Man About Town – March 2026

By Mark Edwardson

Recently, in an idle moment, I took a nostalgic look at previous copies of Beartown Voice and I realised I’ve been writing this column for five years! Tempus fugit.

Many of those articles focussed upon the culture of our fantastic little town. And there’s lots of it. So, it came as a pleasant surprise to learn a bid is being put together that could put Congleton firmly on the national cultural map.

We’re all aware of the “City of Culture” accolade. The closest to Congleton was probably Liverpool in 2008. Before that Stoke on Trent held the Garden Festival in 1986. So, what about “Congleton; UK Town of Culture”? It’s a new competition to celebrate the cultural contributions of towns with populations under 75,000. It carries an award of £3 million to the winning location. Is it possible our magical town will be the first winner?

There are plenty of people in Congleton who think so. Robin Jackson is a director, actor and writer with the Congleton Players who recently staged his sequel to Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”. It was a big production involving lots of locals. Robin told me, “There were about sixty people in all sorts of roles. Actors, production staff, writers, set dressers, costume designers - the lot. Every time we stage a production we get people from the local area who want to get involved. People who work with wood, hair, textiles, everything. The town’s stuffed with talent!”

Undoubtedly Congleton’s got the talent but can it compete? “Why not? Of course it can!” asserted the Congleton Chronicle’s Deputy Editor, James Jackson. “It’s the little town with the big heart. It’s got such a sense of community. It should go for it. It’s got a wealth of community groups and volunteer teams that just want the town to be the best it can be. There’s loads of am-dram groups, the bars are thriving with live music, there’s loads of entertainment. It can be up there with the best towns competing for it.” I think we can safely say the local paper’s onside.

Congleton Town Council is already canvassing support for the UK Town of Culture bid. Another enthusiast for the project is Tim McCloud. He’s the Chief Executive of TMC in the former Woolworth’s building in the town centre. “It’s really defining what culture is,” he said, “Can we demonstrate our uniqueness and sense of community? There are so many groups doing positive things. Even the community activities that take place on the high street contribute to that.”

Congleton celebrated its 750th birthday in 2022. Could heritage play a part? Tim thinks so. “We have history. We have heritage. But it has to go beyond that. Culture has got to be linked closely to community.”

Tim McCloud received an award from King Charles in 2023. Tim says the monarch remembers Congleton with much affection. During a conversation Charles didn’t mention the infamous (and now fixed) wonky bench photo opportunity but he did have fond recollections and appreciation of the town and its people leading Tim to say, “We should be proud of who and what we are.” I asked him if the King might put a word in for Congleton. Tim chuckled and replied, “I’d like to think so!”