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Alton is a picture postcard village in the Staffordshire Moorlands, famous for the theme park just up the road, and just on the fringes of the Staffordshire Peak District.

The villagers are served by three churches; St Peter鈥檚, St John鈥檚 and the Methodist chapel. The Anglican parish is 'Alton with Bradley', comprising St Peter鈥檚 and the smaller St Leonard鈥檚, which is in the hamlet of Bradley just over a mile away.

'A Country Parish' will be written up here on the web month by month through 2008 with photos, interactive comments and audio interviews.
And... please leave your thoughts and comments on the messageboard. See the link for that on the right-hand side of this page.

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December '08 - Part 10 of 'A Country Parish'

December in Alton and winter is in evidence - not least because there's not much traffic around with the Towers closing for a few weeks.

It's a time of celebration in the village - Carols round the Roundhouse, the school nativity (see photo gallery) and the midnight service on Xmas Eve.

It's also been a time of sadness - Bessie Webb in her nineties and such an important part of the church and the community died at the end of November, leaving her husband Herbert to whom she'd been married听 for more than 60 years, her son and daughter and grandchildren.

[Bessie and Herbert appeared in the very first Country Parish back in March. If you'd like to hear her, click on the link: 'A Country Parish' - Part One, which you'll find at the top right of this webpage.]

Bessie worked as a community nurse and midwife and delivered more than 3000 babies - almost everyone in the village knew her. She wasn't afraid to pass an opinion on almost any subject and it's quite likely now that she's up there giving St Peter her thoughts...

On Christmas Eve The Bishop of Stafford is helping at the midnight Communion service at St Peter's in Alton. The Rt Revd Gordon Mursell says he loves this time of year.

He explains to Mary Fox about the role of the church in times of recession...

The Bishop will also remember 2008 as the year the doctors told him to stop talking - a scare with his vocal chords and surgery has forced him to look at his workload. He also revealed how he unwinds...