Since relocating to the Grade II listed Literary Institute in Hightown in 2005, the town council has spent more than £100,000 - but it remains in a poor state.

Earlier this year the council granted £8,000 for emergency building work but repairs cost an extra £10,000.

The plaque, which has been placed prominently on the churchyard wall along Narrow Lane, is the result of co-operation between St Michael and All Angels' Church and Crewe Green Parish Council.

Church officials say the historic church tower in High Street, which dates back to 1661 and stands 80ft tall, is in urgent need of repair.

There has been a church on the site of the existing building since 1200AD.

Entitled Mr Walsh's Perdita, with jockey up, on Nantwich Racecourse, it is by Benjamin Killingbeck, who specialised in painting horses and dogs.

The unveiling formed part of a cheese and wine evening organised as a fundraising event to help the Pillory Street museum pay for the painting.

Hundreds flocked to Crewe Heritage Centre to see the Wheels of War Past and Present Show.

The town's Civic Hall will play host to the event which will feature the Co-operative Band of Crewe under its musical director Jeff Sparkes and the Corps of Drums of the Cheshire Constabulary.

Former Crewe and Nantwich mayor's chauffeur John Mayman and boxing promoter Pat Brogan were two of the pupils at the old St Mary's School at St Mary's Road, Crewe.

The foursome, known as Count Grenville and The Krinks, are shown here posing with their instruments by the picturesque Queen's Park lake in Crewe.

The band, which formed almost immediately after leaving school, played all the hits of The Kinks, who were at the height of their popularity at the time the picture was taken in 1964.

Dave, Chris Dunn and Keith Barber were classmates at Ludford Street Boys School, before they met Grenville Lyons, who later went on to manage the Civic Hall in Nantwich.

The event, which is being organised by the South Cheshire Military Modelling Club, will see more than 40 real-life vehicles converge at the site in the Wheels of War: Past and Present show.

There will also be a series of exhibitions and models on show.

The girls, who appear in the photograph above, were reunited at the Cronkinson Farm pub in Stapeley for their annual get-together, which they have enjoyed ever since they took their holiday to Tossa de Mar.

The pump, part of the old Murgatroyd Salt Works, remains despite the works' demolition in 1966, and is the only example of its kind left in the country.

It is currently rated 'high' on English Heritage's Heritage at Risk register and town officers have warned its condition is deteriorating further.

Heritage officer Kerry Fletcher said: "If nothing's done it will fall into ruin. It's the last one in the country, a national monument, and the last connection this town has with its salt-making heritage."

The first meeting, at the new Methodist Centre in Hospital Street, features Joseph Pennell giving a talk called on The Harvey Family and Nantwich Tannery.

It starts at 7.30pm, when subscriptions will be taken at the usual rate of £8 members and £5 students.

The sculpture, based on the Romans' triumphal arches, has been designed to link with the town's proud heritage and improve the Centurion Way roundabout's rundown appearance.

The arch will be segmented and strategically positioned to form a complete arch when viewed from certain angles.

Chef Colin Rostron broke the existing world best, which was set at 81.2kg in Edinburgh in 2007, by stirring 27kg of oats and 150 litres of water with a specially commissioned paddle over heat for just over an hour.

The event celebrated the stage adaptation of the much-loved British TV comedy classic Porridge which begins its four-week stretch at The Lowry for a month from December 22.

It was discovered by Ronald Brown, of Wirral, at the site of the 1644 Battle of Nantwich in Acton.

He was scouring the land with members of the South Lancashire and Cheshire Metal Detecting Club on January 18 this year when the ring was found.