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| timeline: 1975-1999 | ||
| 1975 | ||
| 1977 | ||
| April - Chester Diocesan Guild of Bell Ringers The Macclesfield Branch of this Guild met at St Paul's on 20 April 1977. There were rounds for beginners followed by Grandsire and Plain Bob. Then those with greater expertise rang Kent and Oxford followed by Cambridge Surprise. A service then followed with a sermon by the Vicar and then a tea in the schoolroom. |
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| June - List of Church organizations and Services CMS Leprosy Mission Bell ringers Sunday School Mothers' Union Monday Night Ladies' Class Congregational Stall Children's Union Thursday Mothers' Class Young Men's Institute Young Wives Scripture Union Scouts Cubs Brownies Guides SUNDAY SERVICES 8:00Holy Communion |
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| June - Bell ringing in memoriam From the Magazine: It is with regret that we record the passing of Mr Percy Walton. He was a regular and valued membor of our Sunday Service band of ringers for many years. In honour of his memory a Quarter Peal consisting of 1360 changes of Kent and Oxford, Treble Bob Minor, was rung in 50 minutes prior to Evensong on Sunday 19th June. |
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| July - Bell ringing for the Queen's Jubilee JUBILEE DAY - In the morning of that wonderful day the Ringers climbed the belfry steps and rang Call Changes, Plain Hunt, Plain Bob Minor and Plain Courses of Grandsire Doubles. In the afternoon the bells again pealed forth over the town. Ringers from Mossley and Saddleworth joined by two of our Ringers rang a quarter peal of Kent Treble Bob Major in 48 minutes, the quarter consisting of 1260 changes....A very happy day. |
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| 1978 | ||
| April- August - Yanks Yanks - a feature film released in 1979 - was partly filmed in Stalybridge. Northern locations were filmed mainly between April and August 1978. One scene was filmed inside St Paul's Church. |
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| 1979 | ||
| January - Young wives On the second Sunday of each month the Young Wives to come to Morning Prayer and a creche to be provided in the Junior Choir Vestry. This to start from 14 January 1979. |
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| June - Children's Union The Working Party of our Children's Union deeply regret having to inform their members and supporters that as from Saturday 12 May they will be winding up our St Paul's Branch. We have recently been advised by the London Office that during the past year the Children's Union has become fully integrated into the Church of England Children's Society, and from the 8th March has been replaced by an Educational Advisory Panel, the use of the Children's Union name being discontinued. We find this wholly unacceptable, and after serious discussion have decided to close our Branch. We shall, however, continue to help the Home "Ryecroft" at Worsley, and will be grateful for the continued support of our friends in this endeavour. The boxes will be called in, and if convenient to box holders will be accepted at our Coffee Evening on June 5th. The records show that the first contributiuon of thirty shillings was sent by our late dear Miss Hassall to London in 1906, and it is sad for all our us that our St Paul's Children's Union Branch must close. |
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| August - Pew Rents The Vicar, writing in the Magazine, thanks people for keeping up with their Pew Rents. |
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| August - Canon Lewis retires Mr Lewis will conduct his last official duties at St. Paul's on August 29, a Holy Communion service to begin at 7.30 p.m. The Lord Bishop of Chester will attend. |
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| 1980 | ||
 February - Victor Isaac Wilson becomes Vicar of St Paul'sFrom the Reporter: AFTER some quiet months, St. Paul’s Vicarage, Stalybridge, was a hive of activity this week, as the Rev Victor Wilson prepared to take over ministerial duties at St. Paul’s. Mr Wilson, successor to Canon B. J. Lewis, moved to Stalybridge with his wife Dorothy last Thursday. They had had only one previous visit to the town, but Mr Wilson has already decided that Stalybridge folk are "nice, friendly people.” "I think we are going to like it here,” he commented. Mr Wilson, who was a Wesleyan Reform minister before entering the Church of England, was inducted at a service at St. Paul’s on Monday evening (25 February 1980). The Bishop of Stockport, the Rt Rev Gordon Strutt, performed the institution, and the Archdeacon of Macclesfield conducted the induction. Mr Wilson was delighted to see a full church for the occasion, and among the congregation were 150 people from Christ Church, Latchford, where Mr Wilson was vicar for five years. Moving from Warrington has been quite an experience for Mr and Mrs Wilson, for in addition to the normal upheaval of changing homes, they arrived in Stalybridge to find their new house in a state of disorder. The vicarage is having central heating fitted, and is being partly re-decorated, which means that the Wilsons cannot even finish fitting carpets and installing their furniture. Hopefully, Mr and Mrs Wilson, who are both 56, and both from Bradford, will soon settle into life at St. Paul's, however. They have no children, but have been joined in their new home by their dog. Sue. Both are looking forward to Sunday, when Mr Wilson will conduct his first services at St. Paul's. , He told the Reporter, “I am looking forward to Sunday, and to becoming involved with the people here and their lives. "Christianity is a way of life, and we ought to share our joys, our bereavements and our hopes. "Everyone is welcome to our services and they will find a welcome at the vicarage, as well as in the church. "I hope we shall make many new friends here,” he added. |
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| May - Baptism Introduction of Baptism during Morning Prayer "when the congregation besides the Vicar can welcome newcomers". |
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| 1981 | ||
| April - Restoration appeal This followed a fire which did serious damage to the clergy vestry. It also aimed to deal with the discovery of dry rot in the gallery and the theft of lead from the church roof. |
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| 1983 | ||
| August - Church decorated Redecoration of the church August to November and January 1984 24 years since the last time it was decorated. The work would involve the stripping and replastering large areas of the wall before starting redecoration. |
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| August - Dry rot in bell tower Dry rot had been found in the ringing chamber and bell tower. Eradication was planned at a cost of £4000. |
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| October - Sale of Work This lasted for two days and raised £5600. |
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| 1984 | ||
| January - Celebration weekend The Parish Church of St. Paul Stayley Celebration of Thanksgiving for Restoration and Rededication SATURDAY, 28th JANUARY 1984 at 2.00 p.m. Act of Rededication by The Bishop of Stockport Organist George M. Wrigley Augmented Choir directed by Jack Pickford, B.A., A.R.C.O. The Weekend of Celebration and Thanksgiving will continue with a Celebration Dinner at The George Lawton Flail, Mossley on Saturday, 28th January, 1984 at 7.30 p.m. SUNDAY 29th JANUARY 1984 The Feast of the Dedication of the Parish Church of St. Paul, Stayley Parish Communion 10.30 a.m. Celebrant The Vicar Soloist Mr. A. W. Smith of Leeds A PARISH LUNCH IN THE SCHOOLROOM at NOON Evensong 6.30 p.m. |
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| March - Appeal for bell ringers and Choir members Bell ringers wanted - appeal from Mr K Hall. Choir master appealed for adults to join the choir |
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| March - Lent During evening service in Lent the poulpit was taken over by lay people speaking on the theme: "What I believe and why... During Lent, there were weekly meetings during the week ending with compline. |
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| May - Holy Land Pilgrimage Pilgrimage to the Holy Land led by Mr Wilson in May 1984 - (cost £399). This was the first of a number of pilgrimages to the Holy Land during Mr Wilson's time at St Paul's |
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| October - Family Service Family Service - October 14 which attracted a congregation of over 200. |
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| November - Advent meetings This was the second year these have been run. A series of three each of which ended with Compline |
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| 1985 | ||
| 1986 | ||
| March - Easter Palm Sunday - Choir perform Olivet to Calvary at 6:30pm under direction of choirmaster Geoffrey Hughes Easter Day - Holy Communion at 7am,8am,10:30 and Evensong at 6:30pm |
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| 1987 | ||
| April - Organ dispute From the Reporter: Members of St. Paul's Church are split as to whether an electric organ should be bought or thousands of pounds raised to bring the present pipe organ back to its best after years of deterioration. Estimates of about £30,000 have been quoted by restoration firms to renovate the instrument, and at one stage it appeared that a pipeless replacement was the best answer. Last year the church was faced with, and met, a massive £80,000 bill for repairs to the roof of the church. According to one regular attender, there is some concern among the membership about yet another big fund-raising effort being announced, after all the hard work of last year. The fund-raising committee resigned at a meeting of the Parochial Church Council at the end of last month, and the experienced church organist, Mr. Geoffrey Hughes, has decided to resign as from the end of this month, although it was claimed that this was due to ill health and not the current dispute.. A new organ report estimate has been asked for and a new restoration committee has been requested to follow in the footsteps of those who have resigned. There were other Reporter articles on the dispute before it was resolved by agreeing to the restoration of the existing organ. |
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| 1988 | ||
| March - Organ restoration The church heard that the cost of organ restoration was £32500 (including VAT) towards which a fund of £21549.26 was already available. |
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| June - Organ restoration The PCC heard that the contract had been signed with George Sixsmith & Son of Mossley for the restoration of the organ. The need for this was mainly due to the unreliability of the tubular pneumatic action. A solid state capture system was installed together with some small tonal alterations, but the organ still remains largely in its 1874 form. |
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| June - Repairs to tower The PCC was told that two pinnacles on the bell tower had been found to be dangerous. Work agreed to be carried out at a cost of £4,200, which would involve the removal and replacement of the pinncles by crane. |
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| June - New Vicar Following the announcement of Victor Wilson's retirement, the PCC heard that the Rev. Paul Robinson has been offered and had accepted the living at St Paul's with effect from September 1988. |
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| June - Pattern of Sunday Services 1988 Services on Sunday 08:00 Holy Communion 14:30 Sunday School 18:30 Evensong 15:00 Holy Baptism |
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| June - Victor Wilson retires Victor Wilson retired after 8 and a half years as Vicar of St Paul's A social evening was held to mark the retirement of the Vicar attended by about 200 parishioners. |
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| July - Organ restoration John Neary, the church organist writes in the Parish Magazine: " Well, we've made a start. Thanks to the generosity of the congregation and many others the Organ Restoration is under way. The work is divided into three phases; dismantling, overhaul and rebuilding. Tuesday 31st March saw the start of. the dismantling with the removal of all the pipes from the Great and Choir sections of the Organ, and most of the pipework from the pedal section. The reed pipework was taken to the works in Mossley. for renovation, with the remaining pipes, there are almost one thousand, stored in the North Transcept of the Church. Have a look at them by all, means if you wish, but, please, no "souvenirs" as it would cost an average of £100 to replace any pipe which goes missing. The Great and Choir soundboards have been removed and taken to the works for renovation and repair. This leaves us with the Swell Organ and two Pedal stops which can be used for Church services for the next six weeks. At the end of that time the Great and Choir soundboards will be reinstalled, but the Swell Organ will be dismantled leaving nothing working. At that time a small "spinet" pipe organ will be installed for us to use until the restoration is complete at the end of August. |
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September - Installation of Paul Robinson as Vicar of St Paul's
Paul Robinson was installed as Vicar on 15 September 1988 by the Bishop of Stockport and the Archdeacon of Macclesfield. |
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| 1989 | ||
| July - 150th Anniversary Flower Festival The quality of the displays and popularity of the festival exceeded expectations. The run of the Festival had to be extended. Festival attracted over 2000 visitors and raised money for church funds. |
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| July - Bibles and microphones NIV Pew and lectern Bibles purchased The installation of microphones and a loop system was approved by the PCC. (A gift had allowed the church to pursue the provision of a sound and loop system). |
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| July - Services 8am: Holy Communion 10:30 Morning Service (Holy Communion 1st and 3rd) 2:30 Sunday School 6:30 Evening Service (Holy Communion 4th) Thursdays Holy Communion followed by refreshments. |
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| July - Parish Questionnaire REPORT ON THE PARISH SURVEY 1989...see here for the full report |
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| September - Traidcraft Stall selling Traidcraft goods supporting producers in the Third World opened for the first time on Harvest Sunday 1989. Until June 1993 it was available each Sunday morning and also on the first Sunday evening of each month. |
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| September - Sunday School From 10 September 1989 the Sunday School was to move to the morning and to begin in church before the children go to their classes. St Paul's was one of the last - if not the last - church to continue to hold the Sunday School in the afternoon. |
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| October - 150th Anniversary Anniversary exhibition in church from October 8 1989. 150th Anniversary dinner dance held at Dukinfield Jubilee Hall 14 October. |
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| November - 150th Anniversary The Anniversary Review was held on 18 November.  |
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| December - Mothers' Union Coffee and Carols A regular item at Christmas for a number of years which featured singing led by members of the Sunday School. |
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| December - Bishop of Chester's teach-in The Bishop of Chester, Michael Baughen, led a "teach in" at St Paul's on 7/8 December as part of the 150th Anniversary programme |
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| 1990 | ||
| Youth Club A Youth Club run by church volunteers was established. This ran on Friday evenings during term time at the Scout Hut at the bottom of Huddersfield Road. There were two sessions: one for younger children and one for teenagers. Eventually the Youth Club was transferred to the new church rooms following the restoration. |
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| January - Church New Year Party 6 January 1990 | ||
| March - Easter Monday Walk This follows a succesful Easterr Monday Walk the previous year. |
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| March - Dry Rot PCC told of problems with failing gutters around the church and early signs of dry rot. |
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| July - Simon Hunt - Curate Simon was born in Liverpool and was converted to Christianity at 18 while at university. He went on to study at Chester Law College before completing his training as a solicitor. He worked as a solicitor on an estate on the outskirts of Liverpool, dealing with injury claims and family breakdown cases. After deciding to seek ordination, he spent three years at St John's College, Nottingham in training. This is his first curacy. His wife, Margaret, comes from Bradford and was a geography and geology teacher. They will live in a house on Fistral Crescent |
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| July - Talent Chart
The magazine included a Talent Chart which listed jobs which might be done in church, and asking people to indicate any which they felt they might be able to do. Read a lesson This was linked to an article about what the church needed: |
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| August - Emergency repairs Emergency repair works were planned for the roof to make it water-tight and for the stripping out of dry rot. |
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| September - Old Vicarage A plan to use the old vicarage - which had been replaced by the present building - to serve older people in the parish had to be abandoned when the Church Commissioners were unable to sell it at a concessionary price. Consequently, the building would be put up for auction subject to some caveats which would avoid any adverse effects on the school, church or new vicarage. |
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| October - Church plant: Mottram Rise Curate Simon Hunt announces plan to start a church plant in Staley Hill School with morning services beginning on 14 October. Aimed to serve a section of the parish who did not identify with or realise that they were connected to St Paul's. Scheme has a one year renewable license from the diocese. [License covered holy communion - but not weddings] |
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| 1991 | ||
| March - Church restoration A PCC meeting discussed the way forward in the light of the problems the church faced. The church resolved to deal not only with the problems of the church fabric, but also to take the opportunity to develop the building into both a worship space and a suite of rooms which would help in serving the community and parish. |
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| April - BBC TV at St Paul's The BBC had used the church as a location for a scene involving a wedding in the series "Making Out" in 1990. They will return on 29 April 1991 to film a funeral - and burial. |
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| April - Charitable giving Over £3000 given away by St Paul's, i.e. 10 % of income was given away to charity. £1,400 went to help churches in inner city areas. £900 to work in Third World. Locally, there were donations to Mandy Scanner and Hospice. |
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| April - Vicar on the church restoration Mention was made of the removal of plaster which had taken place and the visible plastic sheeting which had been installed to cover parts of the building. PCC has seen a video showing the extent of the problem. Mention was made of the Bishop and Archdeacon's suggestion that the building be abandoned and the parish joined with neighbouring ones. The rest of the letter concentrated on rising to meet the challenge and refusing to consider making the building redundant. |
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| 1993 | ||
| June - Simon Hunt leaves Curate Simon Hunt leaves to go to a parish in Heysham. |
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| July - Flower Festival Flower Festival which built on the success of the 1989 Festival at the time of the church's 150th anniversary. The theme of the festival was: "St Paul's Pictures" and the festival ran from July 15 to July 18 |
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| 1995 | ||
| May - Rededication service Dedication of restored church and St Paul's Centre 13 May 1995. Dedication carried out by the Bishop of Chester. |
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| 1996 | ||
| May - BBC filming again at St Paul's May and July BBC filming for episodes of comedy series "Where There's Muck". |
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| May - Jay MacLeod Licensing of Rev Jay MacLeod as curate at St Paul's. Jay was a popular curate at St Paul's. He had a particular interest in liturgy and revised all the services at the church. He introduced Compline as an evening service instead of Evensong in Lent and designed a powerful and imaginative service for Good Friday morning. He led a party of mainly young people from the church to Taize and formed a cricket team and basket ball team in his time at the church. The following is taken from a New Hampshire newspaper at the time of Jay's arrival at his church in North America in 2013: Jay MacLeod, graduated from high school in 1979. He has since earned degrees from Harvard and Oxford, and met his wife, Sally Asher, while studying in England as a Rhodes Scholar. He is the author of Ain’t No Makin’ It, a sociology textbook. The MacLeods spent four years in Holmes County, Missouri, as community organizers. He trained for the ministry at Lincoln Theological College in England. After St Paul’s, Jay went as Priest-in-charge to All Saints Micklehurst and then was a parish priest in Bedford, in what’s said to be the country’s most culturally diverse neighborhood. He pioneered sports and oral history projects to reach out to young people. His start on the path to the ministry wasn’t conventional. MacLeod said it began when he was a college junior, when he went to India and Nepal to live and work among Tibetan refugees. “My Buddhist friends gave me a spiritual nudge that started me on a journey that led to the Christian priesthood,’’ he said. " |
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| 1997 | ||
| August - Dedication of war memorial erected to commemorate the servicemen buried at St Paul’s Church. Over a period of years, the graveyard – which was once the main burial ground for Stalybridge – became something of a jungle. It took on a very unkempt appearance and there was so much vandalism that it became impossible to identify the sites of some graves. The vicar, the Rev Paul Robinson and the Imperial War Graves Commission resolved that the best thing to do was to landscape the churchyard and to erect a memorial giving details of the 57 soldiers, sailors and airmen lying within the graveyard. The monument was dedicated on Sunday, 24 August, 1997. Proceedings began with a service, attended by the Bishop of Chester, the Rev Peter Forster; the Mayor of Tameside, Cllr Eileen Shorrock; and representatives of 17 old comrades’ associations, including Polish ex-servicemen. Afterwards, the congregation made their way into the graveyard, where the memorial was dedicated by Bishop Forster. The names of those commemorated were read out by the Rev Robinson; the curate, the Rev Jay Macleod; and Royal Navy veteran Cllr Charles Meredith, a former mayor of Tameside and Stalybridge, and member of the congregation. |
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| 1998 | ||
| May - Felix Annancy joins St Paul's as curate Born 1962 in Koforidua, Eastern Ghana Felix came to England in 1984 to study at Hull University. 1987 ordained deacon. Curate at Fenton Stoke on Trent before returning to Ghana. Ordained priest 1988. Established a new church in an industrial town in Ghana before returning to England for study at Manchester University. He remained at St Paul's until June 2000. |
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| May - Kids' Club By this time the Kids' Club - an after school and holiday club based in the church centre was well-established. |
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| August Consistory Court held at St Paul's to hear and decide upon objections to the scheme to develop the churchyards | 1999 | |
| March - Graveyard Work on clearing and landscaping the graveyard was about to begin. |
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| March - Minibus The church now had a minibus which could carry up to 16 passengers. It was available to support the work of the church. |
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