The Hill JULY 2020 A MAGAZINE FOR ALL WHO LIVE AROUND HAMBLEDON HILL IN CHILD OKEFORD, MANSTON, HAMMOON AND HANFORD A MAGAZINE FOR ALL WHO LIVE AROUND HAMBLEDON£1 HILL IN CHILD OKEFORD, MANSTON, HAMMOONNon Subscribers AND HANFORD FIRST ISSUED IN 1967 VOLUME 53, NUMBER 7 CIRCULATION 525 2 www.beehiveselfstorage.co.uk CLEAN & DRY, SAFE & SECURE 24/7 CCTV & MONITORED ALARMS MODERN & PURPOSE BUILT EASY ACCESS WITH NO HIDDEN CHARGES CHOICE OF SIZES TO SUIT YOUR NEEDS Moving House? We sell boxes, tissue paper, bubble wrap and furniture covers. [email protected] Call 01258 861100 Gold Hill Business Park Child Okeford – DT11 8HF Paul Corbett “Your Local Handyman” Any job considered Telephone: Guttering (cleared or replaced) 07960 712778 •UPVC fascias and soffits •Patios 01258 860804 •Fencing •Property maintenance •Small building works •Repointing In need of a caring compassionate lady as a Middle Farm, Manston, Sturminster companion, to help with shopping, trips to the Doctors etc? Newton, Dorset, DT10 1EX DBS checked Insured Farm Fresh Pasteurised Milk Call Hannah 01747 812677 07961516089 We are Open 7 days a week 7am-7pm Contact us on 01258 472425 / ALEC ANGELL 07850389294 PAINTER & DECORATOR EXTERIOR and INTERIOR Also sold in the Cross Stores Work done with Care and Pride Estimates free Contact 01258-860812 or 0788 1911434 3 While there are not yet formal services on Sundays Our benefice churches are open on Sunday and Wednesdays for private prayer Please observe social distancing and use the hand sanitiser provided If you are tired, come and find rest If you are stressed or anxious, come and find peace If you are searching, come and find God 4 WHAT DID YOU DO DURING LOCK DOWN? This has got to be the question that I have been asked the most. The answer, like a lot of people is: I have done those jobs in the house and around the garden that have been hanging on for years. Washing the guttering, cleaning the windows, repairing this that and the other. In relaxing I have taken part, via facebook, Zoom etc, in numerous quizzes. The Short Mat Bowls fraternity ran a weekly quiz as did my extended family. Before lock down I would have said that my general knowledge was pretty good, and when these opportunities to show my intellectual prowess raised their head, it was with confidence that I accepted the challenge. I now know that I am not a quiz champion. In the short mat Bowls arena I am towards the bottom of the table and, with regard to the family, I have been fighting a losing battle not to come last. To look on oneself as knowledgeable, and then find out you’re apparently not, is a rather humbling experience. I therefore retreated to the words of Socrates who said “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” It is a rather pessimistic view but one I think I can understand. It is not that we should give up learning; that would mean we stop living. It is the realisation that, with all the knowledge we have, we have only scratched the surface of all that there is to know. As the Apostle Paul was making his way through first century Athens he came across an altar with the inscription “To the Unknown God”. Paul seized the opportunity to address the people in the Areopagus, and introduced them to the God who they did not know. He is the one who created the heavens and the earth, He is the one who does not dwell in temples and building made with hands; it is in Him we live and move and have our being. We should reach out to Him and find Him because He is not far from us. The Archbishop of Canterbury recently stated that God, who created the world has acted to save the world from itself. He has done that in history through the person and work of Jesus Christ. The God who Paul introduced to the people of Athens and, of whom the Archbishop speaks, is the same God who is at the centre of our Churches across the Okeford Benefice. He is the one whom we seek to make known to the people of our villages. In the same way as I endeavour to attempt to fill the craters that have been highlighted in my knowledge, I wonder if lock down has caused you to realise that you may not know much about God at the moment? That situation doesn’t have to continue….let’s use this unprecedented opportunity to learn more about God and the ways in which He can interact with us. God bless you, Mark 5 YOUR CHURCH July 2020 For the first time in months we have finally been able to open the church for private prayer, for which we are all very grateful. The church is only open on Wednesday and Sunday and there will not be any services yet. Thank you to everyone who helped prepare the church ready for visitors. Advice on releasing lockdown is changing rapidly, so please keep an eye on the Benefice website for up to date information. Zoom services continue and are well attended. There was a family service at the end of June. Everyone is welcome to join in with the services and details are available on the Benefice website. Zoom bible study is on Thursdays, looking at the story of Joseph. There is an online learning page on the Benefice website, providing history and information on a variety of subjects, for those who prefer to do things at their own pace. The churchyard volunteers have continued to work hard through drought and then rain. The churchyard is looking at its best at this time of year. There is a profusion of wild flowers, in spite of the dry weather we have had. Orchids are in full flower in the churchyard, despite it being a poor year in other areas. Yellow rattle sown last year has taken well and this will allow wildflowers to spread over the coming years. The air is alive with bumblebees, honey bees, hoverflies and butterflies. If you get the chance, spend a few moments sitting or standing in the sun in one of the wildflower areas and enjoy the wonder of nature continuing in all its variety. It is almost impossible not to feel better after a few moments of natural therapy. BERNIE CHISWELL Many of you will have known Bernie and I regret to bring the news that he died on 30th May. Bernie had lived in Manston with his wife Carin for some 20 years and you may have known him in his roles on the Parish Council, the Village Hall Committee or the speed-watch programme. Or maybe you enjoyed his singing with the choir, Jubilate, when they entertained locally, waved at him when he walked the dog or watched him go off to fly his model aeroplanes. Whatever your connection with Bernie, you’ll know he was a wonderful family man, courteous, helpful, community-minded, a real gentleman and valued friend. Bernie had been poorly for a while but in true Bernie fashion, and wonderfully supported by Carin, he was stoic and uncomplaining. He was able to enjoy his much-loved life in Manston until his condition worsened necessitating his admittance to hospital some 10 days before he died with his family nearby. The community will be poorer for his passing and he will be much missed by his wife, children, step-children, friends and neighbours. Jane Williams 6 “THE PEOPLE ARE VASTLY FOND OF GREAT NOISES THAT FILL THE AIR…..” So said Paul Hentzner, a German visitor to London in 1598, adding “so that in London it is common for a number of them that have got a glass in their heads to go up into some belfry to ring the bells for hours on end together for the sake of the exercise.” The ringing of Church bells in a musical sequence is peculiar to England and some of her former colonies, notably the USA and Australia with a handful of peals hung for ringing in S Africa, Canada and New Zealand, which is probably why it seemed so remarkable to Herr Hentzner. Church bells were introduced into this country in the 7th or 8th century. By the 15th century it was usual for parish churches to have three or more bells hung in the church tower on a quarter or half wheel so that they could be swung against the clapper causing them to sound – what we now call “chiming”. At that time the primary purpose of ringing church bells was to announce that a service was about to take place – different bells perhaps being used to indicate the kind of service. Generally only one bell would be sounded at a time by the Parish Clerk or Deacon. However, if the bells were to be rung to mark an occasion for rejoicing, then it would be natural to want to hear all the bells ringing in which case outside help from the town or village would be needed – and this is how bellringing started as we know it today. At first the bells would have been rung haphazardly, as is still the custom on the continent (in the Low Countries bells are now often linked to an apparatus to play tunes), however there came a time when it occurred to the ringers that if only a means could be found of controlling the swing of the bell so that it could be accelerated or retarded slightly, then it would be possible to ring bells in a controlled fashion to a set sequence rather than just clashing them together.