Blofield Parish News Letter Feb 10
ST. ANDREW & ST. PETER ALL SAINTS
BLOFIELD HEMBLINGTON
Rector: Revd. Paul Cubitt
The Rectory, Oak Wood, Blofield. NR13 4JQ. Tel: 01603 713160.
Email address – revp@cubitt.karoo.co.uk Rest day – Friday
Churchwardens:
Blofield: Mr. B. Jenkins, Tel: 716636 & Mrs. M. Wallace, Tel: 712151
Hemblington: Mr. S. Mutten, Tel: 715701 & Mrs. C. Howe, Tel: 270360
Church websites:
Blofield Church is open every day during daylight hours.
Please see pages 2-3 for details of church services
at Blofield and Hemblington in February 2010.
Registers
Funeral
11th January Stanley Taylor, aged 80 at St Faiths
W
REST in PEACE
Arrangements for baptisms, weddings and funerals should be
made with the Rector (see above).
Rector's Letter
I know that Lent starts in February and that Christmas seems a long way back but I want to thank everyone for making Christmas so special in every way. The churches were magnificently decorated and Marion Craske’s banners were a worthy addition to Blofield.
Thank you to all who made our visitors most welcome.
We had no idea how many hardy souls would make it through the snow to Hemblington for their candlelit carol service but well over 100 people did. The attendances at Blofield on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were very encouraging, and the singing…truly wonderful. It felt like a proper village celebration of Christmas and more importantly a touch of heaven on earth.
Christmas was quite special!
So how will Lent and then Easter be?
Lent often feels gloomy, I suppose because there are no flowers in church and the winter chill is still around. So should we be gloomy too? Lent should be special too – and enjoyable! After all it is about living in the presence of God with some of the distractions of modern life put to one side. When we enjoy being the presence of a friend we are rarely gloomy, sure we may have burdens, but these tend to lift with company. Perhaps that is how Lent should be; we journey together in the presence of God.
Perhaps Lent should be a bit more joyous – and hopeful?
Paul
-1-
UCHURCH NEWS U
Sunday Worship
Sunday 31st January
8.00 am Holy Communion (BCP) Blofield
9.30 am Holy Communion united with Blofield Hemblington
No 11.00am service at Blofield
Sunday 7th February
8.00 am Holy Communion (CW) Blofield
9.30 am Morning Prayer Hemblington
11.00 am Morning Worship & Children’s Group Blofield
Sunday 14th February
8.00 am Holy Communion (BCP) Blofield
9.30 am Holy Communion Hemblington
11.00 am Holy Communion & Children’s Group Blofield
Wednesday 17th February Ash Wednesday
7.30 pm Ash Wednesday Service Blofield
Sunday 21st February
8.00 am Holy Communion (BCP) Blofield
9.30 am Holy Communion Hemblington
11.00 am Holy Communion & Children’s Group Blofield
Followed by a Lenten Lunch in aid of SIM
at 12.30pm
Sunday 28th February
8.00 am Holy Communion (BCP) Blofield
9.30 am Holy Communion Hemblington
11.00 am Holy Communion & Children’s Group Blofield
-2-
Midweek Worship
Wednesday at the Rectory
9.30 am Holy Communion
Wednesday 3rd
11.00 am Holy Communion Brewster Court
2.00 pm Songs of Praise West View
Tuesday 9th
11.00 am Holy Communion 3 Weston Close
Wednesday 17th
10.45 am Holy Communion Manor Farm
Study Groups
Monday 7.30 pm at The Rectory
Tuesday 2.00 pm at 3 Church Alley
Lent Course at St David’s
There will be a Lent Course shared with the Church in the Plumsteads at
St. David’s, which Revd. Chris Garrard and Revd. Paul Cubitt will lead. This starts on 24th February at 7.30 pm. More details will appear in the pew sheet.
******************************************
Life at Blofield Church 100 years ago this month
From the Deanery Magazine for February 1910
~ with thanks to Barbara Pilch for the information ~
As well as normal services ~
Service for Children and Young People on the third Sunday of the month at 3pm.
The Junior Girls’ Bible class meets at the rectory on Sundays at 2.45pm.
Baptisms are taken after Morning Service on all Sundays except the first Sunday in the month.
Bible class for Lads and Young Men is held by Mr Creed at the Rectory on Tuesdays at 7pm.
C.E.T.S. - (Church of England temperance Society) The Girls’ Class is held at the Reading Room, by Miss E. Stockings, on Wednesdays at 4 pm.
( compare today's binge drinking culture among teenage girls)
S.P.G. – "King’s Messengers." This class is held by Miss Palmer-Kerrison at The White House, on Tuesdays, at 5.20pm.
Girls’ Friendly Society. – This class is held by Miss L.P. Smith, at Dove Cottage, from whom all information may be obtained.
-3-
Church Events
Blofield Church
A Lenten lunch will be held on Sunday February 21st at 12.30pm. Donations towards this lunch will help the work of Service in Mission in southern Africa. Please book your bowl of soup by contacting 01603 431139.
On offer - delicious homemade soup, puddings and tea/coffee.
Hemblington Church
Many thanks to everyone who supported Webb Ivory again, having orders and, also, giving generous donations. We are able to give Hemblington Church a record amount - £465 - and are very grateful to you all. Looking forward to your continued support.
Pam Brooks and Sandra Bussey.
000000 0 0000000 0 0
All Saints, Hemblington also bought 16 ducks to help people recovering from floods in Bangladesh. Instead of sending each other Christmas cards, we donated via Christian Aid's "Present Aid" scheme. Next Christmas we're aiming to buy a herd of goats!
A date for your diary.
Women’s World Day of Prayer will be on Friday March 5th .
This inter-denominational service will be held at 2.00pm at Brundall Church. Do join us.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you, Flo.
Flo Berry faithfully cleaned Blofield Church brass fitments for many years, but is now too unwell to continue with this work. Flo is now living at Herondale Care Home in Acle. Thank you, Flo, for all your hard work.
-6-
THE BISHOP'S TOWER
By Owen Needham
6. Work continues.
Day after day they worked, rain or shine, fixing the shuttering around the remaining three sides of the tower, and building each face to the same pattern as the north side. The eastern end of the south face was more complicated because a stone spiral staircase was built into the thickness of the wall. The stone steps, designed to run clockwise round a central newel post, were each carved individually by the masons. These were hauled up the tower and carefully set into position, each stacked on the leading edge of the one below, giving a rise of one step and a twist to the right of the width of the step at its widest point. After two weeks all four walls were completed to the top of the shuttering, so John and Duff returned to the north wall to lift the shuttering and secure it as before, but this time just below the top of the new wall.
The Master Mason made one of his rare visits to the north wall scaffold at this point. He intended to inspect the newly completed wall to check his masons' work. Those who had worked on the wall attended their Master with some trepidation as he was known to be a hard taskmaster, and his attention to detail was legendary. This was of course the reason why the Bishop chose him to build his tower! The new north face passed the great man's inspection (to the evident relief of his men). However, gathering them around him he had some observations to make. “The lime mortar appeared to have been well worked in, but there were some larger gaps between the flints. These were not all the fault of the masons, although he was sure they could be minimised by a more careful selection of flints. These should be selected not just for their shape, but also their colour. He was not at all pleased to see that the darker flints were more numerous.* Better mixing was called for or ‘heads would roll’! They should remember his words with this next lift – he would be inspecting it very carefully when completed!”
He gave instructions for the new wall to be ‘galleted’ on the outside face, and plastered with a smooth face on the inside. “What's that there galloping?” whispered Duff. John explained it was ‘galleting’, and that gallets were small chips of flint pushed into the larger gaps between the flints as the new face was pointed with mortar. It helped the wall to resist rain and frost penetration and improved the look of the finished flint facing.
* Stand at the church gate and look up at the start line of the ‘new build’, at a point about 3ft above the nave roof ridge. The lines of darker flints that so upset the Master Mason all those centuries ago can still easily be seen.
(To be continued next month).
-8-