As I write this article in the week before Easter and enjoying that Spring has now sprung and we’ve been blessed with a number of days of warmer weather, I can’t help but smile as the tree at the cross roads of the footpaths through the church. During the pandemic, I called it the Tree of Hope. The buds have sprung into blossom and from whatever angle you look at the tree it’s abundant with blossom. Of course, over the winter once the leaves were shed, it didn’t look like that and it could be thought that nothing was happening and the tree was just dormant. But we know that’s not the case, we know that underneath there’s preparation for Spring.
Recently, someone said to me that nothing seemed to be happening with the works needed to the church. I reflected on this and thought that the principle of preparation for the tree to blossom, is similar to the preparation leading to works on the church building. It may not be seen, but there is lots going on even though it’s not visible to the eye.
So much background work and research has been completed over the year. Our appointed architect, Bryan Martin, has been an amazing help and source of knowledge and completed a Quinquennial survey of the church building and graveyard. We had the amazing sights of the steeplejacks of Heritage Stone Access completing a full assessment of the tower and spire and removing loose stone debris whilst they were up there! Both surveys were presented to the PCC (the leadership team) by the Architect in September and it is very clear that there is very significant work to be undertaken to restore St James and this inevitably will incur significant costs. These assessments have been vital and the professional fees have been paid by a mixture of grants and monies raised by fundraising events. Since then we’ve instructed a Structural Engineer to inspect and advise on some aspects of work needed.
Anyone who has renovated a house knows that curveballs of extra work get thrown into the mix and extra work is needed before any other works can happen. On inspection of the pinnacles at the base of the spire, the Structural Engineer has advised not to ring the bells as a precaution as the vibration may cause damage to the stability of the NE pinnacle. This is the current curveball in the mix and it’s our priority to remove it, so that the bells can be rung again.
As you can imagine this expert work on a Grade I listed building is not cheap and so we greatly appreciate your donations and also for all of the fundraising events that have helped with some of the works so far. One of the events happened last weekend. Over 60 people attended an afternoon tea with great entertainment from Branco, a Barbershop Quartet and raised £525 for the Restoration Fund. A lovely lady from the congregation has also been using her knitting talents by knitting Easter bunnies and chicks with a Ferrero Roche or Lindor inside and so far has raised over £160! Well done Linda! If anyone would like to donate or use their talents to raise funds or be involved in putting the fun in fundraising then so get in touch!
In the meantime, thank you to everyone who has brought St James to this stage of the journey - so much work happens by you as volunteers and supporters of our community and it’s doesn’t go unnoticed.
Photo by Alexas Fotos on Unsplash