Our Community
Plumley with Toft and Bexton is a very attractive rural parish. The landscape is dominated by fields (for arable and dairy farming), hedges and large numbers of deciduous hedgerow trees with a scattering of small woods across the area. There are two lakes, numerous field ponds and the delightful Peover Eye trout stream within the parish.
The land, which is predominantly clay with occasional areas of surface sand, slopes upwards from a height of 23 metres in the extreme west of Plumley to an altitude of 69 metres in the east of Toft. The Parish is home to a wide range of wildlife and a nature reserve near Ascol Drive that has great crested newts, bats, lichens and liverwort.
The Parish has excellent road inks, A50, A556 and M6 and also has a Cheshire Lines railway station linking the area with both Manchester and Chester. The airports of Liverpool and Manchester are easily accessed from the Parish. The majority of residents commute to work in the nearby towns and cities.
There are approximately 45 businesses within the Parish ranging from a large office complex to businesses run from home. Agriculture and horticulture are very important to the area; not only are they businesses in their own right but they are to great extent responsible for creating the attractive landscape that is enjoyed within the Parish.
Situated within the Parish is Holford Hall, a magnificent large moated timber house built around 1600 for Mary Cholmondeley, nee Holford, on the death of her husband Hugh. It suffered from neglect and fell into disrepair in the nineteenth century. Owned by ICI for much of the last century, it is now restored and in private ownership. For more photographs and a detailed history of both Holford Hall and the Cholmondeley family click here.
Shops & Attractions
At your service!
You will find a list of the shops, services and businesses in the Parish.
To add your business or service to the list please contact the clerk.
Plumley Village Store and Post Office
Plumley Village Stores sells many local products, and is also an agent for Fairtrade goods. Also available for fax/photocopying/internet access/phone top ups/gift vouchers/internet music vouchers
Shop Opening Hours
8.00am – 8.00pm Monday to Friday
8.30am – 4.30pm Saturday
Village Post Office Opening Hours
9.00am – 7.30pm Monday to Friday
9.00am – 4.00pm Saturday
Telephone: 01565 722277
Plumleys Garden Centre
Holly Tree Riding School
Train Station
The Plumley line runs directly into Manchester Piccadilly and provides easy quick access into the city and surrounding areas, for more information please click here.
Pubs
Plumley has two fantastic public houses. The Golden Pheasant Inn and The Smoker Inn.
Services
News Flash
CEC Highways have advised us that missing door panels on lamp posts are treated as an emergency and that any resident spotting a missing door or damaged door on a lamppost should report it on 0300 123 5020 day or night.
Please also report this to the Clerk.
Fly Tipping
If you notice anyone leaving rubbish on public or private land please contact Cheshire East Street Cleansing team on 0300 123 5011, email them at info@cheshireeast.gov.uk or visit their web page for more details here.
Schools
Bexton Primary School – Find out more here.
Lower Peover School
Village Halls
Plumley Village Hall
Plumley Village Hall is situated on Plumley Moor Road in the middle of the village and is not far from the railway station, which enjoys regular services to numerous stations on the line between Chester and Manchester. Plumley itself is a very central and convenient location, with quick & easy access to various main roads and motorways serving the area.
The Village Hall is maintained to a high standard and has the benefit of two recently refurbished tennis courts adjacent to the building. The Hall is regularly used by several local organisations such as Flower Arranging, Societies and the WI, as well as for wedding receptions, plays & musicals, band practice and coffee mornings.
Toft Church Hall
Toft Hall is located off the Holmes Chapel Road in Toft, next to St John the Evangelist Church, Toft.
The Church Hall is well maintained and is regularly used by local groups such as the Brownies and Guides, Toft Quilters, U3A Drawing and Painting and the Calanetics Group.
Parish Worship
We are very lucky to have 3 wonderful churches in the Parish:- Plumley Methodist Chapel in Plumley, St Oswald’s Church in Lower Peover and St John’s Church in Toft.
A small chapel built for workers at Holford Hall but by the early 1800’s it had fallen into disrepair. A Mr George Dodgson, farmer and miller at Holford Mill (which was built in 1324 and closed in 1950) allowed local people to hold Methodist meetings at the mill. This led eventually to a chapel being built in the village in the early 1820’s, which was replaced by the present building in 1887.
A spectacular and important timber church with a stone W tower, said to be of 1582 but probably earlier. The aisled nave (13th-14thc.) is of four bays, and the slightly lower chancel of two, all timber work with box pews. The nave aisles continue alongside the chancel, the N aisle dating from 1624 and the S from c.1610. They now house an organ loft and vestry to the N and the Shakerley Chapel to the S. The three vessels have separate roofs, built by Salvin in his restoration of 1852, but originally the nave and its aisles shared a single roof. The church was founded in 1269, hence none of the fabric is 12th . What is at issue is the font, said to have been brought from Norton Priory in 1322.
Built in 1854 by the Leycester family of nearby Toft Hall. It was constructed of Cheshire sandstone with a tiled roof and is 150 feet long and 60 feet wide. It has one bell. The first entry in the Parish register is a marriage in 1855. The earliest burial was on 4.4.1865 of Emma Theodosia Leycester. Inside the church are stained-glass windows depicting biblical scenes. There is a carved stone font and a fine organ. Outside the church the Lynchgate, built of oak with a tiled roof, was renewed in 1984. (Extract taken from the BBC Domesday Reloaded Web Page.)
Feature Spot
Coming soon to Plumley Village Hall ……….
Pre-School Drama Class
Rising 2’s to 4 year olds
A class designed to enhance and develop communication skills, confidence, self- esteem and imagination!
A variety of fun activities including…
Drama games, imaginative play, mime, movement, storytelling, poetry.
For more details please contact Sam Marsden : 07887 778 822
email: mwsd@hotmail.co.uk
Local Policing
We now have two PCSO’s who are operating in our Parish their contact details are as follows –
PCSO 22921 David Bell
Email: David.Bell2@cheshire.pnn.police.uk
PCSO 9841 Julia Short
E-mail; julia.short@cheshire.pnn.police.uk