A Cheshire village asked its residents if they wanted to 'apply to be part of Wales' in a light-hearted poll - but the move sparked media attention and debate across the country.
Fifteen years ago, villagers in Audlem, which is nine miles from Wales, were posed the question. It followed on from a previous April Fools' Day story around the subject, and while it was not meant as a serious campaign to realign the Welsh border - it did aim to highlight many differences between England and Wales, reports CheshireLive.
The large village of Audlem on the Shropshire Union Canal has a population of around 1,800, according to the latest Census figures. It lies barely within the county's southern border within the Cheshire East borough. It is around seven miles south of Nantwich, eight miles from Whitchurch in Shropshire and about 12 miles from Crewe. More importantly, however, it is approximately nine miles from Wales.
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But despite this, in 2008 local website Audlem Online, which has been run by locals since 2005, started a poll entitled: "Would you like Audlem to apply to be a part of Wales?" Publishing the news about the poll, Audlem Online reported that it had outlined a number of supposed benefits in its 'light-hearted' piece on April Fools' Day.
This included free prescriptions, free parking at NHS hospitals, more investment in its sports centre and a Grand Slam winning rugby team. Wales had of course won the Grand Slam in the 2008 Six Nations. But on the same day the spoof piece was published, the Government announced that prescription charges in England would rise in England. Meanwhile, they were lessened by £2 in Scotland and remained free in Wales.
One resident did suggest Audlem becoming an on short island of Scotland. But this was dismissed as Scotland is ' a long way', while Wales was a 'mere' nine miles away The statement on Audlem Online, which was run at the time by resident Bob Cartwright, read: "The poll will be seen, we hope, as a humorous way to make a very serious point. Nobody in England, we suspect, wants to take away the many benefits the Welsh, and even more the Scots enjoy.
"We'd just like the same benefits – as all three countries pay the same level of tax. A 'Yes' vote in the Audlem Poll may attract widespread publicity and send out a serious message to the Government."
The poll was picked up by media outlets across the country, and Mr Cartwright was reported as saying by Wales Online that the voting showed residents were two to one in favour. The BBC reported that the end result was 63 per cent in support of the idea.
It did cause some debate among village residents. Many pointed to the issues with the NHS prescription charges as well as the increase in parking charges at Leighton Hospital.
An online forum was opened at the time to discuss the subject, and one resident said they knew four Welsh speakers in Audlem, adding that it was 'probably more than Newport and Cardiff can muster between them'.
But not everyone took to the idea. Conservative councillor Alan Richardson, who represented the village on what was then Crewe & Nantwich Council, flew the Cross of St George from the flagpole of his farm. When asked about the poll, he said: "No, for no other reason except I'm English."
He added: “But I most certainly don’t decry Wales or its dragon and I do think you’ve got something right, because both you and the Scottish have got the British Government, left, right and centre, to give them freedom, which they don’t give the English. If there’s one thing that would help us, it would be to have the same sense of freedom that you’ve got and the Scottish have.”
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