THE official motto of Trafford is “Hold Fast That Which Is Good” and I believe there is a lot of good here in Trafford.

Plenty of people who are or were either from Trafford or came and lived here. People we can all be very proud of.

Although there are many people to be proud of in Trafford from all walks of life I wanted to write about a cross section of famous names who have a Trafford connection. I have interviewed a few of these people in my column such as Karl Pilkington from Sale, Sally Dynevor, from Altrincham, and Ian McShane from Urmston. All household names and all from right here in Trafford.

There are many more people to be proud of and from each part of the borough. Here is just a small example of who we have to be proud of.

Stretford can be proud of Smiths lead singer Morrissey who lived there.

Old Trafford has Dodie Smith who wrote A Hundred and One Dalmatians and lived in Stretford Road and Ian Curtis, the lead singer of Joy Division.

Actor Benny Rothman and Ian Brown, the lead singer of The Stone Roses, both lived in Timperley

Actors Michael Le Vell, from Coronation Street, and Norman Rossington, famous for his roles in the Carry On films have Hale covered.

Along with Sally Dynevor we have Dramatist Ronald Gow, Chris Sievey, the Creator of Frank Sidebottom, Bill Speakman, the recipient of the Victoria Cross and artist Helen Allingham, who all live or lived in Altrincham.

Joining Karl Pilkington are Robert Bolt, the Oscar-winning screen writer and playwright and the famous physicist James Joule, who all lived in Sale.

I was surprised to learn that musician Kid Creole, aka August Darnell, originally from the Bronx, lived right here in Urmston. As did actors Ian McShane and Matthew Kelly.

There are many more famous names I could add to this list and I find it inspiring to see local people achieving amazing things and rising to the top of their chosen professions.

It’s also exciting to see new names and faces rising to the top and I look forward to seeing who will be added to the list of Trafford residents we can all be proud of.

Next week I’ll be writing about an event I am attending and I look forward to sharing that with you all.

See you next week!