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Message from Revd Liz Hassall What do you want to remember this month? Remembrance Day and Remembrance Sunday are fixtures in the calendar, given a high profile in the media, and marked throughout the country in various ways. At this time of year, it is not just those who gave their lives in war that the Church remembers. Our season of remembering begins on November 1st with All Saints Day (or, alternatively, All Hallows Day – hence Hallows Eve or E’en being October 31st). On All Saints Day, or the nearest Sunday, we remember in prayer all the Saints, those recognised nationally or internationally as being particularly able to draw us closer to God. We remember Saints like those we find in the dedications of our churches: Nicholas, Thomas, Mary, Michael, and Cuthbert. These are people who are usually from a long time ago and lived notable lives as disciples of Jesus (Michael being the exception to that description). Our remembering doesn’t stop with the Saints. All Saints Day is closely followed by All Souls Day on November 2nd. Here we remember all those faithful people who have lived and died, perhaps without becoming well-known but who made an impact on the individuals in their lives. It is usual on All Souls Day to remember in prayer those who have died in recent years. Usually we invite families of those whose funerals we have conducted to come back and spend time remembering them before God. This year we will be doing this remotely. Please get in touch if you would like to know more. So you can see that, by the time Remembrance Sunday comes round, we have already been in the habit of remembering for a few days. It is appropriate, then, to give thanks for the sacrifices of previous generations in war. In our villages it is always poignant to hear the names read, particularly where there are still descendants with the same name remaining in the villages. I remember also those who served without making the ultimate sacrifice but returned home with their experiences of war weighing upon them. Whether remembering saints or loved ones or service personnel, the purpose of remembering is the same: so that the lessons of the past may not be forgotten. 2 Remembrance Services There are three services planned this year: at Brandsby and Coxwold on November 8th and at Husthwaite on November 11th. Each of these will be short, open air, services with limited numbers. Please book a space with the appropriate churchwarden using the contact details in the centre pages. We will be asking all those present to keep at least 2 metres (6-7 feet) away from others, especially as there are likely to be more vulnerable people attending. There will be no singing. Preparing to say goodbye On a more personal note, I am entering my final few weeks as Rector here, before moving to York. Under the current restrictions, we can’t have a big final service and party as we would have done in more normal times. However, as with so many things this year, we can move online so I would like to invite you to join me on Zoom for a social evening to say farewell. Friday 4th December at 7.30pm Bring your own mulled wine, gin, or preferred tipple and raise a glass. There will be speeches, there will be music, there will be shared memories. If you would like to contribute something to the evening, please let me or Liz Crawshaw (01347 868587) know. Zoom meeting ID: 891 0417 4055 Passcode: 958721 Dial in on 0203 051 2874 if you don’t have computer access. 3 From the registers Our Church registers mark some of the most significant times in people’s lives. Each of these services involves an extended network of family and friends and is one of the ways that the Church connects with people outside our usual congregations. Please keep all these people, and their families, in your prayers. The wedding of Olivia Sayers and Alasdair Manson took place on Saturday 26th September at Coxwold. The wedding of Rachel Burnett and David Viva took place on Saturday 24th October at Coxwold. The funeral of Elizabeth Rymer took place on the 24th September at Coxwold. The funeral of Jean Morgan took place on the 10th October at Crayke. The funeral of Mavis Kilburn took place on the14th October at Brandsby. The funeral of Sue Allum took place on the 15th October at Coxwold. Any events which may be listed in the November edition of the Village Link are only provisional, as the Coronavirus situation changes on a daily basis. You are advised to seek up to date advice before you try to attend any event. Important message to all contributors: The deadline for articles for December 2020 & January's 2021 Village Link is the 15th November Please send them to [email protected] Thank You. To advertise in the Village Link email: [email protected] 4 WWI Memories Carved in Stone In 1919, Robert Thompson’s estimates ledger shows a commission received from the architect’s firm of Temple Moore and Moore for a ‘stone cross, Coxwold’ which stands today in the churchyard of St Michael’s church. This was followed by commissions for war memorials at the churches in the villages of Brandsby and Husthwaite. These three make up an interesting group not simply for the fact that they are works in stone, rather than the oak more usually associated with Robert Thompson, but also as they form some of his earliest work for the nationally renowned architectural practice of Temple Moore and Moore, with whom Thompson would continue to work for the rest of his life. The firm of Temple Moore and Moore was established by Temple Lushington Moore (1856-1920) a London based architect who trained as an assistant to George Gilbert Scott Junior and was later a mentor to Giles Gilbert Scott (with whom Robert Thompson would also work so successfully at Ampleforth). Temple Moore was celebrated for his work in the late Gothic Revival style and was considered to be the leading ecclesiastical architect of his time. His work is particularly well represented in Yorkshire where he was responsible for numerous churches and church restorations. Robert Thomson no doubt came to the architect’s attention through his work for the Ecclesiastical and Church Estates (ECE) Commissioners carrying out general repairs in wood and stone at churches in the area around Kilburn. Robert Thompson’s ledgers show that he produced pieces for Temple Lushington Moore as early as 1913 for Brandsby church. Between 1914 and 1918 the nation grieved as thousands of young men went off to war never to return. Temple Moore suffered his own loss when, in 1918, his son’s ship was torpedoed off the coast of Ireland. Coming shortly after this personal tragedy, the architect’s work on the war memorials at Coxwold, Brandsby and Husthwaite must have been particularly heart- rending. Following the death of his son, Temple Moore was joined in the practice by his son-in-law, Leslie Moore, and it Coxwold War Memorial Photo by Peter Wyn-Jones 5 was the latter who, after the senior architect’s death in 1920, oversaw the completion of the stone crosses in the three North Yorkshire churchyards. In this way, Leslie Moore seamlessly maintained his father-in-law’s architectural legacy and went on to complete other projects commenced by Temple Moore including, what is considered by many to be Temple Moore’s master Brandsby Church and War Memorial piece, the Grade 1 listed Photo by Colin Merritt church St Wilfrid’s in Harrogate. Robert Thompson too was part of the continuation of Temple Moore’s Gothic Revival legacy. The craftsmen's ledgers show a steady stream of pieces for Leslie Moore until 1954, the year in which Thompson finally succumbed to the terminal illness that led to his death in 1955. Poignantly, this final collaboration was a magnificent door for the medieval church of St Mary’s in Beverley. Designed by Leslie Moore and completed by Robert Thompson’s grandsons in 1955, it records the names of parishioners who died between 1939 and 1945 in the conflict that followed the earlier tragically misnamed ‘war to end all wars’ Additional note: Robert Thompson’s quotation for the work in Brandsby was for a sum of £120 plus incised lettering at 4/6 per dozen. Acknowledgement: Article courtesy of Robert Thompson’s Craftsmen Ltd, www.robertthompsons.co.uk Husthwaite War Memorial Photo by John Ovenston 6 News from Brandsby WI Brandsby WI is continuing to use Zoom for our WI meetings. We talk twice a month, the second Tuesday of the month at 7.30pm and then the fourth Tuesday at 4.00pm. At our October evening meeting, we were joined by Sue and Ian Bretherton of the Dragonfly Schools Foundation. Sue and Ian started the Dragonfly Schools Foundation in 2016 to provide education to severely disadvantaged children in Pushkar India. Ian and Sue explained that since the Indian shut down started this year on 21st March they have had to change their work in India to help with the Covid-19 crisis. The Foundation has joined forces with two other charities in Pushkar to provide food and PPE. The lockdown in India has meant that only one person from each family can leave the family home once a day for an hour to get food and water and that it is the same hour for all families which has meant that it is chaotic getting basic supplies.