Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
Church of St. Mary the Virgin<br />
Finedon<br />
Parish Magazine<br />
June 2018<br />
Digital Edition
Vicar:<br />
Finedon Parish Church: St Mary The Virgin<br />
The Revd Richard Coles,<br />
St Mary the Virgin Finedon, The Vicarage,<br />
Church Hill, Finedon, Northants, NN9 5NR<br />
01933 681 786, Mobile 07885 967 960<br />
email: revdrichardcoles@yahoo.co.uk<br />
Assistant Honorary Priest Fr Peter Baden,01832 733186<br />
email: p.baden36@btinternet.com<br />
Reader Mr Michael Duncombe, 01536 483935<br />
email: mikeduncombe61@gmail.com<br />
Parish Clerk<br />
Mrs Gill Foster Tel: 680364 (To whom first<br />
contact for Baptisms and weddings must be<br />
made).<br />
Churchwardens: Mrs Jane Read Tel: 680522<br />
Mr Neil Forster Tel: 682177<br />
PCC Secretary: Mrs Gill Foster Tel: 680364<br />
Treasurer: Mr Andrew Weatherill Tel: 682212<br />
Magazine Editor: Mrs Janet Millington, Tel: 681161.<br />
email: millingtonjanet@aol.com<br />
(to whom all copy should addressed by<br />
the 15 th of the month prior to publication)<br />
Director of Music Mr Jonathan Harris Tel: 01933 779059,<br />
Mobile 07791 664507<br />
Email: Hjonathan83@aol.com<br />
Deputy Organists<br />
Mrs. Kathy Roberts<br />
Mr Oliver Grigg<br />
Choirmaster: Mr. Bryan Chapman Tel: 398818<br />
Tower Captain Mr Bryan Chapman, Tel 398818<br />
Web Site<br />
www.finedonphotographs.org.uk/<br />
bellringers.html<br />
Archivist<br />
St Michael’s Mission Room:<br />
Dr Kaye McClelland, kayemclelland@gmail.com<br />
Bryan & Christine Chapman<br />
Tel: 01933 398818<br />
Times Of Services:<br />
Sundays<br />
8.00 am Holy Eucharist<br />
9.30 am Parish Eucharist.<br />
6.00 pm Evensong (1st Sunday of the Month)<br />
Visit us on the Web at www.stmarysfinedon.co.uk
From the Vicarage June 2018<br />
What day that was: perfect English weather, faultless pageantry,<br />
English Tudor polyphony and American gospel, a groom in uniform<br />
and a bride with a train that reached practically from Windsor to the<br />
M4. The marriage of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be<br />
remembered for a generation, I guess, not least for being the last<br />
grade A Royal wedding until Prince George walks up the aisle. So<br />
much was memorable on that day, not least the coming together of<br />
a mixed heritage American woman and a prince of the blood royal.<br />
One of my lasting memories will be the Prince of Wales escorting<br />
Doria Ragland, Meghan’s mother, from St George’s Chapel, he in<br />
grey morning suit, she in locks and a nose ring, with no loss of dignity<br />
to either. It’s just modern families, how we live now, and it's fine.<br />
Most memorable for me, perhaps for many, was the sermon. Bishop<br />
Michael Curry rocked the chapel, the nation and the estimated<br />
1.9bn watching on television with a homily the likes of which had not<br />
been heard before at a Royal Wedding. For some it was too long, for<br />
others too much, and it was not a sermon I would, or could preach<br />
myself, because I’m not him. But it was not, as some have said, selfindulgent.<br />
On the contrary it was absolutely rooted in Scripture and in<br />
the tradition, looking forward to the great feast of Pentecost, which<br />
fell on the following day. At Pentecost Jesus sent to his disciples the<br />
Holy Spirit in the form of fire, to broaden their sympathies and enliven<br />
their thinking and open their eyes and their ears and their hearts to<br />
the power of the gospel and the love of God. Amen to that!<br />
Yours in Christ,<br />
Father Richard.
Our Worship in June<br />
Year B<br />
3rd - 1st Sunday after Trinity<br />
1 Samuel 3: 1-10, 11-20<br />
Psalm 139: 1-5<br />
1 Corinthians 4: 5-12<br />
Mark 2.23-3.6<br />
Hymns<br />
89 O worship the Lord in the<br />
beauty of holiness<br />
2 Christ, whose glory fills the<br />
skies<br />
565 Rock of ages, cleft for me<br />
Anthem: Darke Agnus Dei; Monteverdi<br />
Cantate Domino<br />
516 Love divine, all loves excelling<br />
(Tune Love Divine)<br />
3rd – Choral Evensong<br />
409 Come, ye faithful, raise the<br />
anthem<br />
Responses: Tallis<br />
Psalm 35 v.1-10<br />
125 We sing the praise of him who<br />
died<br />
Canticles: Henry Purcell in G<br />
Anthem: William Mundy O Lord the<br />
maker of all things<br />
507 Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of<br />
all joy<br />
10th - 2nd Sunday after Trinity<br />
1 Samuel 8: 4-11, 16-20<br />
Psalm 138<br />
2 Corinthians 4.13-5.1<br />
Mark3: 20-end<br />
Hymns<br />
601 Thou didst leave thy throne and<br />
thy kingly crown<br />
477 In Christ there is no east or west<br />
621 Who would true valour see<br />
Anthem: Darke Gloria; How shall I sing<br />
that majesty (466)<br />
598 There’s a wideness in God’s<br />
mercy<br />
17th - 3rd Sunday after Trinity<br />
1 Samuel 15.34-16.13<br />
Psalm 20<br />
2 Corinthians 5: 6-10, 14-17<br />
Mark 4: 26-34<br />
Hymns<br />
467 How sweet the name of Jesus<br />
sounds<br />
591 The kingdom of God is justice<br />
and joy<br />
386 Be thou my vision, O Lord of my<br />
heart<br />
Anthem: Darke Sanctus; Purcell<br />
Magnificat<br />
543 ( Tune Parry) O Praise ye the<br />
Lord!<br />
24th – 4th Sunday after Trinity<br />
Isaiah 40: 1-11<br />
Psalm 85: 7-end<br />
Acts 13: 14b-26<br />
Luke 1: 57-66, 80<br />
Hymns<br />
505 Lord Jesus Christ<br />
411 Dear Lord and Father of<br />
mankind<br />
444 God is working his purpose out<br />
Anthem: William Mundy O Lord the<br />
maker of all thing; Psalm 119 v.89-104<br />
413 Eternal Father, strong to save<br />
Organ Voluntaries following the<br />
9.30am services<br />
3rd June – C.S.Lang: Tuba Tune<br />
10th June – G.F.Handel: Music from<br />
the Royal Fireworks<br />
17th June – Malcolm Archer: Festival<br />
Fanfare 2<br />
24th June – Henry Purcell:<br />
Triumphing Dance from Dido and<br />
Aeneas Organ<br />
Voluntaries following the 6.00pm<br />
evensong<br />
3rd June – Arvo Pärt: Annum Per<br />
Annum
From the Registers<br />
Holy Baptism<br />
29th April<br />
George Paul Hanafin<br />
Katie Elaine Hanafin<br />
Libby-Rose Grimes<br />
6th May<br />
Stanley Paul Phillips<br />
20th May<br />
Violet Vivien Robson<br />
Funerals<br />
22nd May<br />
Brian Ingram<br />
Floodlight Sponsorship<br />
6th May<br />
Kath & Derrick Smith - In celebration<br />
of sixty very happy years of marriage<br />
May 10th 1958–2018<br />
Mary Shipton & Jean Wills - in<br />
memory of their mum Nora Moisey<br />
13th May<br />
Derek, Josh & Abby - in memory of<br />
Heather Scott (on the 4th anniversary<br />
of her death)<br />
Chris & Frank Holley - in memory of<br />
Nick - dear dad, son & brother (who<br />
died 3 Years Ago)<br />
20th May<br />
Paul & Carole Mitchell - in memory of<br />
his mum Eileen Mitchell (on the 2nd<br />
anniversary of her death).<br />
Roger, Jane & Carolyn - in memory of<br />
their dear mum.<br />
27th May<br />
Sponsored by Finedon Buffs<br />
If you would like to sponsor the<br />
Church lights please get in touch with<br />
Carol Mitchell, 5 Tainty Close . The<br />
lights cost £12.00 per week to<br />
dedicate it to a loved one or celebrate<br />
an anniversary<br />
Parochial Church<br />
Council<br />
The new Parochial Church Council<br />
was voted in on Sunday 22nd April<br />
2018 and is as follows:<br />
Chair: Rev Richard Coles<br />
Churchwardens: Jane Read and<br />
Neil Forster<br />
Election 12 PCC members plus<br />
Synod members :-<br />
Brian Brooks, Gill Barlow (Christian<br />
Aid and Synod member), Chris Butts<br />
(Health and Safety Officer and Synod<br />
member), Bryan Chapman, Christine<br />
Chapman (Flower Festival Chair,)<br />
Gill Foster (Secretary and Christian<br />
Aid), Charlotte Lait, Kaye McClelland<br />
(Archivist), Janet Millington<br />
(Magazine and Sunday Sheet editor),<br />
Carole Mitchell (churchyard lighting),<br />
Colin Needle (Synod member),<br />
Malcolm Needle, Philip Powis<br />
(Re-ordering committee),<br />
Mary Shipton (Mother’s Union<br />
enrolling member), Andrew Wetherill<br />
(Treasurer), Joanne Wetherill<br />
(assistant Treasurer, Safeguarding<br />
Officer and Electoral Roll Officer)<br />
Evensong<br />
Evensong will be held in St Mary's<br />
Church on Sunday 3rd June at<br />
6.00 pm.<br />
Light refreshments will be available<br />
after the service.
National Gardens<br />
Scheme<br />
Just a reminder that we are ‘OPEN’ for<br />
NGS (principal beneficiaries being<br />
MacMillan Cancer Support and Marie<br />
Curie) at 67-69 High Street on<br />
Sunday’s 3rd and 24th June 2.00 pm -<br />
6.00 pm.<br />
Teas will be provided by St Mary’s<br />
Church and the Wesleyan Chapel. In<br />
addition, St Mary’s will be open as<br />
well, and finally the later date<br />
coincides with the scarecrow festival!!<br />
Mary and Stuart Hendry<br />
Open Church<br />
On Sunday 3rd June and Sunday 24th<br />
June, in conjunction with Open<br />
Gardens, the church will be open from<br />
2.00 pm to 6.00 pm.<br />
Also, on 23rd June, during the<br />
Scarecrow Festival, the church will be<br />
open at certain times and we will need<br />
stewards for this day too from<br />
10.00am to 11.00 am,<br />
midday to 1.00 pm, 4.00 pm to 5.00<br />
pm.<br />
The times are odd as there is a<br />
blessing in the church at 2.00 pm.<br />
Church Children's Choir<br />
St Mary’s Church Children's Choir will<br />
restart on Friday 8th June. Rehearsals<br />
take place in church on Fridays during<br />
term time between 6.15pm and<br />
6.50pm.<br />
Any children are welcome to come<br />
along to sing and try it out. There is no<br />
cost involved.<br />
During Children's Choir we learn some<br />
of the music for Sunday morning<br />
services as well as singing through<br />
popular hymns and anthems.<br />
In addition, we have the opportunity to<br />
prepare for RSCM Voice For Life<br />
awards and learning music for special<br />
services such as our Diocesan Choral<br />
Festival, Christmas Carol Service and<br />
visits to cathedrals to sing as the<br />
Visiting Choir.<br />
Just turn up, or contact Jonathan<br />
Harris or Mrs Joanne Needle for more<br />
information.<br />
Mothers Union<br />
On Tuesday 5th June there will be a<br />
meeting for members only due to<br />
limited availability of spaces.<br />
Our July meeting will be our annual<br />
Strawberry Tea to which everyone is<br />
invited. This will take place in the<br />
Mission Room on Tuesday 3rd July at<br />
2.30 pm with all profits going to<br />
Mothers Union “Summer of Hope”<br />
appeal. Tickets priced at £3.00 can be<br />
obtained from any Mothers Union<br />
member.<br />
Afternoon Tea<br />
in<br />
Hampton Cell Garden<br />
on<br />
Thursday 28th June<br />
2.00 pm-4.00 pm<br />
Teas include scones/sandwiches/<br />
cakes/drink<br />
Tickets £3.00<br />
from Jean Marlow or Bryan<br />
Chapman 01933 398818<br />
All proceeds to churchyard<br />
maintenance fund
Oundle International<br />
Music Festival comes to<br />
Finedon<br />
An enormous thank you to everyone<br />
who has helped and donated this<br />
Christian Aid Week in Finedon.<br />
To the volunteers, the street<br />
collectors, pounding the streets of<br />
Finedon, delivering and collecting<br />
donations, the organisers, the<br />
ploughman lunchers, the pork pie and<br />
cheese slicers and the salad and<br />
baked potato crew, the washer and<br />
dryer uppers! Also the counters who<br />
counted the money on Saturday<br />
morning.<br />
The amount raised for Christian Aid<br />
so far is £1256.28, supporting<br />
displaced people in Haiti, and<br />
elsewhere, so they can live in safety<br />
and withstand the storms of life<br />
supporting people to earn a living,<br />
and prepare and respond to<br />
disasters. Currently, there are around<br />
38,000 people still living in tents in<br />
Haiti, and according to the United<br />
Nations, there are still around two<br />
million people in need of humanitarian<br />
support. Please pray that God will<br />
guide and strengthen Christian Aid,<br />
for the sake of those they seek to<br />
serve in the world’s poorest countries.<br />
For more information and to donate<br />
online visit<br />
http://www.caweek.org/christian-aidweek/<br />
Thank you Gill Barlow and Gill<br />
Foster<br />
We are delighted that the Oundle<br />
International Music Festival has<br />
chosen St Mary's, Finedon as a<br />
venue for part of their 'Big Bach Walk'<br />
organ recital series this July.<br />
The concert is free of charge (with a<br />
retiring collection going towards<br />
church funds) and will take place on<br />
Saturday 7th July at 4pm (lasting<br />
approximately 45 minutes).<br />
The main soloist will be the<br />
international recitalist William<br />
Whitehead, plus a couple of solos<br />
Arthur Vickery who is Organ Scholar<br />
at Lincoln College, Oxford and local<br />
to this area.<br />
The programme will include music by<br />
Bach, music from the Orgelbuchlein<br />
project and the world premiere of a<br />
piece for organ and electronics by the<br />
British-Iranian composer Soosan<br />
Lolavar.<br />
This is the first time the Oundle<br />
International Festival has included a<br />
concert in Finedon and comes<br />
following two years of collaborative<br />
work between St Mary's and the<br />
Oundle For Organists course. Please<br />
come along to support the concert if<br />
you can.<br />
Smarties<br />
Thank you to Pat Peet who organised<br />
the Smartie tube collection during<br />
Lent. We have now passed the £700<br />
mark which was last year’s total. Well<br />
done and thank you to all who gave.
Finedon Parish Council<br />
Clerk: Mrs Julia Tufnail<br />
Office Hours: Monday-Friday Mornings<br />
7 Amen Place, Little Addington,<br />
Northants, NN14 4AU<br />
Telephone 07410 633544<br />
Email: finedonpc@gmail.com Website:<br />
www.finedonparishcouncil.gov.uk<br />
Your Councillors:<br />
Laurence Harper Chairman<br />
Terry Kendall-Torry, Planning<br />
Malcolm Ward, also WBC<br />
Barbara Bailey, also WBC<br />
Sally Farrell, Gill Spencer,<br />
Gordon Swann, Stuart Cooper,<br />
Andrew Weatherill, Mike Bentley,<br />
Danny Mullen, Dennis Willmott, Ray Ogle<br />
The Parish Meeting takes place on<br />
Wednesday, 30th May this year, at<br />
7.00 pm. Please come along so that<br />
you can put any questions or<br />
suggestions you may have to the<br />
Parish Council. The outgoing<br />
Chairman will give his Year-end<br />
report and will then open the meeting<br />
to you. The Annual Parish Council<br />
meeting will then follow and you are<br />
welcome to stay for this too.<br />
Finedon’s Emergency Plan - You will<br />
be receiving your questionnaire at the<br />
end of the month delivered by 1st<br />
Finedon Guides who are raising<br />
money for a National Guiding trip to<br />
Switzerland. The Parish Council<br />
would appreciate your help in any<br />
way you can so that we can put<br />
together a community approach.<br />
Quotes are being sought for the initial<br />
mowing of Tainty Field to bring it up to<br />
a condition so that it can be used by<br />
families in the summer. It is hoped<br />
that this will give Finedon an<br />
additional open space that can be<br />
used for all sorts of recreational<br />
purposes.<br />
You will be pleased to know that the<br />
Council are entering the scarecrow<br />
festival – guess which one was<br />
created by Councillors! I’m sure it will<br />
be a great deal of fun with scarecrows<br />
popping up all over the place.<br />
Pot Holes – The Council has reported<br />
numerous pot holes to County but the<br />
roads are a sorry state. Please also<br />
report any large pot holes or other<br />
issues direct to NCC via Street Doctor<br />
via their website<br />
http://www.northamptonshire.gov.uk/<br />
en/councilservices/Transport/roads/<br />
streetdoctor/Pages/Step1.aspx<br />
It is very easy to register a problem<br />
and you can track the progress of<br />
your report.<br />
As usual, please feel free to contact<br />
me should you have anything you<br />
wish to bring to the Council’s<br />
attention. Providing it is within the<br />
Council’s remit, we will try our best to<br />
make Finedon a better place to live.<br />
Julia Tufnail<br />
Clerk, Finedon Parish Council<br />
June 2018<br />
FINEDON LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY<br />
FARMING IN FINEDON<br />
We have sold almost 300 copies of<br />
the book and have only a few<br />
remaining.<br />
While stocks last you can buy a copy<br />
of Farming in Finedon by contacting<br />
Richard Buckby at 16 Hayden Avenue,<br />
or by telephoning 01933 680561.<br />
The book is priced at £20, but where<br />
postage is necessary we shall need to<br />
add £5.00 to cover our costs.<br />
A deposit of £5.00 will reserve your<br />
copy.
Scarecrow Festival<br />
On Saturday/Sunday 23/24 th June,<br />
St Mary’s Church and the Wesleyan<br />
Chapel are holding a Scarecrow<br />
Festival in the town. To keep the<br />
Scarecrows in a compact central<br />
walking area they will be focussed<br />
west of the A6 to the church,<br />
Wellingborough Road and below.<br />
If you would like to partake in the<br />
Festival and live outside this area,<br />
there are plenty of places available<br />
to display your Scarecrow. A<br />
contact number is below. The theme<br />
is comedy - anything to make people<br />
laugh.<br />
Cream teas will be served in the<br />
Wesleyan Chapel during the<br />
weekend. As this is a joint venture,<br />
we will be needing volunteers from<br />
the church prepared to help serve<br />
teas on two hourly sessions over the<br />
weekend. If you are able to help,<br />
speak to Sheila Hales who is<br />
compiling the rota.<br />
It is also hoped that the Brownies<br />
will dance around the Maypole on<br />
the Green in High Street/Well Street<br />
during the weekend.<br />
If you would like to contribute a<br />
Scarecrow to the Festival, please<br />
contact Neil Forster as soon as<br />
possible to enable him to assemble<br />
a list of Scarecrows and a<br />
programme. Ring 682177 or catch<br />
him in church between 8.30 am and<br />
9.30am services on Sundays.<br />
Two competitions will be held over<br />
the weekend, a prize for the best<br />
scarecrow and a children’s<br />
competition.<br />
There will be a Scarecrow Get<br />
Together and Update for all<br />
concerned on Saturday 26 th May at<br />
10am in the downstairs room of the<br />
Chapel for further information or<br />
queries.<br />
Finedon Local History<br />
Society<br />
The June meeting of the society will<br />
be on Monday 25th June at 7.30pm<br />
in the Mission Room, Well Street,<br />
Finedon. The speaker will be Helen<br />
Norman on Charles Spencelayh, a<br />
Northamptonshire artist.<br />
Admission to the evening will be<br />
£2.50 for members and £3.50 for<br />
non members. Afterwards light<br />
refreshments will be served.<br />
Finedon Local History<br />
Society<br />
Finedon Local History Society’s<br />
latest exhibition<br />
‘FINEDON SHOPS PAST<br />
& PRESENT’<br />
is open on Saturdays and Sundays<br />
from 2.00 pm to 4.00 pm<br />
at the old Friends Meeting House<br />
in High Street.<br />
Admission free.<br />
This is a photographic exhibition<br />
of shops and shopping from the<br />
late 19 th century to the present<br />
time.<br />
A reflection of times past when it<br />
was said that the only shop or<br />
service not available in Finedon<br />
was a solicitor
Fundraising for 1st<br />
Finedon Guides<br />
A party of 26 Guides and leaders<br />
from Finedon will be joining a county<br />
trip to Adelboden, Switzerland in<br />
2019.<br />
The Guides have been working really<br />
hard to fundraise the money needed<br />
which has included bag packing, quiz<br />
night, auction of promise, coffee<br />
morning and craft stalls, to name but<br />
a few. I’m sure many of you have<br />
seen them out and about working<br />
hard over the past few months.<br />
Our fundraising efforts are continuing<br />
and we are asking for your support.<br />
We have an easyfundraising<br />
account which means that we benefit<br />
from a donation, at no extra cost to<br />
you, when you spend online.<br />
Simply type on the following link to<br />
sign up and support our fundraising<br />
https://<br />
www.easyfundraising.org.uk/<br />
causes/1stfinedonguide/<br />
A huge thanks in advance for your<br />
support.<br />
1st Finedon Guides<br />
Townswomen’s Guild<br />
The next Finedon Townswomen's<br />
Guild meeting is at 7.30 on June 7th<br />
in the Town Hall.<br />
The speaker is Alan Grey whose talk<br />
is entitled 'You cannot be serious.<br />
Tales of a Wimbledon Umpire'.<br />
The competition is for a tennis item.<br />
For the social half-hour members are<br />
invited to bring along any Guild<br />
photographs they may have for<br />
identification: 'Who, Where and<br />
When?'.<br />
For any non-members who wish to<br />
attend there is a small charge of<br />
£3.00. You will be made very<br />
welcome.<br />
Royal British Legion<br />
Royal British Legion Charity Auction<br />
on Monday 4th June 2018 in the<br />
Bowls Club Finedon.<br />
Viewing from 6.30 pm. The Auction<br />
starts at 7.30pm.<br />
The meeting on 6th July will now be<br />
an Evening of Entertainment with<br />
James Reynolds and Young Local<br />
Talent.<br />
Posters will be distributed around<br />
Finedon nearer the time.<br />
Mayday Celebrations<br />
On Sunday 13th May, St Mary’s<br />
Church held their annual Crowning of<br />
the May Queen. We would like to<br />
thank everyone who took part in the<br />
event. Well done to our May Queen<br />
for 2018, Melanie. to all her pretty<br />
attendants, May Queens in waiting.<br />
To Mrs York for crowning Melanie<br />
and her very witty poem which she<br />
read, (St Mary’s Poet Laureate for<br />
2018). To Jonathan Harris and the<br />
choir, Jackie Minchinton with her<br />
Mummers play, especially the new St<br />
George. It was a disappointment that<br />
we could not use the maypole this<br />
year but the grass was far too wet<br />
from overnight rain.<br />
It is also a shame we cannot continue<br />
the Finedon tradition of processing<br />
with the May Queen and her<br />
entourage around the streets of<br />
Finedon dancing around the maypole<br />
all over the town.
Finedon Over 60’s<br />
We meet weekly on Wednesdays<br />
from 1.45 pm to 3.30 pm in the Bowls<br />
Club, Wellingborough Road..<br />
Admission is £1.00 plus raffle. We<br />
have bingo, speakers, entertainment,<br />
occasionally ‘Bring and Buy’ and<br />
much more.<br />
June Programme<br />
6th Outing to Hunstanton<br />
13th Zing - Carol and Peter<br />
20th My life in a frock (pantomime<br />
dame Michael).<br />
27th Finedon Mulso School Choir.<br />
All welcome, just turn up<br />
7. In 14th century England,<br />
Midsummer’s Eve was celebrated on<br />
June 23 with bonfires and feasting.<br />
8. In Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and<br />
Quebec, Midsummer Day (June 24) is<br />
a public holiday.<br />
9. In the town of Kuldiga, Latvia, it is<br />
marked by people running naked<br />
through the streets at 3am.<br />
10. A Midsummer tradition in Finland<br />
is for maidens to put flowers under<br />
their pillows so they will dream of their<br />
future husbands.<br />
Ten Facts about<br />
Midsummer<br />
1. Astronomically, midsummer is the<br />
day of the summer solstice, or longest<br />
day, which usually falls on June 20 or<br />
21.<br />
2. The last time it did not fall on either<br />
of those dates was in 1975 when it<br />
was June 22.<br />
3. When the date of June 24 was set,<br />
the Julian calendar was in operation<br />
and was a few days out.<br />
4. Midsummer’s Day (June 24) is one<br />
of the four Quarter Days in the Legal<br />
calendar. The others are Lady Day<br />
(March 25), Michaelmas (September<br />
29) and Christmas Day (December<br />
25).<br />
5. Samuel Pepys described<br />
Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s<br />
Dream as “the most insipid, ridiculous<br />
play that ever I saw”...<br />
6. ...but he was given pleasure by its<br />
“good dancing” and “handsome<br />
women.
In My Day<br />
the ramblings of Hubert James<br />
In my day it was about this time of<br />
year that we would hear the cuckoo.<br />
And that was what told you it was<br />
Spring.<br />
Now I can’t remember the last time I<br />
heard a cuckoo. I know they spend<br />
most of the year in Africa and tend to<br />
stop off in Spain for a sleepover on<br />
their way here, but I’m beginning to<br />
wonder if they’ve stopped coming.<br />
My cousin Arnold says it’s all to do<br />
with Brexit, but I reckon what’s<br />
happened is your proper British<br />
Birds have got fed up of cuckoos<br />
squatting in their nests and turfing<br />
out their eggs.<br />
Mind you many of you will remember<br />
the famous cuckoo we had in<br />
Finedon, who stayed for several<br />
years despite the cold.<br />
He was brought here by a bloke<br />
called Juan Tanamero who used to<br />
live up Rock Road. Juan was<br />
Portugese.<br />
One year, he was travelling back<br />
from seeing his parents in Lisbon<br />
Dover. For the obvious reason that<br />
he thought it was a dove.<br />
His plan was to just chuck the chick<br />
out of the window of his train<br />
somewhere near Bedford but by<br />
then the bird had taken a liking to<br />
British Rail sandwiches and knew<br />
which side its bread was buttered. It<br />
wouldn’t let go of Juan’s finger when<br />
he stuck it out the window.<br />
So Juan ended up building him, an<br />
aviary in his back garden and after a<br />
couple of months they had built a<br />
proper bond. Us local kids would go<br />
round and feed him peanuts. Lovely<br />
little chap he was.<br />
But of course, come the autumn<br />
Dover started to feel the cold and<br />
was fighting his natural instinct to fly<br />
south to the Congo. The trouble was<br />
he had no survival instincts and we<br />
all knew he would never survive in<br />
the wild. When Juan tried letting him<br />
out he flew as far as Allen Road<br />
Club, scavenged some crisps and<br />
went back home.<br />
Come September, Juan was getting<br />
worried the poor thing began to<br />
shiver. Now it happened that<br />
Martina, Juan’s misses was a bit of a<br />
knitter. She offered to knit Dover a<br />
little vest if Juan drew a design. Juan<br />
was an architect, so he produced a<br />
very precise drawing for a bird<br />
cardie.<br />
It was a singlet that still allowed him<br />
to flap his wings.<br />
It worked! The cuckoo loved it and<br />
lived out the rest of his days snug as<br />
a bug in a rug. And everyone knew<br />
that was because…. wait for it….<br />
Juan drew Dover a Cuckoo Vest!<br />
and when he got off the ferry in Kent<br />
he spotted a little cuckoo chick on<br />
the dock. He adopted it and named it
A life-changing guest<br />
I<br />
recently came across these words<br />
on a wall plaque;<br />
"I WANT MY CHILDREN<br />
TO HAVE ALL THE<br />
THINGS I COULDN'T<br />
AFFORD; THEN I'LL<br />
MOVE IN WITH THEM."<br />
It reminded me of a parable told by<br />
CS Lewis in his book Mere Christianity<br />
based on radio talks given during the<br />
Second World War. He suggests we<br />
imagine ourselves to be like a longneglected<br />
cottage that God is restoring.<br />
“At first, perhaps, you can understand<br />
what He is doing. He is getting the<br />
drains right and stopping the leaks in<br />
the roof and so on; you knew that<br />
those jobs needed doing and so you<br />
are not surprised. But presently He<br />
starts knocking the house about in a<br />
way that hurts abominably and does<br />
not seem to make sense. What on<br />
earth is He up to? The explanation is<br />
that He is building quite a different<br />
house from the one you thought of –<br />
throwing out a new wing here, putting<br />
on an extra floor there, running up<br />
towers, making courtyards. You<br />
thought you were being made into a<br />
decent little cottage; but He is building<br />
a palace. He intends to come and live<br />
in it himself.”<br />
When God comes to stay He<br />
changes everything.<br />
At this time of the year I'm in the midst<br />
of a series of wonderfully joyful<br />
Licensing Services for our existing<br />
curates as they become Vicars or<br />
Rectors. In most cases they are<br />
moving house to make their homes in<br />
their new communities.<br />
In a few weeks at the Cathedral we<br />
shall be celebrating the ordination of<br />
the next generation of new curates<br />
as they begin their ordained<br />
ministry. They too will be moving to<br />
make their homes in new<br />
communities.<br />
Every one of them has a<br />
fascinating story to tell of how God<br />
has come to stay in their lives, made<br />
himself at home and completely<br />
transformed everything. It renders<br />
the TV "make-over" programmes<br />
tame by comparison! If you’re able<br />
to be at the ordinations or have an<br />
opportunity to meet our new curates,<br />
do invite them to tell the story of<br />
their journey so far.<br />
Are you brave enough to invite<br />
God to make His home in your life?<br />
You never know where He might<br />
lead you!<br />
With my prayers and best wishes,<br />
Diocese of Peterborough – Magazine Resource – June 2018<br />
Produced by the Diocesan Office, The Palace, Peterborough, PE1 1YB<br />
01733 887000 www.peterborough-diocese.org.uk
June<br />
3rd<br />
4th<br />
5th<br />
7th<br />
13/<br />
16th<br />
19th<br />
23rd/<br />
24th<br />
24th<br />
25th<br />
28th<br />
July<br />
3rd<br />
2nd<br />
5th<br />
6th<br />
7th<br />
8th<br />
12th/<br />
15th<br />
2-6 pm National Garden Scheme opening,<br />
67/69 High Street.<br />
RBL no meeting - Auction<br />
9.45 Coffee Morning, Bowls Club<br />
2.20pm Mothers Union, Mission Room,<br />
7.30 TG, Town Hall, Alan Grey ‘You cannot<br />
be serious’ tales of a Wimbledon Umpire<br />
Sister Act, Star Hall.<br />
9.30 Coffee Morning, Bowls Club<br />
Churches together Scarecrow Festival<br />
2-6 pm National Garden Scheme opening,<br />
67/69 High Street.<br />
7.30 History Society, Mission Room, Helen<br />
Norman, Charles Spencelayh.<br />
2-4pm Afternoon Tea, Hampton Cell<br />
2.30pm Mothers Union, Mission Room,<br />
Strawberry Tea<br />
RBL Saints Sinners - Northants - Derek<br />
Blunt, meeting, raffle<br />
7.30 TG Town Hall, 70th Birthday Party,<br />
Supper at the Cricket Club, Mike & Jenny<br />
BL Summer Ball TBA<br />
4.00 pm Organ Recital by William Whitehead,<br />
St Mary’s Church.<br />
3pm Hymns on the Green<br />
Flower Festival, Wesleyan Chapel<br />
20th RBL Afternoon Tea/Entertainer 15.00-17.30<br />
23rd<br />
7.30 History Society, Mission Room, Roy<br />
York, The hiccups & horrors of steaming up<br />
the valley<br />
August<br />
2nd<br />
6th<br />
20th<br />
September<br />
3rd<br />
6th<br />
24th<br />
October<br />
1st<br />
4th<br />
10th<br />
22nd<br />
November<br />
1st<br />
5th<br />
18th<br />
December<br />
1st<br />
3rd<br />
6th<br />
7th<br />
8th<br />
TG Town Hall, Stuart Elsom, Charismatic<br />
Cuba<br />
RBL Meeting/chat night, meat raffle<br />
7.30 History Society, Mission Room, Kevin<br />
Varty, Dead & Buried but not for long<br />
RBL Fish & chips, raffle<br />
7.30 TG Town Hall, Derek Blunt ‘Saints,<br />
Sinners, Stars & Scandals’<br />
7.30 History Society, Gary Shaeffer, An<br />
American eye view of Northants<br />
RBL Two intriguing murders & Ghost story,<br />
Keven Varty & raffle<br />
7.30 TG Town Hall, Colin Rowe ‘Luxurious<br />
Locomotion, Story of the Orient Express.<br />
7pm Inter church quiz, Wesleyan Chapel<br />
7.30 History Society, Malcolm Deacon, The<br />
Princess & the gunpowder plotter.<br />
7.30 TG Town Hall, Betty West ‘The life of<br />
Nancy Wake’<br />
RBL AGM, raffle<br />
11-3pm Christmas Market & Craft Fair,<br />
Community Centre<br />
11-2pm Christmas Bazaar, Wesleyan Chapel<br />
RBL Quiz night & nibbles/meat raffle<br />
7.30 TG Town Hall, Peter & Gloria Wright,<br />
Christmas Flavour.<br />
RBL Christmas Party<br />
St Mary’s Church, Wassail Evening, Bowls<br />
Club<br />
St Michael’s Mission Room, Well Street, Finedon<br />
Available for hire weekdays, Saturdays & Sundays.<br />
Suitable for most social functions, charitable events, children's parties (no late<br />
discos)<br />
For all enquiries and information contact<br />
Bryan & Christine Chapman Tel: 01933 398818<br />
Email: bryanchapman2@aol.com