Rosemary and Tim’s wildlife garden

September 2020

(pdf edition)

Interregnum Rector For pastoral and parish concerns, please contact Rev’d Ann Gibbs Curate The Reverend Ann Gibbs 863593 [email protected] The Reverend Stephen Humphreys Assistant Priest [email protected] 841265 Stowey Farm, Timberscombe

Licensed Reader Rosemary Ball 862294

Retired Clergy The Reverend John Rogers

Retired Clergy The Reverend Dori Dawes 862474

PCC Treasurer Vacant

Marian and Peter Fosker c/o Assistant Treasurers Oakwing Office, St Dubricius School, 862284 Parsons Street, Porlock Assistant Treasurer Bill Ball c/o & Gift Aid Oakwing Office, St Dubricius School, 862284 Co-ordinator Parsons Street, Porlock

PCC Secretary Vacant

Churchwarden- Malcolm Bleasby 862562 St Dubricius

Choir leader, 07454271931 Stephen Kingdon St Dubricius

Tower Captain Nicholas Kingdon c/o 862284

St Dubricius :- www.achurchnearyou.com/church/11306/ St Mary’s :- www.achurchnearyou.com/church/11300/ All Saints :- www.achurchnearyou.com/church/11308/ Stoke Pero:- www.achurchnearyou.com/church/11312/

Dear Reader,

During this period of limited church access I have been putting together an ‘In Touch’ every month in a slightly different format.

Please forward notices and articles for the pew sheet or In Touch to me, Rachel, at [email protected]

SUNDAY SERVICES Our latest guidance from the Church of England says that face coverings should now be worn in churches.

CHANGES TO SERVICES From the 20th September we will be returning to our normal pattern of services. There will be a Service of Holy Communion at 8 a.m. (BCP) and a service at 10.30 a.m. which on the 20th will be Morning Prayer led by our Reader, Rosemary Ball.

The 10.30 Zoom service will be discontinued. There is a possibility that we could have a short service by Zoom in the evenings if there are people who would like this because they cannot yet return to church services. Please let your thoughts be known to our Curate or the Churchwarden.

Our Curate Ann will be away from 7th to 14th September.

Malcolm Bleasby, Churchwarden (Please contact the office with any queries etc. while Ann is away. Any phone messages will be picked up and responded to. [862284] Rachel)

Sunday 6th September Trinity 13 Holy Communion 9.00am

Sunday 13th September Trinity 14 Holy Communion 9.00am

Sunday 20th September Trinity 15 Holy Communion (BCP) 8.00am Morning Prayer 10.30am

Sunday 27th September Trinity 16 Holy Communion (BCP) 8.00am Holy Communion 10.30am

Sunday 4th October Harvest Holy Communion (BCP) 8.00am Holy Communion 10.30am Church Giving If you wish to give a donation via regular giving, please send a cheque together with a regular giving envelope to Bill Ball at 8 Redway, Porlock. He will then process the donation in the regular giving register, and bank the money when he next visits the bank in Minehead whilst en route for his weekly shop.

Charity of the Month

Our regular ‘Charity of the Month’ is on hold during this period and we would instead ask people to support The Food Cupboard. Ann Gibbs says “I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has donated over the lockdown. The support has been amazing!”

During the Covid 19 Pandemic it has been impossible for us to arrange our usual collections in church safely. However, many of our charities have suffered badly and so we are asking that if you are able to give you consider the following Charities:-

Children’s Hospice South West Little Bridge House, Redlands Road, Fremington, Barnstaple, Devon, EX31 2PZ 01271 325 270 [email protected]

St Margaret’s Hospice Phone: 01823 333822 or 01935 709480 Email: [email protected] St Margaret's Taunton Hospice Address: Heron Drive, Bishops Hull , Taunton, TA1 5HA

The Disasters Emergency Committee You can donate online or post a cheque to: The Disasters Emergency Committee, PO Box 999, London, EC3A 3AA All donations should be made payable to DEC Coronavirus Appeal

Thank You The Charity Committee Letter from Rev’d Ann Gibbs, Dear Friends,

Recently I visited one of my sons who lives in Cornwall. We had a socially distanced picnic and I was there for just a few hours but our conversation was dominated by the changes that COVID19 restrictions have brought to both our lives, not least being separated for many months. He is a student but works as a chef to help make ends meet and of course has had to adapt to new guidelines there too.

Whatever our walk of life, wherever we are, we have all had to accept that the current situation has changed the way we live and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

In the last week or so I have had conversations about how we might best do services for harvest and Christmas, if restrictions are still in place. It is probably better to assume that they will be and work from there. What I have noticed though is the number of people who have mentioned Christmas and have been quite negative - “It won’t be the same if we can’t have carols”, “It isn’t going to be much of a Christmas” etc.

Well it may be different but I think we have to find positive ways to celebrate and mark special days in the church year and maybe start some new traditions. We have to think creatively and look for the opportunities in this strange new world and try not to spend too much time looking backwards, regretting what we cannot do. It isn’t easy but we are already making small steps forward.

The church is open again on Sundays and services will soon be at the times we are all used to. We are now allowed to have a small choir, even though the congregation cannot yet sing. Bit by bit we can hopefully ease restrictions and do a little more, but it will take time and it does feel different.

However challenging all this is, most of us have already made the most radical change in our lives. That is the change we made when we decided to surrender our lives to Christ. When we become a Christian we invite God into our lives and if that doesn’t change the way we live nothing else will! It is a change we all wanted to make but it then involves being obedient to God’s will and perhaps taking paths that we didn’t expect. The good thing is that, with God in control, we can be sure that all will be well. The same thing applies now - God is in control and we just have to trust in Him. Whatever the challenges He will hold us and be with us.

May God bless you all,

Revd. Ann

CHURCH PATH COFFEE MORNING on Saturday, August 29th

Despite the wet weather on the days preceding the Church Path Coffee Morning, on the day itself the sun shone, and it was very uplifting to have this annual event take place; the first event to take place since the lockdown began, and hopefully a sign of a light at the end of the tunnel.

Many thanks to Marilynn and to all Mothers’ Union members for all their hard work. 50 ways to beat covid-19

Don’t hop on the bus, Gus, Stay away from the pack, Jack, Sneeze into your sleeve, Steve, To keep virus free.

Stop touching your face, Grace, Stay back to six feet, Pete, Keep washing yours hands, Stan, And heed CDC.

Don’t visit your Gran, Jan, Wipe down every toy, Roy, Don’t hoard all the food, dude, Please buy sensibly.

Just use some Purell, Mel, Keep wipes near at hand, man. Don’t listen to John, Don – you don’t need more TP!

This isn’t a break, Jake, Stay home if you’re sick, Dick, Just follow the rules, fools, And stay virus free! RINGING MATTERS (by Nicholas Kingdon)

Retirement of John Sparks

After many years as Porlock Church Tower Captain, John Sparks has decided it is time to ‘throw in the rope’ and retire. We are very sorry to see him go, but understand that he feels the time is right, and he has certainly given many years of service to the church as the solid, dependable Tower Captain that he is.

John learnt to ring in the 1950s at the time the Arscott family were ringing in Porlock. He was certainly a glutton for punishment as he also played in Porlock Town Band with them, and the ferocious Harry Arscott was bandmaster! When John married April and their children were born, John took a break from ringing until his family grew up.

It was at the death of Princess Diana, in 1997 when John came up to have a ring in her memory, that he decided to return and once again become a regular ringer. From that time he has been the most supportive and dependable ringer and friend we could ever have wished for, and his easy temperament and good humour have made our tower a very happy and welcoming environment for all.

When we sadly lost Michael Hayes-Davis about fifteen years ago, John stepped up to the plate and has been a very committed and reliable tower captain ever since. He has certainly helped and supported me a great deal in the past in different ringing situations and in quarter peals, and in his understanding and patience when work and family commitments have made me a lot less reliable than I would actually wish to be.

Due to the coronavirus restrictions we are unable to celebrate John’s retirement now as we would wish, however we certainly will be doing so in due course.

I have agreed to take on the role of Tower Captain, and I will be consulting John and looking to him for advice along the way, and I will do my best to try and be as reliable as he has been – I promise I won’t go fishing Sunday mornings like Jim Huish!! Ringing during Covid 19 restrictions Due to social distancing rules, only three alternate bells can be rung currently during a session by the same ringer, with a face mask on. I would like to say a huge ‘THANK YOU’ to Lesley, John Hill, Martin and Melody who have been ringing each Sunday since 9.00am services have resumed.

As it seems there will be no end to restrictions any time soon, I hope to establish some kind of rota system soon to prevent any of our ringers, or any of the bells going rusty whilst staying within the rules – I will be in touch with you all to see how you feel about this.

Safeguarding As soon as I said I would become Tower Captain, the first thing I was presented with was being told I had to complete the Bath and Wells Leaders Safeguarding Course. My immediate reactions were, “Why me, we only have adult ringers? Do they think I’m untrustworthy? We already go by the unwritten rule, ‘safety in numbers’. I’m a Tesco worker not a social worker.” These are some of the things that went through my head anyway!!

I reluctantly agreed to go through with the Safeguarding, completing the Basic Awareness and Foundation courses online, both of which I found quite upsetting. Idealist I may be, but surely church is a place of Christian love and trust, not a place of suspicion – we may have the odd tussle here and there; just differences of opinion, but I can’t imagine any of these serious safeguarding issues ever affecting our church.

I continued with the two zoom leadership sessions, Rachel standing by to resuscitate our clapped out old laptop that doesn’t like zoom every time it crashed!

It was explained that the safeguarding policy the Church of England has set up is in response to past abuses that have come to light, to try to protect everyone, potential victims, all churchgoers and visitors, and give a strong signal to predators that we are ‘on guard’. One poignant thing pointed out was that the Christian kindness we all hope to find within a church community could be a draw for both a vulnerable person in great need looking for help and also a predatory person looking for an easy target, and we need to be prepared to respond to both.

The lady running the course was a great one for car analogies, and one she gave, which I will certainly take on board, is that those in leadership positions in the church need to act like an airbag in a car. You know it is there in place to protect should the worst happen, but with care and good driving it may well never be needed.

So on that note, if anyone asks you to take part in safeguarding training, or wants to involve you in our church safeguarding procedures, don’t take offence, it’s nothing personal about you, it’s something our church is now required to take part in!!

We will follow this culture the Church of England is trying to establish, and all safeguarding guidance for the Tower, including displaying what this actually means, together with safeguarding contacts. I hope in a church somewhere, at some time, this is going to really help someone. Nick

A Tragedy……. and how Porlock Church gained Royal Patronage The chill air carried with it the sounds of sawing and hammering as Jane sat writing a final letter to her sister Katherine. Jane could see only darkness, despite the weak, winter efforts of the sun to cast its rays upon her through the window. She tried to suppress the feeling of impending doom that kept threatening to overwhelm her. How could she, just a young girl of seventeen, have caused such controversy and become such an instrument in the ambitions of others?

“Live to die, that by death you may enter into eternal life, and then enjoy the life that Christ has gained for you by His death. Don’t think that just because you are now young your life will be long, because young and old as God wills.”

Writing these brave words to her sister made her feel stronger and, imprisoned in the gaolers quarters, she now looked out of the window to see the scaffold being erected across Tower Green ready for her own execution.

The sound of a key in the lock signalled the return of John de Feckenham, Queen Mary’s personal spiritual advisor, who had spent the last three days fervently trying to convert Jane to Roman Catholicism. Jane was however a devout protestant and was not about to change her stance, despite the best efforts of this Benedictine monk.

The hour soon came. Jane was escorted across Tower Green to the scaffold by her ladies in waiting and John de Feckenham, he ever hopeful of a last minute conversion, and also in attendance to bear witness for Queen Mary and report back to her later in the day.

Trembling, Jane turned to the onlookers who had come to watch her die. She had distracted herself during the last few hours by carefully rehearsing over and over a final speech she would give at the scaffold:

“Good people, I am come hither to die, and by a law I am condemned to the same. The fact against the queen’s Highness was unlawful, and the consenting thereunto by me: but, touching the procurement and desire thereof by me, or on my behalf, I do wash my hands thereof in innocency before God, and the face of you, good Christian people, this day.

I pray you all, good Christian people, to bear me witness that I die a true Christian woman, and that I do look to be saved by no other mean, but only by the mercy of God, in the blood of his only Son Jesus Christ”

Jane knelt, and encouraged the onlookers to join her as she said the words of Psalm 51. She then stood, handed her gloves and handkerchief to one of her ladies, and gave her small prayer-book to Thomas Bridges, the brother of the Lieutenant of the Tower.

She asked the executioner, ‘Please dispatch me quickly’. As she put her head upon the block she repeated Jesus’s words on the cross, “Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” The executioner swung his axe, and she was dead.

This was the tragic fate of Lady Jane Grey on the 12th February 1554 on a charge of high treason. She had been declared Queen of England for all of nine days the previous year – and this was the price she now had to pay. Jane was very well connected, and unfortunately the ambitions of members of her family were played out through her. Jane was the great-granddaughter of Henry VII through his younger daughter Mary, and was a first cousin once removed of Edward VI.

Jane’s father Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk, had become a fixture in court circles during the reign of Henry VIII. A knight of the Bath, he was the king's sword bearer at Anne Boleyn's coronation in 1533. After Henry VIII's death in 1547, Grey conspired with the young King’s uncle Thomas Seymour to have his daughter Jane married to the King; a conspiracy which failed, yet resulted in the execution of Thomas Seymour.

In 1549, John Dudley, Earl of Warwick (soon elevated to Duke of Northumberland), overthrew the young King Edward’s Protectorship by Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset and secured power as Edward’s chief minister by appointing loyal friends to the Privy Council, which included Henry Grey. The two conspired to match make their offspring and secure the crown by this means.

In May 1553, Jane married Lord Guildford Dudley, a younger son of Sir John Dudley. In June 1553, Edward VI wrote his will, nominating Jane and her male heirs as successors to the Crown, in part because his half-sister Mary was Roman Catholic, while Jane was a committed Protestant and would support the reformed Church of England. The will removed his half-sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, from the line of succession on account of their illegitimacy.

After Edward's death, Jane was proclaimed queen on 10 July 1553 and awaited coronation in the Tower of London. Support for Mary grew very quickly, and most of Jane's supporters abandoned her. The Privy Council of England suddenly changed sides and proclaimed Mary as queen on 19 July 1553, deposing Jane. Her primary supporter, her father-in-law the Duke of Northumberland, was accused of treason and executed less than a month later. Jane was held prisoner in the Tower and was convicted in November 1553 of high treason, which carried a sentence of death.

Both Jane and her husband Lord Guildford Dudley were executed on 12 February 1554, however since their arrests the couple had been imprisoned separately and had spent most of their short marriage apart. Queen Mary had initially spared Jane’s life, however when Jane’s father, Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk and his brother Thomas, Lord Grey, involved themselves with Wyatt's rebellion against Queen Mary's intention to marry Philip II of Spain, she changed her mind on the matter, and Jane was indeed executed. The whole family were implicated and both Jane’s father and uncle were tried, found guilty and beheaded.

The Porlock bit…. Lady Jane Grey and all the Grey family were descendants of Sir William Harrington, 5th Lord Harrington, the younger brother and successor of that title from our Sir John Harrington of Porlock Church’s Harrington Tomb.

*A Royal Licence had been granted in 1547 at the time of the Dissolution to Thomas Grey (Jane’s grandfather), ‘knight. Lord Grey, the brother of the King's dearest cousin Henry, Marquis of Dorset, the said Chantry of Porlock and all manors, messuages, lands, etc., belonging to the same’. By the time of the Wyatt Rebellion ownership had passed to Jane’s uncle, Thomas, Lord Grey.

Upon their executions all Grey possessions became forfeit to the Crown, and with them the title to the lands of the Chantry of Porlock held by Lord Grey (yet at the time leased out to another party).

………and this is how Porlock Church gained royal patronage!

*Shortly after this land was granted to Jane’s grandfather, parliament reconvened, and one of the first Acts introduced dealt with the disposal of all remaining chantries, which were to be sold to fund building of grammar schools – the idea was short lived, and few came to fruition, the majority of income making its way into the Royal purse!

Methodist Minister Rev Nick Lakin 01643 705175 [email protected]

Chapel Warden St Nicholas, Porlock Weir Post Vacant

Church Warden Post Vacant Stoke Pero

Church Wardens All Saints Andrew Milne Selworthy Joy Roscoe

PCC Secretary Post Vacant All Saints, Selworthy

Churchwarden Rosemary Gande 862832 St Mary’s Luccombe [email protected]

Rachel Kingdon Administrator [email protected] 862284 (Church postal address) Oakwing Office, St Dubricius First School, Parsons Street, Porlock, Minehead. TA24 8QJ

Parish Website www.porlockchurch.com