This month the Big Brayton Bonanza dominates Connected. What a beautiful, joyous event! Congratulations to all those who helped in any way, and in particular to organisers Lauren Howley & Claire Smallman - great work!Revd. Roy Shaw provides the Dear Friends article. Jumping off the consumer treadmill is so difficult. As I type this note at my workstation - a workstation that operates just fine - I'm very aware that I'll have to upgrade it in October because the operating system will no longer be supported. A few thousand pounds that only benefits Microsoft. Madness.On a more positive note, I’m happy to record the cutting of Robert Seager's hair; Robert is donating his locks to the Little Princess charity to help children who have lost their hair because of cancer. Good work Robert.Thank you to those who submitted photographs this month. I love you all.
This is a special copy of Connected for me - it is the 100th edition that I have produced. The first was in May 2017 when I had little idea that I would still be doing it over eight years later! Time flies.This month we are short of articles, and I have had to lean heavily on my subscription to Parish Pump to fill these pages. However I am indebted to Revd. Roy for the supply of the Dear Friends text. Also, a massive thanks to Lauren Howley for writing about the Brayton Bonanza that is due to be held on the Village Green on Sunday 24th August between 11am and 5pm. I am excited to see what the day will bring! Artist Martin Pearson also helped out with the surreal and splendid cartoon Bezza & Mave on the inside back page. And thanks also to Jan Tetley and Margaret Seager for the pictures.I am indebted to my regular contributors for the society updates in the Directory.Everything else I took from Parish Pump.
Welcome to the July 2025 edition of Connected.This month, Revd. Glyn Diggins writes about the importance of churches being both welcoming & invitational, and the differences between the two. An invitational church actively reaches out beyond its walls, encouraging others to join and participate.Revd. Roy Shaw updates us on his recent trip to Kenya, with other trustees of the Charity.Thorpe Willoughby WI held a Bake-off, but disappointingly they didn’t invite the Connected Editor to judge the finished cakes. An opportunity missed me thinks!Jill Clarke reports on the MU Cream Tea, and, coincidently, Jan Tetley supplied me with photographs of the St Francis Strawberry Tea event. I couldn’t help but notice that Revd. & Mrs Wilson managed to attend both events!Finally, there is an interesting article on tea drinking. As an aid to which biscuits go best with tea, I have added my dunking recommendations through out this edition of Connected. Beware the Rich Teas!
Welcome to the June 2025 edition of Connected.This month, Revd. Roy Shaw writes about the importance of saying “yes” to God. I’m not sure about Roy’s conclusions – “Should I have another whisky God?” wouldn’t normally result in the answer “yes”. Not according to Mrs Clarke anyway. There is a very moving article by Jean and Clive Dunn that concerns the early death of their granddaughter Milly. I urge you to read the text which is very sad, but it does have an uplifting ending.St Wilfrid’s held its Spring fair on a gloriously sunny Saturday afternoon in May. We also hear from Lynn Allan about a meeting of the mothers’ union in April, which I managed to omit from last month’s Connected, about a talk given by Kath & Clive Richardson entitled “the woman who didn’t exist”. Unfortunately, the talk didn’t exist, because of child demanding duties, and so they gave a different talk called “I don’t believe a word of it”. Words often heard in relation to Connected…We also have a notice about the deaths of Nan Sherwood and Nora Hurst, both staunch members of the Parish - they will be much missed. Finally, Brayton WI eats a ton of cake at Saltmarsh Hall Open Gardens, Yvonne Green celebrates the reappearance of Fred the spider at St Francis, and the PCC celebrates the work of Ruth Breeze over the past year, in the hope that she will continue in the role, obviously.
