The campaign to oppose the building of a very large waste incinerator within a stones-throw of the banks of the River Dever at Barton Stacey, is the right of Dever Valley people to have a legitimate say in how their communities and environment should be allowed to evolve.
One of the delights of being part of the global village is the increased chance of falling in love with someone of a different nationality. Many sons and daughters from the Dever Valley have married foreign nationals, resulting in families from different ends of the earth adopting each other as in-laws. But, at the present time, it is not without risk.I have recently spent some time consoling distraught grandparents concerned for the psychological well-being of their son, daughter-in-law and grandson. Thirteen years ago, an English boy married a Thai girl. Madly in love, they settled in England, and a year or so later a little boy was born – a British national. The woman was granted a five-year visa giving ‘settled status’. Eighteen months after being married her father became grievously ill and so the young family decided to relocate to Thailand to help care for the wife’s father. Last year they decided to come back to England. The young boy settled well into secondary school, husband and wife found a place to live near to grandparents who, as previous, readily assured the State that they would act as guarantors for their much-loved Thai daughter-in-law. In haste to return to England with her husband and son, and not entirely certain if returning to the UK was going to work, the woman arrived on a six-month tourist visa. And here’s the rub. In order to renew a visa a foreign national must apply from within their country of origin. The woman has had to return to Thailand leaving behind a traumatised son and a very anxious husband, unsure how long it will be before they will see each other again. And here’s another rub. In a Christian state, that hallows marriage as a foundation for family life, that status of marriage is demeaned when it involves a foreign national who does not have leave to stay in the United Kingdom – no matter how long they have been married to a British national. And here’s another rub. If a family were to divorce and contest custody of the child in a family court of law, the judge would quite rightly place the needs of the child first and foremost – but what would that mean if the mother was a foreign national without leave to stay? The case above suggests that immigration law would supersede the rights of the child to having contact with both parents.So, here’s a simple question. Why can’t a Thai mother, living in the Dever Valley, who has been married for thirteen years to a British national, with a British born son, apply for her visa to be renewed from a government department in London? Wouldn’t that be the Christian thing to do?God BlessMark
Medieval Tiles Conservation ProjectOne of the great treasures of Winchester Cathedral is its vast expanse of Medieval floor tiles. In 1996 a huge project was undertaken to conserve and clean the tiles laid down by the Benedictine monks in the thirteenth century. The tiles depict an array of patterns and religious symbols including the Fleur de Lys, representing the Trinity and the six-pointed star, symbolising Jesus “the bright morning star” from Revelation 22:16. As part of the project, some of the original tiles, fragmented beyond repair, were replaced with replicas, enabling the visitor today to see more fully the vibrant colours with which the monks and pilgrims would have been all too familiar, seven hundred years ago.In 1844, the Rector of Barton Stacey, Henry Middleton, died after only a short time in office. As a memorial to him, Medieval floor tiles were laid in the sanctuary of All Saints Church. The story told is that the Dean of the Cathedral at the time, Thomas Garnier, offered the tiles to the Village by way of consoling the whole community on the sudden loss of their vicar. If true, one suspects that the Dean didn’t quite appreciate what it was that he was giving away!In more recent times the tiles have begun to show more than their great age. In 2004 the Parochial Church Council commissioned a survey but were put off by the expense of pursuing any further works. In early 2018 the PCC commissioned Cliveden Conservation, the firm who undertook the conservation project at Winchester Cathedral, to do a fresh survey and advise on a way forward. Cliveden produced a detailed report in August of last year recommending much-needed conservation if the tiles weren’t to be lost. It was noted that two tiles were so fragmented that they posed a health and safety risk and would need to be removed.In November a ‘sponsor a tile’ fundraising venture was launched and to date, the response from the village community has raised over<span style="font-size: 1rem;"> £8 000 of the estimated £26 000 needed. A remarkable achievement in a short space of time. Though housed in Barton Stacey Church, the tiles are a national treasure and we are lucky to have them in the Dever Valley. If you would like to help us raise the balance, you can sponsor a tile at £30 each. Every sponsor receives a certificate showing the position of their adopted tile. Please contact me at mdbailey066@gmail.com or telephone 01962 886883 for more details.</span>Mark BaileyRector
One of the Good News stories of 2019, and there will be quite a few, is that this year the law will change, introducing a £2 limit on fixed-odd betting machines. It will no longer be possible to pour £100 into a slot machine every twenty seconds, writes our Rector, Mark Bailey.Three hundred years ago parish priests were preaching sermons in pulpits about the evils of compulsive gambling. The biggest problem was that ‘gaming’ promoted equality. The rich man in his castle and the poor man at his gate become equals when they sit around the table and place their faith and their vulnerability in the randomness of the dice. When the dice lands on the table, will the rich man become the poor man, or the poor man leave poorer still? The problem for concerned clergy was that gambling had the power to upset the status quo and could do so in an instant. People who were educated and who were the pillars of establishment could, through a pack of cards, be reduced to surviving on the very frayed edges of society. Similarly, those who were of dubious reputation, could suddenly be elevated through ill-gotten wealth. Gambling threw order into chaos. It became a theological problem. There was an increasing understanding, not least amongst the more middle classes who began to enjoy more time for leisure, that there was a right place for excitement and relaxation – games of random risk were fun and to be enjoyed. Blind man’s buff, a popular Tudor game, is after all a harmless game of risk. When is gambling harmless and when is it harmful? The debate has now brought to light something that our 18th century mothers and fathers did not have to deal with but which for our own generation is becoming everywhere apparent – and that is the blight of compulsive gambling that is presented very seductively to children. And it is subtle. The fact that a 11-year-old can now download a computer game for free but then needs to buy add-ons and extras – known as micro-transactions - whilst playing the game, in their own bedroom, risks bringing young impressionable minds into the compulsive gambling arena. We are now told that 50,000 children have a gambling problem. That is harmful. We should all feel that pain. Compulsive gambling is no longer the prerogative of adults. Parents cannot afford to be naïve about this threat to innocence.Back in the good old days of 1793, a Hampshire Vicar inspired his congregation with the words, “Gamesters… cheat God of their time, their Redeemer of their affections, fellow man of their exertions, and risk their salvation on the issue of such a miserable misspent life.” And we might add, seriously need our prayers.God BlessMark
