THE PARISH of BARWELL with STAPLETON and POTTERS MARSTON

JULY 2021

CONTENTS

Parish Priest: Rev. Philip Watson 01455 446993Views From The Pond Page 2Woodland Calendar Page 4England’s Cathedrals Page 5The Friendship Book Page 13Weekly Prayers Page 14Parish Prayer Calendar /Page 16Memory Verses Page 17Weekly Bible Readings Page 18Street Pastors AGM Page 19Thoughts For The Month Page 20Mothers Union Archives Page 21Poetry Page Page 22Puzzle Page Page 24Recipe Page Page 25Answers To Puzzle Page Page 27Rotas’/100 Club Winners Page 28Contacts Page 30

Views from the pond ….

It’s a warm, over cast mid-June afternoon as I sit down to write this months ‘views..’ The flowers are a riot of colour and the birds are in full song. In fact it is one of those afternoons when it possible to think that all is well with the world. Indeed, the sense of peace here at the moment gives me hope that all may be well and others will sense this peace, God’s peace too.

In fact it is one of those afternoons when your imagination can run riot and I find myself wondering what tales the flowers by the pond could tell of the things they’ve seen in this garden over the last eleven years. Perhaps they would start with tales of a 50th birthday party in glorious sunshine. Or of various attempts to have events in the garden which have been stopped by the rain. They may tell of laughing young adults larking about in a children’s paddling pool, or of dogs chasing balls across the lawn. Maybe one might tell of nocturnal digging to bury a Degu or of the holes which became graves for much loved cats. They will certainly tell of birds and bats flying about, of Moles leaving their hills across the lawn and of squirrels darting form one side of the grass to the other, Some may tell of Christopher Robin, and the Sunflower, gifts given in the hope they will bring joy. (Cristopher Robin is a metal Robin which sits in a flower bed and the Sunflower is a bird feeder which also sits in a flower bed, both are near the pond and were presents given at Christmas.) Another may tell of two grieving people saying prayers by the pond for their unborn granddaughter being buried elsewhere that day. The yellow Rose may tell of family and friends sitting around a garden table in joyful companionship. The tall trees may speak of a socially distanced covid compliant group celebrating a marriage recently held in the church.

28 1

I wonder what stories may be told of the things that have happened in your garden or yard. Stories that are part of your history and part of the history of God’s action in your lives. Just as the stories of the events in our garden speak of God’s grace and his gifts to us in this life. They speak of love, seen in times of joy and of sorrow. When there has been laughter in which I am sure God has joined and when there have been tears both visible and invisible which God has seen been gently wiped away, as people have cared for each other and been listening ears and shoulders to cry on. The Sun flower (bird feeder ) reminds me of God’s call for us to care not only for each other but also for creation. The creation God first made. It is God’s wonderful creation I see before me. A creation which, like us, changes and develops over time but with a creator who is constant and knows how to care for all he has made. I wonder if in this time of the Covid 19 Pandemic it has sometimes become easy to forget the goodness of God as we see sadness, restrictions and fear around us. Yet if your garden is like ours it reminds us that there is always new life and hope and these are things we share in the way we live day by day. We hear much talk of the new normal but I hope that in the midst of the new normal, whatever that turns out to be, there will be signs of the best of the old normal as we continue to live out the love God has shown us in the way we live with and care for each other. I hope your garden and home, and the things that have happened there, will remind you of the love of God and of family, friends and neighbours. I also hope that this month and the months to come will give you new stories and new signs of love and hope. With every blessing,

Philip.

Woodland Calendar It's nice to be able to report that summer arrived with all its associated delights. I'm sat in the wood as I write and needless to say green is the dominant colour, well unless I count the blue of the sky. The wood is alive with bird song although a little muted at this time in the afternoon. Sitting quietly as I am I see all sorts of wildlife. It's the normally shy creatures that are the best to see. A Muntjac deer wandered close by the other day (I posted a video on my Instagram leetaylor770) though common they are shy of humans and soon disappear if they hear us. Here in the country foxes too are shy and not always easy to watch. I make a distinction between country foxes and city foxes because I don't think city foxes are as fearful of humans. A mouse went scurrying about its business carrying an acorn in its mouth before disappearing into a pile of wood. There is currently a massive row going on between either corvids or squirrels. Or maybe both if either is raiding the others nest! I'm hoping the tits fledged safely as I can't see any activity in their tree which would otherwise be constant. All these animals are common enough and anyone can see them if they are quiet and still in the country. What excites me the most are the rarer and more unusual, a snake maybe, I have never seen an adder in the wild though I have been to places that are ideal habitat. When was the last time anyone saw a hedgehog snuffling in the garden? Bats are a definite favourite and pipistrelle bats are common enough at dusk on a warm evening on one of their flight paths it's exciting to have them swoop over your head. I hadn't seen a water vole for a while then walking the canal I saw one swimming across the cut, happy sight. It's a gloomy thought that these more fragile species are hanging on in smaller and smaller pockets of land. But at least I'm doing my bit on preserving a bit of habitat even if it is for deer and foxes (apologies to chicken fanciers!) Love Lee x

28 1

A BRIEF INSIGHT INTO TWO MORE OF ENGLAND’S CATHEDRALS

We continue the series in which we look at some of England’s Cathedrals, this month we look at Gloucester and Guilford Cathedrals.

GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL

A silver tower shimmering with ornament rises over the Severn valley. It was long a beacon for pilgrims descending from the Cotswolds or travelling upstream from Bristol, many to visit the tomb of the murdered Edward 11. In the cathedral, they would find not just a king’s tomb but an ancient Norman abbey which, partly thanks to that tomb, was to surge briefly into the forefront of gothic innovation, leading the way to the glories of English Perpendicular. Gloucester is the most exciting of England’s smaller cathedrals. The former Benedictine abbey was the creation of a giant of the Norman Conquest, Abbot Serlo, formerly a monk at Mont Saint-Michel. When he arrived in 1072, he found a monastery reduced to just two monks and a handful of novices. By the time he died in 1104, it was one of a chain of active monasteries the length of the Welsh Marches, embracing Hereford,

Worcester, Shrewsbury and Chester. The story of the abbey was nonetheless uneventful until its fortuitous proximity to Berkeley Castle, scene of Edward 11’s murder in 1327. Gloucester’s Abbot Thokey, who had been a friend of the monarch, brought the king’s body from the castle with elaborate ceremony. It was conveyed in a hearse adorned with golden leopards and attended by a procession of monks. The new king, the young Edward 111, deliberately made the burial an event of political significance, glorifying his father’s legitimacy against the uprising led by his mother and her lover, Mortimer. No sooner had Edward 11’s body had been laid to rest than miracles were reported in its vicinity, and pilgrims began to appear. The arrival of royal masons under the king’s patronage led to the drastic conversion of the south transept and choir in the new style then appearing in London, to be known later as Perpendicular. The contrast between Gloucester’s Norman nave and its 14th-century transept, choir and presbytery is a set text of English architecture. The rebuilding of the tower followed a century later. Impressed by the abbey’s royal antecedents, Henry V111 made Gloucester a cathedral at the Reformation. The new tower, the most prominent feature of the exterior, was begun in 1450 and clearly takes its cue from neighbouring Worcester. Its architect seemed to sense Worcester’s (albeit modest) shortcomings and sought something more refined. The gothic tension between horizontal and vertical lines is perfectly balanced. Two tall stages rise from the roof gables, while the bell-openings crowned with ogees are almost flush to the walls. Four lantern turrets linked by a pierced parapet complete the composition. The stonework is so finely carved that, in sunlight, it can seem crafted from gold. Gloucester can only be understood, outside and inside, through its split Norman/late-gothic personality. This is immediately evident on the outside of the south transept, visible from the close. The wall is Norman, but

28 1

random struts and supports seem to imprison the Norman work in later strengthening. Most cathedrals replaced their Norman features when converting to gothic. Gloucester encased them, at times almost imprisoned them, in gothic features. It is as if the locals refused to allow the royal masons from London to eradicate all trace of their old abbey. The nave is uncompromising Norman. Cylindrical drum piers march east to the crossing. They rise to plain capitals, which act as bases for arches that leap from one pier to the next, carved with zigzag. The corbels are angry grotesque. The vault above is Early Gothic, springing for clerestory shafts that seem feeble compared with the columns beneath. To Pevsner, this vault was ‘an elegant and graceful hat that hardly fits the rugged face below’. In the south aisle, the hat becomes a muffler. Subsidence in the 1320s meant the entire south wall had to be rebuilt, but now in the Decorated style. The windows with butterfly-patterned tracery carry an abundance of ballflower, reputedly with 1500 separate balls. This was really the oddest of medieval decorative fads. We now move east to the transept, and the shock is clear even to the most untutored eye. To Paul Johnson, ‘There is no more exhilarating sensation in the whole of English architecture than the sudden emergence from the Gloucester nave-tunnel into late-medieval space and light … this blinding world of glass and wafery stone’. We are in the presence of the earliest surviving manifestation of England’s one truly home-grown version of Gothic, Perpendicular. The style’s origins are believed to lie in St Stephen’s Chapel in Westminster and in old St Paul’s London, both long gone, hence the attribution of this part of the cathedral to Edward 111’s patronage. The London masons were clearly reluctant to demolish the east end of the abbey entirely – possibly because the parishioners wanted the old chapels to remain. Thus the concealing of the Norman walls in what amounted to a Perpendicular stone

skin. This was not easy. In the south transept, existing walls were shaved of stone, and new windows inserted beneath old Norman gables. Everything was covered in a lattice of soaring shafts and struts. The occasional Norman arch or window can be seen lurking behind the new panels. The south transept contains a curiosity, a medieval wall bracket apparently carved by a master mason in memory of an assistant who fell to his death from the roof. St Andrew’s Chapel, east of the transept, is decorated by the Victorian muralist Thomas Gambier Parry, wealthy creator of Highnam church not far outside the city, and decorator of the lantern of Ely cathedral. Set into the north transept wall is an elegant screen (c1240) of three arches thought to be a former pulpitum. Such structures were moved aside by (conservation-minded) restorers eager to open up through-views from nave to choir. The astronomical clock is late Victorian art nouveau by Henry Wilson. The choir and presbytery, not completed until the 1360, presented the king’s mason with a bigger challenge than did the south transept. They set out to turn the entire east end into what amounts to a single, aisleless chamber, a new chapel royal in glass and stone. Shafts rise from ground to roof, as if triforium and clerestory were mere stops on an elevator. The shafts then burst into tiercerons and liernes in the vault. Gloucester’s new vault ran continuously from the east through the crossing tower, but at this point it comes to an abrupt halt as the dimensions clearly did not fit. The architect, therefore, had to construct strainer arches to carry the vault over the transept arches, precursor of those in Wells. They are delicate structures, wonderfully serpentine in shape, creating beauty out of necessity. The vault bosses depict Christ surrounded by angels playing musical instruments. The choir stalls below have tall ogival canopies. There are forty-six medieval

28 1

misericords – including much-studied earl ball games – plus those added by George Gilbert Scott. The Harris organ of 1665 may impede the view from the nave, but it does so with panache. Gloucester’s presbytery east wall is less a wall than the largest uninterrupted expanse of medieval glass in existence. It is composed of nine tiers of rectilinear panel tracery. The sides are splayed, turning it into a bow window, thus enabling even more glass to be carried. This window is known as the Crecy window, thought to have been erected to celebrate the Battle of Crecy (1346), Edward 111’s first great victory in the war with France. Jon Cannon sees the window as the summation of the presbytery and royal chapel. Its emphasis is on the sacredness of kingship ‘laying out the entire feudal order like a management chart, from the heraldry of local barons at the base, running through the bishops … through the saints and the apostles, to Christ in Majesty at the top’. The figures, in red, white and blue, stand in elaborate architectural settings. The effect is lighter than most medieval glass, signalling the more subdued mood of the new Perpendicular. Other windows comprise a treasury of Victorian glass by Clayton & Bell, John Hardman and William Wailes. One by C. E. Kempe illustrates Gloucester’s history. Below in the presbytery lies the fount of Gloucester’s late-medieval wealth, the tomb of Edward 11. The tomb was allegedly supervised by Edward 111 in person and sits on a Purbeck base. The effigy is in the then novel material of alabaster, semi-translucent and easy to carve. There is no trace of Edward’s reputed effeteness. He is depicted open-eyed and every inch a macho Plantagenet, with curling beard, orb and sceptre. Above rises a canopy of cinquefoil arches, gables and pinnacles, a transition from Decorated exoticism to the orderly verticals of Perpendicular. Across the presbytery lies Edward’s forebear. Robert Curthose (d.1134), William the Conqueror’s eldest son. As such, he was bequeathed the senior

inheritance of Normandy, while his brothers, William and Henry, went on to inherit the far richer lands of England. Never happy with this deal, Robert indulged in lifelong conflict with his brothers, to be eventually defeated and imprisoned in Cardiff. He expressed a desire to be buried in Gloucester and is represented by a later much-repainted oak effigy, about to draw his sword. North and south ambulatory chapels are guarded by Perpendicular screens. The south was recently refashioned with a ‘gothick’ vault and swirling blue windows by Tom Denny (1993), said to represent Christ’s appearance to Thomas. Beneath Gloucester’s east window is the entrance to the Lady Chapel, virtually a separate church and late Perpendicular (c1500). It is overlooked by a gallery with views both into the chapel and west into the cathedral. There are no real walls, just expanses of glass supporting lierne vaults encrusted with bosses. The glass is partly an assemblage of medieval fragments. It would be exhilarating one day to try to reassemble these fragments and give these windows some meaning. Side windows are mostly by the Arts and Crafts artist Christopher Whall, depicting saints and biblical stories free of the usual Victorian fussiness. Off the Lady Chapel are tiny chantries with fan vaults and singing lofts. One on the south side celebrates Gloucester organists, including music by Herbert Howells printed on the glass. On the north side is a memorial to the war poet and composer Ivor Gurney, with Denny glass depicting Gloucestershire’s landscape. The whole chapel is a masterpiece of Tudor craftsmanship. No cloister in England stands comparison with Gloucester, standard-bearer for the new Perpendicular. On a warm summer evening, the sun, filtered by coloured glass, floods its arcades. The roof is the first example in England of the half-cone vault, dating from the 1350s. The effect is of a row of seated ladies fluttering their fans in unison, the fans being so low that we can

28 1

almost touch them. This design was to develop, in Oxford, Bath and finally Henry V11’s Chapel at Westminster, into the most elaborate and exotic English contribution to the gothic style, reigning for almost two centuries. A rare lavatorium survives in one range, with even a stone cupboard for towels. Another range has small carrels with individual windows onto the garden; in these, the monks would sit and study. The central garden, or garth, contains small hedges and a gentle fountain. From here, there is a good view of the tower, a blissful spot to enjoy the epitome of late gothic harmony.

GUILDFORD CATHEDRAL

Guildford cathedral sits lonely on its hill outside the town. Cars stream along the A3 below, scarcely noticing. Even the approach road has been likened to the entrance to a crematorium. Guildford was created a diocese in 1927 and Holy Trinity Church in Guildford high street was used as its cathedral. A competition was then held for a new building and, in 1932, a proposal by Edward Maufe was declared best of 183 competitors. It is a poor comment on inter-war British design. If only art deco had not been vulgarised by super-cinemas and Hoover factories, how much more exciting might now be the new Guildford?

Maufe’s chosen style was gothic, but not the academic gothic of Truro or the grandiloquent gothic of Liverpool’s Anglican cathedral. Guildford is naked gothic, stripped of clothing and visual diversion as if desperate to be thought modern. Building began in 1936 but was halted by war. By the time it restarted in 1954, Basil Spence’s Coventry was under construction and Guildford seemed not so much gothic revival as gothic exhaustion, with few ghosts even of Maufe’s Arts and Crafts past. It was consecrated in 1961 and finished in 1966. The site on Stag Hill rates in prominence with Lincoln and St Albans, and surely demanded stylistic drama. Instead, Maufe’s exterior is clinical and downbeat, with traditional nave, tower, transepts and chancel in uniform brick with sparse stone dressings. The walls are pierced with tall lancets, barely more than slits. The entrance front has three lancets above three whalebone arches crowned by carvings. The door to the large St Ursula porch is Arts and Crafts, with the interior glass engraved by John Hutton. That said, Guildford’s exterior carries excellent contemporary statuary. Above the central door is the Hand of God by Alan Collins. Doors to the south transept carry Vernon Hill’s bronze reliefs of men’s and women’s domestic and pastoral occupations – doubtless now politically incorrect. Above the door is a St John the Baptist by Eric Gill. Statues of the Virtues and the Gifts of the Spirit line the north and south walls, most of them by Alan Collins. His stature of Prudence is said to be of Maufe’s wife of that name, including her favourite shoes. The interior is more accomplished than the exterior. Ian Nairn (in Pevsner) found it a ‘well mannered, even mealy-mouthed, postscript to the gothic revival’, but added that the interior displayed a ‘sweet-tempered, undramatic curvilinear gothic … with a queer power of compelling not reverence but contemplation’. It certainly shows Maufe as a master at handling space, aided by the inherent elegance of the pure gothic arch (if there is such a thing), unadorned with capitals and rising sheer from floor to

28 1

apex. Guildford is a series of variations on this theme. The nave marches east from the entrance under plain arcades. The clerestory is confined to pinholes. The windows are opaque, deep-set and without colour, so from the nave we cannot see sun or sky, just a white tunnel of plaster with stone dressings. Only the Lady Chapel at the far end allows some colour and variety, notably in the panelled ceiling. The most uplifting views are down the side aisles to the crossing, an enfilade of pencil-thin arcades in receding sequence. There is a serene play of light where the lofty arches meet the transepts, though the exhilaration of Liverpool and Giles Gilbert Scott’s cross-cutting perspectives is missing. Of the furnishing, the octagonal font has fish and water carvings on its bowl, and a surprisingly garish gilt font cover of interlocking doves. The choir shows few traces of Arts and Crafts or of its pre-war genesis. The nave lampshades and choir fittings are in the folksy style of the Festival of Britain.

Next month we look at Hereford and Leeds R.C. Cathedrals

The Friendship Book of Francis Gay July 1st 2014

Power. What does it mean to you? No, I’m not talking about the current that comes from the electric sockets on your wall. Is it having the ear of presidents and prime ministers? Or is it when you own a business empire?

Well, I prefer the definition offered by Brooke Astor, the philanthropist. Putting it at its very simplest and its most wonderful, she observed: “Power is the ability to do good things for others.”

A PRAYER FOR EACH WEEK – JULY 2021

4 th JULY

Goodness and mercy all my life

shall surely follow me.

And in God's house for evermore

my dwelling place shall be.

(The Lord's My Shepherd v 5)

11 th JULY

Now we rejoice to call him King:

Jesus is Lord of all the earth.

This gospel-message we proclaim:

we sing his glory, tell his worth.

(We Have A Gospel to Proclaim v 6)

18 th JULY

28 1

Lord Jesus Christ, now and every day

teach us how to pray, Son of God.

You have commanded us to do

this in remembrance, Lord, of you.

Into our lives your power breaks through,

living Lord.

(Lord Jesus Christ v 2)

25 th JULY

Jesus, Name above all names,

beautiful Saviour, glorious Lord,

Emmanuel, God is with us,

blessed Redeemer, living Word.

(Jesus, name above all names)

PARISH PRAYER CALENDAR FOR JULY

Week 1. VOLUNTEERS: for those who give freely of their time to help others.

Week 2. HOLIDAYS: for those going away on holiday that they may find relaxation and travel in safety. For those who cannot get away that they may have chances for relaxation, too.

Week 3. PLAYSCHEMES AND SUMMER SCHOOLS: for all those who lead and attend, that the days may be full of joy.

Week 4. MINISTRY OF THE CHURCH: (Ordained and Lay) – for the ministry of every member of our church.

Week by week we pray for the residents of:

Week 1. Cumberland Way, Howard Close, Worcester Close.

Week 2. Stafford Street, Bank Terrace, Staniforth Court.

Week 3. Malt Mill Bank, East Green.

Week 4. Lincoln Road, Jersey Way, Angus Road.

MEMORY VERSES FOR JULY 2021

28 1

These verses may well be familiar as they are used in our services at St Mary's but you may not know where they come from.

Week beginning:

4 th JULY

Luke 2 v 14 - from The Gloria

“Glory to God in the highest and peace to His people on earth.”

11 th July

Matthew 4 v 17 – Prayer of penitence

Jesus says “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand”

18 th July

2 Corinthians 13 v 14 – the Grace

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore.”

25 th July

Luke 1 v 46 – from The Magnificat

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour; he has looked with favour on his lowly servant.”

Bible Readings to use on a Sunday

4th July 5th Sunday after Trinity Sunday Ezekiel 2.1-5 Psalm 1232 Corinthians 12.2-10

Mark 6.1-13

11th July 6th Sunday after Trinity Sunday Amos 7.7-15 Psalm 85.8-endEphesians 1.3-14Mark 6.14-29

18th July 7th Sunday after Trinity Sunday Jeremiah 23.1-6 Psalm 23 Ephesians 2.11-end Mark 6.30-34,53-end

25th July 8th Sunday after Trinity Sunday 2 Kings 4.42-end Psalm 145.10-19 Ephesians 3.14-end John 6.1-21

28 1

invite you to their

ANNUAL GENERAL

MEETINGon Monday 5th July at 7.00pm

followed by ‘Experiences of Covid’ at 7.45pm Tales from the Street & Prayer Pastors

at Earl Shilton Methodist Church

To join us in person, please call Rebecca on 01455 843961 to book your space.

Or join us on the night via Zoom using the following:

Meeting ID: 849 3599 3810 Passcode: 638194

All welcome!Please come and be part of

YOUR CHURCHES MINISTRY on the streets and parks of BARWELL & EARL SHILTON

July’s ‘Thought for the Month’ Graham

Independence’s Day; are we that independent?

Independence Day, also called Fourth of July or July 4th, in the United States, the annual celebration of nationhood, when it separated itself from the UK. It commemorates the passage of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. Independence Day is celebrated on Sunday, July 4, 2021 in the U.S. Whether we live within a family unit with a spouse, parents, children, and or siblings, or other care situations, or even living alone, we are not independent and devoid of contact. The phone rings; offers of help or a plea for help can come when we least expect them. We fetch our needed groceries or they are delivered to our door, after a browse on the internet. This past fifteen months have seen many a change, some good, others, not so, but total independence has not been one of them. We may fall out with neighbours or family members over trivial matters; yet, we are not expected to leave it like that. As members of a church or individual Christians we are expected to put Christ’s expectancy of love in place, and forgive. From time immemorial we are expected to follow God’s blue print; we are a gregarious people and relationships should be our aim and purpose. The greatest and most important relationship we should have will be to establish and maintain one with God our Heavenly Father through Jesus. Throughout the Old Testament we read, God was holding out His loving hand of help to His people. Time and time again they tried to respond under the Law. Some saw the benefit of His Blessings, while others succumbed to His wrath. Finally, He sent His Son Jesus. The most beneficial relationship can and has been restored. We only have to take up the invitation of His Grace. How do we do that, you might ask? Through believing by Faith in the Jesus who by the Power of God was raised from death to life, and proclaiming the same with our mouths, then, we are saved.

(Ref to Romans 10.9-10)

28 1

Barwell & Earl Shilton

Street Pastors

The amazing thing is; if we continue in prayer, fellowship with one another in love, study the Bible, and be generous and forgiving with one another then we will experience the Grace of God flowing in our lives.

The choice is ours: is it Independence from God or With God? We’ve made our decision have you?

Happy Independence Day Amen

MOTHER'S UNION MINUTES FROM 1928

More jottings from the MU minutes written by Mrs H Wilde:

Jumble sale – just a quick reminder – Friday November 30th in the Institute. Doors open at 6 o'clock. Admission 2d – proceeds to the Organ Fund.

Mrs Breward has received a fire screen as a gift towards the above object. It was painted by Mr F Lord and framed by Mr E Lockley and was given to her by these two gentlemen. She is most grateful to them, and hopes to raise a nice sum by raffling it. Tickets 3d each.

***********

We are pleased to be able to report that the amount raised (at the Jumble Sale) was £25-19-5, the raffle for the fire screen raising £3. In addition to this we have received donations from H.C. Hartley Esq, Mr Ed. Herbert, Mr T Allen, and Mr Snush thus making a total of £32 which has been placed in the bank towards the Organ Fund.

***********

…A chair given by Messrs Fyfe and Cross and a palm stand given by Mr H Arguile of Hinckley were raffled on Tuesday Dec 18th (1928) and the successful ones were G. Morris and Mrs York. The sum realised was £3-18-0 which also is for the Organ Fund.

JULYA ghost is roaming through the building, And shadows in the attic browse; Persistently intent on mischief A goblin roams about the house.

He gets into your way, he fusses, You hear his footsteps overhead, He tears the napkin off the table And creeps in slippers to the bed.

With feet unwiped he rushes headlong On gusts of draught into the hall And whirls the curtain, like a dancer, Towards the ceiling, up the wall.

Who is this silly mischief-maker, This phantom and this double-face? He is our guest, our summer lodger, Who spends with us his holidays.

Our house is taken in possession By him, while he enjoys a rest. July, with summer air and thunder- He is our temporary guest.

July, who scatters from his pockets The fluff of blow-balls in a cloud, Who enters through the open window, Who chatters to himself aloud,

28 1

Unkempt, untidy, absent-minded, Soaked through with smell of dill and rye, With linden-blossom, grass and beet-leaves, The meadow-scented month July. Boris Pasternak

A HOLY PLACEI WILL make my spot on earth A holy place When the weeds of worry grow, Twisting and choking, I will water them with trust. When stark, black branches of fear Clatter eerily, I will grace them with greenery of faith. When anger tears a dark, gaping hole Across the road, I will fill it with forgiveness and keep walking Without looking back. I will plant Seedlings of charity And integrity And invite all who pass by my spot on earth To rest beneath their shade, And be refreshed In this humble, holy place. Rachel Wallace-Oberle

SUDOKUEASY7 8 5 6 9 2 13 9 46 1 8 9 4 3 5

5 26 9 7 11 4 3 59 7

6 5 74 5 6 2

MEDIUM 2 1

4 11 5 2 8 4

7 93 1 5 64 3 1 2

4 8 9 63 9 1

2 6 5 3

BRAIN TEASER – THE ORCHARD

While three watchmen were guarding an orchard, a thief slipped in and stole some apples. On his way out he met the three watchmen one after the other, and to each in turn he gave a half of the apples he had then, and two besides. Thus he managed to escape with one apple. How many had he stolen originally?

SUMMER PUDDING28 1

Ingredients: 300g Strawberries 250g Blackberries 100g redcurrants 500g raspberries 175g golden caster sugar 7 slices of day-old white bread

Preparation: 20 mins. Cook Time: 10 mins Servings: 8

Method: 1. Bring out the juices: Wash fruit and gently dry on kitchen paper – keep strawberries separate. Put sugar and 3tbsp water into a large pan. Gently heat until sugar dissolves – stir a few times. Bring to a boil for 1 min, then tip in the fruit except the strawberries. Cook for 3 mins over a low heat, stirring 2-3 times. The fruit will be softened, mostly intact and surrounded by dark red juice. Put a sieve over a boil and tip in the fruit and juice.

2. Line the bowl with cling film and prepare the bread: Line the 1.25-litre basin with cling film as this will help you to turn out the pudding. Over lap two pieces of cling film in the middle of the bowl as its easier than trying to get one sheet to stick to all of the curves. Let the edges overhang by about 15cm. Cut the crusts of the bread. Cut 4 pieces of bread in half, a little on an angle, to give 2 lopsided rectangles per piece. Cut 2 slices into 4 triangles each and leave the final piece whole.

3. Build the pudding: Dip the remaining whole piece of bread into the juice for a few seconds just to coat. Push this into the top of the basin. Now dip the wonky rectangular pieces one at a time and press around the basin’s sides so that they fit together neatly, alternately placing wide and narrow ends up. If you can’t qite fit the last piece of bread in it doesn’t matter, just trim into a triangle, dip in juice and slot in. Now spoon in the softened fruit, adding the strawberries here and there as you go.

4. Let flavours mingle then serve: Dip the bread triangles in juice and place on top – trim off overhang with scissors. Keep leftover juice for later. Bring cling film up and loosely seal. Put a side plate on top and weight down with cans. Chill for 6 hrs or overnight. To serve, open out cling film then put a serving plate upside-down on top and flip over. Serve with leftover juice, any extra berries and cream.

Enjoy

Magazine Material All magazine material for the August issue to be in by Wed 15th July please. New material always wanted funny or sad stories, puzzles, and poems. All material to Colin Sewell 2 Howard Close Barwell Tel. 01455 842944 or 07557 966219 E-mail: sewell-colin@virginmedia.com

28 1

Answers to Puzzle Page

SUDOKUEASY7 4 8 5 3 6 9 2 13 5 9 7 2 1 4 8 66 2 1 8 9 4 7 3 59 7 5 1 4 8 2 6 38 6 3 9 7 2 5 1 42 1 4 3 6 5 8 7 95 9 2 6 1 7 3 4 84 3 6 2 8 9 1 5 71 8 7 4 5 3 6 9 2

MEDIUM2 8 4 6 9 1 7 5 33 9 6 5 4 7 2 1 81 5 7 2 3 8 4 9 66 7 2 4 8 9 5 3 18 3 1 7 5 2 6 4 95 4 9 3 1 6 8 2 74 1 5 8 7 3 9 6 27 6 3 9 2 4 1 8 59 2 8 1 6 5 3 7 4

THE ORCHARD

36 Apples.

INTERCESSORS for JULY

MORNING

4th STEVE

11th *******

18th MIKE

25th DAVID

BIBLE READERS ROTA JULY

MORNING

4th MIKE & PAULINE CLEMENTS

11th TBC

18th STEVE & DAVID

25th GRAHAM & IRA

28 1

SIDESPERSONS FOR JULY

4th PAULINE C. & SUE

11th PAULINE B & JO

18th STEVE & CHERRILL

25th PAULINE C & SUE

100 Club Winners for MAY

1st Prize No. 55 Barbara Davies

2nd Prize No. 53 Brenda Jackman

3rd Prize No. 37 Beryl Hopkinson

There are a number of spare numbers still available if anyone would like to join 50p a week per number. Please contact me for details.

REMINDER: Only numbers that are fully paid up to date will be entered in the monthly draw.

Please check confirm with me on 01455 842944. Thank you. Colin

THE PARISH of BARWELL with STAPLETON and POTTERS MARSTON

Parish Priest Philip Watson tel: 01455 446993 or e-mail him at frpwatson@virginmedia.com

Licensed Readers St. Mary the Virgin P.MMrs D Watson 446993 SecretaryMrs L Plumpton 449244 Mrs N Holt 272321Associate Readers Potters Marston Hall

TreasurerMrs S Newbury 845244

Church WardensSt. Mary’s Barwell

St. Mary/St Christopher’s Mothers Union

Mr Colin Sewell 842944 Branch LeaderMr David Bendell 457427 Mrs P Bendell 457427Assistant Wardens 46 Galloway CloseMr J Nottage 447110 OrganistsMr G Armstrong 446587District Church Wardens Mrs R HallSt. Martin’s Stapleton Church Lads & Girls BrigadeMrs S Howe 844412 Mr V Cooper 450025St. Mary the Virgin Potters Marston

Village Hall

Mr M Jones 282748 Mrs P Bendell 457427Secretary St. Mary’s BarwellMrs P Bendell 457427Treasurer U,s RepresentativeMrs S Newbury 845244 Mr T Smith 07890 537554St. Martin’s Stapleton Christian AidSecretary Mrs P Bendell 457427Mrs S Howe 844412 Friends of St. Mary’sTreasurer TreasurerTim Porter Mr C Sewell 842944Bellringers Membership OfficerMr M Pickering 636945 Mrs M Braund 444595Children’s Society Magazine EditorMr C Sewell 842944 Mr C Sewell 842944

28 1

28 1

28 1

28 1

28 1

tell you, whoever does not

Tracking through

28 1

28 1

28 1

28 1

28 1

28 1

28 1

28 1

28 1

28 1