DECEMBER 2011 USEFUL CONTACT DETAILS Benefice Rector Simon Butler 01256 861706 [email protected] Parishes’ email address [email protected] Licensed Lay Ministers Jill Lestrille 01256 862131 Alan Hoar 01256 395077 Church Wardens Herriard/Winslade John Jervoise 01256 381723 Fiona Ives 07867 973266 Tunworth Mark Ruffell 01256 346148 Edwina Spicer 01256 471271 Upton Grey Sarah Barnes 01256 861164 Geoffrey Yeowart 01256 861218 Weston Patrick Felicity George 01256 862594 Mem FitzPatrick 01256 862359 Borough Councillor Mark Ruffell 01256 346148 [email protected] County Councillor Anna McNair Scott 01256 476422 Member of Parliament Ranil Jayawardena 0207 219 3000 (Phone for your MP Surgery Appointments) [email protected] Parish Chairmen Herriard c/o The Parish Clerk [email protected] Tunworth Neil Taylor 01256 356267 Upton Grey Paul Gray 01256 862440 Weston Patrick Ian Turner 01256 862162 Winslade John Raymond 01256 381203 PC Andy Reid Main local 01256 389050 Mobile 07768 776844 Neighbourhood Watch Herriard Rebecca Wills 01256 381275 Upton Grey George Hillier 01256 862368 Powntley Copse Julie Trice 01256 861136 Tunworth Sarah Whitcombe 01256 862495 Weston Patrick/Corbett David Don 01256 862464 Magazine Editors Tess Chevallier 01256 862636 David Shearer 01256 320538 Sheila Stranks 01256 862465 Ian Lansley-Neale 01256 381380 Kidszone Katie Goddard 01256 331989 All editors email: [email protected] Treasurer Anne Appelboam 01256 862383 Advertising & Production Susie Vereker 01256 862365 [email protected] Distribution Jane Hanbury 01256 862681 1 BENEFICE MAGAZINE – September 2017 Edition for the Parishes of Herriard with Winslade, Tunworth, Upton Grey and Weston Patrick Letter from the Benefice Ministry Team There’s a famous passage from the Bible which has made its way into popular culture through prose and song: There is a time for everything, And a season for every activity under the heavens (Ecclesiastes 3:1) I often think of these words in the autumn, when we enter into the season of harvest. The fields turn a rich, golden amber as bales of hay are gathered together. Apple trees are laden with fruit and gardens change into the vivid hues of autumn. Produce stalls are abundant with the fresh fruit and vegetables we associate with the season of harvest. There’s a coolness in the air. And we also find ourselves getting ready for a harvest of human activity – a return to school, sports activities, music groups, volunteering, new projects at work – the list can seem endless. Our communities have woken up from their summer siestas, reinvigorated and ready to get back to the busyness of life. As your village Churches in this benefice, we are also gearing up for a busy autumn. In the pages of this magazine, you’ll see a host of activities in your local churches which are geared for all age groups, from babies to the elderly. These are the traditional autumn activities which bring villagers together to celebrate the season. Our Sunday services range from traditional to informal and our talks aim to engage with issues that mean something to you in our community. This autumn, we’ll be starting a sermon series on how to live a good and beautiful life, through a study of the gospel of Matthew. The series promises to be enlightening and also relevant to our daily lives. Why not come along and listen to some practical advice for living your life? And join us in celebrating the abundance of God’s creation in the season of harvest and plenty. I wish you all a harvest of love and peace. Rev. Mary-Beth Hawrish Long Sutton and South Warnborough 2 CHURCH NEWS Adult Choir The Adult Choir will meet to practise on Tuesday 5th September at 8.00pm and then will sing at 9.45am on Sunday 10th September at our Patronal Parish Communion service. The next 10.00am Thursday Holy Communion service in Herriard will be on 21st September. All are welcome to this informal, friendly service. Harvest Festival services Our community is a rural one with a long and proud heritage of farming so this is an important time of year for us. With this in mind, we have special Harvest Festival services at each of our churches during October. They are listed below. All are warmly welcome and invited to bring gifts of food to be distributed after the service to local good causes. 1st October 9.45am Family Harvest Service at Upton Grey 11.15am Family Harvest Service at Herriard 8th October 11.15am Harvest Festival at Weston Patrick 6.00pm Harvest Festival at Tunworth Parish Harvest Meals Our first Harvest celebration meal is at Upton Grey at 7.30pm on the evening of 30th September in the village hall. Herriard will hold their Harvest supper at 7.00 for 7.30pm at the British Legion hall on Wednesday 4th October and Tunworth' have their Harvest supper at 7.30pm on Friday 6th October at The Shoot Lodge. Weston Patrick will host a Harvest lunch after the service on Sunday 8th October. All Age Service of Light Sunday 29th October at 4.30pm, St Mary’s Upton Grey Join us for a family-friendly celebration and service. Crafts, games, worship and refreshments. Upton Grey Soapbox Race Extravaganza Saturday 9th September, from 9.00am–4.00pm. The course will run along Church Street, Upton Grey, starting at Cemetery Lane and finishing outside the village shop. The road will be closed for the event and a diversion will be in place. To enter email [email protected]. 3 Special events – Don’t miss! 4 Kids’ Zone September Birthdays 2nd Abel Ives 17th Olivia Reeve 5th Cecily Acheson-Gray 18th Elizabeth & Jessica Willis 5th Rebecca Hardy 18th Harry Raven 10th Isabel Hughes 20th Toby Langly Smith 10th Joshua Hall 23rd James Livingstone Booth 12th Harry Ingrams 25th Beth Driver 12th Amelia Livingstone Booth 29th Max Del Mar 12th Isabella Goodsell If you would like a child’s birthday put in the magazine, please would you send name and birthday to Kate at [email protected] Junior choir As our first September service on Sunday 3rd September is in the holidays, we will next meet and sing at the Family Service on Sunday 17th September at 9.45am. The junior choir is open to children aged 5 and upwards who can read, so do get in touch if your child would like to join. Contact Sarah Barnes: Tel: 861164 Sparks! Our next Sparks meeting will be on Sunday 10th. Please drop off your children at the village hall from 9.35am for a fun session of crafts, games and worship. Collect from church at 10.45am. Messy Church Our next messy church is Friday 6th October at Upton Grey. As usual we meet around 3.30 for games, followed by crafts, songs, celebration and tea. It ends at bout 5.30pm – parents and those in loco parentis are encouraged to stay. It is fun and all are welcome. 5 The Great Fire of London The people of London who had managed to survive the Great Plague in 1665 must have thought that the year 1666 could only be better, and couldn’t possibly be worse! But sadly a new disaster was to befall them in 1666. A fire started on September 2nd in the King’s bakery in Pudding Lane near London Bridge. Fires were quite a common occurrence in those days and were soon put out. However that summer had been very hot and there had been no rain for weeks, so consequently the wooden houses and buildings were tinder dry. The fire soon took hold: 300 houses quickly collapsed and the strong east wind spread the flames further, jumping from house to house. The fire swept through the warren of streets lined with houses, the upper stories of which almost touched across the narrow winding lanes. Efforts to bring the fire under control by using buckets quickly failed. Panic began to spread through the city. As the fire raged, people tried to leave the city and poured down to the River Thames in an attempt to escape by boat. By the 4th September half of London was in flames. The King himself joined the fire fighters, passing buckets of water to them in an attempt to quell the flames, but the fire raged on. As a last resort gunpowder was used to blow up houses that lay in the path of the fire, and so create an even bigger fire-break, but the sound of the explosions started rumours that a French invasion was taking place…. even more panic!! As refugees poured out of the city, St. Paul’s Cathedral was caught in the flames. The lead on the roof melted and poured down onto the street like a river, and the great cathedral collapsed. Luckily the Tower of London escaped the inferno, and eventually the fire was brought under control. By 6th September it had been extinguished altogether. Only one fifth of London was left standing! Virtually all the civic buildings had been destroyed as well as 13,000 private dwellings, but amazingly only six people had died. Hundreds of thousands of people 6 were left homeless. Eighty-nine parish churches, the Guildhall, numerous other public buildings, jails, markets and fifty-seven halls were now just burnt-out shells. The loss of property was estimated at£5 to £7 million. King Charles gave the fire fighters a generous purse of 100 guineas to share between them. Not for the last time would a nation honour its brave fire fighters. In the immediate aftermath of the fire, a poor demented French watchmaker called (Lucky) Hubert, confessed to starting the fire deliberately: justice was swift and he was rapidly hanged.