Hello Everyone Yesterday, schools closed for their Summer holiday break, and everyone will be pleased, I am sure, to have a breather after a busy year. Year 4 children and staff at the Lower school reflected back over the past year at the Leavers' assembly, giving thanks and celebration for all that has been achieved, but with not a little sadness at the end of the season, as children and certain staff move on to new pastures. Tributes were made to learning and personal achievements during the year and there was no doubt that the residential stay this year had been a highlight with several children mentioning their sense of pride at having tackled something new. Awards were given out for a wide range of achievements and personal qualities. Mrs Lamb the Headteacher is one of several staff leaving at the end of the year. She, like all her staff, has worked so incredibly hard this year to offer a good standard of provision for the children in school. Mrs Stringer retired after an impressive teaching career at Toddington St George School and they, with other staff leavers, will be sadly missed. What a privilege teaching and working in school, is.. sowing seeds of knowledge, personal awareness, encouragement and development into young lives. I remember well, fom my teaching career, how moving it is at the end of the year, to say farewell to children, and staff, who have been such an important part of life. Thank you to the children and staff who have welcomed me into school this year. It has been a pleasure, and I look forward to working with Mr Darlington, the new Headteacher from September. My interest in gardens continues.. inspired by Toddington Open Gardens and Hampton Court flower show. With certain pictures of floral displays in my mind, and a sense of a new season, moving forward from dried tired shrubs to new growth and flowers, I am enjoying planting out certain perennial plants and watching them start to flourish. Thank goodness for the recent rains which have watered the soil. How good it is to be in cooler temperatures in this country at the moment.. but my heart goes out to all experiencing extreme heat temperatures abroad. Climate change is becoming very worrying and this encourages us as church to play our part and become more environmentally aware. I have noticed several churches displaying a wooden plaque from A Rocha.. marking the church's achievement as a bronze or silver award achiever. Toddington Church is keen to join the bronze club too and are almost there. I think the hazardous effects of climate change are calling us all to improve our environmental footprint. The week ahead at church is calmer but we are looking ahead to see what provision we can offer for our young people during the holidays, with thoughts of Creative Fun times for families.. children and adults, on a few Wednesdays during August (2, 9, and 16 - dates to be confirmed) from 10-1.30pm at Wilkinson Hall. If you would be interested to come along to one of these, or are able to offer to help, please let me or Dee know... and look out for posters later next week with details. This Sunday's Services: 9.30 am Holy Communion, Chalgrave Church - Linda 11.00 am Morning Praise Service Toddington Church - Malcolm Events this week: Monday 24th July 9.30 am Morning Prayer, Toddington Church Tuesday 25th July 10.30 am Knitting Group, Wilkinson Hall Wednesday 26th July 9.30 am Church Cleaning working party, Toddington Church 11.00 am – 1.00 pm Pop Up Tea Room, Tebworth Memorial Hall, with refreshments served by Chalgrave Church Thursday 27th July a rest day! Friday 28th July 10.30 am Painting for Pleasure group, Wilkinson Hall Saturday 29th July another rest day! Sunday Services 30 July 9.30 am Holy Communion Service, Chalgrave 11.00 am Holy Communion Service, Toddington Wishing you a peaceful, restful week and happy holidays! with best wishes Linda Rector Toddington and Chalgrave Contact number 07715 603557 revdtoddington@gmail.com revdchalgrave@gmail.com
Hello Everyone As Europe and America swelter in extremely high temperatures, we seem to have left Summer behind here in England for a few days, with cooler, rather damp days this week and high winds forecast for this weekend which doesn't bode well for Wimbledon, or for Toddington Church cake stall on the Green in the morning. Thank you to everyone who has provided cakes for sale.Inspired by Hampton Court Flower show last week, and with a few garden vouchers to spend, I enjoyed a few hours browsing a couple of garden centres this morning and laughed at myself standing in the pouring rain choosing plants for the garden, as the skies opened and buckets of rain poured down! Our garden seems rather bereft of colour this year, so I had a lovely time choosing a few special plants. Sadly, the rest of the day has been so wet, the plants are still waiting to be planted! There is something very peaceful about tending a garden so if you also enjoy time outside gardening and have a few hours to spare the church gardening groups, Dee and Sandy will be very pleased to hear from you. Toddington Church group usually meets on Wednesday morning from 10am for a couple of hours, and Chalgrave Church group meets once a month. (Sandy can give more information about dates and times for Chalgrave). Any time offered, will be most welcome.We are keen to maintain the churches in good structural order and are moving forward with restoration work within the Chancel of both churches: Chalgrave church restoration work is needed for a partly rotted roof beam, which is currently supported by scaffolding, and Toddington Church has had a recent consultation visit by the church architect to investigate fallen plaster from the East wall by the altar. Both jobs will be costly and so we will need to investigate grants and funding.. but hopefully, the work will be straightforward. Thank you so much for all your support with any of the church fundraising events. Your help is truly valued. I will update you as the work progresses.This Sunday's services:9.30am Chalgrave Church, Holy Communion Service - Linda11am Toddington Church, Holy Communion Service - Linda2pm Baptism service, Chalgrave Church - Linda6pm Evensong Service, Toddington Church - MalcolmThis week's services and events:Saturday 15th10am Toddington Church Cake Stall on the GreenSunday 16thServices as listed aboveMonday 17th9.30am Morning Prayer, Toddington ChurchTuesday 18th10.30am Knitting Group, Wilkinson Hall, ToddingtonWednesday 19th10am Gardening Working Group, Toddington ChurchThursday 20th2pm St George's Fellowship, Wilkinson Hall, ToddingtonFriday 21st10.30am Painting for Pleasure Group, Wilkinson Hall, ToddingtonEnd of Term for schools.The Following Week:Wednesday 26 July 11-1pm Chalgrave Pop Up Tea Room - Tebworth Memorial Hall (No Pop Up Tea Room in August)Friday 28 July 3.30pm Messy Church, Wilkinson Hall, ToddingtonThinking of you all. Do please get in touch with any queries, or with offers of help.With best wishesLindaRectorChalgrave and Toddington Churches07715 603557revdtoddington@gmail.com
Hello Everyone What a busy time of year.. it is officially Summer with Wimbledon fortnight in full swing, the mens' and ladies' Ashes cricket matches in full swing, RHS Hampton Court flower show finishes tomorrow, schools are preparing their end of term performances, with Parkfields school also celebrating their special anniversary, and my daughter moved house this week... with a little help from me and Nigel in packing and unpacking boxes. Inspired by the wonderful Toddington Open Gardens last week, I have bought a wonderful array of new plants to set in the garden. Oh, that our garden could become a beacon of colour and interest like some of the splendid gardens I viewed last week. Thank you so much to everyone who opened their gardens, or offered cakes for refreshments, or plants for the church plant stall. It was a very special week-end and I understand that an incredible amount of about £2,700 was raised by the Friends of St George's Church as funds to care for the church building. Thank you so much for all your support and generosity. This week, Youth group met on Tuesday evening and had a happy time making home-made pizzas.. and eating them! Ploughmans lunches were in full flow on Thursday with Coffee Morning this morning. Everyone works so hard! Thank you so much to all involved for your commitment and for the many voluntary hours given to make and serve food and to offering such a warm welcome to the village communities. This Sunday's Services 9.30 am Holy Communion Service, Chalgrave Church (in church as rain is forecast) 11.00 am Holy Communion Service, Toddington Church This week's events and services Monday 10 July 9.30 am Morning Prayer, Toddington Church 2.00 pm Seated Pilates, Wilkinson Hall Tuesday 11 July 10.30 am Knitting Group 5.45 pm Youth Group, Wilkinson Hall (tbc) Wednesday 12 July 10.30 am Toddington PCC, Toddington Rectory Thursday 13 July 2.00 pm Afternoon with Friends, Wilkinson Hall Friday 14 July 10.30 am Painting for Pleasure group, Wilkinson Hall Saturday 15 July 10.00 am Cake stall on the Green, Toddington Sunday 16 July 9.30 am Holy Communion Service, Chalgrave 11.00 am Holy Communion Service, Toddington 2.00 pm Baptism, Chalgrave Church 6.00 pm Evensong, Toddington Church Have a good week, Wishing you every blessing Linda Rector, Toddington and Chalgrave
Hello EveryoneI hope you have had a good week. Today is the 1st of July .. how can this be already?! As I write I hear a click of a ball against willow on the TV in the distance with two Ashes Cricket matches underway today, and next week Wimbledon will be in full force.. so Summer is officially here! Schools are busy preparing end of year performances with the staff and children looking forward to the Summer holidays after another very busy year. Nigel and I enjoyed a visit to Hidcote Gardens in the week marvelling at the array of flowers and fragrances, and next week we head off to a day at Hampton Court Flower show, so we too are enjoying the beauty of summer.This weekend the Friends of St George's Church have organised a busy Open Gardens experience, to raise funds for the church building, with about 17 gardens open for viewing around Toddington (tickets/programmes available at Wilkinson Hall). It is wonderful that so many people are willing to share their gardens, Thank-you! I am excited to walk around the different gardens, to have a chat on the way, to gather up inspiration and ideas, to meet people, to buy a few plants from the plant stall and have a piece of cake over a cuppa at Wilkinson Hall. I am so grateful for everyone's generosity of time and commitment, and to the willingness to share a joy of gardening and the blessings that fresh air brings. The Open Gardens are a joy each year. Opening Times: Saturday 11.00 am – 5.00 pm, Sunday 1.00 6.00 pmThis week the monthly Pop-Up Tea Room at Tebworth Memorial Hall provided a lovely gathering for folks from the villages, again enjoying a cuppa and cake (or a sausage roll, scone or quiche) and a natter and catch up. A special time for Chalgrave Church and the villages. Again, thank you to all involved.Looking ahead to this week, on Thursday, Toddington will host their monthly ploughman's lunch which will be swiftly followed on Saturday, by a coffee morning. More lovely opportunities to gather over food. I send a huge thank you to everyone who keeps these functions alive and resourced. The Chalgrave and Toddington teams are such expert cakemakers and providers.. and are keen to extend a warm welcome at events and in church.Youth group also enjoyed meeting up last Tuesday for a fun visit to the park and they meet again this Tuesday at Wilkinson Hall. This Sunday's Services - 2 July 20239.30 am Holy Communion, Chalgrave Church - Linda and Nigel11.00 am Holy Communion, Toddington Church - Linda (and possibly Nigel)This week's events:Monday 3rd9.30 am Morning Prayer, Toddington ChurchTuesday 4th10.30 am Knitting Group, Wilkinson Hall11.00 am Funeral, Toddington Church5.45 pm Youth GroupWednesday 5th7.00 pm Dunstable Deanery Synod, St Mary's Eaton BrayThursday 6th12.00 noon Ploughman's lunch, Wilkinson HallFriday 7th10.30 am Painting for Pleasure Group, Wilkinson HallSaturday 8th10.00 am Coffee Morning, Wilkinson HallSunday 9th July9.30 am Morning service, (second Sunday of the month - outdoors service, in the church grounds - if the weather is dry), Chalgrave Church11.00 am Holy Communion Service, Toddington ChurchSending you every good wishLindaRector Toddington and Chalgrave
