NEWS18 walkers and three dogs took part in Cheryl’s Barsham walk on Saturday 19thJuly. This was a most successful social occasion with half of the participants from Barsham and half from Hempnall. From Barsham church, the four-mile route took us to Ringsfield church via the old main road to Barsham Bridge Cottages and the track past Lodge Farm. Taking the bridleway from Ringsfield Old Hall to Ringsfield New Hall, the return leg brought us back along Hall Road and then Clarkes Lane to the church and a magnificent and most welcome tea. Many thanks to Cheryl for organising the event and to all those who baked, served and cleared the lovely tea. The PCC is grateful for donations made for the tea, totalling £210.00.Bell ringers from the Friends of Derick Obergene Ringing Society came to ring the church bells on Monday morning 28th July. A large congregation gathered on Thursday 7th September for the funeral and burial of Victor Smith of Barsham.Haymaking began on Saturday 9th August and continued through the following week from Tuesday 12th. The mowing was undertaken by the Community Payback Team and the raking largely by members of the church (front cover picture: the Tuesday team). Once again this year, Chris Bardsley kindly provided her delicious ploughman’s lunches – so welcome after a morning’s hard labour in the sun! We are grateful to Community Payback for their cheerful support. The architect’s Quinquennial Inspection has been arranged for Tuesday 23rdSeptember with church architect Ruth Blackman. Sarah Jane’s next market stall is scheduled for 26th September. She would be grateful for any unwanted household goods in good condition to add to her stall. The July sales table organised by Chris Bardsley raised a magnificent £171.00. Amy reports that we contributed 169 items to the Beccles Food Bank in July. FORWARD PLANNINGA talk by Dr Barry Darch, Saturday 6th September at 2pm in Barsham Church: Righteous or Roguish? The Redes of Beccles and Barsham: 400 years of a prominent local family. A delicious Barsham tea will be available afterwards and donations for the talk and tea are invited to contribute to the cost of making safe the Rede tomb in the churchyard. Booking in advance not necessary. Ride, Stride & Drive, Saturday 13th September, 9am-5pm. Yellow sponsorship forms are available at the back of the church: when collecting sponsors, please ask them to give their full name, postal address and postcode, and to tick the Gift Aid box if they are taxpayers. There is also a sign-up sheet for those willing to join the rota of those manning the church on the day: helpers can also be sponsored for their efforts. Any questions about this event should be addressed to Cheryl.The Autumn Equinox is on Monday 22nd September. Cloud cover permitting, the illumination of the rood will be visible on the 21st, 22nd and 23rd September at about 5.50pm. The display is usually best on the day of the Equinox. Harvest Festival Evensong will be held at 5.30pm on Sunday 28th September. Harvest Supper follows at 7pm in the village hall. Tickets for Harvest Supper can be purchased from Bridget at £12.50 each.SNIPPETS – Making hay while the sun shinesThe annual haymaking in the churchyard is, of course, intended to keep the churchyard tidy and to encourage the regeneration of its diverse and precious flora and fauna. It is perhaps an echo of the hay-making that was for thousands of years, from the dawn of settled farming in Neolithic times until the recent age of mechanisation, one of the most important agricultural operations of the year. Hay was a staple crop, and haymaking was vital to the livelihood and survival of agrarian communities that depended on the power of horse and ox. Without hay – dried fodder – livestock could not survive the winter. Hay was also the main transport fuel right up to the age of mechanised transport in the 20th century. It enabled horse-drawn transport to operate around the year and to reach into regions without grazing. It should be no surprise that in Domesday Book at least 80% of the settlements recorded had their own hay meadows, and the frequent references to haymaking in medieval manuscripts, and its representation in the art and literature of later centuries reflects its central role in rural life. Think no further than Millet, Van Gogh, John Clare and Thomas Hardy, for instance.The timing of haymaking was crucial to its success. The leaf and seed material in hay, not the stalk, contains the nutritional value, so mowing had to be timed for when the leaf was at its maximum size and the seed nearly ripe. This required experience and judgement as well as luck, for a period of dry weather at the right time was essential. To get the job done before the hay was over-ripened or spoiled by rain, haymaking called for all hands – men, women and children – from across the social spectrum. This common purpose and the collaboration and cooperation that accompanied it served to strengthen social bonds and to maintain a sense of community. It was a feature of rural life now lost. Until the mid-19th century, and much later in some parts, mowing the hay was done by hand, using scythes. The cut herbage had to be turned and ‘tedded’ (spread out) to aerate and dry it as rapidly as possible to avoid fermentation. It was then raked into ‘windrows’, ready to be collected and piled into haystacks or carted to haylofts. Rainfall during the curing process could be a disaster. The damp caused leaching and moulding, which could ruin the entire crop, hence the idiom that survives into our own times: ‘make hay while the sun shines’.SEPTEMBER DIARYSunday 7th September – Twelfth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Jonathan Olanczuk.Sunday 14th September – Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Canon John Fellows.Sunday 21st September – Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity. 11.15am Sung Eucharist (BCP), Barsham. Revd Desmond Banister.Sunday 28th September – Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Graham Naylor.Sunday 28th September – Harvest Festival Evensong, 5.30pm. Revd Graham Naylor.Church correspondent: Robert Bacon 07867 306016, robert.bacon@yahoo.co.uk
NEWSThe annual Summer Lunch in the former churchyard at St Bartholomew’s Shipmeadow on 25th June was a triumph: a most congenial occasion with over 70 guests enjoying excellent company and a fabulous array of sumptuous culinary delights. Favoured with a fine day, it was the only day that week to escape strong winds. We extend our grateful thanks to Nick and Jenny Caddick for their hospitality and for welcoming us to the grounds of St Bartholomew’s, and to all those who cooked, catered and helped set up and clear away. Our Patronal Evensong on Trinity Sunday saw the inauguration of the handsome new service books. The service was followed by fizz and tasty bites. The Rev’d Graham played the organ at Sunday service on 13th July, and afterwards we were delighted to celebrate his birthday with customary Barsham hospitality. The Rt Revd Dr Joanne Grenfell has been appointed as the new Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. She takes up the position later this year and we look forward to welcoming her to Barsham in due course. Currently Bishop of Stepney in London, Bishop Joanne is also the Lead Safeguarding Bishop for the Church of England. Prior to ordination Bishop Joanne was a lecturer in English Literature at Oriel College, Oxford. The PCC met for routine business on Thursday 10th July. The old churchyard bench, repaired and restored, is now positioned in a peaceful spot in the churchyard under the east window. Copies of the Prayer Book magazine are available for loan at the back of the church. Please return them when finished. As many as ten swifts at a time have been seen over the churchyard. In addition, a jackdaw has been spotted feeding its young in one of the putlog holes high up on the face of the tower. The sales table organised by Jenny raised an excellent £120.00. The Summer Lunch raised a magnificent total of £1,320.00, comprising ticket sales of £883.00 with £348.00 from the raffle and £89.00 from the sale of drinks. We contributed 153 items to the Beccles Food Bank in June. FORWARD PLANNINGHaymaking will start on Monday 11th August and will continue for much of the week. The work will be led by the Community Payback Team, which has been keeping the parking area tidy this summer. Please do come and lend a hand if you can on any day and for whatever time you can manage. Raking hay is the chief task. It is helpful if you can bring your own rake. Chris Bardsley has kindly offered to provide her delicious ploughman’s lunch each day: please let her or Malcolm know if you are likely to be in for lunch so that she can cater appropriately for the numbers. The annual Suffolk Historic Churches Trust Ride, Stride & Drive, Saturday 13th September, 9am-5pm. The SHCT charity raises funds for the repair and restoration of churches and chapels in Suffolk. Of the money you might raise by sponsorship, half will come direct to Holy Trinity Barsham and the remainder placed in a central fund from which grants are made. Dick Carter is the Barsham organiser and Cheryl Coutts is the Beccles area coordinator. Participants are sponsored to walk, ride or drive around participating churches in the area – in the villages or around the town. From the beginning of August there will be yellow sponsorship forms available at the back of the church: when collecting sponsors, please ask them to give their full name, postal address and postcode, and to tick the Gift Aid box if they are taxpayers. There will also be a sign-up sheet for those willing to help by manning the church on a rota basis on the day, and helpers can also be sponsored for their efforts. Dr Barry Darch’s talk on the Redes of Beccles, Saturday 6th September at 2pm, Barsham Church, with a Barsham tea afterwards. SNIPPETS – St Bartholomew’s Church, ShipmeadowSitting in the churchyard at St Bartholomew’s, enjoying the summer lunch and taking in its glorious ambience, one cannot but notice how different the church is from Holy Trinity Barsham, most obviously with its shorter nave and chancel, its tiled roof, north porch and square tower. It feels very different and yet their stories have distinct parallels. The two churches are of a similar age: naves of the 11th or 12th century and chancels of the 14th. Both are constructed of flint rubble with stone dressings, albeit the plaster overlaying the flint survives better at Shipmeadow than at Barsham. The ancient round tower at Barsham is strikingly different from the square tower at Shipmeadow, but the addition of a new belfry of flint decorated with the newly fashionable building material, brick, at Barsham in the early 16th century echoes the building of a whole new tower of flint dressed with brick at Shipmeadow in the same period.In the 19th century both Shipmeadow and Barsham were important centres of the Anglo-Catholic revival in the Waveney Valley. Both benefitted from the work of Frederick Eden, one of the leading designers of Anglo-Catholic interior embellishment, most notably in his designs for new stained glass (and thereby hangs an intriguing tale for another time).Shipmeadow’s story diverges from that of Barsham however, in the community it served, both living and dead. From 1767 to 1938 the Rector of Shipmeadow was chaplain to the Wangford Hundred Workhouse at Shipmeadow, and from 1854 to 1859 to the Shipmeadow Penitentiary in Locks Lane. Inmates of the workhouse unfortunate enough to die there were buried in the churchyard at St Bartholomew’s, and the women of the Penitentiary walked up to the church every Sunday for morning service.AUGUST DIARYSunday 3rd August – Seventh Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Jonathan Olanczuk.Sunday 10th August – Eighth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Canon John Fellows.Sunday 17th August – Ninth Sunday after Trinity. 11.15am Sung Eucharist (BCP), Barsham. Revd Desmond Banister.Sunday 24th August – Tenth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Graham Naylor.Sunday 31st August – Eleventh Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Jonathan Olanczuk.Church correspondent: Robert Bacon 07867 306016, robert.bacon@yahoo.co.uk
NEWSThe new service book is here! Colin introduces the new book in an article printed below. He includes an appreciation of the editorial work done by a variety of people, but he himself has been the driving force and co-ordinator of the project and we owe him a huge vote of thanks for the considerable amount of time and effort he has invested in the project. On 28th May a party of 30 enthusiastic visitors from the Halesworth U3A Church Crawlers group enjoyed an afternoon at Holy Trinity with a talk and tour of the church by Robert, followed by a splendid tea kindly provided by Bridget and Cheryl. The electronic swift calls in the belfry have been effective at attracting the interest of swifts, which have regularly been seen circling the tower since the end of May. It’s not clear yet whether or not they are using the nest boxes. The sales table organised by Diana raised an impressive £140.00. The PCC wishes to extend its gratitude to the members of two visiting groups for their interest in Barsham Church and for their generous donations towards the upkeep of the church. The Halesworth U3A Church Crawlers group kindly donated £225.00 and the Round Tower Churches Society made a similar generous donation of £200.00. Many thanks to Sarah Jane who raised £134.00 for the Fabric Fund on her recent Market Stall event in Beccles.Thank you for the 298 items donated to the Beccles Food Bank in May, including much appreciated household items. FORWARD PLANNINGThe Summer Lunch will be at St Bartholomew’s Shipmeadow at 12.30pm on Wednesday 25th June. Tickets cost £12.50 per person and should be bought in advance from Bridget. Please bring your own chairs (and tables if you want them). All food and eating utensils are provided and drinks can be purchased there.Barsham walk with Cheryl’s church walking group, 2pm Sat 19th July, starting at the church. Just over 4 miles along the lanes and footpaths of Barsham. Tea afterwards at 4pm at the church. All welcome. Haymaking is likely to be taking place in the week commencing Monday 11thAugust. All helpers welcome. Details and confirmation of date to follow. Sarah Jane’s next market stalls in Beccles are scheduled for 26th September and 3rd October. She would welcome donations of any unwanted household items in good condition. Long-range diary dates (with details nearer the time): Sat 6th Sept at 2pm, Barsham Church: Dr Barry Darch’s talk on the Redes of Beccles. Sat 13th Sept: Ride & Stride. Sun 28th Sept: Harvest Festival Evensong and village hall supper. Thu 18th Dec: Christmas Carol Service.THE NEW SERVICE BOOK – An Introduction by Colin HarrisEvensong on our Patronal Day, Trinity Sunday, will witness the introduction of the new service book which will be used for the first time in Barsham Church following a complete revision of both music and liturgy, and it is fervently hoped that all congregants will find its use a pleasant and helpful experience. The book is composed of three sections, Holy Communion, Evensong and Psalms, each introduced with title and photograph. This has been very much a collaborative initiative over many months which has culminated in what I hope will prove to be a useful guide and aid to worshippers in Most Holy Trinity Church for many years to come.To simplify the service book, the harmonising staves have in most instances been removed, leaving only the notation of the melody which in turn enables the Nicene Creed, the Paternoster and Gloria to fit more neatly on fewer pages. A number of minor corrections have also been effected; who for instance was aware that for decades we had so dedicatedly sung what we believed to be the Ancient Three-Fold Kyrie not realising it was in fact a Nine-Fold rendition? Additionally, a larger font size has been employed throughout the book for ease of reading. Occasionally, in an attempt for perfection, a degree of pedantry occurred with the many alterations of pointing in the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, and requests for the substitution of some colons with ellipses! The final section contains a selection of some of the best loved psalms which may be used not only in services, particularly Evensong, but also for those desirous of quiet reflection and contemplation.I must pay tribute and extend my thanks to all who have contributed so much to the service book’s creation, especially Peter Gascogne for his utmost patience and his technical expertise in producing the printed format for both music and narrative, to Canon John Fellows who advised on ecclesiastical matters, and to our organist David Bunkell for his unequalled musical and liturgical knowledge which have so importantly shaped this book. My thanks also to members of the PCC and the working party, who so rigorously and thoroughly proofread the abundance of stages through which this book has evolved. My gratitude to Robert Bacon for his splendid photographs which so delightfully enhance the book and appropriately introduce each section.Finally and most importantly of all, my sincere thanks to the kind and generous donor who not only suggested the project but also funded this venture, and wishes to retain their anonymity.JULY DIARYSunday 6th July – Second Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). RevdJonathan Olanczuk.Sunday 13th July – Third Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Canon John Fellows.Sunday 20th July – Fourth Sunday after Trinity. 11.15am Sung Eucharist (BCP), Barsham. Revd Desmond Banister.Sunday 27th July – Fifth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Graham Naylor.Church correspondent: Robert Bacon 07867 306016, robert.bacon@yahoo.co.uk
NEWSEaster Day saw the welcome return of flowers to the church, including a beautiful display of Easter lilies (the PCC is grateful for donations towards the cost). The flower arrangements in church are widely appreciated and as reported to the APCM, ‘We are fortunate to have such a talented team of flower arrangers’. Thank you MaryJane, Cheryl, Denise, Bridget, Sarah, Margaret, Audrey, Philippa, Chris, Cherry and Diana. The APCM took place on Thursday 1st May, attended by the PCC and five members of the congregation. Bridget and Cheryl were re-elected as churchwardens and grateful thanks were extended to them for their commitment and expertise in carrying out their responsibilities and duties. The 80th Anniversary of VE Day was marked in our service on Sunday 11th May in the choice of music and in Canon John Fellows’ thought-provoking and powerful sermon. The inauguration of the beautiful new service books will be at the Patronal Evensong on Trinity Sunday, 15th June. More on this in the July Newsletter. Bridget and Cheryl have met the new Bishop of Richborough, the Right Reverend Luke Irvine-Capel SSC, who provides Alternative Episcopal Oversight to Anglo-Catholic parishes in the eastern region of the Province of Canterbury. He was previously Archdeacon of Chichester and was consecrated as Bishop of Richborough at Canterbury Cathedral in February. We look forward to welcoming him to Barsham in due course. 40 members of the Round Tower Churches Society visited the church on Saturday 10th May prior to refreshments and their AGM at the village hall. The electronic swift calls in the tower have been switched on in the hope of attracting swifts to the belfry nest boxes. Please let us know of any sightings. We are grateful to the Community Payback Team for their recent work tidying up the vegetation around the parking area. Sarah Jane’s recent market stalls at Beccles market have raised £251.00 towards the renovation of the Rede tomb, and her next is on Friday 6th June, and then 26thSeptember and 3rd October. If anyone has unwanted household items in good condition, she would much appreciate having them for her stall. The sales table organised again by Jenny raised a very useful £120.00. The first ever Easter Hamper Raffle realised a splendid £170.00 for the fabric fund. The Beccles Food Bank thanks Barsham for the 175 items donated in April and would be grateful for the donation of household utensils as well as food. FORWARD PLANNINGThe Summer Lunch will be at St Bartholomew’s Shipmeadow at 12.30pm on Wednesday 25th June. Tickets cost £12.50 per person and should be bought in advance from Bridget. Barsham walk with Cheryl’s church walking group, 2pm Sat 19th July, starting at the church. Just over 4 miles. Tea afterwards at 4pm. All welcome. Long-range diary dates (with details nearer the time): Sat 6th Sept at 2pm, Barsham Church: Dr Barry Darch’s talk on the Redes of Beccles. Sat 13th Sept: Ride & Stride. Sun 28th Sept: Harvest Festival Evensong and village hall supper. Thu 18th Dec: Christmas Carol Service.SNIPPETS – A Blackbird in JuneIn the centre of the chancel lies the decorative marble ledger stone of Thomas Missenden, Rector of Barsham for 34 years in the mid-18th century (photo, front cover). He furnished his memorial with inscriptions in both Greek and Latin, the latter his reflection on the transient nature of life and translated as ‘The present hour is thine: The next no man can claim’. So, how to make the most of the ‘present hour’? One answer is a touch of mental housekeeping to bring under control the corrosive ‘noise’ of daily cares and anxieties that clutter minds and steal emotional energy. The Times recently reported on research at Cambridge University suggesting that ‘Taking time to contemplate aesthetically pleasing art can boost abstract thinking and free us from everyday anxieties…allowing for greater clarity and a healthier perspective’. Indeed, pausing consciously to appreciate beauty – not only in art but in a myriad of other forms, including human love and the natural world – can only help to enrich the present. This notion is perfectly illustrated in Edward Thomas’ poem Adelstrop, written in 1915 during the First World War and recalling a pre-war train journey when the train made an unscheduled halt at Adlestrop (‘…drew up there. Unwontedly.’). The stillness of the halt afforded Thomas a moment of unexpected serenity and tranquility as he soaked up the pastoral scene before him. The poem’s focus is the beauty of the natural world and the value of observing and appreciating often fleeting and unexpected moments of wonder and beauty in the everyday world. The poem is all the more poignant as Edward Thomas was killed on Easter Day 1917 in the thunderous violence and chaos of the Battle of Arras. The poem was published in the New Statesman three weeks later. Yes. I remember Adlestrop —The name, because one afternoonOf heat the express-train drew up thereUnwontedly. It was late June.The steam hissed. Someone cleared his throat.No one left and no one cameOn the bare platform. What I sawWas Adlestrop—only the nameAnd willows, willow-herb, and grass,And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry,No whit less still and lonely fairThan the high cloudlets in the sky.And for that minute a blackbird sangClose by, and round him, mistier,Farther and farther, all the birdsOf Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire. JUNE DIARY Sunday 1st June – Seventh Sunday of Easter. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). RevdJonathan Olanczuk.Sunday 8th June – Pentecost. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Canon John Fellows.Sunday 15th June – Trinity Sunday, Patronal Festival. 11.15am Sung Eucharist (BCP), Barsham. Revd Desmond Banister.6.30pm Patronal Evensong with new service books. Revd Graham Naylor.Sunday 22nd June – First Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Graham Naylor.Sunday 29th June – Second Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Graham Naylor.Church correspondent: Robert Bacon 07867 306016, robert.bacon@yahoo.co.uk
