Parkinson’s won’t get me out, vows battling Bill

It seems logical to accept you would be forced to give up scoring for your beloved cricket club’s First X1 when you have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.

That with your league’s 2023 season ended, it is time to reluctantly hang up your pencil and scorebook.

Yet 70-year-old Bill Livesley, better known in the past to generations of Macclesfield shoppers for his 38 years as proprietor of Gatehouse Antiques in Chestergate, is having none of it.

He insists:

“When you have Parkinson’s it is vital not to bury your head in the sand. You must continue to do the best you can day by day.

“The disease doesn’t kill anybody and famous men like Billy Connolly and Jeremy Paxman have proved you can keep going if you are determined enough.

“You have to be positive and keep your mind working. Scoring for the cricket club is my way of doing therapy.”

Various roles Bill has filled with distinction for Prestbury Cricket Club over 21 years have been recognised with a plaque on what is now The Bill Livesley Scorebox at The Village Ground.

He has been scoring for ten years, becoming a familiar figure at Cheshire Cricket League grounds accompanied by Milo, his 14-year-old Jack Russell Terrier.

A former borough councillor, Bill has also made a significant contribution to the well-being of Parkinson’s sufferers who benefit from therapy in more conventional ways.

He organised a charity fund raiser in aid of Parkinson’s UK which raised £557 for the Macclesfield branch committee.

The committee run the ALEX Project (Activities, Leisure & Exercise), a group which meets at Bollington Leisure Centre every Wednesday morning during term time, headed up by Dr Chris Loughran.

They encourage “Parkinsonians” to enjoy exercise and remedial massage in a friendly and welcoming environment.

Activities include Pilates, tai chi, aqua-exercise, gym activity. Massage and podiatry are also provided and social care service staff visit the group regularly to provide information and one-to-one advice.

Bill, who lives in Macclesfield, said:

“The last thing you can do with Parkinson’s is give in to it. Scoring for the cricket club is good for me because the act of writing is affected by the disease.

“My writing goes from large to very small and I get tired. But although Parkinson’s is debilitating, medication has been developed which controls the long term effects.

“Carrying on scoring for the cricket team is something I need to keep doing for as long as I possibly can.”

Bill’s association with the cricket club started in 2002 when his son Tom decided he wanted to play the game.

Prestbury did not have a junior section so Bill formed an Under-9 team and became the first juniors’ chair. The club now also run teams for Under 11s, Under-13s and Under-15s.

They have 70 junior members, some of them Under-7s who learn cricket playing softball.

In creating the section, Bill laid the groundwork for hundreds of youngsters in and around the village to take up cricket over the two decades since.

He has reason to be particularly proud of his son, now 30. Tom holds the record for the highest individual innings in the club’s 151-year history, 200 not out for the third X1 in 2006.

Bill served for six years as club chair, runs the annual Prestbury Sixes tournament and is the club’s Development Chair.

Any Parkinson’s carer or sufferer can contact Bill Livesley for information by phoning:

07774 717654

...or emailing: 

bill_livesley@yahoo.co.uk

Pictured - Bill Livesley with his dog Milo.