August 2020

The Parish Magazine

The Parish Church of All Saints Rotherfield Peppard 60p

Contacting the clergy or churchwardens

Rector

The Revd James Stickings Telephone 0118 972 1459

Email [email protected]

James will generally take Monday as a day off so if you need help or advice on that day please leave a message or contact one of the church wardens

Associate Priests

The Revd Shelia Walker Telephone 0118 972 4861 Email [email protected]

Churchwardens

Kathie Anderson Telephone 0118 972 2694

Email [email protected]

Valentine de Haan Telephone 0118 972 3806

Email [email protected]

Organist and Director of Music

David Butler Telephone 0118 972 4065

Email [email protected]

Junior Choir Mistress

Rebecca Bell Telephone 0118 972 2967

Email [email protected]

Flower arranging

Ann Butler-Smith Telephone 0118 972 1871

All Saints' Church website: https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/5977/ (Please do not use the website called "allsaintspeppard.org.uk", even though it appears under Google search. This is not the church website and we are taking steps to having it removed)

The Parish Magazine

In this month’s magazine Contacting the ministry team inside front cover Content page 1 Guest editor page 2 Letter from the Rectory/ confirmation 3 Parish Register 4/7 Valarie’s corner 8 Carian 9

Thoughts for parish magazine 10/11 Observations on life 12 Word search 13/14 Green shoots /month of july 15 Directory of goods and services 16/17 This month at a glance Back cover

It is much more dignified to say we are moving in circles rather than running around in circles, although it comes to about the same thing.

Quest editors page

Still here and due to unplanned events this months Magazine is a bit late. July has been a busy month trying to get Church services up and running and making sure that the Church is clean and risk reduced for Covid 19. This involved removing all soft furnishings and stored in the Parish room. It is amazing what you come across whilst doing this and stacking the kneelers I came across a couple of interesting ones. One of them had the red hand of Ulster upon it and the date of 1977. On todays standards would that be considered the markings of a terrorist organisation . I am sure by 1977 standards the thought of the person doing the stitching those considerations never passed their mind. We live in changing times and as such our judgements and thoughts change with ongoing events . I seem to have trouble with the concept that we are guilty for what has happened historically and surely the aim in life is to aim for a level playing field in order that opportunities abound for all. Many thanks go to Keith for doing the parish register and some fine articles on Saint Aidian and Oswold. He also provided an informative article on copy right for music. Valarie wrote an article about Piero della Francesco’s painting of the resurrection and it’s rather exciting history. Ann Butler Smith writes from her Rectory days about those beloved donkeys and their interruptions of the CARIAN meeting. Nothing like a few polo mints to sort out the four legged legends

Rebecca Bell composes her thoughts for the Parish magazine which includes the prayer used by the late king. There are some observation on modern life and following pages is the word search puzzle from the Parish Pump, Sue Nickson thanks us for the support offered to Green shoots . There is a small article about Christopher Robin. There is no letter from the rectory this month but I have found some articles from the Parish Pump.

When tourists get lost

Have you ever got into trouble while abroad? The true story is told of a group of tourists who went to Israel some years ago and arrived in Jerusalem very eager to see the sites of the old city.

Four members of the group were so engrossed in taking pictures of each other by the Wailing Wall that they ignored the summons from the tour group leader to go back to the bus. A little while later, they realised that they were all on their own in Jerusalem. That’s when their problems started.

The four tourists decided to head back to their hotel. But no one could remember the exact name of the hotel. So, they hailed a taxi, and asked it to drive around Jerusalem looking for the hotel. An hour or so later, the driver gave up and demanded payment.

That’s when they discovered that they did not have enough money to pay the driver. So the driver took them to the police, who demanded some identification. That’s when the four tourists remembered that they had left their passports in the hotel safe...

Some hours later, the tour guide tracked down the missing tourists. They greeted her with tears of relief as she provided the police with their passports, paid their debt, and prepared to lead them safely back to their hotel. The police gave some parting advice to the tourists: “From now on, you stay close to your friend!”

Stay close to your friend. It’s good advice for all of us. If your life is going in the wrong direction, if you have run up debts of wrong-doing, if you feel lost and alone, you need to take action. You need to stop going on like this. Turn around and go in another direction. The Bible calls this action of ‘stopping and turning around’ repentance.

Repentance is when you stop one direction, and you turn to God. For the good news is that there is a heavenly tour guide on whom we can all call. Only God can save us from the mess we are in. He sent us His Son to forgive us our sins, to provide us with an identity, and, if we walk with Him, lead us safely through life. As the Bible says: “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

.Parish Registers Parish Registers 21 June to 20 July No entries Saints Aidan and Oswald Both of these Northumbrian saints are remembered in August, with Oswald, King and Martyr on 5 August and Aidan, “apostle of the English”, on 31 August. Aidan’s life began in Ireland before he became a monk of Iona. He came to in 635 after Oswald, already a Christian after his exile to Iona, had regained the throne of Northumbria. The king looked to Iona for help in the conversion of his people to Christianity. After a first unsuccessful attempt by a monk who complained that the people were “uncivilised and unteachable”, Aidan arrived with a reputation for discretion and prudence. Oswald gave him the island of Lindisfarne as a base from which to evangelise the people of Bernicia.

The shrine of St Aidan in Bamburgh Parish Church Dr John Sentamu, when Archbishop of York, visited Bamburgh to dedicate a shrine marking the site where the 7th century Saint Aidan is thought to have died, in the chan- cel of the village’s parish church on Monday, 26 August 2013. © Copyright Russel Wills and licensed for reuse under Creative Commons Licence

Aidan did not speak the native language and Oswald would sometimes accompany him as interpreter. Aidan went on to found churches and monasteries, and he freed Anglo- Saxon slave boys and educated them for the church. He died at Bamburgh in 651 and was buried on Lindisfarne. Despite his successful and benign influence, Bamburgh was the only ancient church dedicated to him though, in the late 20th century, the church at Thockrington, Northumberland, consecrated in 1100 but previously with no dedication, ac- quired Aidan as its patron saint. We remember St Aidan at Peppard where he is pictured in the west window of All Saints’ Church, holding the infant English church in his right hand and with a view of Lin- disfarne Castle over his right shoulder. Oswald was born in 604 and was King of Northumbria from 634 until his death in 642. He famously defeated the pagan Cadwalla at the Battle of Heavenfield, situated right on Hadrian’s Wall, north of Hexham. Prior to the

The road side cross at Heavenfield. The church of St Oswald-in-Lee* lies across the fields among the trees on the horizon. © Revd Peter Barham. battle, he hoisted a wooden cross before his army, calling on the forces of Christianity to help secure victory and the throne of Northumbria. Soon after success in the battle, he sent to Iona for a bishop to preach the gospel in his kingdom. After a false start, the kindly Aidan arrived and Lindisfarne became his episcopal seat. Oswald united Bernicia and Deira and married the Christian

daughter of the King of Wessex before his early death at the hands of the pagan Penda of Mercia.

One of the most attractive memorials of St Oswald is to be found in this stained glass window in . Elsewhere in the cathedral is the shrine of St Cuthbert which also contains the head of St Oswald. Oswald’s body was dismembered after the Battle of Maserfield near Oswestry on 5 August, 642. The place name, Os- westry, may be a corruption of Oswald’s Tree, remembered in the name of a beautiful hymn tune by Sir Henry . The window was erected in memory of Patrick Alington, killed at Salerno in 1943 during World War II. He was the younger son of Cyril Alington, (1933 - 1951).

*The Revd Canon Clive Price, a son of Church Lane, Peppard, is a former incumbent of St Oswald-in-Lee with Bingfield and Rural Dean of Bellingham, Diocese of Newcastle.

In addition to remembering Oswald and Aidan, the Church also marks certain other oc- casions during August. The Transfiguration of our Lord occurs on 6 August; the Blessed Virgin Mary is celebrated on 15 August; and St Bartholomew on 24 August. August begins with Lammas Day or Loaf Mass Day on 1 August, the day in the Book of Common Prayer calendar when a loaf baked with flour from newly harvested corn would be brought into church and blessed. It is one of the oldest points of contact between the agricultural world and the Church. The others are Plough Sun- day in early January, the Sunday after Epiphany and the day before work would begin again in the fields after Christmas festivities, when ploughs would be brought to church to be blessed; and Rogation-tide, the days before Ascension Day, when God's blessing would be sought on the growing crops.

It fell about the Lammas tide, When the muir-men win their hay.

The opening lines of The Ballad of the Battle of Otterburn remind us of the time of year, as the battle took place in August 1388 between Scottish and English forces led by Sir James Douglas and Sir Henry “Hotspur” Percy. It is still true that, in Redesdale, hay making is much more likely than any cereal harvest.

Keith Atkinson

Copyright in music - the interesting case of Sawkins v Hyperion

Ex Cathedra is a leading choir, based in Birmingham and specialising in early music. Founder and conductor, Jeffrey Skidmore, used new editions of compositions of four sacred works by Michel-Richard de Lalande (1657 – 1726), prepared by Lionel Sawkins, in a recording made by Hyperion Records of Ex Cathedra’s performance in 2001. De Lalande’s music is out of copyright. However, Dr Sawkins sued Hyperion for royalties arising from his claimed copyright in the specific editions. His claim was judged to be successful. Hyperion then appealed, but the appeal was unsuccessful. The Court of Appeal ruling, in May 2005, found that Sawkins owned the copyright in his modern performing editions. The costs against Hyperion amounted to nearly £1 million and almost ruined a small specialist and innovative company. Notable among those who were surprised by the outcome were John Rutter and Peter Phillips (director of the Tallis Scholars). Phillips is quoted as saying: “All the music I perform has to be edited, or we couldn’t read it.” He thought that copyright should reward creativity, not scholarship or diligence. This case had escaped my attention until very recently but even though the deci- sion was made 15 years ago, it is worth noting. It is not in the same category as schools found guilty of making photocopies of music which was in copyright but it is very important to recognise the right of those who create

words and music – and to take nothing for granted when reproducing them. Copyright expires 70 years after the death of the creator of the original work. As a result and an ex- ample, a common contravention occurs with the reproduction of the words of Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy, which frequently appear in Orders of Service at weddings and funerals. The author, Jan Struther, died on 20 July 1953. Oxford University Press holds the rights to reproduction. Wedding couples are fond of Morning has broken but the words were written by Eleanor Farjeon and she died on 5 June 1965. The copyright may lapse in 2035 but meanwhile permission for reproduction of the words may be obtained from David Higham and Associates Ltd. Keith Atkinson

Piero della Francesca’s Resurrection at Sansepolcro

Drinking in, not just looking, at a beloved painting is something we can all do more readily during lockdown. I was once told that one should concentrate on only one painting at a time. Nowadays we really do have time to ”stand and stare”, so let us turn to Piero della Francesca’s Resurrection at Sansepolcro. The extraordinary thing is that this magnificent and very moving fresco of the Risen Christ is itself a miracle of survival .. In 1944, Captain Anthony Clarke of The Royal Horse Artillery was ordered to lead a bombardment on Sansepolcro. soon after the shocking devastation of Monte Cassino ,which had appalled him. Suddenly he remembered reading an essay by Aldous Huxley, in which he said of della Francesa’s Resurrection in Sansepolcro” Here resides the greatest painting in the world”. He stalled for time, telling his CO through the wireless that with his binoculars he could see no Germans advancing. Mercifully, none came ,and he was later told by a small boy that the Germans were retreating, otherwise he would have been ambushed and then court-martialled, if he had survived. As soon as he could ,he went into the church to see the fresco for the first time. Thus this marvellous fresco of Christ’s Resurrection caused a miracle itself, the saving of Sansepolcro from destruction.There is now a street there named after Capt. Clarke. Strangely this story came to light years later, when H V Morton, visiting a book- shop, founded by Captain Clarke in Cape Town , to research the life of Graham Greene , came across instead an old suitcase of Capt. Clarke’s containing letters and photographs describing what happened at Sansepolcro. So when we gaze at this painting let us thank God for the many links in the chain of its history.

“

CARIAN

Whilst working in Bracknell I met Wendy, the widow of Canon Christmas, who was sadly feeling rather “lost” since her husband had passed away. During the next few months we decided to form a small committee of clergy widows and subsequently with the help of the Pension Board “found” over a hundred clergy widows throughout the Diocese ,from there we establish CARIAN which became an association for Clergy Widows in the Diocese.

Over the next 17 years our committee used to arrange an annual luncheon in Oxford and coffee mornings in different parts of the Diocese throughout the year. On one such occasion we held a spring coffee get-together on the Rectory lawns, about fifty ladies arrived and enjoyed chatting to friends old and new and with the sun shining it was a happy event. As the gathering was coming to an end the donkeys decided that they had been in their paddock long enough and Polly the mum lifted the upper pole and trotted over to investigate closely followed by her naughty 4 month old daughter Lucy…….handbags were interesting as they might have the favourite polo mints in them…as the sound of oos and ahs and isn’t she sweet filled the air, Lucy grabbed the handles of one hand- bag and galloped off around the lawn ! Bob was approaching from the Church I knew it would be hopeless to chase after her as she raced past us for the second time , need- less to say Polly her mother stood watching the display with an air of resignation. LUCY! Bob could be seen approaching from the Churchyard into the garden, instantly Lucy hesitated and seeing him put his hand into his pocket dropped the handbag and trotted of for the proffered polo mints, luckily everyone understood that she was just a naughty donkey

Thoughts for the Parish Magazine

Rebecca Bell

I’m not a naturally fast swimmer; neither am I particularly slow. I like to think that in the open water swimming club I’m a member of, I’m somewhere in the middle. Some days I swim well and some days I’m the one struggling to keep up. It occurred to me that is a bit like life in general and it set me thinking: why do we have days when life is easy and days when everything is a struggle? Days when we spring out of bed and days when we can barely lift our heads off the pillow? Running along in our lovely countryside in Pep- pard at 6.30 this morning I was acutely aware of a huge blister on my right heel which was inhibiting me and preventing me from running faster. I couldn’t seem to get going. A huge unseen hand was holding me back. Looking around me at the breathtaking view, I took the time to slow down and appreciate my surroundings. Maybe this is a lesson for life. Do we remember to take the time to slow down? Lockdown has forced that situation upon us but we mustn’t lose that ability to really appreciate the beauty and peace all around us as we ease out into the world once more. Does it matter if one day I am ahead of my friend in the river and the next day way behind her, watching her swim sol- idly into the distance whilst the current carries me backwards? Does it matter if one day everything takes longer or life gets in the way? Does it matter if the voice I once prized is worn out after a term of teaching singing online? I remembered the words King George VI said in his Christmas 1939 broadcast when the world was at war:

‘I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year, Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.

And he replied, Go our into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God, that shall be better than a light and safer than a known way.’

The Gate of the Year by Minnie Louise Haskins

Whether I’m looking after my family, running, swimming, singing or teaching (mostly online these days) I put my day into the hand of God and ask for his guidance. Some- times he shows me a different route to that which I was expecting but I try to go with the flow - in the river, in music, in life, to let God be my guide and my loving friend, walking alongside me.

Some miscellaneous observations on modern life... Fools rush in where fools have been before. It's called ‘take home’ pay because you can't afford to go anywhere else with it. Success is relative - the greater the success, the more relatives.

If at first you succeed, try to hide your astonishment. You must have learned from others' mistakes. You haven't had time to think all those up yourself. People like criticism - just keep it positive and flattering. It's okay to let your mind go blank, but please turn off the sound. Worry kills more people than work because more people worry than work. Middle age is when broadness of the mind and narrowness of the waist change places. Misers aren't much fun to live with, but they make great ancestors. Opportunities always look bigger going than coming. The real reason you can't take it with you is that it goes before you do. Junk is something you throw away about three weeks before you need it.

Hospitality is making your guests feel at home, even if you wish they were. Some people are like blisters. They don't show up until the work is done.

The Transfiguration

August is a quiet month as far as the Church calendar is concerned, except that during the 11th century, some church fathers slipped in an important day - the Transfiguration of Jesus, when His disciples were given just a glimpse of His future glory (Matthew 17, Mark 9, Luke 9). Jesus took Peter, James and John, his closest disciples, up a high mountain. This is of- ten identified as either Mount Tabor (there is a great church up there today), or one of the three spurs of Mount Hermon, which overlook Caesarea Philippi. High up on the mountain, Jesus was suddenly transfigured before His disciples. His face began to shine as the sun, His garments became white and dazzling. Elijah and Moses, of all people, suddenly appeared, and talked with Him. A bright cloud overshadowed the disci- ples, and a divine Voice spoke out of the cloud, saying that Jesus was His beloved son, whom the disciples should ‘hear’. God’s dwelling with mankind depends upon our lis- tening to Jesus. Then, just as suddenly, it is all over. What did it mean? Why Moses and Elijah? Well, these two men represent the Law and the Prophets of the Old Covenant, or Old Testa- ment. But now they are handing on the baton, if you like: for both the Law and the Prophets found their true and final fulfilment in Jesus, the Messiah. That day made a lifelong impact on the disciples. Peter mentions it in his second letter, 2 Peter 1:16 - 19 - invariably the reading for this day.

Answers: Transfiguration; Jesus; mountain; Tabor; Hermon; Caesarea; Philippi; high; shine; face; cloud; transformed; white; dazzling; Elijah; Moses; dwelling; mankind; Law; Prophets; Peter; James; John; fear; glory

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Thank you for supporting Greenshoots!

Greenshoots Nursery on Peppard Common relies on the sale of plants over the spring to help keep the charity running. This year lock down came just as the first of the seeds had been planted in the greenhouses. A rota of volunteers and trustees was put in place to visit the closed down nursery daily to water the seedlings and outdoor plants but how were the plants to be sold if no one could go and buy them? The answer came from ourselves and two others involved with the charity who live in Caversham who put plants from the nursery outside our houses where people could choose their plants and put the money through our letterboxes. We were selling so much that volunteers con- tinuing to plant seeds back at the nursery had a job to keep up!We continued to do this until the nursery reopened at the end of June with a few of the trainees with learning difficulties who could understand the rules around social distancing. The response and support from local people in the Peppard area has been amazing. While commercial nurseries were still closed people were pleased to buy their summer plants locally and even after the garden centres opened we were still selling a lot of plants every day as so many people wanted to support the charity. So thank you to all who came to us for their plants and helped to save this precious local charity!

One from the treasurer

Whatever happened to Christopher Robin? One hundred years ago this month, on 21st August 1920, Christopher Robin Milne was born. He was the only son of the author A. A. Milne and appeared as a character in his father’s Winnie-the-Pooh stories and verses – a role he enjoyed at first but later found difficult to handle. The characters in Winnie the Pooh were based on his own soft toys or items pur- chased later. The setting was inspired by Ashdown Forest in East Sussex: his family owned nearby Cotchford Farm and spent weekends and holidays there. His relationship with his nanny, Olive ‘Nou’ Brockwell, was close and continued into adult life, but when he went to boarding school near Guildford in 1930 he was bullied because his father’s work was well known: one poem, Vespers, brought him “toe- curling, fist-clenching, lip-biting embarrassment”. He married a cousin, Lesley de Sélincourt, in 1948 and opened a bookshop in Dart- mouth. He was close to his father but not to his mother, Daphne, who did not see him during the last 15 years of her life. Milne had one child, Clare, who had cerebral palsy. He himself had myasthenia gravis in his later years and died in 1996; he was described by one newspaper as a ‘dedicated atheist’.

Goods and Services Directory

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Praise and Prayer Sir William Davenant

Praise is devotion fit for mighty minds, The diff’ring world’s agreeing sacrifice; Where Heaven divided faith united finds; But prayer in various discord upwards flies.

For Prayer the ocean is where diversely Men steer their course, each to a sev’ral coast; Where all our interests so discordant be That half beg winds by which the rest are lost.

By Penitence when we ourselves forsake, ‘Tis but in wise design on piteous Heaven; In Praise we nobly give what God may take, And are, without a beggar’s blush, forgiven.