St Michael & All Angels SSWWOORRDD Mildred Avenue Parish Magazine Watford ISSN 2397-2211 PRICE 75P SEPTEMBER 2019 Cover photo: Autumn Forest https://pixabay.com/ Free images for commercial use Editorial Team Rob White 3. Pastoral Letter from Father Geoff Sylvia Moring Father Geoff 5. Lesley Kinch Vicki Matthews 6. 17th Watford Brownies Subscriptions Valerie Alvarez 7. From the Treasurer Diary and Rota Sylvia Moring 8. From the Mission Committee Crossword Peter White 9. Ann and Tim Eccleshall Distribution 10. Diary of Events Dennis Beach Duncan Turton 12. Sung Eucharist Duty List Sylvia Moring 13. Can you Knit a Square? Cover Illustration Martin Matthews 16. Derek the Cleric Contributors 17. Edward Bouverie Pusey Maggie Benoy Father Geoff 19. Calendar of Feasts & Holy Days Martin Heath Vicki Matthews Sylvia Moring Marilyn Tozer Duncan Turton Deadline for Elizabeth Watkin October edition of SWORD Printers DPD Printing Ltd Sunday 22nd September 2019 35 Market Street Watford WD18 0PN Please submit copy or email to: [email protected] A Pastoral Letter Dear Friends, By the 1st September I shall be back on duty, but I still have some experiences to tell you about from my adventures since my last letter. In total, over the three months of my Extended Study Leave, I have driven just over 5000 miles, taken 1900 photos, and visited 168 sites (Churches, Abbeys, Museums, Standing Stones, and various others). I left you when I was about to set off south. A couple of days staying in Falkirk enabled me to see Culross Abbey with connections to St Serf and St Kentigern, Dunfermline Abbey, with Robert the Bruce’s grave, Torphichen Preceptory, a rare survival of the Knights Hospitaller, Linlithgow’s amazing Parish Church, and the treasures of the National Museum of Scotland. Then back to England via Sunday Communion at Jedburgh. A stay in Newcastle enabled a visit to the Great North Museum, and some of the fascinating Churches of the Tyne Valley, including the two Churches of Bywell, about 100 yards apart, Corbridge with its Roman tower arch and fortified Vicarage, and Blanchland Abbey. I didn’t get to Hexham this time, having been in 2017. Newcastle was also a good base for Jarrow and all things Bede-connected, and Tynemouth Priory. On to County Durham, and a day in Durham itself. The almost unaltered Saxon Church of Escomb is always a fascinating visit, as is the Church at Stanwick, sadly now redundant, but set in the middle of the Iron Age ramparts of the Brigantian Capital. The lovely churches at Staindrop and Barnard Castle also stand out. St Hilda’s first monastery at Hartlepool has a very informative visitor centre at the Church, and very nice welcomers. After a few days back in Watford, it was back to Derbyshire. Standing out here were the Churches at Tideswell, Bakewell, Ilam and Eyam. Eyam is the famous plague village, where the cottages of the unfortunate victims can be seen, but it also has a Celtic Cross in the Churchyard, and a Romanesque Font. Ilam Church is well worth finding, in the grounds (run by the National Trust) of Ilam Hall, with an interesting font, a surviving shrine of St Bertram, and a more recent mausoleum. There is a good tea room nearby as well! Southwell Minster has some of the most intricate Mediaeval carving I have ever seen. SEPTEMBER 2019 Page 3 The last few days of my travels were spent in Hull. This was a good base for the Churches of Holderness, which is the very Easternmost part of East Yorkshire. The most impressive Church of Holderness is Patrington, which is breathtaking! There are several others of interest in the area. Also nearby is Beverley, which has two very impressive and interesting Mediaeval Churches, St Mary’s and Beverley Minster, which I went to on separate days. Sunday morning Eucharist was at North Newbald, one of the most impressive Norman Churches in the North of England. One of my favourite outings was to Nunburnholme, which I had been to before, but over 20 years ago! It involves getting the key from a local homeowner, but once in, there is an Anglo Scandinavian Cross, with figures from Norse legend as well as Christian scenes. In three letters, I haven’t been able to mention, let alone describe, most of the 168 sites I have been to over the summer, but there will be a programme of illustrated talks in due course! Love and prayers, Fr Geoff Foodbank We took 44.9 kilos of food to the food bank this morning, which they were really grateful to receive, as their shelves were nearly empty. I think this might be the most we have taken over. They send their thanks to all who donated. Church Coffee Morning It is proposed to hold a Coffee Morning in aid of Church Funds on Saturday, 14 September, from 10.30 am to 12 noon. There will be stalls and a raffle and your support would be most welcome. Yours sincerely, Norma Page 4 SWORD Lesley I have been trying to put into words a fitting tribute for Lesley. I am sure her friends at St Michael’s will all have different memories, so if I can I will put down some of mine. Whilst Lesley has been at church for many years, it is perhaps only during the last few that we had more interaction. An image that will remain is going into the choir vestry during the 9.30 service to find her on the floor playing with the children in the creche, having got herself out of her wheelchair and onto the floor! Her passion was the children and it has been lovely to share Monday toddlers with her, as Fr Geoff said in his address at the funeral, despite being in extreme pain she would be there even if it meant she had to sit there sucking on her medicated lollipops. Despite having so many problems herself, she was always a willing, non-judgemental listener to many of us. During a hospital visit before she was transferred to the hospice she said to me “Maggie I thought I was a goner, I’m not ready to go yet”. She wanted her party and a visit to Harry Potter to see the new exhibition and do some shopping !! The party she achieved with the help of Elizabeth and Jane Talbot, who I have to say have been amazing friends to Lesley. What a party it was! She was still talking about it the week before she died. She achieved her visit to Harry Potter with the help of her friend Caroline. By sheer determination. On her birthday, as it was toddlers, Elizabeth went to Brunswick Court where she was now being cared for, and Jane face-timed her so all the children could sing her happy birthday. Not a dry eye among the adults. And so to her last few days in hospital. It was arranged that she would never be on her own, so - thanks to Jane and her organising skills - family and friends rallied. On a personal level, I shall be forever grateful to Jane that she asked me to cover the Monday night. What an honour, to be able to give Lesley some of the care she had given me; we didn’t need to talk, just held hands. It was a long, hot, noisy night on the ward; not a calm tranquil place you would hope for. Lesley had wanted to be back at Brunswick Court or the hospice rather than on a ward, so thankfully she got her wish and (with her family and Jane and family) she passed away on Tuesday afternoon. Thank you Lesley for your friendship love and care, may you rest in peace. Maggie SEPTEMBER 2019 Page 5 We have just enjoyed a brilliant Pack Holiday at Northern Heights in Elstree, with the 9th Pack. Our theme was “Superheroes”. The Sixes were The Incredibles, Teen • We will continue to maintain the fabric of our important historic building for worship & ministry. Titans and Power Puff Girls, and the leaders chose whichever Superhero name they • We will maintain our halls for use by a wide range of religious and secular groups in West Watford. fancied. • We will financially support causes that advance our religious mission. • We will offer spiritual support and comfort to those in great need through our clergy. We had some heavy rain but on the whole the weather was warm and sunny. The • We will support the Diocese of St Albans in its ministry and its work to train new clergy. mornings, once the washing up and cleaning and cooking duties were done, were spent doing craft activities. The girls made capes and masks for themselves, and also dressed their cuddly toys as Superheroes. They made Superhero pull puppets, bead bracelets and picture frames. They did the Stage 2 Camp Skills Builder. Each Six took turns to pitch a tent, and then used it for their rest hour that day before they took it down again. The other activities were making a fire, (each Six collected materials to make a small fire in a baking tray, and then toasted marshmallows and made Smores), a game to learn about safety around campfires, and a “What do you pack for camp game”. They took turns to take items from a random pile and then had to justify their choices. Finally, they had to get ready for bed by torchlight. It was amazing how some people couldn’t find their pyjamas in the dark, even though everything had been tidy earlier in the day! We had a campfire at the campfire circle in the woods and one evening we watched a film (Incredibles) at the Hive cinema, a beehive shaped structure also in the woods.