5ALIVE! July/August 2019 News from Buckland Dinham, Chantry, Great Elm, Mells with Vobster and Whatley FROM THE EDITOR I’VE BEEN SITTING here (NB not SAT here. Sorry for being pedantic!) trying to decide what to write about this month. The weather? No, we’ve had enough of that and in any case it changes day by day, may- be even hour by hour. Politics? Not bloomin’ likely – had enough of that. Brexit? Ditto. Sport? By the time you read this the Cricket and Women’s Football World Cups and Wimbledon will have been decided. Gardening? Hazell’s beaten me to it. So maybe I’ll just keep it short and wish everyone a great summer holiday. Lin and I will be back in September. See you then. And by the way, very many thanks to Tony Thomas for our front cover photo, of the weather vane at the top of St. George’s church, Whatley. If you’re an aspiring (deliberate pun there!) snapper and have a photo you think would look good on the front cover, do wing it over to us. Can’t promise we’ll use it but… One other thing - do read the advice on scams on page 24 of this issue. Could save you from becoming a victim. Peter FROM THE RECTORY SOME PORTERS WERE HIRED to carry a group’s possessions on a trip through the jungle. The pace quickly in- creased until the head porter called a halt: ‘We’ve come so far, so fast we need to take a break and allow our souls to catch up with our bodies!’ How often do we feel like this? July and Au- gusts are months when many of us take a break. Jesus and his disciples often took time to withdraw from the crowds ‘because so many people were coming and going that Editors: Lin Taylor and Peter Corbett [email protected] Advertising: Peter Corbett, 466536, [email protected] Deadline for September 2019 is August 16th Printed by Best at Print Ltd 01373 800 300 1 CONTACTS Rector, Mells Group of Churches, Rev Clive A. Fairclough The Rectory, Gay Street, Mells, BA11 3PT 01373 673431 [email protected], twitter @clivetherev Benefice administrator Tracy Hughes [email protected] Church laymen and women Parish council Church wardens chairs and clerks Buckland Suzanne Westlake Peter Corbett 466536 Dinham 07817 059651 Pauline Short 472188 Chantry Mrs D Blacker 836668 Mrs H Tovey 836384 See Whatley Great Elm Judy Duffus 813215 Edmund 812283 Thompson Mells with Vobster Joy Book 300184 Jenny Waller 813852 John Earl 812450 Whatley Mrs K Gay 836175 Joy Book 300184 Martin Payne 07595 281063 Joy Book 300184 Roman Catholic Services Mells: Sundays at 11.30am Frome: Sundays at 9.30am and 5.30pm County Councillor Philip Ham 01373 812152 District Councillors Buckland Dinham, Great Elm and Mells (Ammerdown Ward) Alison Barkshire, 07432 003382, [email protected] Chantry and Whatley (Cranmore, Doulting and Nunney Ward) Francis Hayden, 07970 839532, [email protected] Police: emergencies: 999, non-emergency:101, local contact information visit www.avonandsomerset.police.co.uk 2 they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them. ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’ (Mark 6: 31,32). Jesus saw how tired and stressed his disciples were and wanted to give them a break from their busy lives. He loved them and cared about their wellbeing. He longs to do the same with us, so we can restore the balance of work, rest and play in our lives. Going on holiday or taking time off gives us an opportunity of letting go the burdens of everyday life and renewing our rest in him. This enables us to entrust Jesus with our issues and concerns, as we take time aside declare a holy day or holiday! The story is told of the aged Apostle John playing with doves. A pass- ing hunter expressed surprise at what a man as pious as John was do- ing. John pointed to the bow in the hunter’s hand and asked him why he carried it with a loosened string. The hunter replied: ‘It loses its strength unless it is given the chance to unbend.’ John replied: ‘Why Sunlight Window Cleaning Commercial & domestic, Insides and outsides, conservatories & roofs, gutters, soffits and solar panels cleaned. 07739 189180 DOUG VALENTINE 3 If you want to keep an eye open for any changes to services, you can check the schedule on the Mells Group website, www.mellsgroup.church/whatson. 4 5 are you surprised that a servant of Christ should not relax to keep himself stronger for his work?’ A note for our schoolchildren. With the ending of the school year, many of us face big changes. Here are some quotes which might help…. Keep praying but be thankful that God’s an- swers are wiser than your prayers! – William Culbertson. First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. – Epictetus I was trained from the beginning to work, to save, and to give. – John D Rockefeller, Jr. We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing; others judge us by what we have done. – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Have a happy holiday whether you end up going away or just being with the family! Many blessings ! Fr Clive, Rector JOTTINGS FROM A COUNTRY CHURCHYARD I AM SURE that this time last year I – or possibly Lin or Peter – quoted the old Oklahoma song ‘June is bustin’ out all over’. Well, this year it seems to have exceeded itself in bustin’! Roses! I’ve never had such a profusion. I can’t grow tidy, tamed hybrid teas (well, let’s face it – nothing is tidy or tamed in my garden/jungle) but the old climbing roses have gone mad, not only my favourite, the thornless Zephyr Drouhin but all of them, like scented fairy cabbages. And my wisteria, although not so rich in colour or so beautifully trained as John Reckless’s on last month’s cover, was so loaded with 6 blossom the vines fell off the wall in lumps and draped themselves over nearby sheds, garden seats etc. All the spring blossom was fantastic too this year, wasn’t it, so something in last summer’s mixed climate must have encouraged everything to build up such a colourful display. Not only trees and shrubs. The Queen Anne’s lace and lesser hogweed has been wonderful by the roadside and in my orchard is now shoulder high. In some places it obscures the view so that I can’t see the path ahead and only the trembling flower heads show where Frisky, my younger dog, has pushed through. Sadly Faye, my dearly loved older dog, has reached her last weeks – or even days. She has become increasingly frail and so wobbly on her back legs that if she doesn’t decide soon that she has had enough I shall have to make the decision for her. Hard as that will be, as we all know, it is the final kindness we can offer a dear friend. This morning I had a trio of great tits cheekily hopping over the threshold of the kitchen door to gather up dog hair by the beakful. The door stays open all day for the dogs to come and go and the birds The Gentleman Painter & Co Top quality work guaranteed, but minus the radio blasting out Radio 1, swearing, cigarette smoke, constant tea drinking and associated annoyances. I have over fifteen years’ experience of careful but efficient painting and light building work behind me. Painting – Carpentry – Tiling – Plastering – Fencing – Guttering – Etc Project Management and Coordination - excellent local references [email protected] www.thegentlemanpainter.com 7 seem to regard it as an extension of the stable yard outside. I was surprised to see them gathering nesting material in mid-June. Perhaps the first nest has been destroyed by predators and they were having to rebuild for a second brood. I closed the door when they hopped out as I hate to have a bird flying around the house; I always worry it may get trapped behind furniture. Nevertheless, one of today’s visitors had not hopped out but, unnoticed by me, had ventured into the nearest dogs’ bed to forage. He flew up to the window over the sink but unfortunately because of the thick walls creating deep window sills and that fact that I am only 4ft101/2 inches I can’t reach to open this window. I carried a chair to the sink, climbed up and struggled with a seldom used catch and all the while the spunky little tit, far from being afraid, hopped and flew up and down the window scolding me for taking so long. I even considered grabbing him and putting him out of the door instead but that would have meant climbing down with the bird clutched in one hand and, at 87, good sense prevailed. My good friends down the road have a swallow’s nest in their porch again this year. I watch in wonder and envy as they come and go, swooping in to feed the youngsters. The hen, I am told, swoops straight www.fromedecorator.com 8 in and does an angled turn in one flight and does an angled turn in one flight but the cock has to perch on a ledge on arriving and adjust his flight path from there. And still my RSPB imitation swallow’s nests remain uninhabited for their 46th summer! Perhaps I should reposition them? Who knows what will appeal to a swallow? I should do as dear old Bill Oddie suggests and ‘think like a bird’.