Whether you're a regular visitor or you've stumbled across the Marple Website for the first time, We'd like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We hope you enjoy the site and will want to return in the future.

The year 2001 has been another busy and interesting time for the site, with even more new features and additions being made since this time last year. I've been ably supported by Peter Clarke this year and he's made two very significant contributions in The Virtual Tour of Marple and the Marple Community Council Pages. The site is now a real team effort. We've also started using the web site as a vehicle for campaigning on local heritage issues, our main target at present being to achieve restoration of the Iron Bridge in Brabyns Park. The Community pages have been joined by Marple Bell Ringers, Brabyns Tennis Club, Marple Transport Society and Marple Rotaract Club, bringing the 'membership' of this section to twenty-five groups at present. If you represent a local organisation and would like to join this select band, just get in touch. There have been numerous others additions and updates too, as can be seen from the "What's New?" page. There are also several major new features in the pipeline, one of which should unveiled very soon.

The hit counter has proved that the site's popularity is steadily growing, with approximately 22,000 hits since this time last year. This is more than the combined total for the previous two years and has taken the counter past the 40,000 mark. Presently the average is 60 to 70 hits per day, with the highest peak so far being reached on 26 November when there were 118 visits. November also holds the record for the busiest month, whilst October had the busiest week with totals of 2374 and 607 respectively. I hope we will be able to maintain, or even improve on these figures during the coming year. The new features we have planned should help to do this.

This popularity is not without problems and once again the Guest Book has reached maximum capacity, with a message falling off the bottom every time a new one is added. They are not lost however and will soon be reinstated in new archives for 2000 and 2001. So please keep posting your messages of support as they are a source of great encouragement to us.

As regular visitors will know, we've maintained our successful relationship with the Community News throughout the year and continued to publish monthly articles on local history and heritage. These articles have resulted in some great contacts from Community News readers and visitors to the web site. We've told you about many of these already but are waiting for several others to come to fruition. Unfortunately the articles have not always appeared in the paper as we would wish due to heavy editing and as a result Peter has decided not to continue in the New Year. I will be attempting to carry on but will struggle to double my output to to produce an article every month. If anyone has any ideas or material for new articles, or maybe you'd even like to write one as a guest, then get in touch. If anyone would like to try persuading Peter to change his mind, then let him know how much you've enjoyed his efforts so far.

The highlight of the year was possibly the inclusion of the web site in the video 'Stockport, Our Town'. Commissioned by Stockport MBC to celebrate the year 2000, this film uses video footage, sounds, graphic imagery and still photographs to sum up what is "distinctive, characteristic and commonplace in the Stockport of today". It was rewarding that the site should be considered in this way and featured, albeit briefly, in the video.

Finally, if there has to be an area of slight disappointment, it continues to be the limited use that is made of the Forum and Notice Board. Despite a steady stream of visitors, taking the hits to over 14,000, the number of messages posted continues to be poor and it has still not become the communications medium I had hoped. Never mind, there's a New Year coming and who knows what that will bring!

Once again, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.

Mark Whittaker & Peter Clarke