Leam Valley Messenger. From the Registers. Season of Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness

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1 Leam Valley Messenger Flecknoe October/November 2015 Rev Jane Close The Vicarage, Lower Street Tel: Mobile: Reader: Dr Alec Parker Orchard Cottage Broadwell Tel: If you wish to contact Rev Jane by , her address is: Season of Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness British Summers are notoriously unpredictable hence the annual exodus to sunny beaches abroad! But in the autumn we can settle down to a more stable environment in which we can appreciate the gifts that have been bestowed upon us. There is less warmth in the sun, but the colours of the leaves are brilliant, often indescribably beautiful. Harvests seem to get earlier and much has already been gathered in. All the more point, then, to stop and think of the blessings we have received. Granted, much of the harvest is gathered by machine, but we still need to be thankful for the farmers willing to work long hours and for their foresight in investing in the necessary capital. Autumn is a time to count our blessings, but in so doing, to think also of those less fortunate than ourselves. The plight of refugees from war-torn Syria rightly fills our daily news programmes. Their suffering is immense and the numbers involved have not been seen since the end of World War II. This is a truly international problem, but let us resolve to help where we can. We need to pray; also to be welcoming, remembering Our Lord s words that Whatever you do unto the least of these little ones you do unto me. Living in our beautiful and prosperous countryside, I also feel bound to say that we should not forget our neighbours living in the ghettos and tenement blocks of our cities. Autumn is thus a time for thought. Autumn is also a time to remember. We remember with pride all those who in two World Wars, and in many conflicts since, have dared to risk death or injury to save our civilisation. Man hath no greater love than this: to lay down one s life for one s friends. The freedom we enjoy is very important: if it were not so, why would so many want to share it? Paradoxically, this freedom also includes the right to disagree. When faced with the prospect of armed conflict, there have been those Christians who held that such activity is always wrong that one human being should not kill another. These dissenters have paid a heavy price my biology master was one. In another twist to the tale, it has recently been shown possible for someone sitting at a desk in Lincolnshire to execute a Briton in the Middle East. Much prayer is needed on this and other topics, not least for the wise use of advances in technology and the ability to balance the conflicting needs of defending ourselves and helping others. Does all this leave one with a sense of inadequacy, the need to say But what can I do? Before you have the next copy of the Messenger, you will be fully immersed in preparations for Christmas! It will be evident from the above that funding is required on many fronts, but I would prioritise the needs of children, the homeless and those injured in war. In buying your Christmas cards may I urge you to go to those charities that support these causes rather than use from other sources less worthy tokens of Our Saviour s birth? Alec Baptisms: Weddings: Funerals: From the Registers We welcome you into the life and membership of the church: Grace Tabitha and Jemima Jane Smith 2 nd August at Flecknoe George Edward Farmer 19 th September at Henry James Watts 27 th September at We congratulate those who have recently married: Richard Farmer and Sarah Farmer 19 th September at Elizabeth Jolly and Peter Alexander on 26 th September at Flecknoe We offer our sympathy and the assurance of our prayers to the relatives and friends of: Gordon Royans whose burial took place on 3rd September at All Saints Church,

2 Church News and Notices The Churches of the Leam Valley need your support! If you receive the Leam Valley Messenger, you live in one of the four parishes of the Leam Valley Benefice -,, and Flecknoe. The Churches of these parishes are almost entirely dependent on the donations of local people to survive. The need is urgent. All the Churches are struggling to raise enough income to meet their regular outgoings. Even if you do not regularly attend any of the Churches at present, please give generously to ensure that your Church is there when you need it. Contact your Parish Treasurer for details of how to give. If you want to help, please do this now! Flecknoe: Andrew Grant : Eddie Kirk : : Kay Reeve kay@reeve60.org.uk : Audrey Mitchell Benefice Holiday Club Clare Grant writes - we had a record number of children coming to our Holiday Club held in Flecknoe in July. A BIG THANK YOU to all the helpers and the children who came. Our theme was Temptation. The highlight of the 3 days for me was the day we visited Coventry Cathedral (others might have chosen playing rounders, playing football, making paper stain glass windows, making peppermint creams, playing the parachute game, making a snakes and ladders game, visiting the Ryton Pools adventure playground, making the City of God or doing the collage of the Temptation of Adam and Eve). At the Cathedral we had the exciting experience of singing the Lord's Prayer sitting in the Choir stalls, the children sang like angels! This was no mean feat as we had only had 20 minutes rehearsal the previous day under the expert guidance of Charmaine Williams. We also climbed the Cathedral tower for a panoramic view of Coventry. Farmers Market Come along and join us at our next markets held on Thursday 1 st October and Thursday 5 th November from am pm. We have three new stallholderswho have recently joined us. Our local publican, Peter Wilson, from the Shoulder of Mutton has a stall and is selling a large selection of local bottled beers brewed in Rugby We have another local group from Staverton, Green Acres Enterprise who offer informal educational opportunities for young people to learn to grow and cook their own food. They are selling vegetables, cakes and produce made from their vegetable garden. We are hoping that by the Spring they will have a much larger selection of vegetables on offer. We also have a new local baker who has taken a stall Rugby Real Bread. We were very sorry to lose Reece Hetherington from Caked in Bread who had been with us since we started our market, but since opening up his business in Brackley, he has been unable to find the time to continue with farmers markets.. Healing Services The next Services will be on Tuesday 20 th October and Tuesday 17 th November at 7.30 pm in the Church of the Good Shepherd, Broadwell. All welcome. Harvest Suppers Harvest Services and Supper Dates for the diary: : Harvest Festival service at on Sunday 4th October, followed by a bring and share lunch. Flecknoe: : Benefice Christingle Service Harvest Festival service at 5.00 pm on Sunday 4 th October, followed by Harvest Supper after service. Tickets from Claire Harvest Festival service 5.00 pm on Sunday 11 th October, followed by Harvest Supper at 6.00 pm. Tickets from Sarah Adults 3 Children On Sunday 6 th December, we will be holding a Benefice Christingle Service. We hope you will join us for this joyful and moving service at St Nicholas Church, at 4.00 pm - Shine a light in the darkness for children this Christmas

3 Broadwell Messy fun filled morning in Broadwell - the next ones are Saturday 10th October from am to am and Saturday 7 th November. Messy Church appeals to 4 11 year olds. However, siblings will be most welcome. Children must be accompanied by an adult. This can be Mum, Dad, Childminder or Grandparent. The session will involve a variety of fun, themed craft activities (often messy), and the session will finish with a snack and a drink. There will be a charge of 50p per child. If you would like to help or require more information, please contact Rachel Astley on or Rev Jane HOPE 4 Flecknoe A reminder, we are still delivering food items to the Hope 4 centre in Rugby. We deliver the food on the first Wednesday of each month. They are most grateful for any donations of fresh, dried or tinned food. They feed 20 homeless people each day, and the cooks are very adept at making use of anything that people are able to give. There is a blue box in the porch of our Church for your donations. Coffee Morning There will be a Coffee Morning at Hillcrest House from am to 12 noon on Thursday 19 th November. We will be raising money towards the cost of resetting the 120 year old stained glass windows in our church which need new leading. Missing Hymn Books We are missing 6 hymn books from the church. If anyone has these at home, please could they be returned as we have only 27 remaining. All have St Mark's Church written inside the front cover. Harvest Don't forget to come to the Harvest Service at St. Mark's Church at 5.00 pm on Sunday 4 th October. We are very grateful for donations of any produce; please could these be left in the Church before the service. Hopefully someone will offer to sell you tickets for the Harvest Supper which is at 6.00 pm, but tickets are available from Jane Lee ( ) or Clare Grant ( ). This year we will use the money from selling the harvest produce to help the Syrian refugees in camps in Lebanon or Jordan Church Cleaning/Graveyard tidy A big thank you to everyone who turned up at St Peter s to help either clean the church or tidy the graveyard. Your help was very much appreciated and it has made a difference. Messy Church Our next meetings will be held on Thursday 1 st October and 5 th November from pm. Please come along and join us. At the end of the crafts and worship, you can sit down and enjoy a 2 course meal. We are hoping to fill a few shoe boxes from Messy Church for Operation Christmas Child. If you would like to contribute a few items to put in the boxes, please bring them along with you to our meetings. The boxes will be for a boy or girl aged 5-9, and gifts can be hat, scarf, gloves, soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, pencils, pens, notebooks, toys, etc. For a more detailed list, please go to: or contact dorothyjjohnson@outlook.com. St Peter s Church Restoration Project We obtained the Practical Completion Certificate on the 24 th July and most of the snagging has now been completed. It has been a long haul, two weeks short of a year. Our original estimate for completion was 16 weeks and the longest of our four estimates was 22 weeks, but nobody knew how long it would take to obtain the stone and just how long it would take to carve it. We are very pleased with the results and we invite all the fit and able members of our community to come on a Tower Tour. I know our Architect and Principal Contractor have worked far more than they anticipated and they have been able to complete the job without increasing their fees. We are very grateful for their dedication. Our overall costs have increased however, but we have been able to make savings without compromising the work. We obtained a very generous grant from The Heritage Lottery Fund of 131,000 and we obtained a grant from the Listed Places of Worship for all our VAT costs. The following additional grants were obtained; 5,000 from the Coventry Diocese and an interest free loan from the Coventry Diocesan Board of Finance, 2,000 from Allchurches Trust Limited, and 3,500 from the Warwickshire and Coventry Historic Churches Trust, or Ride and Stride as we know them of old. Our Tower Appeal to all the Parishioners of and Friends of St Peter s raised the splendid sum of 12,240. We thank you all. If you add it all up it s not far short of 200,

4 Indoor Christmas Market Saturday 14 th November from am 2.00 pm All Saints Church, Many local craft stalls, produce, light lunches, tea and coffee, homemade cakes Children s corner, art and photography exhibitions Prize draw, Tombola, Children s Christmas tree decorations competition and more Dunchurch Band Prom Concert to be held at St Peter s Church, on Saturday 17 th October at 7.30 pm. Tickets in advance from Charmaine, (Tel: ) or pay at the door. Cost 8, to include a glass of wine at the interval. Women s Institute Our meetings are held in the Village Hall at 7.30 pm. Visitors welcome. On 21 st October Friends of St. Cross will be coming to give a talk on their work. 18 th November Annual General Meeting, followed by Gift Wrapping with a Wow Factor hands on workshop with Sue Sutton. Methodist Chapel October Preacher November Preacher 4 th Rev A Hardwick 1 st Rev R Anning 11 th Rev C Madenyika (HC) 8 th Mr J Kay 18 th Rev J Gaffney 15 th Mr J Wells 25 th Mr K Hiscock 22 nd Can B Clutton 29 th Rev C Madenyika (HC) Advance Notice Sat 19 th December Concert with Dunchurch Band at 7.00 pm in the Village Hall Sun 20 th December Carol Service at 6.30 pm in the Chapel Anyone interested in having a stall please contact Karen Ingrianna57@gmail.com We look forward to welcoming everyone to a wonderful event to promote local crafts, baking, and produce Thank you for the Harvest Day fun Plenty of parking We had a lovely day on Sunday 13 th September. At our Harvest Service we were very blessed with some produce from Allotments - thank you. In the afternoon we held a Treasure Hunt competition, tea and cake table, tombola, bric-a brac, a produce stall, Punch and Judy, a Bouncy Castle and homemade ice cream. Thank you so much to everyone involved in making this such a successful day, particularly Karen Duggan and her team, Bert Ogle and his team. The ladies who contributed cakes and manned the stalls and Trevor and Mary who made Punch and Judy such fun. We raised 221 for Church funds. Rev Jane - 8 -

5 Society Our Autumn event is on the 17 th October and features Radio Banksa a 5 piece band described as An extraordinarily powerful band with a danceable celebration of mysterious middle eastern roots music, darkly passionate Balkan gypsy-jazz and sultry latin rhythms. An evening not to be missed. More details below. Our October meeting is on Wednesday 28 th at 7.30 pm in the Village Hall. Chris Longhorn will be talking about astronomy. November 25 th is the date of our Annual General Meeting to be held, as usual, in the Village Hall at 7.30 pm. On the 4 th December we have a special family evening to start the festive season in fine style. Wherever in the Leam Valley you live, you are welcome to come along and enjoy A Victorian Christmas see below for more details. It will be a proper family Christmas show, come and share it. RADIO BANKSA in Concert Sturday 17 th October at 7.30 pm Village Hall Women s Institute Thursday October 15 th Meeting at 7.30 pm in the Village Hall. Barbara Clutton will be giving a talk on Agricultural Chaplaincy and Farming. The competition (optional) is for a painted egg. Everyone is welcome. Thursday November 19 th is our AGM followed by a Ploughman s Supper and a glass of wine. The competition is for a paperweight. Thursday Club Our next speaker will be Cym Baseley - Small Holding, on the 8 th October, visitors welcome. November the 12 th will be Iris Folding - Lynn Busby for the ladies, and Bert Ogle will give a talk for the men. Our annual trip to Milton Keynes is on the 26 th November. Tickets: (16 & under 10), including interval food, Please bring your own drinks This is a show from Live and Local who have provided several great shows over the last few years. The show is suitable for children 6 and over. Blast from the Past Presents A Victorian Christmas Songs, Carols, Tales, and Drama from Yuletide Past! Village Hall Friday 4 th December at 7.30 pm This is a show for all the family!! Tickets & under free!! Tickets for both events from Richard Jackson, Hazeldene, Main Street,. Tel pm on Thursday 5 th November No tickets this year Donations only, so come prepared! Donations before the night to Bert Ogle at 'The Willows' Main Street Come and enjoy the soup, hot dogs and fireworks. Children must be accompanied and supervised by an adult who ensures that they do not endanger themselves. Offers of help to Elaine Heckford on

6 Elves, Pippin & Poppy are back again to entertain you at Children's Christmas Party Sunday 13 th December pm at The Village Hall, The party is aimed at children between the ages of 2-13 years of age. Entrance will be by ticket only and will be on sale until Friday 4 th December (to allow for planning). There will be lots of fun - party games, dancing, crafts and prizes to be won and not forgetting an early visit from Father Christmas! Tickets 3 can be obtained from Karen Duggan at 3 White Barn Close or call Offers of help and contributions for the tea party to Karen please. French Life, French Cooking, New Friends, a Family Weekend Away... Could this be for you? Thursday 2 nd - Sunday 5 th June 2016 (end of school half-term holiday). You have the opportunity to join in the Braunston & District French Twinning visit next year. This time it s particularly focussed on families, so this is the chance for you and your children to experience real French life. Not all the English visitors speak French, nor do all the French visitors speak English, but we always match hosts with visitors so communication is possible. In June 2016 the French will be welcoming us to the twin village of Quincy-Voisins, near Paris. Travel will be by coach and the cost will be about 100 for adults and this time children will be heavily subsidised. Look out for our flyer giving more details in the next Leam Messenger and in the meantime visit the Braunston & District Twinners website for a flavour of what the visits are like:- If you the Secretary, Eric Baker, eric.baker@sky.com, you can receive more information about the 2016 trip as soon as it is available, along with the dates and venues of forthcoming social events when you can talk informally to Twinners about arrangements and what to expect. `Church Services 1 st October 4.00 pm Messy Church 4 th October Flecknoe 5.00 pm Harvest Service/Supper 10 th October C of GS, Broadwell am Messy Church 11 th October Flecknoe 5.00 pm Family Service Harvest Service/Supper 18 th October 6.00 pm W W.com Evensong 20 th October C of GS, Broadwell 7.30 pm Healing Service 25 th October Flecknoe 9,00 am 4.00 pm The Breakfast Service Afternoon Worship 1 st November 5 th November Messy Church 4.00 pm Messy Church 7 th November C of GS, Broadwell am Messy Church 8 th November am am Remembrance HC Remembrance HC 14 th November am Christmas Fair 15 th November 6.00 pm W W.com Evensong 17 th November C of GS, Broadwell 7.30 pm Healing Service 22 nd November Flecknoe 4.00 pm The Breakfast Service Afternoon Worship 29 th November Flecknoe am BENEFICE 3 rd December 4.00 pm Messy Church 6 th December 4.00 pm Christingle Service Please note the latest date for items to be included in the next Leam Valley Messenger is 16 th November. Reports should be sent to: dorothyjjohnson@outlook.com or alternatively by post to: Mrs Dorothy Johnson, Dunedin, 2 The Rowans,, CV23 8EP. Tel: