The site has been online for the Marple Community since October 1998!
This is the first and best community web site for Marple in Stockport, Greater Manchester, or as some will still insist, Cheshire. It was first started in October 1998 with the aim of providing useful information for local people and potential visitors and to contribute to the fantastic community spirit that abounds in this small canal town on the edge of the peaks.
The site developed from an initial urge to learn how to make use of the free web space offered by my very first Compuserve email account in the mid-1990s. I started off in the usual way, playing around with family photographs and hobbies but soon realised that the most important thing on any web site is good content. I was never going to create an interesting site about an ordinary family of four from Marple that people would want to visit and keep returning back to.
I hit on the local theme after a colleague mentioned a site he'd seen for Northwich in Cheshire. There was nothing like this for Marple or any of the surrounding areas, so I decided to give it a try. I didn't realise at the time how interested I would become in Marple and its local history or how many helpful people I would find who were willing to contribute. I'm pleased to say that I've made many new friends as a result of these pages, both locally and around the world.
Thanks to the local businesses that sponsor and advertise on this site, in 2022 The Marple Website has been able to donate a record £1,250 to local projects and good causes. This brings the grand total of funds donated or invested in the local community since 2006 to £16,250. That's an average of more than £1,000 a year over the last 16 years.
The Marple Website was 24 Years Old in 2022!The Internet has changed beyond all recognition since the Marple Website was first launched on 6 October 1998. However, 24 years later, the main aims and objectives of the site remain true to the original: “to provide useful information for local people and potential visitors and to contribute to the fantastic community spirit that abounds in this small canal town on the edge of the peaks.”
Since 2001 the Marple Website has published an annual Christmas Greeting that gives a summary of the web site's successes and achievements each year. The more recent ones going back as far as 2010 are included here. Older ones can still be found on the original Marple Website.
