Well can you believe it? No sooner had I said all was well and I was ticking along nicely than I came to a complete stop again. I knew it wasn’t me or my new auto winder at fault so what was going on? Apparently in the process of making some electrical alterations to the Viewing Screen and the audio system in our chancel they blew a fuse, cutting off the supply to my auto winder.This was not a problem for everything else and they soon got them going again. However, I needed my special carer to wind (no pun intended) his way up all the stairs to re-set my time and press GO. Unfortunately for me he was away having more urgent matters to deal with. Because he doesn’t have a back-up a few days passed until the Clock Company could come and set me going again. So, apologies for lost time!This question of ‘back-up’ has been a growing worry for my chief carer and her council. They are a great bunch of people who have faithfully looked after me and the rest of the church for more years than could have been expected of them. There have been very few new incomers to help them carry the load. I know that a great many other churches are in the same boat -especially the one with the Scratch Dial and crinkle crankle wall. My carers concern has led them to hold a series of meetings to plan the ‘future of the church’ and what needs to be done to bring this about. They are interested in the views of all residents so watch out for a future edition of this magazine for ways in which you can be involved.I have been asked to make an apology on behalf of the church for the lack of heating at the present time. Hopefully it will back on by the time you are reading this. Our aged gas boiler needs some new parts that will hopefully put things right once they are fitted. Our carers would like to replace the gas boiler with a new one, but the church has committed to work towards net zero carbon, so we need to look for a system that complies. This is under consideration we understand.Clocking off for now.October 2024
THE CHURCH CLOCKNo I haven’t got a problem. I am ticking along quite nicely, thankyou. As I am the only part that has one, the church building has asked me to voice a big thank you to the Council people at Swadlincote.I expect you have noticed the nice new path from the main steps to the porch door and up through the churchyard to the Almshouse’s Bakewell gate and then along the railing from Church Hill to Ivan Way. This is all thanks to the Council. It may come as a surprise to learn that the responsibility for the upkeep of the paths does not lie with my carers. The ground in which we stand is what is known as a ‘closed churchyard’ and is in the care of South Derbyshire District Council. Some years ago the gravestones that stood over the graves in the churchyard were sympathetically removed and carefully stood along the almshouse wall of the cemetery at the top of Ivan Way.The new path has come as a great relief to pedestrians and to those on wheels and especially to the pall-bearers wheeling coffins to our porch door. Our carers are also very pleased as it helps toward their plans to welcoming more newcomers to enjoy all the services and functions that they organise. A viewing screen has already been installed to supplement books and service sheets that will be extremely helpful to those not familiar with the pattern of the services.Looking down on the path from the main steps we have admired how the colour of the ground cover geraniums has been accentuated by the blackness of the paths. They have been particularly abundant this year. For the gardeners you may like to know that they are a variety called Claridge Druce, named by George Claridge Druce (1850 – 1932) a botanist and author of the Flora of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire and a past mayor of Oxford.September 2024
