The Loddon Valley Link Church and Community Magazine Issue 512Issue June 2018 Page 1 www.Loddonvalleylink.org.uk Editorial With the arrival (hopefully!) of summer there deadline is 15 August, so are plenty of outdoor events going on. Look you have plenty of time out in particular for the Sherfield-on-Loddon over the summer to get Summer Fete, Sherfest, and a couple of snapping and send your local open gardens events. photos in! This month's beautiful summery cover Jane Abrams At Loddon Valley Link we are always photo was taken by Lydia Rees. looking to the future and thinking about the development of the magazine. We are For the second time this month we have a always up for fresh ideas. With this in mind puzzle page - let us know what you think of we are currently hoping to recruit a number it. of volunteers for various roles - an editor, an As ever, send pictures, or any other advertising manager, committee members comments or questions, to and distributors. See p. 12 for further [email protected] details. While on this subject, it did seem to us on Contents the committee that this is an appropriate Church Services 4-5 time to record a particular vote of thanks to Parish Registers 5 one person in particular. While many people Chapel Services and RC Church 6 do a lot of work for LVL, there is one person Minister’s Letter 7 who stands out because of the invaluable Prayer Page 8 support he provides - Simon Boase. He is of Sherfield Park Matters 11 course one of the three editors, but it may Volunteers for LVL 12 not be generally known that in addition to Messy Church 13 this he undertakes many other tasks. He is Sherfield-on-Loddon Parish Council 18 our webmaster, making sure that the Photo competition 19 magazine appears on the website every Sherfield Village Hall Matters 22 month, managing the email contact list, Sherfield Village Green Volunteers 29 maintaining the web site and advising us on New Burial Ground 29 its development. He also arranges for the Sherfield Fete 30 purchase of any IT equipment and software Church End Preservation Society 32 we need and often provides much needed SPCC Events 35 training and support. He frequently comes NWR 37 up with great ideas for the print magazine. Sherfield History Group 37 All this is on top of his busy working life Loddon Players review 38 running a technology consulting business. Stratfield Turgis Parish AGM 38 Thank you, Simon! Sherfield Gardening Club 39 One of Simon's ideas for LVL was the Stratfield Saye Educ. Fdn. 41 annual cover photo competition, and we Borough Councillor 41 have acquired lots of lovely and useful Sherfield Pk Parish Council 42 pictures for the cover from it. We are Chineham Library 46 running the competition again this year; as Puzzle Page 48 usual, there will be prizes for the winners to Small Ads 56 be presented at the Sherfield Show. The Useful Telephone Nos. 57 Distribution: The Loddon Valley Link is hand distributed to over 2,000 houses across the parishes of Sherfield on Loddon, Sherfield Park, Stratfield Saye, Hartley Wespall and Stratfield Turgis. Also available online at www.loddonvalleylink.org.uk. Page 2 Page 3 Sunday 1st July Trinity 5 Services June 2018 10.00am Holy Communion St Leonard’s Sherfield 10.00am Family Service St Mary’s Stratfield Saye 6.30pm Evensong St Mary’s Hartley Wespall Sunday 3rd June Trinity 1 8.00am Holy Communion St James Bramley 10.00am Holy Communion St Leonard’s Sherfield 9.00am Sunday@nine Cross House Bramley 10.00am Family Service St Mary’s Stratfield Saye 10.30am Shortened Communion St James Bramley 6.30pm Evensong St Mary’s Hartley Wespall Children are welcome at all our services. Services in italics are particularly geared 8.00am Holy Communion St James Bramley to children and families. 9.00am Sunday@nine Cross House Bramley 10.30am Shortened Communion St James Bramley Friday 8th June Parish Registers 4.15pm Messy Church Sherfield Park Community Centre Baptisms Sunday 10th June Trinity 2 Olivia June Best 6 May 2018 Stratfield Saye 11.00am Songs of Praise on the Sherfield Village Green Reece Martin Roy Hooker 6 May 2018 Stratfield Saye Green Riley Graham Brian Hooker 6 May 2018 Stratfield Saye 8.00am Holy Communion St James Bramley Wedding 9.00am Sunday@nine Cross House Bramley 10.30am Shortened Communion St James Bramley Jake Henry Morrell Grave Sunday 17th June Trinity 3 and Laura Catherine Bartrum 21 April 2018 Hartley Wespall 10.00am Holy Communion & St Leonard’s Sherfield Sunday Club Songs of Praise 6.30pm Evensong St Mary’s Hartley Wespall Sunday June 10th 11am 8.00am Holy Communion Little London 9.00am Sunday@nine Cross House Bramley Sherfield Village Green 10.30am Shortened Communion St James Bramley A fun, informal service held outside on the green, for the whole family. We will be Sunday 24th June Trinity 4 using the fete marquee in case the weather is wet! 8.30am Holy Communion St Mary’s Hartley Wespall Everyone welcome, bring your dogs, bikes! 10.00am Together in Worship St Leonard’s Sherfield Tadley Concert Brass will once again be kindly 10.30am Songs of Praise Clift Meadow providing the music for us. Page 4 Page 5 Breach Lane Chapel Minister’s Letter Sherfield on Loddon Gardening is one of my favourite pastimes so any decision to Geoff Belsham 01256 882534/07519 708416 especially since it is an activity that both my remove it would have wife, Lorna, and I enjoy doing together. As I been wrong. write everything is flourishing in the garden It may not be true for you June 2018 and with the warmer weather there are but, for me, all of this decisions to be made and much to be done. rd work, weeding, sowing, Sunday 3 10.30am Family Worship led by Steve Smith One of the reasons I love gardening so planting, fertilising and pruning speaks much, apart from the obvious enjoyment of Tuesday 5th 10.30am Open Morning at the Chapel volumes to me and makes me think very growing things and seeing a garden carefully about how I need to apply the th develop, is that in gardening there are so Saturday 9 pm Village Fete – we have a stall same principles in my life. Take the dead many metaphors for life, growth and th bush for instance, I definitely need to let Sunday 10 10.30am Family Worship development. that go. The tulips? Well, there may yet be Tuesday 12th 10.30am Open Morning at the Chapel In the Gospels Jesus frequently uses life in them, who knows. I am certain that gardening or agricultural metaphors there are many things in my life that I need Saturday 16th 2pm Disabled Christian Fellowship at St Andrew’s Methodist because they are so relatable at many to let go of; but sometimes I just get stuck Church – “Midsummer Madness” levels. In John Chapter 15 Jesus says, “I and I can’t move on. By going through the Sunday 17th 10.30am Family Worship led by Neil Owen am the vine and my Father is the gardener”. garden and getting rid of all the things that Sunday 24th 10.30am Family Worship Then later on in the same passage, “I am really stop me creating something new and the vine and you are the branches. If exciting I release the potential of what the 6pm Contemporary Worship at St Andrew’s Methodist anyone remains in me and I in them, they garden can become. It is the same in life Church th will bear much fruit; apart from me you can and faith. Sometimes things need to be Tuesday 26 10.30am Open Morning at the Chapel do nothing”. In other parts of the Gospels nurtured and perhaps pruned but Jesus uses seeds, weeds, soil, crops, trees sometimes they need to be removed in Transport is available for all events and so on as illustrations. order to make room for new possibilities and new horizons of growth. We have had to make some quite hard decisions in our garden this year. Some of In many of Jesus’ parables he uses the the things that we planted last year have images of growth in nature to demonstrate Catholic Services not thrived and are looking decidedly sick. that growth and change are fundamental One rather lovely bush that bore the indicators that we are being made new. My promise of beautiful scented flowers has faith in God reassures me that I need not be St Bede’s and Holy Ghost Churches, died. It still sits in a pot at the end of the afraid of change or moving on, as and when Basingstoke. garden. Why? Because we had hoped that it is time. May God continue to bless your it might not have been dead. There are summer. tulips that bore wonderful flowers last year Every blessing Parish Office Open: but have failed to flower at all this year. We know the reason why but we still had hope. Stephen 07943014277 Now, however, we have decided that we NEW EMAIL ADDRESS Tues to Friday cannot hang on to these things any longer [email protected] 9.30 am-1.00 pm Tel.465214. and we must let them go. On the other hand Sunday Mass 9.00 am, 11.00 am and 6.30 pm we have a shrub in our front garden, which I pruned rather drastically last year.