Secretary’s Chat
Ok where does the time go? When I retired, I thought I would have lots of time to do, well, whatever I wanted to do. Not true. The saying if you want something done ask a busy person is so true. As I type this, we are heading very quickly into the Winter months. Forget the sun I think it’s gone to bed. Maybe even time for the heating to go on…not in my house! I remember last year a lady called in and said “Oh sorry are you going out?” NOooo my husband was wearing his winter coat hat and gloves. Ian gets cold quicker than I do. Yes, it’s time to put your vest on folks. Don’t worry Derek is back and he will put the heating on in church.
Time to look forward to Christmas…. Too soon? Our Harvest Service is held at the end of September when all the produce we collect is being donated to the Food bank. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who don’t have what we have. The things we take so much for granted, like a roof over our heads. Warm beds and food on the table. If there is anything you can do to help in any way, please do. Every little bit helps. Thank you all for supporting our coffee mornings held on the first Saturday of the month. September coffee morning supported The Hospice of the Good Shepherd. Along with the money Ian and Lesley raised walking the 7 Locks plus the Coffee morning we raised £700. This October we ask you to please come along and support Stand Up to Cancer. There will be the usual wonderful bacon butties, lovely cakes and scones and raffle for you to purchase. Your support is wonderful and very much appreciated. I would also like to thank the Parish Council for their Awards evening when Vicars Cross church received a few nominations. Best front garden, well deserved nomination. Volunteer of the year and Unsung Hero. Whether we actually win anything is not the point the fact that you folks nominated us is something we cherish.
Dates for your diary. Christmas Fair will be December 6th 1.30 – 3.30 p.m. We are also intending to have our Soup and Sing on Friday November 28th when we would like to sing round the Christmas tree, but weather permitting. It was rather chilly last year but the soup was delicious.
We are still without a minister but please be assured any problems you have and wish to talk to someone in the church or even get a visit please contact any of the Elders and this will be arranged. While we are in vacancy, we have two wonderful Interim Moderators Rev Anthea and Alan Wickens who are looking after us and leading us in the right direction.
May the Lord bless you and keep you safe until we meet again.
Sheila
Hello, just wanted to (nag!!!! cos I am good at
it😂😂😂) and remind you to please, please, please,
remember the foodbank when you’re shopping to help those who are struggling to
get even the basics of food. It could be you, a loved one, or a neighbour who
is in this position. Just one extra item a week in your shop to donate would
help someone. I know things are difficult with the rising cost of just about
everything, but the need is rising too and any help you can give would be so
appreciated. I would be really grateful (and happy!) if the box could be filled
to top every week.
Please help where you can, it will mean a lot.
Drop it in the box outside 62 Barkhill Road.
Anything you can give in support and thank
you for all you do give, our community is fab 😊
Tinned meat/fish
Long life milk/juice
Tea/coffee
Tinned veg/potatoes
Instant mash
Desserts/custard/rice pudding
Sugar
Biscuits
Soups/cuppa soups
Toiletries/toilet rolls even!
All in the month of November
It was:
175 years ago, on19th November 1850 that Alfred, Lord Tennyson, became Poet Laureate of the UK (until 1892).
125 years ago, on 22nd November 1900 that Arthur Sullivan, British composer, died. Best known for his collaborations with the dramatist W S Gilbert on operas including H.M.S. Pinafore and The Pirate of Penzance. He also wrote the hymn Onward, Christian Soldiers.
100 years ago, on 10th November 1925 that Richard Burton, Welsh stage and film actor was born. Known for Cleopatra, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? And many more. Fifth and sixth husband of Elizabeth Taylor. Died 1984.
Also 100 years ago, on 27th November 1925 that Ernie Wise, TV comedian and actor, was born. Best known for his comedy partnership with Eric Morecambe (Morecambe and Wise) Died 1999.
90 years ago, on 6th November 1935 that Britain’s Hawker Hurricane fighter plane made its first flight. It played a major role in WWII, especially during the Battle of Britain.
80 years ago, on 16th November 1945 that UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, was founded.
75 years ago, on 2nd November 1950 that George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright and literary critic, died. Best known for Pygmalion. Winner of the 1925 Nobel Prize in Literautre, and co-founder of the London School of Economics.
65 years ago, on 2nd November 1960 that a British jury cleared Penguin Books of obscenity for publishing D.H. Lawrence’s novel Lady Chatterley’s Lover. This is often considered the beginning of the permissive society in Britain.
Also 65 years ago, on 8th November 1960, that John F Kennedy was elected as the 35th President of the USA.
60 years ago, on 9th November 1965 that the death penalty was abolished in the UK
50 years ago, on 3rd November 1975 that Britain’s first North Sea oil pipeline was officially opened.
40 years ago, on 15th November 1985 that the Anglo-Irish Agreement was signed by the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Irish President Garret Fitzgerald. It gave the Irish government a consultative role in the affairs of Northern Ireland.
30 years ago, on 20th November 1995 that Princess Diana admitted that she had committed adultery, and spoke openly about her separation from the Prince of Wales in a frank interview with the BBC. In 2021, BBC journalist Martin Bashir was accused of using deception, including fake bank statements, to persuade her to give the interview.
25 years ago, on 9th November 2000 that Eric Morley, TV host, died. Known for establishing the ballroom dancing competition Come Dancing (1949 – 98). It was succeeded by a celebrity version, Strictly Come Dancing, in 2004.
20 years ago, on 30th November 2005 that John Sentamu became Archbishop of York (until 2020). He was the first black archbishop in the Church of England.
10 years ago, on 13th November 2015 that the Paris Attacks took place when suicide bombers and armed terrorists from Islamic State (IS) attacked a football stadium, rock concert, cafes and restaurants. 130 people were killed and 416 injured. IS said the attacks were in retaliation for French air-strikes on IS targets in Syria and Iraq.
Remembering Lord Tennyson
It was 175 years ago, on 19th November 1850, that Alfred, Lord Tennyson became Poet Laureate of the UK until his death in 1892. He succeeded William Wordsworth and became known as the poet of the Victorian age.
Born in Somersby, Lincolnshire, in 1809, he was one of 11 children of a mentally unstable and embittered clergyman. All the surviving children, some of whom were talented individuals, suffered at least one mental breakdown.
Tennyson wrote poetry from a very early age and used it as a distraction. It was not until he went to Trinity College, Cambridge that he became happy, partly because he was popular there and partly because of the close four-year friendship he struck up with the brilliant Arthur Hallam, who sadly died young.
In the 1830s and 40s Tennyson published many poems and was granted a £200 pension by the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel, but it was in 1850 that everything changed: he married Emily Sellwood – an author in her own right – and the elegies on Hallam that he had been writing over the years were published as In Memoriam, to great acclaim from reviewers, public and Queen Victoria herself, leading to his appointment as Poet Laureate.
He and his wife moved to the Isle of Wight, and for the rest of his life he lived there or in Surrey. He was granted a peerage by Gladstone in 1883. His accumulated poetry, admired technically for its imagery, verbal dexterity and underlying melodies, came to epitomise the age he lived in, where established Christian faith was challenged by scientific doubt.
Towards the end of his life there was criticism of his style from newer schools of poetry, but a more balanced view now prevails, with a widespread recognition of his greatness.
**
Sullivan – of Gilbert and Sullivan
Some 125 years ago, on 22nd November 1900, Arthur Sullivan, the British composer, died. Best known for his collaborations with the dramatist W S Gilbert on light operas including HMS Pinafore and The Pirates of Penzance, he also wrote the music to the hymn Onward, Christian Soldiers.
Sullivan was born in 1832 in Lambeth. His Irish-born father Thomas was a military bandmaster, clarinettist and music teacher who, from 1845 to 1857 was based at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, where his son became proficient on many of the band’s instruments and composed an anthem, By the Waters of Babylon, when he was eight.
Arthur was drawn to classical and spiritual music of various kinds, and his huge success with Gilbert was awkward for him, as he often felt – encouraged by certain reviewers and others – that he was “capable of higher art”. He was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1883, and the musical establishment felt this should end his involvement with comic opera.
Sullivan was inclined to agree, but he was also aware of the quality – and popularity – of his work with Gilbert. He had told an American reporter in 1879: “His ideas are as suggestive for music as they are quaint and laughable. His numbers … always give me musical ideas.”
By 1885 the duo had completed The Mikado, their most successful work, which ran for 672 performances.
Sullivan never married, though he had close relationships with a number of women, including the American socialite and singer Fanny Ronalds. He was devoted to his mother and also to his nephews and nieces after his brother Fred died at an early age.
Persistent kidney disease often meant that Sullivan had to conduct sitting down. He died of heart failure following bronchitis. His Te Deum Laudamus was performed posthumously.
**
George Bernard Shaw – the man who wrote Pygmalion
Seventy-five years ago, on 2nd November 1950, George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright and literary critic, died. Best known for Pygmalion, he was winner of the 1925 Nobel Prize in Literature and co-founder of the London School of Economics.
Shaw, who was born in Dublin of English Protestant descent in 1856, was a failed novelist before becoming widely regarded as one of the most significant of British dramatists; he was also a very successful literary critic and prominent socialist, being one of the four founders of the Fabian Society.
Perhaps his most famous play, Pygmalion, was adapted into the extremely popular Broadway musical, My Fair Lady. But although Shaw wrote many famous and popular plays – more than 60 altogether – he remained enigmatic as to his beliefs. Describing himself at first as an atheist, by the early 20th century he was calling himself a mystic. In 1913 he said he was not religious “in the sectarian sense” but aligned himself mysteriously with Jesus as “a person of no religion”.
Through his plays he promoted the idea that mankind was on an evolutionary path. He was regarded as a champion of feminism and inveighed against religious hypocrisy (Major Barbara), inhuman forces like the Church and the Law crushing superior beings
(Saint Joan), and false religion (Androcles and the Lion).
In his essays, reviews and lectures he seemed to enjoy being contentious. He denounced both sides in the First World War, but later expressed admiration for Mussolini and Stalin. He opposed vaccination and promoted eugenics and alphabet reform. After his death a Shavian alphabet was created by enthusiasts.
Bernard Shaw (as he preferred to be known) had no children, although he was married to Charlotte Payne-Townshend, a wealthy Irishwoman and champion of women’s rights. There is a strong suspicion that the marriage was unconsummated.
**
Editor: If you live in a rural area, is there a local traffic officer who might be able to give you an update about any particularly difficult rural roads in your area?
Take it easy on those country roads
Country roads may look inviting to drive, but the statistics tell a different story. For collisions on rural roads are around four times more likely to result in a fatality.
Such is the finding of the NFU Mutual Rural Road Safety Report 2024. It found that in 2023, an average of one in every 32 collisions on rural highways resulted in a death, compared to one in every 122 on urban roads. Overall, more than 18 people died on rural roads each week in 2023.
So – what is wrong? It seems it is the sheer number of hazards which motorists may face on a rural road. These include blind corners, narrow roads, road quality, poor visibility, cyclists, pedestrians, horse riders, mud and debris, loose livestock, agricultural vehicles, unexpected road or field entrances, impatient drivers, and Sat-Navs sending people down unsuitable roads.
It all adds up to one simple message: be careful and expect the unexpected on country roads.
**
We are losing our peregrine falcons
Our peregrine falcons are dying. We have lost 80pc of our UK population in the past 50 years. That make them one of the most-at-risk British birds.
Peregrine falcons are special – they are among the fastest animals on the planet, and the largest species of falcon in the UK. But although some rewilding and conservation projects are underway to help these beautiful predators, they are being decimated by pesticide poisoning and illegal hunting.
According to recent statistics from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, our peregrine falcon population is shrinking at a rate of about seven per cent a year.
**
Songs of Praise and the nation’s favourite school hymn
This autumn the BBC has been in the process of discovering our favourite school hymn. It gave the public a shortlist of 50 hymns to choose from.
The vote was organised by the BBC’s Songs of Praise team, with an accompanying programme, The Big School Assembly Singalong, hosted by singer and presenter Aled Jones.
Aled Jones well remembers his school hymn days. “Every morning, we sat cross-legged on an uncomfortable wooden floor, which doubled up as our gym and school canteen.
“We would sing the songs that don’t get sung in cathedrals, where I ended up, because they’re perhaps seen as child-like, but actually that’s what brought me into religious music in the first place.
“There’s a joy in being able to sing these hymns that uplift you and make you feel out of this world, but back at school, it was even better to do it with mates. I think that these hymns and this collective singing just takes you back to an easier, simpler, safer time.”
The vote was cast on 20th September, but at the time of this going to press, we do not yet have the results.
The results were due to be announced on 11th October, during the The Big School Assembly Singalong, held at the Victoria Hall in Bolton. On the night, a choir led by music teacher and TikTok star James B Partridge will present a range of school assembly classics.
Partridge said: “I think the school assembly songs that we sang as children have a special place in our heart. Having that experience of singing together as a community really brings back the joy of those childhood days.”
Here is a full list of the hymns that the BBC offered. Which are your top five?
All Creatures of Our God and King
All Things Bright and Beautiful
Autumn Days
Bind Us Together
Black and White (The Ink is Black, the Page is White)
Cauliflowers Fluffy (Paintbox)
Colours of Day (Light up the Fire)
Conkers!
Cross over the Road
Do not be Afraid, for I Have Redeemed You
From the Tiny Ant
Give Me Oil in My Lamp (Sing Hosanna)
Glad that I Live am I
Gloria in Excelsis Deo (Clapping Gloria)
God Knows Me (There are hundreds of sparrows, thousands, millions…)
Go Tell It on the Mountain
He’s Got the Whole World (He’s Got the Whole World in his Hand)
He Who Would Valiant Be (To Be a Pilgrim)
If I had a Hammer
If I were a Butterfly
I, the Lord of Sea and Sky (Here I am Lord)
I Watch the Sunrise
Kum ba yah (Kumbaya)
Lord of all Hopefulness
Lord of the Dance
Make Me a Channel of Your Peace
Mine Eyes have seen the Glory of the coming of the Lord
Morning has Broken
My Lighthouse
Oh Jesus I have Promised
One More Step (One More Step Along the World I Go)
Peace, Perfect Peace
Praise Him (Praise him in the morning)
Shine, Jesus, Shine
Sing it in the Valleys
Spirit of God as Strong as the Wind
Thank you, Lord
The Building Song (All Over the World)
The Lord’s my Shepherd
The Wise Man Built his House upon the Rock
Think of a World (Think of a World without any Flowers)
This Little Light of Mine
Water of Life
We are Climbing
We Plough the Fields and Scatter
When a Knight Won his Spurs
When I Needed a Neighbour
Who put the Colours in the Rainbow?
Who’s the King of the Jungle?
You Shall Go Out with Joy