Latest news with #Malpas
BBC News
10-07-2025
- General
- BBC News
Firefighters fight industrial blaze near Newport docks
Firefighters have been called to an industrial estate blaze after thick black smoke was seen billowing near Newport Wales Fire and Rescue Service received a call at about 14:44 BST on Thursday to reports of a fire at Felnex Industrial Estate, and appliances including engines and a water bowser from the Malpas, Maindee and Duffryn areas are in incident is ongoing.
The Independent
30-06-2025
- The Independent
Reform UK councillor charged with assault after Pride event
A Reform UK councillor has been charged with assault and criminal damange following reports from a Pride event. Amanda Clare, from Malpas, represents the Winsford Dene ward on Cheshire West and Chester Council; she is to appear before magistrates in Crewe on 8 August. Cheshire Police attended reports of a disturbance at Winsford Pride at 4.30pm on Saturday where they arrested a 54-year-old woman. Clare has since been charged with assault and criminal damage, after which she received bail. A force spokesperson said: 'Officers from Cheshire police have charged a woman following reports of an incident at an event in Winsford. At around 4.30pm on Saturday 28 June, police were called to reports of a disturbance at Winsford Pride. Officers attended and arrested a 54-year-old woman. 'Amanda Clare, of Malpas, has since been charged with assault and criminal damage. Clare has been bailed and is next due to appear at Crewe Magistrates' Court on Friday 8 August. 'Cheshire Constabulary and the Crown Prosecution Service would like to remind everyone that criminal proceedings against Clare are live and that she has a right to a fair trial. 'It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice ongoing proceedings.'
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
There's only one thing worse than a dull sermon and that's a bossy vicar
It was the fictional Reverend Henry Kane, in Poltergeist II, who, until this point, took the prize for scariest vicar. Kane terrorises kids, his skeletal face, terrible teeth and phoney friendliness chilling all to the bone. But then I came across real-life Rev Janine Arnott, rector of St Oswald's Church in Malpas, Cheshire. She wears a large black t-shirt emblazoned in multi-coloured letters with the word, in capitals, 'BELIEVE'. I think it's an order. And judging from reports seeping out of her parish, if you're one of her congregation, you'd best buckle up and believe. In quite what, who knows? One might assume it's in the Almighty, in the Eucharist, or in the power of prayer. Or indeed in, perhaps, her fervent wish that the church loos need fixing. But what is clear is that belief is also firmly demanded in her. Her way of doing things, of running services and to such an extent that parishioners have accused her of 'dictatorial' leadership and which has led to a mass exodus from the village church. Dig deeper, and there are poison pen letters, anonymous flyers left on the windscreens of cars and mutterings of witchcraft. The goings-on have rather rattled the 1,500 inhabitants of Malpas in Cheshire. Although perhaps it was inevitable that one day something terrible might occur in a village whose name translates from Old French rather awkwardly as 'bad passage'. Now, the village chat is focused on the shenanigans of Rev Janine, particularly her run-ins with the now-disbanded choir. A choir which, during a service of Eucharist in February, took it upon themselves to sing the Sanctus in Latin. This, churchgoers will know, is the bit when the congregation usually chimes in with 'Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are filled with etc etc.' When there's a proper choir, those folks lead the way. And thus it was at St Oswald's when the choir blasted out the Sanctus in Latin trilling: 'Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua, etc, etc.' And jolly wonderful that must have sounded too in that most beautifully pointless of languages. Although not to the vicar who, allegedly, 'went ballistic' after the service and 'tore strips' off the choir. She didn't appreciate the Latin because, it was reported, she felt it was against canon law and took her revenge by banning the choir from singing anything other than her own approved hymns during the subsequent Lent period. The final straw came during the May VE Day celebrations when Rev Janine allegedly refused to let the choir sing I Vow to Thee My Country in the churchyard. The choir resigned en masse, and the regular congregation of 60 suddenly became about 10. Diana Webber, a 74-year-old member of the church, joined others who criticised the Rev's 'authoritarian' rule and said: 'She had this awful, autocratic hostility towards people'. Others claim they regularly saw the rector 'storming up and down the church', could get so angry that you could 'see her skirt trembling', and many of the congregation were frequently reduced to tears. This conflagration of tempers and weeping is not quite what one expects from what was named this year as one of the best places to live in the UK. The parochial church council (PCC) voted overwhelmingly at a recent meeting in a vote of no confidence against Rev Janine. Alas, the Bishop of Chester, Mark Tanner, has failed to quell the trouble, although the C of E's legal team did dispatch a missive criticising the PCC, singling out 'the inference that your lawfully appointed incumbent is akin to a witch'. This came after the chief bellringer was allegedly removed from his post and the church bell tower was barricaded with 'broomsticks'. Rev Janine took over as rector in 2022 and, as I write, is still in her post. But then, she does seem to be performing the Church of England's unwritten instruction to vicars, which is to empty churches. If there's a tuneless hymn that no one knows, you'll have to sing it. If there's a non-theological subject for a sermon that can be aimed not at the adults but at the children who aren't listening, they'll preach it. If they can, they'll abandon a short traditional Matins service from the 1662 version of the Book of Common Prayer and replace it with a scattering of badly photocopied paper covered with adverts for some aberration called Messy Church. And, better still, in the name of accessibility, they'll rip out all of the ancient pew seats and replace them with stackable chairs and a cheap carpet. Not that our new vicar is doing anything but an exemplary job, I should add, and he has, I hope, now realised that his modern version of 'Our Father' was outgunned by our trad version as our increasingly loud saying of 'thy' resolutely drowned out his 'your'. In this era of non-belief and non-attendance, vicars need PR skills, not the attitude of an oppressive head teacher. It's their job, rather, to keep the eggs warm than to rule the roost. But with dwindling congregations, very little money by way of stipends and (having sold off all the nice rectories), the prospect of rather miserable accommodation, is it any wonder that most applicants for the job of C of E Rev are mad, bad or indifferent? Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
There's only one thing worse than a dull sermon and that's a bossy vicar
It was the fictional Reverend Henry Kane, in Poltergeist II, who, until this point, took the prize for scariest vicar. Kane terrorises kids, his skeletal face, terrible teeth and phoney friendliness chilling all to the bone. But then I came across real-life Rev Janine Arnott, rector of St Oswald's Church in Malpas, Cheshire. She wears a large black t-shirt emblazoned in multi-coloured letters with the word, in capitals, 'BELIEVE'. I think it's an order. And judging from reports seeping out of her parish, if you're one of her congregation, you'd best buckle up and believe. In quite what, who knows? One might assume it's in the Almighty, in the Eucharist, or in the power of prayer. Or indeed in, perhaps, her fervent wish that the church loos need fixing. But what is clear is that belief is also firmly demanded in her. Her way of doing things, of running services and to such an extent that parishioners have accused her of 'dictatorial' leadership and which has led to a mass exodus from the village church. Dig deeper, and there are poison pen letters, anonymous flyers left on the windscreens of cars and mutterings of witchcraft. The goings-on have rather rattled the 1,500 inhabitants of Malpas in Cheshire. Although perhaps it was inevitable that one day something terrible might occur in a village whose name translates from Old French rather awkwardly as 'bad passage'. Now, the village chat is focused on the shenanigans of Rev Janine, particularly her run-ins with the now-disbanded choir. A choir which, during a service of Eucharist in February, took it upon themselves to sing the Sanctus in Latin. This, churchgoers will know, is the bit when the congregation usually chimes in with 'Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are filled with etc etc.' When there's a proper choir, those folks lead the way. And thus it was at St Oswald's when the choir blasted out the Sanctus in Latin trilling: 'Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua, etc, etc.' And jolly wonderful that must have sounded too in that most beautifully pointless of languages. Although not to the vicar who, allegedly, 'went ballistic' after the service and 'tore strips' off the choir. She didn't appreciate the Latin because, it was reported, she felt it was against canon law and took her revenge by banning the choir from singing anything other than her own approved hymns during the subsequent Lent period. The final straw came during the May VE Day celebrations when Rev Janine allegedly refused to let the choir sing I Vow to Thee My Country in the churchyard. The choir resigned en masse, and the regular congregation of 60 suddenly became about 10. Diana Webber, a 74-year-old member of the church, joined others who criticised the Rev's 'authoritarian' rule and said: 'She had this awful, autocratic hostility towards people'. Others claim they regularly saw the rector 'storming up and down the church', could get so angry that you could 'see her skirt trembling', and many of the congregation were frequently reduced to tears. This conflagration of tempers and weeping is not quite what one expects from what was named this year as one of the best places to live in the UK. The parochial church council (PCC) voted overwhelmingly at a recent meeting in a vote of no confidence against Rev Janine. Alas, the Bishop of Chester, Mark Tanner, has failed to quell the trouble, although the C of E's legal team did dispatch a missive criticising the PCC, singling out 'the inference that your lawfully appointed incumbent is akin to a witch'. This came after the chief bellringer was allegedly removed from his post and the church bell tower was barricaded with 'broomsticks'. Rev Janine took over as rector in 2022 and, as I write, is still in her post. But then, she does seem to be performing the Church of England's unwritten instruction to vicars, which is to empty churches. If there's a tuneless hymn that no one knows, you'll have to sing it. If there's a non-theological subject for a sermon that can be aimed not at the adults but at the children who aren't listening, they'll preach it. If they can, they'll abandon a short traditional Matins service from the 1662 version of the Book of Common Prayer and replace it with a scattering of badly photocopied paper covered with adverts for some aberration called Messy Church. And, better still, in the name of accessibility, they'll rip out all of the ancient pew seats and replace them with stackable chairs and a cheap carpet. Not that our new vicar is doing anything but an exemplary job, I should add, and he has, I hope, now realised that his modern version of 'Our Father' was outgunned by our trad version as our increasingly loud saying of 'thy' resolutely drowned out his 'your'. In this era of non-belief and non-attendance, vicars need PR skills, not the attitude of an oppressive head teacher. It's their job, rather, to keep the eggs warm than to rule the roost. But with dwindling congregations, very little money by way of stipends and (having sold off all the nice rectories), the prospect of rather miserable accommodation, is it any wonder that most applicants for the job of C of E Rev are mad, bad or indifferent?
BBC News
05-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Row erupts between parishioners and rector at Malpas church
Churchgoers in a Cheshire village have been revolting in a row over their rector which has culminated in the police being called in. Reverend Janine Arnott was appointed to St Oswald's in Malpas near Whitchurch in 2022, since when some church members have raised concerns about some of her have since been stuck to Chester Cathedral in an attempt to get the bishop to intervene, but his response has been labelled "un-Christian" by one resident and former choir member, Liane Diocese of Chester said in a statement that the bishop had been engaging with the concerns through the proper channels. Ms Smith who has been in the congregation for 10 years, most of that time in the choir with her husband, said Dr Arnott "did a great job when she started"."It seems from the start of 2023, she decided things needed to change, as if sort of 'well, I've done it their way for six months and things need to change now.'"It started with apparent disagreements about the choir when the rector asked them to stop singing for two weeks, Ms Smith said. Then there were disagreements about prayers and readings, with the bell ringers stopping over allegations about the way the rector was treating some people, causing some to leave."It's quite a massive dismantling of a successful church community," she Smith said she was asked to step down from the choir after criticising the rector's leadership style, which she described as "authoritarian", and attempting to publish the minutes of a church council have since been stuck to the cathedral urging intervention from the Mark Tanner responded in a letter, the Whitchurch Herald reported, which stated the leaflets were factually incorrect and libellous and some of those opposed to the rector were guilty of unlawful and inexcusable Smith said his response was "un-Christian"."It's un-Christian to at this stage when everybody's been trying to knock on his door and tell him to turn around and say 'now you're going to be responsible for the fact there's no money in the church, you're responsible for the fact that I've had to call the police'," she Diocese of Chester said the bishop had limited scope to intervene directly in parish matters but had consistently offered support and guidance throughout the situation and encouraged people to "remain in conversation"."Whilst it would not be right to comment publicly on personal pastoral matters, wherever the diocese is aware of matters which require response, appropriate action is taken involving other authorities where necessary."Cheshire Police said the force had received reports of harassment related to a Church in Malpas, including reports of flyers being glued to the Cathedral, and inquiries were on-going. Read more stories from Cheshire on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC North West on X. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
