Memorial unveiled to community campaigners

A park bench has been installed in memory of a couple who worked to preserve green spaces in Staffordshire.

Stan and Margaret Goodall, who were married for almost 50 years, both served on Stafford Borough Council and Stone Town Council.

Mr Goodall became a councillor in the 1980s, serving as Stone town mayor in 1990 and representing the St Michael's ward on the borough council before his death in 2004 aged 72.

Mrs Goodall served as the town's deputy mayor in 2011 and represented Walton on the borough council until 2019 before her death in 2023, aged 89.

The park bench was unveiled at Westbridge Park in Stone on Wednesday during a ceremony attended by members of the couple's family.

Daughter Jan Cresswell said: "We thought it fitting that a memorial bench be installed in our parents' memory as they loved Stone."

The bench commemorates the work the couple did to help preserve green spaces in the town.

Mr Goodall urged the borough council to buy two fields off Trent Road to turn them into a nature reserve, which was later renamed Stan Goodall Meadows.

Mrs Goodall chaired the local authority's environment sub-committee and her work included maintaining Crown Meadow as a town centre beauty spot during the 2010s.

The couple lived in Blythe Bridge before moving to Stone and had five children and 13 grandchildren.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations.

Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.