Briningham Benefice Community

In Touch

September 2020

Church & Village

News

THE BRININGHAM BENEFICE

BRININGHAM St Maurice St Mary BRINTON St Andrew St Edmund St Lawrence All Saints

www.brininghambenefice.org.uk

Rector: Churchwardens: (01263) BRININGHAM: Miss Sylvia Took 862785 Mrs Karen Siddall 860057 BRINTON: Mrs Esme Bagnall-Oakeley 860247 Mr Jeremy Bagnall-Oakeley 860247 HUNWORTH: 713306 Mrs Charlotte Crawley Ms Lucy Woodall 861114 STODY: 862247 Mrs Nicola Baker 860407 Mrs Morag Lloyd Advertising rates for the SWANTON NOVERS: ‘In Touch’ magazine: Mr Roger Langston 860163 1/8 page: £25 per annum THORNAGE: 1/4 page: £50 per annum Mr Joe Ashley 862298 1/2 page: £100 per annum Full page: £200 per annum Editorial Team: Invoices and receipts will be sent. BACS payments Teresa Anderson at; or cheques accepted. Contact: [email protected] [email protected] Cover Design: Denise Clark

Views expressed in ‘In Touch’ are those of the individual contributor, and do not always reflect the official doctrine of the Church of , nor necessarily the views of the Rector.

2 Our Rector Writes

Farewell Message

Coming back to my roots three years ago and to this post of rector of the Briningham Benefice, has been a huge privilege and like all my ministry, I believe it has been in answer to God’s call:

“For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for yourwelfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. ”(Jeremiah 29:11)

In the same way, I had thought of remaining here for some time after my recent marriage to Michael Rayner. However, God is in the driver’s seat and He has different plans for us and we must trust in Him. For those of little or no faith, it may be difficult to understand this. In the same way, our whole church life is going through change because of the current Covid 19 situation. We still do not know if all our churches will be able to open in the foreseeable future. It reminds us that WE are not in control. Those with faith will find it easier to understand why changes take place and to trust in God’s will, not ours. Life never stands still and neither do we.

My time here has not been without its challenges. The words of St Paul- have accompanied me in the painful times, when I have felt misjudged:

“...we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character pro- duces hope and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” (Romans 5:3-6)

3

I can’t express my thanks enough to all the wonderful people I have encountered here, both within church life and outside it. I have often been touched by so many and it has been a privilege to have shared your joys and sorrows. There will always be a special place in my heart for you and I include staff and residents of Thornage Hall and Swanton Care Home, where I have enjoyed a very special ministry.

“May the peace of God, which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ our Lord. And the blessing of God almighty, the Father the Son and the Holy spirit be with you all and with those whom you love, this day and forever more.

Amen.”

FROM THE REGISTER

Renewal of Wedding Vows:

Elaine and Tim Vince

St Edmund, Swanton Novers August 5th 2020

4 Editorial This issue of In Touch will be the last with Jennifer as our Rector. As you will know, she retires at the end of August and we wish her and Michael all best wishes for their future happiness as they settle into their new home.

The immediate future for the Benefice is uncertain as it waits for news of a new incumbent. As well, the future of In Touch is also uncertain it is still unclear when the magazine can, or indeed should, go back to a paper format. It is also unclear whether there will be enough copy to justify an edition every month as opposed to every other month. In conclusion, there are more questions than answers at the moment but we will carry on as best we can and hopefully matters will become clearer in due course

Teresa

Disclaimer—Information about events advertised in this magazine was accurate at the time of submission/printing. However, given the fast developing situation that we are facing with the Coronavirus outbreak it is possible that events may have been or may yet be cancelled. Please check, before attending any events that they are still on, and also please give careful thought to whether it is appropriate for you to attend given recent Government guidelines.

5 Poem for the Month

Forward by John Smart - Thornage

September Poems Keats’ great ode ‘to Autumn’ is the poem that best expresses the beauty of the season, but, as it is so familiar, I have chosen a little-known poem by Wilfred Owen. Written from the trenches of the First World it is addressed to all those in comfortable ‘Blighty’. The contrast is be- tween the spring of hope and the winter of despair. The poem is a re- minder of the hardships of the season faced by the troops in Belgium and France and a sombre elegy for the lost young men who have died there. It commands the reader to ‘muse’ on what purpose their deaths serve. Theirs is not the harvest of Keats’ great poem; it has no ‘garnering’ : ‘Youth’s head lies forlorn.’

Elegy in April And September

Hush, thrush! Hush, missen-thrush, I listen... I heard the flush of footsteps through the loose leaves, And a low whistle by the water's brim.

Still! Daffodil! Nay, hail me not so gaily,- Your gay gold lily daunts me and deceives, Who follow gleams more golden and more slim.

Look, brook! O run and look, O run! The vain reeds shook? - Yet search till gray sea heaves, And I will stray among these fields for him.

Gaze, daisy! Stare through haze and glare, And mark the hazardous stars all dawns and eves, For my eye withers, and his star wanes dim.

6 Poem for the Month

2

Close, rose, and droop, heliotrope, And shudder, hope! The shattering winter blows. Drop, heliotrope, and close, rose...

Mourn, corn, and sigh, rye.

Men garner you, but youth's head lies forlorn. Sigh, rye, and mourn, corn...

Brood, wood, and muse, yews, The ways gods use we have not understood. Muse, yews, and brood, wood...

Wilfred Edward Salter Owen, Military Cross.

18 March 1893 – 4 November 1918

2nd Lt, Wilfred Edward Salter Owen, 5th Bn. Manch. R., T.F., attd. 2nd Bn. For con- spicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in the attack on the Fonsomme Line on Octo- ber 1st/2nd, 1918. On the company com- mander becoming a casualty, he assumed command and showed fine leadership and resisted a heavy counter-attack. He per- sonally manipulated a captured enemy machine gun from an isolated position and inflicted considerable losses on the enemy. Throughout he behaved most gal- lantly.

7 Briningham

BRININGHAM VILLAGE HALL DRAW RESULTS

August Draw Results 1st Prize £15 Penny Webb No. 46 2nd Prize £10 Myles Oakley No. 11 3rd Prize £5 Vince Wilson No. 41

Items for inclusion in the October magazine are welcomed and should be submitted by Monday 14th September please to Email: [email protected]

8 Norfolk Life

This Months Guest Recipe

CREPES WITH FIGS AND PEARS

INGREDIENTS 1 large egg 125 ml whole milk 30 gm all-purpose flour 30 gm cornmeal 2 tbsp. sugar ½ tsp. vanilla extract ⅛ tsp. kosher salt 300 ml Double cream Unsalted butter 1 ripe pear, cored, thinly sliced 4 fresh figs, quartered 2 tbsp. unsalted, shelled raw pistachios Honey (for drizzling)

RECIPE PREPARATION 1. Preheat oven to 180° C. Spread pistachios on a small rimmed baking sheet; toast, tossing occasionally, until fragrant, 6–8 minutes. Let cool, then coarsely chop; set aside. 2. Meanwhile, whisk egg, milk, flour, cornmeal, sugar, vanilla, salt, and 100 gm cream in a medium bowl until smooth. 3. Heat a 10” non stick frying pan over medium heat. Lightly coat with butter and add 3 tbsp. batter, swirling to cover the bottom of the pan. Cook, undis- turbed, until edges turn golden and centre begins to puff, about 2 minutes. Using a heatproof rubber spatula, loosen edges and then, using your fingers, flip crepe and cook until bottom is dry and set, about 30 seconds longer. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with remaining batter, coating pan with butter between crepes. 4. Beat remaining cream to soft peaks. Serve crepes folded, topped with whipped cream, pears, figs, and pistachios and drizzled with honey.

9 Brinton

Local Order to Deliver Services

I’ve been compiling a list of local businesses that deliver, I am sure there are more but here’s a few for starters:

HG Graves Butchers. Meat fresh fruit and vegetables and newspapers. [email protected] to 01263 869 333

The Village Van Delivers to 21 villages in including Brinton - they are carrying general supplies, milk, bread, pastries, other local produce (the smoked salmon was lovely) and Newspapers. Card only. Please form an orderly 2m distancing queue and if you would like to know what sort of produce they are offering then check out their web- page https://www.neallskitchen.com/villagevan

Currylicious https://www.currylicious.co.uk Deliver to the Holt area on Fridays.

The Sidings bakery in - pre-order by noon for col- lection the next day Wed-Sat. https://www.sidingyard.co.uk/menu/

G.R.Bunnings Fresh Fish [email protected] 01362820702 who will deliver fish fresh or frozen to the Holt area Wednesdays.

P&S Butchers Holt - (Meat, Fish, Bread) 01263 713227

Back to the Garden Farm shop is open as usual, lots of the essentials in stock. Delivery/collection service is available if required. Please email [email protected] or call 01263 715996/715540 ext 1

Michele Bishop - Brinton

10 Brinton

11

12 Again this is the story of a medieval church being abandoned and replaced by a newly built one. However the newly built one never really transpired. By 1870 Melton Constable had become a major railway junction and the popula- tion increased hugely .This resulted in a number of non-conformist chapels but The Font at St Helens & All Saints the Anglican parish church was over a mile away in the Estate of the Hall. It was felt imperative that an An- glican church be built in the urban area. A competition was an- nounced for the design of the pro- posed church but although there was no shortage of entries none actually met what was required so as a temporary measure a corru- gated iron “tin tabernacle” was St Helens & All Saints erected in the Burgh Parva grave- yard in 1903 at a cost of £270 (between £30,000 to £35,000 in modern money). This temporary building is still standing despite a freak wind in 1977 and is still used .Inside the building there are framed copies of some of the plans and designs of the church that was never built.

St Mary at Burgh Parva

13 The third selection is also close at hand and is St. Martin at Glandford. This represents a very personal state- ment by its benefactor, Sir Alfred Jodrell. He was a devout Anglo- Catholic and in 1899 was devastated by the death of his mother Adele Monckton and so set about rebuilding the ruin of St. Martin in her memory. He wanted the new church to be a fo- cus of prayer and a setting for Masses for her soul. He left a bequest so that such Masses should occur annually in St Martin at Glandford perpetuity. From the Reformation to the mid- 19th century the Church of England did not actively encourage these practices but from around 1850 there was something of a revival. However this revival was rela- tively short lived and the Church of England largely returned to the practice of remembrance; that is, remembering the dead through me- morials and inscriptions rather than prayers for their immortal souls.

It would be harsh to describe Sir Alfred Jodrell as an eccentric. Born in 1847 and died in 1929 he was the fourth and last of the Jodrell Baron- ets. Perhaps he is best known for the Shell Museum he founded (just a short distance from the church) to house his collection of shells accu- mulated over sixty years but he was also a major philanthropist restor- ing several churches and regularly providing provisions for the Norfolk and Hospital.

The final choice is further afield and is certainly eccentric. This is St. Michael the Archangel at Booton near Reepham. The church was the creation of one man, the Reverend Whitwell Elwin. He was born in 1816 and educated at Caius College, Cambridge. He took holy orders in 1840 and in 1849 was appointed Rector of Booton and remained there until his death in 1900. Aside from his clerical duties he was also Editor of the Quarterly Review from 1853 to 1860.

14

St Michael the Archangel at Booton

In this role he reviewed an essay by Charles Darwin but effectively re- fused to publish it on the grounds that it was too wide ranging. Instead Elwin and his friend Charles Lyell suggested that Darwin concentrate on writing observations on pigeons on the grounds that “Everybody is interested in pigeons.” Fortunately Darwin ignored this advice and just over six months after the rejected essay Darwin published “On the Ori- gin of Species.”

To add to the air of mystique Elwin was also proud of being a direct de- scendant of Pocohontas of Hiawatha fame. However it is for the church that Elwin will chiefly be remembered. Not only did he raise the funds for the building he also designed it-without the help of an architect –by borrowing details from other churches across the country .Accordingly it is of no particular style but a complete “mish-mash” of almost all known styles. One feature, however, the slender twin towers which re- semble a minaret was not borrowed from another church but seems to have come entirely out of Elwin’s imagination.

15 Inside Elwin filled his creation with carved angels all modeled on his many female friends. The stained glass windows also featured angels as a series of musicians all with flowing hair and pretty faces. Edwin Lutyens, the distinguished architect, said the church was “very naughty but built in the right spirit.”

The church is now decommissioned but is open to the public and does stage special events (or at least it did pre-Covid 19). In the words of the Churches Conservation Trust “you may love the church; you may be outraged by it,, but you cannot be unmoved by such an exuberant odd- ity.”

The phrase exuberant oddity could, I think, also be applied to the Rev- erend Elwin.

Phil Anderson—Thornage Wanted Website Designer and Builder

Briningham Benefice Magazine is looking for a volunteer to build a new website.

The situation is available for a Website Designer and Builder for the Briningham Benefice website currently at; http://www.brininghambenefice.org.uk/

Freelancing and working with the Production Team of The Friends of Thornage the role entails replacing the current website with a new dynamic and exciting home for information and support for the Benefice. The new website will be based on a broad design and re- quirement of the Rector Jennifer Elliott de Riverol. Once on-line you will need to update the site a few times with articles and diary events.

If you are interested and want to help please contact the In Touch editorial for a questionnaire application form and for more details. [email protected]

16

S. E. JONES CARPENTER & BUILDER QUALITY TRADESMAN WITH 25 YEARS’ EXPERIENCE. ALL CARPENTRY AND BUILDING WORK UNDERTAKEN: KITCHENS, ROOFS, LOFT CONVERSIONS, ETC. FREE ESTIMATES Tel: 01263 860994 Mob: 07796 001370

PROFESSIONAL DECORATING Over 25 years’ experience References available Installations Servicing Free estimates Refurbishment Chimney Lining Paul Edwards Tel: 01263 824665 Briningham Mobile: 07919 201665 07973 387430 e: elvswoodburnerservices.co.uk

17 Norfolk Life

Sowers and Growers

Timely Tips Divide your herba- ceous perennials. This will keep your plants healthy and vigorous year after year and multiply your stock. Net ponds now before autumn leaf fall gets underway to re- duce the amount of debris en- tering the water. Clean out cold frames and greenhouses ahead of autumn sowing and growing. Plant spring-flowering bulbs now, such as daffodils, crocus and hyacinths, for glo- rious colour next year.

In the Flower Garden Continue to feed and deadhead hanging-basket and container plants - they will often keep going until the first frosts. Deadhead your penstemons, dahlias, and roses to keep flowers coming. Prune climbing roses and rambling roses once they've finished flowering. Keep camellias and rhododendrons well watered at this time of year to ensure that next year's buds develop well.

In the vegetable garden Pinch out the tips of outdoor cordon tomato plants to concentrate the plant's energy into producing ripe fruits. Harvest sweet corn. To test if it’s ready, pinch a kernel - it will release a milky sap when ripe. If the kernels are starchy you've left it too late, if they're watery they need a little longer to ripen. Help pumpkins ripen in time for Halloween by removing any leaves shadowing the fruits. Raise pumpkins and squashes off the ground to prevent rotting place them on a piece of slate or wood. Cut bean and pea plants away at ground level when they have finished cropping. Leave the roots which will slowly release nitrogen back into the soil as they break down. Pot up some mint and parsley for the kitchen windowsill, for fresh herbs through the winter. Tidy up your strawberry plants and clear away any used straw, as this will har- bour pests and diseases over winter.

18

In the fruit garden Pot up strawberry runners to make extra plants for next year. Mow long grass under fruit trees to make it easier to spot windfall fruits. Cover wall-trained peach trees to prevent peach leaf curl from taking hold. The fungus needs wet conditions to infect the plants. Cut back the fruited canes of your summer raspberries, if you haven't already, leaving the new green canes for next year's crop. Tie in next year's raspberry canes to support wires or fencing. Take hardwood cuttings of currants, gooseberries and figs to increase your stock.

Look after you lawn Raise the height of your mower blades as grass growth slows down. Carry out essential lawn maintenance to avoid water logging and compaction. Aerate your lawn with a garden fork, removing thatch from the surface with a rake and repairing dead patches. Use a specialist lawn scarifier f you have a large area to cover. Feed your lawn with an autumn fertiliser which is rich in potassium and low in nitrogen.

Other jobs Sow green manures such as mustard, clover and ryegrass on uncultivated areas to improve soil and keep weeds down over winter. Create compost bins in preparation for all the fallen leaves and dead plant ma- terial which you'll be collecting over the coming months. Autumn leaves make great additions to compost bin and are ideal for making leaf mould. Burn diseased plant material or dispose of it in your household or green waste. Don’t compost it as the spores may remain in the compost and re-infect your plants. Clear pond weeds and net your pond in anticipation of autumn leaf fall.

19 Hunworth and Stody

HUNWORTH AND STODY VILLAGE HALL Our Village Hall has a well-equipped kitchen, plenty of parking, quality tables and chairs and is available for hire from £7 per hour.

To book, please contact: Des Simmonds at Ivy’s Cottage, Stody on 01263 862523 or 07305 585279 or [email protected] As usual, the keys will remain with the Crawleys at Hunworth Hall and all payments should continue to be posted through the Crawleys’ letterbox, on collection of the keys.

WITH MANY THANKS TO ALL OUR REGULAR CLIENTS!

20 Hunworth and Stody

21

North Norfolk

ree Services

For all your tree surgery needs

Over 30 years’ experience Fully insured, based in Holt

Stump Grinding Service

For a free, no obligation quotation and advice call:

Jeremy Cox Tel: 01263 713389 Mob: 07503 885499

22 Swanton Novers

An exciting Folk Concert at Swanton Novers Village Hall

Edgelarks Saturday 24th October Tickets £14

Bar with Traditional Ale All proceeds to Swanton Novers Village Hall

Tickets are available from Chris Armstrong on 01263 860573 or [email protected] Or Facebook - Swanton Novers Village Hall

HAMLYN PEST CONTROL Adam Jones RODENT, RABBIT, Countryside Services WASP and INSECT control by a professional, friendly service specialising in farm, domestic and retail premises  Hedge Cutting Norfolk County Council home call  Field Topping accredited service provider.  Rotavating  All Garden & Countryside Management

www.hamlynnorfolk.co.uk 01328 878067 or 07909553650 01263 860112 & 01263 861587

Items for inclusion in the October magazine are welcomed and should be submitted by Monday 14th September please to Email: [email protected]

23 Don Pettit General Builder (Norfolk) Ltd PJ ELECTRICS

Family Company trading locally for Priory Cottage over 25 years 8 Langham Road NO JOB TOO SMALL All building work NR21 0DW Plastering & renovation work All maintenance work Guttering www.pjelectricsltd.co.uk Fencing etc. Tel 01328 830492 Contact us on: Home 01328 710599 Mo- 07884 436112 Don 07976 521639 Simon 07503 902066 ELECSA Part P Approved Contractor Registration No. 33412

From roots to FROM THE shoots... WALLED GARDEN

Ravencroft Tree Services Ltd

Consultants & Contractors English Country Flowers From posies to wedding flowers 01362 684291 www.mockorange.co.uk www.ravencrofttrees.co.uk 07917 344639 Richard Ravencroft

BSc(Hons)Arb. MICFor. Est. 1992

24 The & District Foodbank needs the following:

TINNED POTATOES TINNED RICE PUDDING CUSTARD

SPONGE PUDDINGS JAM CUP - A - SOUP CRACKERS / RICE CAKES

SNACKS INCLUDING CRISPS & POPCORN NAPPIES SIZE 4

HAIR CONDITIONER

If you feel able to donate any of these items we would be very grate- ful. Items for the foodbank may be left at: The main warehouse in Cromer, which is located at the back of the Methodist Church (NR27 9DT) If there are large donations then collection may be an option.

Foodbank 07826 376343

Items for inclusion in the October magazine are welcomed and should be submitted by Monday 14th September please to Email: [email protected]

25 Anglian Tree Works

Tree Care & Management

Mobile: 07539 341166 Email: [email protected] Website: angliantreeworks.co.uk

N.D.Arb, Level 3 N.P.C.T. tickets Ecology and conservation Public liability insurance

26 Thornage

Thornage Village Draw

Due to current circumstances, the FROTH draw has been suspended temporarily. These will be mega-draws in due course!

Organised by FROTH the Friends of Thornage Group Rob Palethorpe 01263 862284 [email protected]

Items for inclusion in the October magazine are welcomed and should be submitted by Monday 14th September please to Email: [email protected]

27 NO, NO, NO, ITS PRONOUED

‘STEWKEY’!

Travelling through , on the north Norfolk coast, I was re- minded of an occasion many years ago when I was reprimanded by an acquaintance for pronouncing the name of this village as it was written, i.e., ‘Stiff-key’. ‘No, no!’ my friend said, ‘Everyone knows that it’s pronounced Stewkey’. Well, I was scepti- cal; I had never heard anyone call it this, and had often heard it pro- nounced my way. But then I came across other references to the ‘Stewkey’ pronunciation, and decided to investigate.

I saw a reproduction of an old map in which the name was writ- ten Steuekey. This certainly looks as though it might be pronounced ‘Stewkey’. But then I remembered that until comparatively re- cent times, u and v were merely variant forms of the same letter, and effectively interchangeable – as nicely illustrated by this tombstone in church, just a few miles along the coast from Stiffkey (see pic- ture). So Steuekey could equally well have been written Stevekey, and if we pronounce the v (or the u) as a consonant (the modern v) rather than a vowel (the modern u), then we get something much closer to Stiffkey. According to Ekwall, in The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place Names, Stiffkey was recorded as Stiuekai in the Domes- day Book, and he also mentions spellings Stiuekeia and Stivekeye from 1203 and 1242 respectively. The ultimate origin is Anglo-Saxon Styfic- eg (‘stumpy island’) in which the f would presumably have been voiced as in the modern v.

28 So my theory was that ‘Stewkey’ was an artificial pronunciation based on a misunderstanding of the function of the letter u in old spellings such as Stiuekai or Steuekey.

There is a parallel in the name Alured, which was occasionally used in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and arose from a misunder- standing of an old spelling, equivalent to Alvred, of the name Alfred. But is this theory right? And if it is, how far back can the pronunciation ‘Stewkey’ be traced? When did the misunderstanding arise? In the let- ters in the ‘Papers of Nathaniel Bacon of Stiffkey, 1596-1602′ [Norfolk Record Society, 2001] the spelling of the place, by both locals and cor- respondents from , is as variable as Stiffkey, Styfkey, Stewkey, Stewky etc. suggesting that two forms of its pronunciation were long in use’. If this is the case, then perhaps it casts doubt on my theory, since the differentiation of u and v as vowel and consonant respectively hap- pened considerably later than 1600.

But does my theory require that the people who misread the u in Steuekey as a vowel rather than a consonant were unaware that u could have both functions? Not necessarily – though to bear this out one would want to find other examples, of sufficiently early date, when the character of a u was misunderstood, leading to a new pronun- ciation.

Can any such examples be found? I suspect that Alured is too late to serve this purpose.

Extract taken from Anthony Galton’s Language Blog.

29

WORSHIP & EVENTS September 2020

Rev. Jennifer Elliott de Riverol

Jennifer's last service will be at Brinton church 30th August at 10.00am.

BCP = 1662 Book of Common Prayer; other services are in modern language.

www.brininghambenefice.org.uk

30