Alan Walters is an engineer and married with two daughters.
He and his wife Wendy are also bellringers and handbell ringers.
Alan is also one of two church wardens at St Peter’s, responsible for helping the Vicar ensure the smooth running of services.
Hear my interview with him by clicking on the link just down this page.

Ministry team member

Michael Swales is a former schoolmaster. He also, unusually, has a close association with the island of Tristan da Cuhna!
He is a member of the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust and lives alongside the stunning scenery of the Churnet Valley.

Interviews