NEWSThe four Candles of Advent were lit on successive Sundays leading up to Christmas, each candle representing a different aspect of the Advent season – the Prophesy Candle symbolising hope, the Bethlehem Candle peace, the Shepherd’s Candle joy, and the Angel Candle love. Finally, the Christ Candle was lit on Christmas morning, celebrating the arrival of Christ. The Festival of Seven Lessons and Nine Carols on the evening of 18th December was attended by a congregation of 62 people. Lit only by the 18 flickering candles of the great brass candelabra in the nave, Cheryl’s solo first verse of Once in Royal set the tone for an atmospheric service. It was uplifting to hear again the familiar words of the readings, and the choir’s sparkling descants soared majestically above the enthusiastic singing of the congregation. Further treats followed in the form of mince pies and mulled wine, sausage rolls and spiced apple juice, and the drawing of the Christmas raffle, which raised a splendid £250. Very many thanks to those who contributed to the Christmas hampers for the raffle, to Jean Cooksley for the splendid Christmas cake, and to those who decorated the church so beautifully with flowers and candles. The setting up of the crib heightened expectation of Christmas and you may have noticed in church over the Christmas period the figurines of the three wise men making their journey towards the crib, one windowsill at a time from the window beside the main door to the crib, arriving there at Epiphany – the Feast of the Three Wise Men – on 6th January. This celebrates the visit of the Magi to the new-born Jesus, having been led by the star to Bethlehem (picture, front cover).We were delighted to welcome as our visiting preacher on Sunday 1st January, the Archdeacon of Suffolk, the Ven Jeanette Gosney. On Sunday 29th January morning sung Eucharist will be followed by a Benefice bring-and-share lunch in Barsham Village Hall at 1pm, for those who wish to attend. Please contact Josh to let him know what food you can bring so that some coordination can be managed. A Benefice Evensong service will follow at Barsham at 5.30pm.Wednesday Matins will resume on a weekly basis at 8.45am from 1st February. 152 items were donated to the Foodbank in December, bringing our total contribution for the year to 2,352 donations – a tremendous outcome, much valued by the Waveney Foodbank and its beneficiaries. FORWARD PLANNINGThe Spring Equinox falls on Monday 20th March and, assuming bright and sunny weather, the ‘Equinox Event’ in the church may be seen late afternoon on that day and on one day either side. Refreshments are served beforehand. The Choir of St Edmundsbury Cathedral will sing Choral Evensong at Barsham at 3.30pm on Sunday 5th March.SNIPPETS – The Visitors Book 2022Holy Trinity Barsham receives several hundred occasional visitors each year. Only a relatively small proportion, I suspect, stop to sign the visitors book, but a survey of entries for 2022 sheds some light on the purpose of their visits and how far they have travelled. There are 83 separate entries in the visitors book for the year 2022, representing 131 named people. Overseas visitors included people from Germany, Canada, Australia and four states of the USA – Iowa, Maryland, Virginia and California. Unsurprisingly, the majority of UK visitors – 63% – came from the Eastern counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire. Indeed, a quarter of visitors came from Beccles, Lowestoft, Norwich and nearby rural parishes. But London and 15 other English counties are also represented, being Kent, Surrey, East and West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire in the south; Rutland, Lincolnshire and Warwickshire in the Midlands; Somerset, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire further west; and in the north Manchester, Cheshire and Lancashire. Our furthest UK visitors came from Shetland.Some occasional visitors, of course, are drawn here for Sunday service or for weddings, funerals and memorial services; and others are attracted by special events such as the Lindley Light Show, the Equinox events or Ride and Stride; while some come with study groups, perhaps with the U3A or the Round Tower Churches Society. There are those too who come to remember: a pilgrimage to an old familiar place, or to pay their respects at a family grave. A good proportion of visitors come out of interest in the history of the building, or for its beauty. With good reason, Holy Trinity Barsham is written up enthusiastically in most gazetteers of Suffolk churches. One of the visitors this year was Simon Knott, whose well-known website Churches of East Anglia includes an account of our church.Some visitors come on ancestral pilgrimage. A party of 18 came from North America, all of them descended from Elizabeth Blennerhassett (c1537-c1608) of Barsham Hall and her husband Sir Lionel Throckmorton (1525-1599), who married at Holy Trinity Barsham in June 1561. Two other entries, unrelated, recorded in the visitors book their Suckling kinship.A pilgrim of a different kind signed the book in June. Our first visitor on the Church Walking Pilgrimages scheme took overnight sanctuary in the church and came to Matins the following morning. She was walking the first section of the Via Beata pilgrimage route from Lowestoft to St Davids in Pembrokeshire. Amongst the brief comments most frequently committed to the visitors book are expressions of thanks for being open (a legacy of Covid lockdowns perhaps) and remarks about the beauty and peacefulness of the church – a reminder, if any were needed – of how fortunate we are in our special surroundings. FEBRUARY DIARYSunday 29th January – Candlemas (Presentation of Christ in the Temple). 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Jonathan Olanczuk.Sunday 29th January – 5.30pm Benefice Evensong at Barsham. Rev Josh Bailey.Sunday 5th February – Third Sunday before Lent. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). RevJonathan Olanczuk.Sunday 12th February – Second Sunday before Lent. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Canon John Fellows.Sunday 19th February – Sunday before Lent. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Josh Bailey.Wednesday 22nd February – Ash Wednesday. 10am Holy Communion, Holy Trinity, Bungay. Rev Josh Bailey. 7pm Holy Communion, All Saints, Mettingham. Rev Josh Bailey. Sunday 26th February – First Sunday of Lent. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Josh Bailey.Every Wednesday at 8.45am – Matins at Barsham. Church correspondent: Robert Bacon 07867 306016, robert.bacon@yahoo.co.uk
NEWSWe are most grateful to the Lindley family for presenting a second magnificent Light Show in the church in November: to William for creating the show and to David and Penny for so generously sponsoring the event. This year’s show included some new artwork and further stretched the artistic possibilities by extending projections along the length of the nave as well as the chancel. The combination of swirling movement, colour, light and artistic design, along with beautiful choral music from Salisbury Cathedral Choir, made for a spectacular and ethereal immersive experience. The creation of such a show is complex and William explains in ‘Snippets’ (below) something of his process. The refreshments, kindly prepared by the ladies of the church, included mulled wine and delicious bites and added to the delights of the evening. The show attracted 187 visitors over the two nights and raised £720 for church funds.There will be no Wednesday Matins services during January on account of the cold in the building. The Foodbank was most appreciative of the 205 items we sent via Amy in November. Very many thanks to everyone for maintaining this giving: a much-needed lifeline for a growing number of people this winter. The November sales table organised by Sarah Jane realised £80. Meanwhile, Sarah Jane has continued her fine work selling the legacy bears, raising a further £267 in November and bringing the cumulative total to a remarkable £2,282. Erratum: in the December edition of the Newsletter, I erroneously wrote that Sir Astley Paston Cooper, 1st Baronet, the pioneering surgeon, was the brother of the Rev’d Rede Rede. To set the record straight, he was in fact Rede Rede’s uncle. Happy New Year 2023! The end of one year and the beginning of the next might be a time to reflect on and be thankful for the devotion shown by so many in maintaining our beautiful church and its services, and in giving it a broader function and place in the community. So, thank you to the clergy who officiate; to those who prepare the church for services and tidy up afterwards; to the organists; to the flower arrangers, cleaners and brass polishers; to those who prepare food and provide refreshments; to those who organise events and others who act as stewards; to those who look after the churchyard and maintain the building; to those who support and administer the foodbank; to those who raise funds and those who donate; and thanks to the PCC for the varied tasks they undertake – organisational, financial, practical.FORWARD PLANNINGOur Eucharist Service on Christmas Day will start at 10.30am, not the routine time of 11.00am. The Archdeacon of Suffolk, the Ven Jeanette Gosney, will be preaching at morning Eucharist on Sunday 1st January. SNIPPETS – An article by Will Lindley on his Light ShowIt is always a pleasure to be able to work in such extraordinary, historic buildings such as Holy Trinity church and it has been wonderful to be able to create a light show for the church again this year. Creating such a project involves a process of site visits, historical research, drawing, animation and testing projections on site. After initially exploring the potential of the site, I find it useful to test the projection as soon as possible, to help develop the film work. I create drawings of the site, and architectural features and details of the building, usually in pen and ink using a nib and ink pot, which I then digitize and adapt on the computer. I then begin the process of filmmaking and animation, to test the possibilities for the work. The animation process is quite involved, building up all the different drawings and images that I have created, as well as using some pre-existing work, experimenting with different speeds, layering, colour, texture and so forth, and how it fits with the music/soundscape. With the beginnings of the film work, I then return to site and test the projections to see how they work in the space, before final development and presentation at the event. I very much enjoy working on these site-specific projects and these form a key element of my artistic practice. All my work starts with drawings, and besides my commissioned light shows I create drawings, etchings and illustrations. Much of my work is concerned with place and landscape, exploring and reimagining places past, present and future and I have recently created projects in Clay Cross in Derbyshire and Slough, incorporating workshops where local peoples’ work is included. I also very much enjoy working with musicians, recently working with a string quartet in Lincolnshire for a festival event and another creating a projection to accompany the London Medical Orchestra’s performance of Stravinsky’s The Firebird. In the New Year I will be creating artwork about dementia with a neuroscientist at The University of Sussex.I would very much like to thank the Barsham Parochial Church Council for agreeing to stage the light show and for all their help with the organizing, promoting and stewarding the show, as well as the delicious refreshments made by members of the congregation. Many thanks as well to my parents for so kindly supporting the event. www.williamlindley.co.ukJANUARY DIARYSunday 25th December – Christmas Day. 10.30am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Josh Bailey.Sunday 1st January – The Holy Name. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Josh Bailey. Preacher: The Ven Jeanette Gosney, Archdeacon of Suffolk. Sunday 8th January – Baptism of Christ. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Canon John Fellows.Sunday 15th January – Second Sunday of Epiphany. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Josh Bailey.Sunday 22nd January – Third Sunday of Epiphany. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Josh Bailey.Sunday 29th January – Candlemas. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Jonathan Olanczuk.Sunday 5th February – Third Sunday before Lent. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). RevJonathan Olanczuk.Church correspondent: Robert Bacon 07867 306016, robert.bacon@yahoo.co.uk
NEWSFollowing a funeral at St Bototolph’s Grimston, memorial services for Bob McNeil-Watsonwere held at The Players Theatre, Lowestoft and on 30th October at Barsham, the latter attended by almost 70 people. Bob’s invaluable service as organist at Barsham was just a small part of an extensive and distinguished career in music. Bob graduated in Music at UEA, studied composition under Benjamin Britten and became a schoolteacher – of modern foreign languages as well as music. In due course he became a freelance musician, teaching piano, keyboard, flute and singing; and he became a prolific and popular musical director. His contributions to and leadership of community performances – in musical shows, pantos, plays, choirs and orchestras – in Norfolk, Suffolk and beyond, became legendary. In Lowestoft he was Musical Director of The Lowestoft Players for over 26 years. Bob touched many lives and he will be remembered with much fondness and gratitude. We offer our sincere condolences to Sheila, his wife. The Lowestoft Journal’s fine tribute to Bob is available online at: https://www.lowestoftjournal.co.uk/news/obituaries/touching-tributes-bob-mcneil-watson-lowestoft-9346546.The PCC hosted the annual clergy lunch on the 2nd November to express our appreciation and thanks to the team of clergy who enable us to maintain regular Sunday services at Barsham. The annual Service of Remembrance took place at the village hall on the Friday 11thNovember, followed by a further act of Remembrance in the church on Remembrance Sunday, when Neville Smith called the names of the Fallen. William Lindley’s fabulous Light Show returned to Barsham on the evenings of 18th and 19th November. At the time of printing we have only had the first evening, which was attended by 87 visitors, many of them returning after last year’s show to enjoy again this wonderfully atmospheric and immersive experience. Full report to follow next month. There will be no Wednesday Matins services during December and January. There will be a regular benefice bring-and-share lunch at 1pm in Mettingham Village Hall on the fifth Sunday of those months with five Sundays. 29th January is the next occasion. All are welcome. The Rectors and Patrons board has been updated and rehung. A super 248 items were donated to the Foodbank in October, including 78 items at Harvest Festival: thank you for your generosity. Following Sarah-Jane’s suggestion of donating teddy bears with chocolate coins to the foodbank in December, foodbank gifts of chocolate coins would be much appreciated.Collections at Sunday services in October amounted to £1,187 and the collection at Bob’s memorial service raised £152 for the church, for which we are grateful. The sales tableorganised by Chris Bardsley raised an impressive £183, a sum enhanced by the sales of her beautiful Christmas decorations. Thanks are also extended to Doreen Springall for the proceeds of her produce stall, which during the course of the year has yielded a remarkable £316. Barsham with Shipmeadow PCC very gratefully acknowledges donations of £200, £80, £625 and £125, the last being a contribution towards the cost of refurbishing the lychgate. FORWARD PLANNINGThe Christmas Carol Service will be held at 5.30pm on Sunday 18th December.Refreshments will be served afterwards – mulled wine, sausage rolls and mince pies! Our Eucharist Service on Christmas Day will start at 10.30am, not the routine time of 11.00am. The Archdeacon of Suffolk, the Ven Jeanette Gosney, will be preaching at morning Eucharist on Sunday 1st January. SNIPPETS – The Rede Communion SetChristmas Day this year marks the bicentenary of the gift to the church of the Communion set (pictured front) by the Rev’d Rede Rede of Ashman’s Hall, Barsham. The patten is in regular use and the cup will be used throughout December to mark the 200th anniversary. The legend around the base of the cup reads: Presented to the Parish of Barsham by the Rev’d Rede Rede, the 25th December 1822. The gift was made in memory of the Rev’d Rede Rede’s uncle, Robert Rede, who died on 13th August 1822 and whose remains lie with those of his wife Charlotte in the vault under the once imposing and now crumbling table tomb that is such a familiar landmark in our churchyard. Robert Rede (1763-1822) was a lawyer who built Ashman’s Hall between 1814 and 1820 on the Roos Hall estate, which had been bought by his father Thomas Rede in 1805. With no children of his own, Robert Rede left the Hall to his nephew, the Rev’d Robert Rede Cooper (1794-1852), son of his sister Sarah Leman Rede. Upon inheriting Ashmans, Robert Rede Cooper assumed by Royal License the name Rede Rede.The Redes were originally a Norwich family and several generations had been Mayors there in the 15th and 16th centuries, but by the mid-16th century they were established in Beccles. A Rede daughter, Ursula, married Thomas Colby, who built the present Roos Hall in 1583. A daughter of the Rev’d Rede Rede, Louisa Charlotte Rede, married Frank Fowke, an officer in the Royal Engineers, who was a notable architect and engineer, much favoured by Prince Albert. Fowke designed various important mid-19th century public buildings, amongst them the Royal Albert Hall and parts of the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Museum of Science and Arts in Edinburgh, the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin, and the exhibition hall for the 1862 International Exhibition in London. He also won the competition to design the Natural History Museum but died before it could be built and his designs were altered and finally realised by Alfred Waterhouse. The Rev’d Rede Rede of Ashmans had an uncle, Sir Astley Paston Cooper, who was a pioneering surgeon in the early 19th century and founder of the Medical and Chirurgical Society. He was Professor of Comparative Anatomy to the Royal College of Surgeons, President of the Royal College of Surgeons and surgeon to George IV, who created him 1stBaronet. His statue graces St Paul’s Cathedral.December DiarySunday 4th December – Second Sunday of Advent. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). RevJonathan Olanczuk.Sunday 11th December – Third Sunday of Advent. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Canon John Fellows.Sunday 18th December – Fourth Sunday of Advent. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Josh Bailey.Sunday 18th December – 5.30pm Carol Service. Sunday 25th December – Christmas Day. 10.30am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Josh Bailey.Sunday 1st January – The Holy Name. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Josh Bailey. Preacher: The Ven Jeanette Gosney, Archdeacon of Suffolk. Church correspondent: Robert Bacon 07867 306016, robert.bacon@yahoo.co.uk
NEWSAt Harvest Festival Evensong on the 2nd October we were delighted to welcome as our preacher the Rev Martin Bailey, father of our own Rev Josh. The church was looking beautiful, thanks to the flower arrangers, who excelled as always in creating spectacular displays of seasonal flowers (front cover) in addition to Colin and Margaret’s Turk’s turban squashes and their fantastic ornamental gourds. This year we were invited to bring tins of food for the Beccles Food Bank and these were duly blessed and subsequently dispatched. Harvest Supper that evening at the village hall was another welcome and successful collaboration between Barsham church and village hall. It was attended by 45 guests, who enjoyed excellent company and a choice of magnificent dishes. Huge thanks to all those who prepared the delicious food and provided the drinks, and those who decorated and laid the tables so beautifully and, likewise, to those who washed up and cleaned the following morning. On Wednesday 12th October the U3A History Walking Group enjoyed one of Barsham’s celebrated church teas, kindly provided by the ladies of the church. The U3A group had spent the afternoon looking at aspects of past and present landscape use, exploring evidence for the continuity of settlement in Barsham from the Mesolithic through the Bronze Age, Iron Age, the Roman period, and the Middle Ages up to modern times; and then hearing a little about the history of Barsham Hall and some of its former owners. Our congregation donated 143 items to the Foodbank in September and the generous gifts given at Harvest Festival on 2nd October will be reported in the next edition of the Newsletter. Warmest thanks to all who continue to support this vital service at a time when more people are struggling in the current economic climate. The Waveney Foodbank website says the most needed items at present are UHT fruit juice and instant mash, though other foods are equally welcome.Collections at Sunday services in September amounted to £1,163 and the sales tableorganised by Jenny raised a splendid £110. Thanks to the efforts of those who gamely took part, the total raised through Ride and Stride was £869, to be shared equally between the Suffolk Historic Churches Trust and Barsham. The Harvest Supper yielded £525, and the tea provided for the U3A history walkers brought in a further £80. FORWARD PLANNINGBarsham Village Hall Curry Night, 29th October at 7pm in the village hall. All are welcome and tickets are available from Carol and Zane Blanchard (01502 711394, carolzaneblanchard@talktalk.net)Service of Remembrance at the Village Hall, Friday 11th November. The hall will be open from 10.30am and the service will start at 10.50am, with the Last Post, two-minute silence and Reveille starting at 11am. Wreaths will be laid at the village war memorial outside and the names of Barsham’s First World War dead will be called (there were none in the Second World War), as will the names of the American airmen killed when their aircraft was shot down at Barsham in 1944 (see below). Marking Remembrance-tide, on Saturday 12th November at 7.30pm in St Michael’s Church, Beccles the Beccles Choral Society with the Kingfisher Sinfonietta will be performing The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace by Karl Jenkins. The programme also includes George Butterworth’s The Banks of Green Willow and war poems read by Paul Heiney. Butterworth, who wrote his Idyll The Banks of Green Willow in 1913, was killed in action three years later in the Battle of the Somme. Tickets for the concert cost £20 each and are available through Cheryl (cherylcoutts468@btinternet.com) and Beccles Bookshop. The second Barsham Church Light Show will take place on Friday 18th and Saturday 19th November from 5.30 to 8.00pm. Free of charge, this art installation exhibition by artist William Lindley is a repeating display of digital artwork projections inside the church and includes projection of historic photographs of the local area. Do drop in at any time between 5.30 and 8.00pm. All ages, no booking and no tickets required, donations appreciated. Ample parking. Refreshments available. Holy Trinity Church, Barsham, Suffolk, NR34 8HA.SNIPPETS - The Barsham B-24 Liberator and a new American ConnectionWith Remembrance Day approaching, readers will, I am sure, remember the story of the American B-24 Liberator aircraft that fell to earth just opposite the village hall on the night of 22nd April 1944, killing seven members of the crew, just 12 days after flying their first mission. The aircraft was returning to its base at Rackheath, near Norwich after a raid on Hamm in Germany when it was attacked and shot down by one or possibly two German Me 410 intruders. That night the intruders destroyed 14 returning USAAF Liberators with the loss of 60 airmen (for further reading see Night of the Intruders by Ian MacLachlan, published by Patrick Stephens Ltd, 1994, ISBN 1 85260450 6). Thanks to the efforts of former church warden Denis Sporle, the crew of the Barsham B-24 are commemorated at the war memorial beside the village hall, and they will be remembered by name at the Remembrance Day service. I mention this because I was contacted earlier this year by Professor Al Claiborne, who is related through his mother to the wife of 2nd Lt Glen Ferguson, the aircraft’s navigator. Ferguson and his wife Helen had married just three weeks before he was deployed to England and three months before he was killed at Barsham. Now retired, Al has been involved in a good deal of historical research, including the stories of several relatives who came to England with the USAAF in the Second World War. He lives in North Carolina, where he was for 22 years Professor of Biochemistry at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. To further his research and add colour to his understanding of events, he has suggested that he might make a trip to England and to Barsham next year – in which case I am sure we shall have the opportunity of meeting him.NOVEMBER DIARYSunday 30th October – All Saints. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Josh Bailey.Sunday 30th October – All Saints. 6.30pm Benefice Choral Evensong, Holy Trinity, Bungay. Rev Josh Bailey.Sunday 6th November – Third Sunday before Advent. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). RevJonathan Olanczuk.Sunday 13th November – Second Sunday before Advent. Remembrance Sunday. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Priest TBC.Sunday 20th November – Christ the King. Safeguarding Sunday. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Josh Bailey.Sunday 27th November – First Sunday of Advent. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Josh Bailey.Every Wednesday at 8.45am – Matins at Barsham Every Wednesday at 10am – Holy Communion (CW) at Holy Trinity, Bungay.Church correspondent: Robert Bacon 07867 306016, robert.bacon@yahoo.co.uk
