Over 20 years of research into the family tree of the Sticks families has uncovered some interesting characters from lawyers to highwaymen and bigamists to priests. You can read about some of them here as well as expore our interactive family tree and reference the transcriptions of our collection of Birth, Death and Marriage certificates.
The house at the sticks is over 200 years old, most probably dating from the reign of George III. Using a variety of sources from wills through to census returns and title deeds we trace some of the people who lived here before us and developments shaping both the house and its land.
When the Webmaster moved to The Sticks he thought it was the middle of nowhere and told everyone we were out in the sticks, and used the name for our website. It isn't really in the middle of nowhere although the lack of local public transport may make it seem like that. Almost equidistant from Leek, Congleton and Stoke it is and ideal place to live, especially for dogs and anyone who likes country walks - long or short. Here you will find maps of some of the short walks popular with the locals brief, descriptions of the places they pass through and routes, and a few links to useful local information.
We favour the wild, natural look and like the birds, butterflies, frogs and other small animals that inhabit our garden, but we want it to be looked after. We would prefer it if the slugs and butterflies kept away from the vegetable garden, but of course they don't. We don't mind a few weeds and have plenty of space for them, but we are in a constant battle to stop the nettles, docks and brambles from overunning us. We aren't experts and rarely manage to grow veg that look like the pictures on the packet. The slug mats don't keep off all the slugs and butterflies find their way under the mesh, the cucumbers come all at once and we always end up too few carrots and too many tomatoes. And then there is the preserving: pickling, drying, freezing, bottling and jam making. A lot to learn for retired amateurs who took on the challenge to "grow you own".
After two years of Covid and several years of being tied to the garden we have almost forgotten what travelling to explore new places is like. And of course we are more aware of the carbon footprint of long distance travel. But in earlier days we travelled more including to India when it was the fashionable thing to do and to Syria when it wasn't. Here are some of the transcriptions from my travel diaries from back on those days, the earliest from 1981.
A structured gallery of photos and pictures relating to topics covered on this website. Also experimenting with short video clips.
An archive of blog posts relevant to their time, although some are unfortunately regaining relevance again today. "Walk and Talk" are conversations with the Webmaster while out walking the dog and enjoying the local countryside, the one thing that can still bring solice in these difficult times; "Rooted to the Spot" was my tongue in cheek and light hearted way to get into the spirit of Brexit, because, let's face it the reality was never going to match the promises and it wasn't pleasant watching the government go from bad to worse to complete disaster, and last but not least "Sticks Stuff", just random events, thoughts and letting off steam.
Memories of Andy with his daughters
