THE LINK DECEMBER 2017 / JANUARY 2018 With Linthwaite Methodist Church Website

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1 THE LINK DECEMBER 2017 / JANUARY With Linthwaite Methodist Church Website Dec am Revd Sue Burton Toy Service and Prizegiving am Mr Philip McSweeney am Revd Sue Burton - including Holy Communion 6.00pm Carol Service am Mrs Beth Richardson 6.00pm Christingle Service - Sunday School Scholars Christmas Day am Joint Service at Slaithwaite Revd Sue Burton am Joint Service at Marsden Miss Joanne Jones Anyone requiring a lift to and from Church, please ring John Liversidge on or Minister: Revd Sue Burton 15 Priestley Grove, Taylor Hill, HD4 7RG Phone e mail suemburton@googl .com Dear Friends I well remember that feeling of anticipation as a child on Christmas Eve: the inability to get off to sleep, waking early, wondering if he d been! I certainly don t remember the build up to Christmas lasting as long as it does today; perhaps we didn t live in quite so consumerist a society in the late fifties and sixties. I don t remember being bombarded by toy and food adverts weeks before the 25 th December. Times have changed - I received an from a well-known retailer on the 6 th November, inviting me to preview their Christmas advert. I declined their offer. Waiting, anticipation, longing themes of the Christian season of Advent. We wouldn t be human if we didn t long for what we do not have. Yes, in a material sense that is often the case, but also I m sure that most people long for a safer, more peaceful world, for fulfilled lives and a sense of serenity. When we say we long for something, it shouldn t be just some vague wish or hope. Longing involves will and commitment. Some of you will remember the Living Advent reflection material that was produced a couple of years ago now by four of us in the circuit. As part of the introduction to the material we came up with various practical suggestions that we might consider taking on board during the four weeks of Advent. These included making time to stop and reflect each day, to find out more about a situation of injustice locally or in the wider world, to think when making our Christmas shopping lists about whether we could source more items locally or from a Fairtrade source, as well as slightly more flippant suggestions such as waiting until a certain date to eat our first mince pie (I d already failed on that one by the 7 th November, being tempted by warm mince pies at a meeting I attended!). We sometimes think of longing in a negative way: longing for something that we think is unattainable. Thinking about the things that are happening in the world may leave us feeling bewildered and with a sense of despair in humanity. But Advent also offers us hope. Hope is a word that points us forward. Christian hope is grounded in what God has already done in the Incarnation, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. True hope produces steadfastness and conviction. Like longing it involves an effort of the will and commitment. And we can make that commitment because we can know and experience the reality of Christ, the reality that God entered our world in a radically new way through the birth of a baby born into difficult circumstances. A baby who in his life would experience opposition and conflict, yet who would overcome these to give us all the hope of a new relationship with God and with each other. So as we make our way through Advent with all its longings may we experience the hope of the Christ child and the peace of God in our lives. With my best wishes for the Christmas season. Sue

2 Flower List Dec 3 John & Molly Myers 24 Margaret Moriarty 10 Sue Howard 31 No Service at Linthwaite 17 Jan Widdop 2 Margaret would like to thank all who have given flowers or money for her to buy some, for the pleasure of others in The list for next year will soon be on the notice board please put your name on your chosen day. Also Margaret asks that you continue to let her know of anyone you would like flowers sent to. Welcomers in Vestibule Dec 3 Linda Marshall & Margaret Moriarty 24 Wendy Hallas & Andrea Morley 10 Ian & Lesley Baxter 31 No Service at Linthwaite 17 Doreen & Jim Liversidge Jan 7 John Liversidge & Jan Widdop 21 Adrian & Jackie Calverley 14 I shall be printing a new list in January for. If anyone does not wish to continue taking their turn at welcoming, please let me know before the end of the year so I can cross your name off the list. Also, if there is anyone not on the list who would like to welcome, please let me know that also. Jennifer. Cleaning Rota Dec 3 Jennifer Hirst 24 Margaret Moriarty & Maureen Stead 10 Mairi MacKay & Sue Howard Jan 7 Jennifer Hirst 21 Margaret Moriarty & Maureen Stead 14 Mairi MacKay & Sue Howard 28 Thursday Fellowship at 2.30pm Dec 7 Revd Sue Burton Celebrating Christmas Jan 4 Hannah Bamforth World of Felting 18 Lisa Farrand The Real Happy Valley Diary Sun Nov 26 Start of Angel Week Thurs Nov 30} Linthwaite Methodist Young Players will present Wizard of Oz in the Church Centre Fri Dec 1} Thursday and Friday evenings at 7.15pm, and Saturday afternoon at 2.30pm. Sat Dec 2} Adults 5, children 3. Booking from Mairi on Friday show is SOLD OUT! Sun Dec 3 Toy Service and Prizegiving at 9.30am. See note below Fri Dec 8 Methodist Women in Britain Carol Service at Huddersfield Methodist Mission Coffee 10.30am, Service at 11am. See poster for further details. Sat Dec 9 Messy Church 4pm 6pm Christmas! Everyone welcome Sun Dec 17 Carol Service at 6pm with Linthwaite Band Weds Dec 20 Ecumenical Service at Holy Family Church, Slaithwaite at 11am Sun Dec 24 Christingle Service at 6pm led by Sunday School Scholars and Teachers Mon Dec 25 Christmas Day Service at Slaithwaite at 10.30am led by Revd Sue Sun Dec 31 Joint Service at Marsden at 10.30am led by Joanne Jones Weds Jan 10 Church Council Meeting at 7.30pm Sat Jan 13 Messy Church Sun Jan 14 Old Folk s Treat committee meeting at Hilary s at 2.30pm

3 3 Friendship Hour Our weekly friendship meetings, Tuesdays from 11.30am 12.45pm in the Primary room are proving very popular. Everyone welcome to come along and have coffee and biscuits ( 1.50), join in the singing and share time with others. Thanks Dorothy Duggan sends her thanks for the flowers she received from church, following her eye operation. They were very much appreciated. Margaret Bramley thanks the Thursday Fellowship for the flowers and card she received to celebrate her 80 th birthday. Andrea thanks everyone who supported her Autumn Supper on Nov 9 th. A total of 300 was raised for Church funds. Haydn Wood Musical Festival On behalf of the committee, Maureen would like to say thank you to all who supported the festival. To those who helped in the preparation of the church and in the running of the festival over the two days, the ladies who helped with the catering and donated cakes, and to everyone who attended the classes and the Saturday evening Concert. It was a very successful festival once again. Farewell to Henry and Margaret Tennant It was with sadness that we said Goodbye to Henry and Margaret after the service on November 19 th as they leave for their new home in Whitley Bay. Here they will be near their daughter, Jenny and son-in-law Chris and their baby twin grand-daughters Phoebe and Alice. We are very grateful for all their work over the many years they have been members of our church. Henry has been our Church Treasurer, a member of the Property committee and been in charge of the church sound system whilst Margaret has been the Cradle Roll Secretary, Pastoral Visitor and until recently when it ceased to meet, the chairman of the Friends of Linthwaite Methodist Church. They have always been supportive of all church events and we shall certainly miss them. We send our very best wishes for their happiness in their new home. Money Matters Sunday collections for October amounted to This includes collections paid directly into the bank, and as usual is for church funds. Henry Tennant, Church Treasurer Community Cards Next meeting Monday, 4 th December. The first card making session of the New Year will be Monday, January 8 th, an extra session on the 15 th and again on the 22 nd. Thank you to everyone who has helped make the cards, and also to those who have bought them! Please don t forget to keep bringing the cards in! Toy Service Sunday, 3 rd December The Annual Toy Service and presentation of Sunday School prizes will be on Sunday 3rd December this yeara week earlier than in previous years so that it does not fall on the same weekend as Messy Church! Revd Sue and I will be leading a service on the theme of 'Belonging' with some help from the youngsters. As usual any new or good as new used toys we receive will be taken to the Domestic Violence Unit. Gifts should not be wrapped and Jan has donated some large Christmas carriers to hold the contributions. Sue Howard Church Christmas Card Sue will be publishing a Christmas Card again this year. If you would like to put a message to all your Church friends in the card please do the following - write your message on an envelope and inside the envelope place a donation of at least 2, then hand to Sue or to sue.howard37@btinternet.com no later than Sunday, December 17 th Any surplus money after printing costs goes towards the cost of the christingles. Carol Singing Parties will leave Church after the Carol Service on Sunday, December 17 th, on Tuesday Dec 19 th and Thursday Dec 21 st at 7pm. Everyone is very welcome to come and join the singing you don t have to be a perfect singer, a good measure of enthusiasm is all that is required!! Don t forget to bring a torch.

4 Christmas Day house to house collection. Collectors urgently required for collecting on Christmas morning. Please see Mairi if you are able to help. She expects the regulars to turn up as usual!! 4 Did You Know? By Mike Shaw Talking about WW2 evacuees, as we were in last month s issue, I always found that the Londoners, whatever their background, were given a warm welcome in these Pennine hills. Their culture and way of life varied considerably from ours, especially if they were from the East End. I became inseparable friends with a Cockney family called Rolf, who lived in a small cottage just outside Linthwaite. At that time I was living on the outskirts of Marsden, near the Slaithwaite border, but came to know the Rolfs through the youngest of their children, Peter, who, like me, won a scholarship to Royds Hall Grammar School. He and I went everywhere together, playing cricket and football for school and club, and, with our mates, enjoying a lively social life. Two nights a week I used to walk up the hillside to their terraced home for an evening of fun, games and singsongs. Naturally, most of the songs were Cockney ditties and I soon learned all the words to the likes of The Lambeth Walk, Maybe It s Because I m a Londoner, Daisy, Daisy and many others. They arrived here with nothing much more than the clothes they were wearing, but poverty never seemed to suppress their amazing strong spirit. Mr Rolf found work and before I and a Slaithwaite girl called Olga signed off for the night there was always a jam sandwich or a piece of cake, plus a mug of cocoa, to see us on our way. Our singing raised the rafters, especially at Christmas, when traditional hymns were the order of the day. Eventually, all three children Meg, Pat and Peter went their separate ways, leaving me with wonderful memories and a cameo of how evacuees came to terms with incredible hardship. I suppose it just goes to show that, no matter where we come from, we are all basically the same, don t you think? The Festival of Britain and the Crown. I received some comments on my Festival of Britain article in September which are worth further discussion. Margaret Beaumont of Meltham told me that in 1951 she was a member of the Huddersfield Choral Society and they had sung in a celebration concert in the newly opened Royal Festival Hall, a very modern venue unlike any concert hall that the Choir were used to. Someone else said that there were special stamps issued to mark the opening of the Festival. I found an example of each of the two special stamps that had been issued on the 3rd of May 1951in an old stamp album. They were twice the size of the stamps in regular use, the lower value example was red and cost 2½ pence (approximately 1p in our current currency) the price for sending a letter anywhere in Britain in The other stamp was blue and cost 4 pence. The final addition came when I came a across a box containing coins acquired over many years. Amongst them was a Festival of Britain Crown, or five shilling coin with a certificate in a dark red cardboard box. The certificate said that the first Crown had been minted in 1551 so the coin in the box marked the 400th anniversary of this, the 100th anniversary of the Great Exhibition of 1851 and the Festival of Britain. Crowns had been in regular circulation up to the end of the nineteenth century but only one was issued in the reign of Edward VII in Some were issued for George V from 1927 to 1936 but only the 1935 Silver Jubilee Crown was minted in quantity. Since then Crowns have been issued only as Commemorative coins and the Festival of Britain Crown differs from all the others in that it was only struck in 'proof' quality from highly polished dies which result in sharp detail and a mirror like surface. It has an edge inscription in Latin which translates to '1851 By the industry of it people the State flourishes 1951'. Approximately 2,000,000 were struck, more than any previous Crown but less than the 1953 Coronation Crown and the most prolific of all, the 1965 Crown to mark the death of Winston Churchill. This was the last Crown to carry the words 'five shillings' as all subsequent 'Crown sized' coins were in the decimal era and marked 'twenty-five pence'. The final issue was 1981 coin for the wedding of Charles and Diana. Since then commemorative coins have been issued frequently but have all been marked 'Five pounds'. Ian Baxter Edited and typed by Jennifer Hirst Items for inclusion in the February edition of the Link to reach me by Sunday January 14 th please Phone or hirst.avondale@btinternet.com

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