2023 in pictures (Part 2): More stories from in and around Knutsford

Today, we will be remembering more of the great images which featured in the Knutsford Guardian this year.

This article will feature pictures from July to December. Here is our look back on the first half of the year.

July

Glorious sunshine welcomed thousands of visitors to Tatton Park in July as the RHS Flower Show kicked off.

Cheshire chainsaw sculptor Andy Burgess (Image: Newsquest)

There were stunning displays throughout, with amazing flowers and imaginative show gardens providing plenty of inspiration.

Retired Sam Youd, head gardener at Tatton for 32 years, was the instigator of this magnificent annual event.

Sam, from Knutsford, said: “I brought the show here. It took 14 years of negotiating."

August

Euphoric students at Knutsford Academy were jumping for joy after achieving outstanding GCSE grades this month.

There was an air of joy and excitement at the school as teenagers opened their result envelopes.

Students jumping for joy on GCSE results day at Knutsford Academy (Image: Newsquest)

An incredible amount of grade 9s were gained by pupils, despite their learning being interrupted by Covid.

September

Knutsford took its place on the vintage cycling world stage as a quirky once-in-a-decade event transformed the town in September.

More than 100 competitors from New Zealand, Belgium, Germany, and right across the UK battled it out in the fifth Knutsford Great Race, a nail-biting, three-hour endurance penny-farthing race around the ancient town’s winding streets and alleys on September 10.

A total of 111 competitors took part in the Knutsford Great Race, the penny-farthing circuit's toughest endurance race (Image: Dave Gillespie)

Spectators descended in droves to witness the truly outlandish spectacle, which managed to combine madcap fun and wild eccentricity with genuine thrills driven by the hard-edged competitive spirit among the entrants.

October

Knutsford chippy Hooked on the Heath was named among the country's best fish and chip shops in October.

Aaron Morris and Craig Buckley of Hooked on the Heath, when they were named in Fry Magazine's top 50 for 2022/23 (Image: Supplied)

The Northwich Road shop was the only one in Cheshire listed in the top 40 finalists for Fish and Chip Takeaway of the Year 2024 in the National Fish and Chip Awards.

Despite having scooped countless trade awards, this was Hooked on the Heath's first time being shortlisted among Britain’s best.

Owner Craig Buckley was 'over the moon' with the result.

November

A dramatic end to the month saw 110 Longridge residents evacuated from their homes after police found substances in a dawn drugs raid.

Emergency services, including bomb disposal experts, on the scene in Longridge (Image: Newsquest)

Bomb disposal experts were called in and spent all day on November 27 working to identify the nature of the substances, with a 100-metre cordon put in place for seven hours.

The substances were eventually identified as sulphuric and hydrochloric acid and a 29-year-old man was charged with their possession. He returns to court in the new year.

December

A Christmas charity tractor run was organised to raise funds for East Cheshire Hospice (Image: Knutsford Young Farmers)

The Christmas spirit was well and truly alive in Knutsford on December 23, when dozens of festively-decorated tractors made their way through the town.

Knutsford Young Farmers organised the tractor run to raise more than £1,000 for East Cheshire Hospice.