The www.leightonnews.com eighton ews L April 2015 NNumber 292 Some of the faces behind the names of those who were instrumental in developing the Leighton estate and village over three centuries: Clockwise from left: John Naylor as a young man Christopher Leyland Thomas Leyland John Naylor in later life Senator Rupert Davies More information about John Naylor and Thomas Leyland on page 6 The deadline for the May edition of The Leighton News is Thursday 23rd April Please send your copy to: JENNY SANDERS 01938 559562 [email protected] or ALLAN SMITH 01938 553598 [email protected] This month’s issue of The Leighton News is kindly sponsored by ALEXANDERS OF WELSHPOOL to whom we are very grateful. Please see the back page for a message from our sponsor 2 Services at Leighton and Trelystan in April and May Date Day Church Time Service Priest/ Leader 5th Easter Day Leighton 9.30am Holy Eric Brazier April Communion Treylstan 3.00pm Family Service Wardens th nd 12 2 of Easter Leighton 11.15am Family Service Eric Brazier April 3rd 5th of Easter Leighton 9.30am Holy To be May Communion announced Trelystan 3.00pm Pet Service Wardens th th 10 6 of Easter Leighton 11.15am Family Service To be May announced th th 17 7 of Easter Leighton 6.30pm Evensong Eric Brazier May st 31 Trinity Group Service 10am Holy John May Sunday at Marton. Communion Daniels Celebration of the new roof. SIDESMEN FOR APRIL: TONY AND JANE WALTON ALTAR FLOWERS AND BRASS CLEANING: JENNY AND DAVID SANDERS 3 Holy Trinity Church The Church will be holding its formal AGM immediately after the Morning Service at 11.15am on Sunday 12 th April. At this meeting the PCC and the two Church Wardens for 2015/16 are appointed together with the Sidesmen, and the Annual Report and Accounts for 2014 are presented. Please do join us and have a say on the management of your Village Church. John Markwick and James Evans Church Wardens The Rev Robert Leach You will all have heard that Robert suffered a heart attack on Sunday 22 nd February. The system worked well and he was whisked off to Stoke, where he was operated on immediately. He had recovered enough to return to Chirbury on 26 th February. Now he has to take things easy whilst also taking light exercise, like walking around Chirbury. Robert would like to thank everyone who has asked about his health, have sent him get well cards and offered transport. The saga does not end here for the Leaches. Janet had a new knee fitted on Wednesday 18 th March at Gobowen Hospital, Oswestry, and their daughter Amy has taken time off work to look after them. I know that they will be house -bound for a while so any offer of transport would be of great help. Any message on their answer phone will be responded to. If any one wishes to speak to a priest please let me know or speak to the Rural Dean, Reverend Margaret Jones at Pontesbury. Her telephone number is 01743792221. John Markwick Saturday 18th April — An Evening with Churchyard Cleaning Day Alan Herbert Spring is nearly here, and it is time with light supper for the churchyard clear -up Friday 17th April 15 after the winter. 8 ll Late If you could spare some time between 9.30a.m. and 12.00 Marton Village Hall you will be very welcome. Tickets £10 in advance Do come along —we look forward Ticket from Welshpool Jewellers, to seeing you there Laura Yapp and Yvonne Evans: 01938561267 £12 on the door In aid of Trelystan Church 4 LEIGHTON VILLAGE HALL P-U P Leighton Recreaon Commiee would like to say a big thank you to all of you who called in to share a drink with us at the Pop-Up Pub night at the Village Hall. Your thirst for Welsh beer, Welsh Cider Tony, Robin and Simon doing 3-part harmonies. Sadly, Tony was the spare part! and fizzy white wine exceeded our esmates (we shall have more next me…). The quiz went well and everyone enjoyed their Welsh snacks. But we did keep the best unl last and if you went home a er the quiz then you missed the singing. We were fully connected into the village hall’s impressive sound system with guitar, mouth organ and vocals. We raised over £400, which is going to go towards our sports pitch on the piece of ground between the village hall and the new farm screening bund. 5 Ed Tuffin entertaining us all. The recreaon commiee will be geng busier, the hedge has gone and our piece of ground now has an extension. We now have the work to do, finding some money and deciding what exactly we need to build. If you have any opinions, ideas or suggesons then please share them with us. There should be another pub evening soon. A few of the customers. 6 John Naylor of Leighton Hall This picture of John Naylor, the man who built not only Leighton Hall as we know it, but also the church, the school, the model farm and much of the village, is taken from recently updated material on the internet. It shows him as a young man, who had just taken over the reins of the Leighton estate from his uncle, Thomas Leyland, (see below) who had made him a gift of Leighton Hall. The second picture shows John Naylor in later life, in about 1873, when many public honours had come his way as a result of the vast investment he had made in the local community. By the time this second portrait was made, the official return of owners of land showed that John Naylor owned an estimated 9,275 acres of land in Montgomeryshire, with an estimated annual rental of £12,594. In 1776, Thomas Leyland, his generous uncle, had won £20,000 in the state lottery with a business partner, which enabled him to expand his shipping concern. He was actively engaged in the slave trade. In 1798 his slave ship “Lottery” made a profit of more than £12,000 on a single voyage, an amount equivalent to more than £900,000 today. With another nephew he set up a private bank, Leyland and Bullins, and was able to become a powerful backer of the slave business between Liverpool, West Africa and the Caribbean. He served as Lord Mayor of Liverpool three times between 1798 and 1820. He was not alone in having a close connection to slavery: by 1787, 37 of the 41 members of the Liverpool Council were involved in some way in the slave trade. In fact, all 20 Lord Mayors who held office between 1787 and 1807 had similar business interests. When Thomas Leyland died in 1827 he was one of the wealthiest men in the country. Leyland and Bullins Bank continued in business until 1908, when it was taken over by the Midland Bank. 7 Happy Easter from Leighton Village Hall Thank you to everyone who supported the recent Coffee Club morning. As well as having an enjoyable chat, a great coffee and croissants, we raised over £100. Special thanks to Sarah Garratt for her wonderful singing throughout the morning. REMEMBER Leighton Village Hall is now fully licenced so please book early for your parties, family get togethers and events. Your hall for you to use! Tel:0785 410 3058 or e-mail [email protected] 'Love your Playground' clear up . David, Rachel and Dave & Zac did a great job clearing the debris and scrubbing the decks. Also thanks to Peter Glazebrook, Rob Jones and Martin Dyson who have all helped with repair issues recently. Thanks to you all. The Coffee Club on Saturday 9th May 10.00am —12.00 There will be a gardening theme to this Coffee Club. Please come along with plants to swap or sell (in aid of Village Hall funds). If you have a gardening business which you would like to advertise please ring 555458. This will be a good opportunity for keen gardeners to get together and find out what gardening services are available locally. More details about the Garden Trail on June 6th will be advertised too. Draw prizes gratefully received. All the usual Coffee Club ingredients will be there —cafetiere coffee, croissants, crumpets, music, and good company. We are working on Sarah to entertain us with flower/garden themes! See you there. 8 Leighton Community News Good Luck to our Leighton Legend Our thoughts are with the family of Haydn Jones when he runs in the David Jones whose funeral was held London Marathon later this month. in Leighton recently. David was born It will be the 11 th time Haydn has and grew up at Church House, Trelystan, competed in this particular marathon where his parents still live. We send out over 25 years ,which is quite an best wishes to all David’s family at what achievement in itself. must be such a sad time for you all. Happy 70 ththth Birthday to Phil Mills , Get well soon to Vicar Robert who is who celebrated this big birthday with recuperating in Chirbury. We all look a small sherry a couple of weeks ago. forward to his return fit and well in the Phil, renowned for his temperance coming months; and best wishes also tendencies, was dragged against his to Janet. wishes to take part in wild celebrations in the Compass. He and Barb were also celebrating their 50th Wedding Congratulations to James and Anniversary so it was ‘cheers’ all round.