Golden Cap E-Magazine August 2020 Whitchurch Canonicorum church Wild Orchids in Wootton Fitzpaine through buttercups by Barry Welch by Susan Bradbury Update from Chris Martin, Team Rector of the Golden Cap Benefice Dear friends, I think most of us have realised by now that coming out of ‘lockdown’ is a lot trickier than going into it! This month, in addition to opening for private prayer, some of our churches are beginning to plan for opening for Sunday worship for the first time since March. Like local shopkeepers and pub landlords, Churchwardens, Parochial Church Council members and clergy are discovering that there is a LOT to think about in helping people to feel safe and cared for as they come to Sunday worship, or to a wedding or funeral. It’s important that it’s done well and going slowly seems necessary and prudent in these circumstances. I’m noticing too that there are lots of mixed emotions around. There is joy at being able to be back in church; there is sadness about the absence of those for whom it is understandably still ‘too soon’ to think about returning to a public space like a church, or sadness about the loss of some members of our community, like dear Keith Vivian to whom warm tributes are rightly paid in this issue; and there is much uncertainty around about what the future holds and what a new ‘normal’ might look like. It serves us all well to acknowledge the broad range of thoughts and feelings about the changes going on around and about us, and to show kindness and sensitivity to those who are in a ‘different place’ to us in their response to the changes taking place. And so, whether or not you will be venturing to a church service this month, please know that you are being thought of and prayed for as you respond in the way that seems right to you. With all good wishes, Revd Chris Martin 1 Letter from the Editor Emerging from our seclusion, we are entering that much-discussed ‘new normal’ and discovering what exactly it entails. We hear in this issue how some in the community are managing this new phase, along- side some of that range of feelings Chris describes. Activity that has continued in the background of recent months is now becoming visible and energetic once again; we have an update on the Uplyme resettlement project. As our churches work out new routines, Charmouth council reports a number of other re-openings, including their library Monday and Friday and the Heritage Centre, but beach huts remain closed for now. Char Valley council has been looking forwards, approving contributions to local projects and endorsing the Lifelines biodiversity network in the Char Valley and Marshwood Vale. Chideock council meetings remain on hold for now, but local updates are still published on their website. The COVID-19 volunteer networks have helped many in the area with shopping, prescriptions and other needs during lockdown. Demand is diminishing, but help is still very much available and we encourage those requiring assistance to use the contacts below, or refer to their village Facebook page. If you’d like to share a lockdown tale or any other articles, do get in touch! Covid-19 Support Contacts: Morcombelake: Clare Mahaddie [email protected] 01297 489813 Ryall: Rachel Coney/Eddie Hall [email protected] and [email protected] telephone 01297 489825 and 07971 225873. Stanton St Gabriel: Andrew Carey [email protected] 01297 560057 Whitchurch Canonicorum: Carolyn Peck [email protected] 01297 489185 Wootton Fitzpaine: Debby Snook [email protected] 01297 561395 Chideock Covid-19 Support Group: 01297 480833 Charmouth Covid-19 Volunteers: 07523 524531 Lyme Regis: Cheryl Reynolds (coordinator) 01297 443814 [email protected] Ruth Mattock Back to the seaside The return to action of our seaside towns has been source of all kinds of feelings, from excitement and relief to anxious concern for safety. A walk on Charmouth beach is an encouraging sight, free from the headline-grabbing crowds but full of activity. ‘Not quite back to normal,’ was the feeling in the Charmouth beach office, but the ice cream van owner reported things were ‘picking up a bit.’ The strain on local business has been a key feature of lockdown. Some felt the transition period was least comfortable, when visitors were coming long distances but facilities were closed. Angie, who runs the Charmouth Beach Café, noticed a surge in rubbish left on the front and some poorer behaviour than usual, but is enjoying the gradual return to summer spirits among her holiday customers. Stand-up paddle board lessons are underway on the beaches. Outdoor café tables are full, and signs in all beachside businesses remind customers to don their masks and sanitise their hands on entering. Staff manning the Beach Café’s shop said most customers are very willing to stick to the rules. ‘The kids have been amazing, you never have to prompt them. They keep the parents in line!’ Dean at The George Inn has felt the mood lift: ‘People are in the big beer garden (most of our seats are out there), I’ve been going round the tables talking to people with my mask on. Most people are really pleased to come out for something to eat, something to drink and to sit in the fresh air, and just get out of their own four walls.’ The Heritage Centre will reopen on 1st August at new hours of 11am-3pm. ‘We have had keen interest from our volunteers to return The public have shown huge interest in our walks and we sold out almost instantly! It obviously won’t be the same and for a time our interactive exhibits won’t be available but we are adapting and thinking of new ways forward. Encouragingly schools are taking an interest to return in the Autumn so that is something for the Centre to look forward to.’ Seaside residents have had mixed feelings, but are glad to see a bit more normality. Fran Barter reported from Lyme, ‘One can understand the joy of being released from homes, flats with children, the sick, but many sadly have forgotten that the virus is still with us. Distancing has gone to pot at times, and this has made some of us nervous, in some ways more than in the early days. It has to be said that for local businesses, we are pleased that they can start to recover. The idea of going out for a drink, and better still a meal, is very appealing.’ 2 Spotlight You always get one! The person at the table in the restaurant who holds forth very loudly and at great length so that the whole room can hear what he or she is saying. Or the person in a meeting where everyone knows that whatever the subject, this particular person will invariably disagree. Or the member of a family, who for some unknown reason is always incredibly difficult. Or the person on a jury who disagrees with the rest and won’t budge, delaying a decision for days or weeks. They are members of the awkward squad and every community, whether the family, the village, the church, the school, the pub or whatever, has them. They refuse to conform or fit in with everybody else and mostly they make life difficult and uncomfortable for the rest of us. A community of like-minded people who are all pulling in the same direction is usually much more comfortable to be in than a community which contains members of the awkward squad. The like-minded can get on with things without being constantly interrupted by arguments and dissension. Discussion flows smoothly, and members of the community feel warm and safe and comfortable. Communities containing the awkward squad are far less comfortable. Argument and dissension is often rife, it takes much longer to get things done and members of the community sometimes feel anxious and unsure of themselves. Yet at the end of the day, it sometimes turns out to be the awkward squad who have been the most valuable members of society. They are the ones who force people to stop and think before taking action. They are the ones who often drag our thinking forward - like Galileo, who insisted that the Sun rather than the Earth was the centre of the solar system, despite all the apparent evidence to the contrary and despite torture and excommunication for his views. Galileo turned out to be the father of modern science. They are the ones in local communities who refuse to allow us to sit back in complete comfort, but force us to argue and discuss and think through what we are about. So that in the end we stagger onto the right path for the right reasons instead of just letting things happen because we are too lazy to bother to change or to challenge. But these people tend to be uncomfortable people, and are often judged a pain or unholy or evil or whatever by the rest of us. Jesus warned against judging other people. He said, ‘Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgement you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get,’ (Matthew 7:1-2). And he followed this up with a humorous story of a man who tried to remove the speck of dust from his friend’s eye, while all the time he had a plank in his own. The message is clear.