David Rutley celebrates town’s heritage

Member of Parliament for Macclesfield, David Rutley, took the opportunity on Saturday to help promote the town’s rich heritage, as he took part in Macclesfield’s Heritage Open Days.

The programme of events, which ran from Thursday 11^th to Sunday 14^th September, were designed to provide the community with a chance to get immersed in the rich heritage and culture of Macclesfield and the local area. David was able to visit Charles Roe House, and support local arts company Incubation Arts, who are at the forefront of the efforts to develop Charles Roe House as a permanent home for arts and culture in Macclesfield. Following this, David went to the Grade II listed Christ Church on Bridge Street, to find out more about the ‘Roe-naissance’ project, which is working to find a new future for the church, built by Charles Roe in 1775.

Incubation Arts recently received a start-up grant of almost £10,000 awarded by the Heritage Lottery Fund to develop a plan to turn Charles Roe House into a heritage, cultural and arts centre for Macclesfield and the surrounding area. The new exhibitions were part of their creative vision to celebrate the town’s historic artistic excellence alongside emerging creative development. The proposed new Arts Centre will also be home to a permanent exhibition celebrating the band Joy Division and their lead singer and local legend Ian Curtis, who has inspired much of the local musical and artistic talent to come out of Macclesfield. David is enthusiastic in his support for the Incubation Arts project and gave his backing to the successful bid for the start-up grant.

Speaking after the event, David said, “This has been a great success for the town, and I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the Heritage Open Days. It is fantastic to have events like these, which allow us to celebrate Macclesfield not just as a great place to live, but a town with a rich heritage that is alive with artistic talent. I was pleased to hear about the progress being made by Incubation Arts at Charles Roe House”

He went on to say, “I am continuing to work with local organisations to make Macclesfield a more distinctive destination; both for tourists and local residents. The Heritage Open Days have been a real boost”.