St Mary's November 2018 Parish Magazine
St Mary's November 2018 Parish Magazine
St Mary's November 2018 Parish Magazine
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Church of <strong>St</strong>. Mary the Virgin<br />
Finedon<br />
<strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />
<strong>November</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />
Digital Edition<br />
1
Vicar:<br />
Finedon <strong>Parish</strong> Church: <strong>St</strong> Mary The Virgin<br />
The Revd Richard Coles,<br />
<strong>St</strong> 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 />
<strong>Parish</strong> 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 />
<strong>Magazine</strong> 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 />
<strong>St</strong> 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 <strong>Parish</strong> 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 <strong>November</strong> <strong>2018</strong>.<br />
A hundred years ago, at 1100 hours on the eleventh day of the<br />
eleventh month the Armistice came into force and the First World<br />
War came to an end. That’s the tidy version of history. Of course,<br />
nothing so cataclysmic ends so neatly, and I remember when I<br />
visited the battlefields of Northern France noticing how many<br />
gravestones there were marking the deaths of soldiers who survived<br />
hostilities only to die of influenza as they awaited repatriation. And<br />
not only soldiers. I came across a row of gravestones in Chinese<br />
script for men from that country who had built and maintained the<br />
railways necessary to supply the army. They too fell victim to the flu<br />
epidemic of 1918 (which killed more than double the number who<br />
died in conflict). And then there were those who returned. I saw a<br />
photograph at the Historical Society the other day of members of<br />
the Finedon British Legion in the 1930s, winners of the Haig Cup,<br />
respectable men of substance, wearing medals on their Sunday<br />
best, a decade after they won them and I wondered how they<br />
managed to adapt to life at home after the violence and terror of<br />
the trenches, or the North Sea, or Gallipoli?<br />
It is right and proper those who fell in war; but it is important also to<br />
remember those who survived, and survive today, but bear scars<br />
which are not only physical but mental. I have lost count of the<br />
number of former servicemen I have encountered living on the<br />
street, who returned home from different conflicts and found it<br />
impossible to settle back in to what we think of as normal life. Please<br />
continue to support the work of the Royal British Legion, and the<br />
regimental and service associations, and other organisations that<br />
exist to care for men and women who made extraordinary sacrifices<br />
for the benefit of us all. They deserve the best we can do for them.<br />
Yours in Christ,<br />
Fr Richard.<br />
3
Our Worship in<br />
<strong>November</strong> Year B<br />
4 th All Saints Sunday<br />
Wisdom 3. 1 – 9<br />
Psalm 24. 1 – 6<br />
Revelation 21. 1 – 6a<br />
John 11. 32 - 44<br />
Hymns<br />
558 Praise to the Lord, the Almighty<br />
the King of creation<br />
227 Rejoice in God’s saints, today<br />
and all days!<br />
232 For all the saints who from their<br />
labours rest<br />
Anthem: Monteverdi Cantate Domino<br />
549 Onward, Christian soldiers<br />
4th – All Souls’ evensong<br />
Introit: Requiem aeternam<br />
604 Through all the changing scenes of life<br />
Choir Responses: O Lord hear my prayer<br />
Responses: Smith<br />
Psalm: 148<br />
593 The Lord my pasture shall prepare<br />
Canticles: Brewer in D<br />
Anthem: Give rest, O Christ (Contakion of<br />
the dead - 350)<br />
Final Hymn: 516 (Tune Love Divine) Love<br />
divine, all loves excelling<br />
11th – Remembrance Sunday<br />
Jonah 3. 1- 5. 10<br />
Psalm 62. 5 – end<br />
Hebrews 9. 24 – end<br />
Mark 1. 14 – 20<br />
Hymns<br />
537 O God, our help in ages past<br />
174 (Tune 248 Carlisle) Breathe on me,<br />
Breath of God<br />
427 (Tune 309 Picardy) For the healing<br />
of the nations<br />
Anthem: Bruckner Locus Iste; Give rest, O<br />
Christ (350)<br />
413 Eternal Father, strong to save<br />
18 th 2nd Sunday before Advent<br />
Daniel 12 . 1 – 3<br />
Psalm 16. 15 – 16<br />
Hebrews 10. 11- 25.<br />
Mark 13. 1 – 8<br />
Hymns<br />
409 Come, ye faithful, raise the anthem<br />
385 Be thou my guardian and my guide<br />
386 Be thou my vision, O Lord of my<br />
heart<br />
Anthem: Mealor The Lord bless you and<br />
keep you; Peace, perfect peace (553)<br />
435 (Tune Austria) Glorious things of<br />
thee are spoken<br />
25 th Christ the King<br />
Daniel 7. 9 – 10, 13 – 14<br />
Psalm 93<br />
Revelation 1. 4b – 8<br />
John 18. 33 – 37<br />
398 Christ triumphant, ever reigning<br />
172 The head that once was crowned<br />
with thorns<br />
166 Crown him with many crowns<br />
Anthem: Tallis If ye love me; In Christ there<br />
is no east or west (477)<br />
563 Rejoice! The Lord is King<br />
25th – Deanery Evensong<br />
555 Praise, my soul, the King of heaven<br />
Responses: Smith<br />
Psalm: 150 (<strong>St</strong>anford)<br />
Office hymn: 15 God, that madest earth<br />
and heaven<br />
Canticles: <strong>St</strong>anford in Bb Anthem: Handel<br />
Zadok the Priest<br />
Final Hymn: 66 How shall I sing that<br />
majesty<br />
Organ Voluntaries:<br />
4th <strong>November</strong> – Karg Elert: Nun danket<br />
alle Gott<br />
4th <strong>November</strong> (evensong) – Massenet:<br />
Meditation from Thais<br />
11th <strong>November</strong> – Elgar: Nimrod from<br />
Enigma Variations<br />
18th <strong>November</strong> – J.S.Bach: Toccata from<br />
Toccata, Adagio & Fugue in C BWV<br />
564<br />
25th <strong>November</strong> – Buxtehude:<br />
Praeludium in D BuxWV 139<br />
25th <strong>November</strong> (evensong) – Karg<br />
Elert: Nun danket alle Gott
From the Records<br />
Baptism<br />
14th October<br />
Noah Francis Elston<br />
+<br />
Funeral<br />
28th September<br />
Nicholas Le Count, age 70<br />
Floodlight Sponsorship<br />
7th October<br />
Ann & Bryan Dickenson - in memory<br />
of Jessie Clarke<br />
14th October<br />
Her sons, Tony & Peter - celebrating<br />
the 100th birthday of Mrs Winifred<br />
<strong>St</strong>evenson, nee Wells, on 18th<br />
October, formerly of Summerlee<br />
Road & Cromer Road, who still has<br />
fond Memories of Finedon.<br />
21st October<br />
Pat Curtis - in memory of Denis Curtis<br />
(on what would have been his 92nd<br />
birthday).<br />
An anonymous donor - a memorial<br />
dedication<br />
28th October<br />
An anonymous donor - a memorial<br />
dedication<br />
Harvest<br />
Thank you for all the gifts on Harvest<br />
Sunday. Ten small boxes of fresh fruit<br />
and vegetables plus a few tins and<br />
five bunches of flowers were<br />
distributed to 15 members of the<br />
congregation who are now<br />
housebound or in care homes where<br />
it was possible.<br />
Thank you to Joyce Williams who<br />
delivered the boxes and flowers and<br />
to Roger Manning who also helped.<br />
Thank you to Sue Nicholls who took<br />
all the remaining harvest produce to<br />
the Daylight centre.<br />
Mothers Union<br />
Our next meeting will take place at<br />
the Mission Room on Tuesday 6th<br />
<strong>November</strong> at 2.30pm. There will a<br />
service as usual, but afterwards we<br />
will be discussing our plans for future<br />
events.<br />
Remembrance<br />
The children from the junior school<br />
will be at the War Memorial on Friday<br />
9th <strong>November</strong> to lay their wreath and<br />
plant their 94 crosses at 10.50 am.<br />
On Remembrance Day itself,11th<br />
<strong>November</strong>, the parade will form up at<br />
the junior school at 10.30 am for a<br />
move off at 10.40 am. The usual<br />
service will be at the War Memorial at<br />
11.00 am. Everyone is welcome to<br />
attend both events.<br />
Remembrance<br />
Evensong<br />
A Remembrance Evensong will be<br />
held in <strong>St</strong> Mary’s Church on Sunday<br />
4th <strong>November</strong> at 6.00 pm.<br />
100th Anniversary<br />
1914/18 war.<br />
A special service to commemorate<br />
the 100th Anniversary of the ending<br />
of the 1914 1918 war will be held at<br />
6.00 pm on Sunday 11th <strong>November</strong> in<br />
<strong>St</strong> Mary’s Church.<br />
Deanery Evensong<br />
A Deanery Evensong will be held in<br />
<strong>St</strong> Mary’s Church on Sunday 25th<br />
<strong>November</strong> at 6.00 pm.<br />
The service will be following by light<br />
refreshments.<br />
5
Jelly Babies and Jesus<br />
The Brownies did this presentation in<br />
the church on Harvest Sunday.<br />
This is a great story at any time but<br />
especially near Remembrance Day.<br />
(Note that you have to use Bassetts<br />
Jelly Babies).<br />
Jelly Babies when they were first<br />
made were not called jelly babies but<br />
Peace Babies because they were<br />
produced after the 1st World War and<br />
each colour represented a country<br />
which fought in the war.<br />
But we all know that it was not long<br />
before the 2nd World War started and<br />
because sweets and chocolate were<br />
not essential goods, the production of<br />
Peace Babies stopped.<br />
But our story does not stop there, you<br />
see after the war a man decided to<br />
buy the factory where Peace Babies<br />
were made. This man was a special<br />
man, as he loved Jesus.<br />
Not many people know the secrets of<br />
Jelly Babies. There are symbols<br />
hidden on each Jelly Baby which can<br />
help us to tell others about the<br />
wonderful love of Jesus Christ.<br />
Black– reveals a heart which<br />
represents God’s love for us all.<br />
Green – you will see a baby crying<br />
which represents God’s sadness that<br />
people do not know of God’s love.<br />
Red – You will see the B for blood as<br />
Jesus died to show how much he<br />
loved us and to show the way to<br />
heaven.<br />
Yellow – is wearing a yellow necklace<br />
which represents the riches of<br />
Heaven.<br />
Orange – is wearing a Bum bag which<br />
tells us we need to be prepared for<br />
Jesus coming again.<br />
Peace Babies<br />
Update on the Peace Baby<br />
presentation the Brownies gave on<br />
Harvest Sunday.<br />
Bassetts are repacking Jelly Babies as<br />
Peace Babies to commemorate the<br />
end of World War 1. Donations from<br />
sales will go to Help the Hero’s.<br />
Royal British Legion<br />
May I take this opportunity following<br />
our recent RBL Exhibition to thank all<br />
those who contributed in any way in<br />
making it a success.<br />
The Revd Richard Coles for his very<br />
kind words at the opening, Finedon<br />
Local History Society for all their hard<br />
work in sourcing a lot of material and<br />
the use of The Meeting House, Branch<br />
Members who donated stories and<br />
pictures, and of course the visitors<br />
without whom it would have been a lot<br />
of hard work for nothing. Thank You<br />
All. WE WILL REMEMBER<br />
THEM........<br />
Peter Eames (Branch Chairman)<br />
Please Note... The Exhibition will<br />
remain until Remembrance Sunday<br />
available to view Tuesday mornings<br />
10.00 am-12 noon.<br />
Finedon Local History<br />
Society<br />
The <strong>November</strong> meeting of the society<br />
will be on Monday 26th <strong>November</strong> at<br />
7.30pm in the Mission Room, Well<br />
<strong>St</strong>reet, Finedon. This meeting will be<br />
the AGM and it will be followed with a<br />
short presentation of photos from the<br />
society’s archives.<br />
Admission to the evening is free.<br />
As usual light refreshments will be<br />
served.
Townswomen’s Guild<br />
The next Finedon Townswomen's<br />
Guild meeting is at 7.30 on Thursday<br />
1st <strong>November</strong> in the Town Hall.<br />
The speaker is Betty West, whose<br />
talk is entitled 'The Life of Nancy<br />
Wake'.<br />
During the social half-hour there will<br />
be entertainment by the Drama<br />
Group. The competition is for<br />
something French.<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 />
Chapel /Church Quiz<br />
Once again the quiz night was<br />
packed . Many thanks to Sheila for<br />
selling the tickets, to Mrs Ann Swan,<br />
the Question Master, who gave us<br />
challenging questions this year, to<br />
those who donated the biscuits and to<br />
all who supported.<br />
There was a bit of barracking from the<br />
rear from a man in Holy Orders, no<br />
names mentioned, but all in good fun.<br />
After giving Mrs Swann a donation for<br />
her charity, Dogs for the Blind, the<br />
Chapel and Church each received<br />
£65.00 .<br />
Happydayz Nursery &<br />
Holiday Club<br />
Happydayz Nursery & Holiday Club<br />
will be opening in January at the<br />
Finedon Community Centre offering 2<br />
-3 & 4 year funded places.<br />
Contact Michelle 07886450069<br />
Website: happydayznursery.com<br />
Email:<br />
happydayznursery@hotmail.com<br />
7
Former Finedon<br />
Resident 100 Years Old<br />
Mrs Winifred <strong>St</strong>evenson was born in<br />
Finedon at the very end of the First<br />
World War. Her mother was Florence<br />
Miriam (May) Wells, the oldest child of<br />
Frank and Ada Freestone who were<br />
living on High <strong>St</strong>reet in Finedon, close<br />
to the junction with Rose Hill. Frank was<br />
born in Burton Latimer and was<br />
employed as an Army Boot Maker.<br />
Her father was Albert Wells who was<br />
originally a Farm Labourer at Hillside<br />
Farm, owned at the time of his marriage<br />
to Florence by his step-grandfather<br />
William Russell; his natural grandfather<br />
having died as the result of an<br />
explosion at a blast furnace. Before<br />
then, William had been the manager of<br />
an ironworks in Irthlingborough.<br />
Albert became a mine worker and, after<br />
living for a while with his wife’s family,<br />
they moved to a house at the bottom of<br />
Mulso Road which they shared with<br />
another family.<br />
Winifred was brought up in this house,<br />
which bordered on to the Recreation<br />
Ground at the back and was later used<br />
by Tommy Gore (?) in the fifties/sixties<br />
as a car sales business.<br />
She worked at the Ideal Clothiers on<br />
Irthlingborough Road where she was<br />
trained as a machinist to sew trousers,<br />
waistcoats, etc. - in fact most of their<br />
products. These skills became very<br />
useful as it enabled her to make most of<br />
the family’s clothes and later to work<br />
from home when the children were<br />
settled at school and needed less<br />
attention!<br />
The Wells family had meanwhile moved<br />
to Summerlee Road and she was<br />
married from here during WW2 to Bob,<br />
who was then an Airframe Fitter in the<br />
RAF, and who came from<br />
Wellingborough.<br />
Both of her sons were born at the<br />
Woodfield Nursing Home and the<br />
<strong>St</strong>evenson family moved to Cromer<br />
Road in the late forties; this was a<br />
prefabricated concrete “semi” called an<br />
Orlit, designed by a Czech architect and<br />
adopted by the government as a quick<br />
solution of the post war need for new<br />
housing – an ice-box in winter but<br />
otherwise a modern house.<br />
She well remembers holidays taken<br />
from there to the East Anglian coast,<br />
travelling in Jess Lawman’s coaches,<br />
and later ones to Scotland by car.<br />
The family moved to Finedon Road,<br />
Wellingborough in the mid sixties<br />
because Bob, who joined the Ideal<br />
Clothiers in Wellingborough after being<br />
de-mobbed, was settled there and<br />
enabled him to walk to work each day<br />
rather than the daily bus journeys.<br />
Winifred still retained her links with<br />
friends in Finedon and the church there,<br />
of which her elder brother Ron later<br />
became organist.<br />
She and Bob celebrated their Golden<br />
Wedding at the Mulso Arms with family/<br />
friends and they then went on a trip<br />
down the Rhine.<br />
However, sons Peter and Tony were<br />
now living respectively at Leeds and<br />
Hull so, when Bob died in the early<br />
nineties, she decided to move closer to<br />
them and now lives in a bungalow on<br />
the outskirts of Hull. Here she joined a<br />
“Writing Group” run by a local volunteer<br />
which encouraged her talents in that<br />
area and she spent many years writing<br />
and composing poetry. She has<br />
privately published several booklets of<br />
her work.<br />
She celebrated her 100th birthday there<br />
with some neighbours and friends and<br />
then a family meal at the weekend<br />
which included her three greatgrandchildren.<br />
Peter <strong>St</strong>evenson
Herdenkings monument<br />
Donald Barrett<br />
On 7th <strong>November</strong> 1920, in strictest<br />
secrecy, four unidentified British<br />
bodies were exhumed from temporary<br />
battlefield cemeteries at Ypres, Arras,<br />
the Asine and the Somme. None of<br />
the soldiers who did the digging were<br />
told why. The bodies were taken by<br />
field ambulance to GHQ at <strong>St</strong>-Pol-Sur<br />
-Ter Noise. There the bodies were<br />
draped with the union flag. Sentries<br />
were posted and Brigadier-<br />
General Wyatt and a Colonel Gell<br />
selected one body at random.<br />
A French honour guard was selected<br />
and stood by the coffin overnight. On<br />
the morning of the 8th, a specially<br />
designed coffin made of oak from the<br />
grounds of Hampton Court was<br />
brought and the unknown warrior<br />
placed inside. On top was placed a<br />
crusaders sword and a shield on<br />
which was inscribed '( a British<br />
Warrior who fell in the GREAT WAR<br />
1914-1918 for king and country'.<br />
On The 9th of <strong>November</strong>, the<br />
unknown warrior was taken by horsedrawn<br />
carriage through guards of<br />
honour and the sound of tolling bells<br />
and bugle calls to the quayside. There<br />
it was saluted by Marechal Foch and<br />
loaded onto HMS Verdun bound for<br />
Dover..... the coffin stood on the deck<br />
covered in wreaths and surrounded<br />
by the French honour guard.<br />
On arrival at Dover, the unknown<br />
warrior was greeted with a 19 gun<br />
salute, normally only reserved for field<br />
marshals. He then travelled by special<br />
train to Victoria <strong>St</strong>ation London.<br />
He stayed there overnight and on the<br />
morning of the 11th of <strong>November</strong>, he<br />
was taken to Westminster Abbey.<br />
The idea of the unknown warrior was<br />
thought of by a Padre called David<br />
9<br />
Railton who had served at the front<br />
during the great war and it was the<br />
union flag he used as an altar cloth at<br />
the front, that had been draped over<br />
the coffin.<br />
It was his intention that all relatives of<br />
the 517,773 combatants whose<br />
bodies had not been identified could<br />
believe that the unknown warrior<br />
could very well be their lost husband,<br />
Father, brother or son....<br />
Every year on the 11th of <strong>November</strong><br />
we remember the unknown<br />
warrior....At the going down of the<br />
sun, and in the morning, We will<br />
remember them.<br />
Finedon Community Centre<br />
Wellingborough Rd, Finedon<br />
Christmas Market &<br />
Craft Fair<br />
Sunday 18th <strong>November</strong><br />
11.00 am-3.00 pm<br />
30 varied stalls with gifts to<br />
suit all ages and pockets!<br />
Father Christmas in his Grotto<br />
Finedon 1st Girl Guides<br />
Children's Corner<br />
Mulso C of E School Choir<br />
Hot & cold refreshments all day<br />
Admission £1.00 adults with<br />
accompanied children foc<br />
Date for your dairy<br />
Valentine Barn Dance Saturday<br />
16th February 2019<br />
at the Community Centre.
Do a good<br />
turn in the community<br />
1st Finedon Scouts Christmas<br />
Post.<br />
The Scout Group will be delivering<br />
Christmas cards in Finedon<br />
area only (not the Sidings<br />
or General’s corner)<br />
Finedon Over 60’s<br />
Meetings are held weekly in the<br />
Bowls Club, Wellingborough Road at<br />
1.45 pm to 3.30 pm on Wednesday<br />
afternoons. We have tea/coffee with<br />
biscuits, entertainment including<br />
bingo, hoy, talks, demonstrations, etc<br />
on a range of topics. Admission £1.00<br />
plus 20p raffle. No membership<br />
charge, pay if you come,<br />
<strong>November</strong> Programme<br />
7th Geoff <strong>St</strong>one, slides with music<br />
14th Hoy<br />
21st Chris, Flower arranging<br />
28th ‘Old time music hall’ TG Drama<br />
Looking forward to seeing you<br />
Coffee & Craft Sale<br />
You are warmly invited to a Coffee &<br />
Craft Sale at Park Road Baptist<br />
Church, Rushden NN10 0RG on<br />
Saturday 17th <strong>November</strong> 10.00 am to<br />
2.30 pm.<br />
Tickets 50p (exchange for free tea/<br />
coffee & biscuit) from 681161.<br />
Scout Post Boxes are<br />
available at:<br />
Newsagents, 83 Wellingborough<br />
Road<br />
Affleck Bridge Antiques, High <strong>St</strong>reet<br />
Wesleyan Chapel, Affleck Bridge<br />
Hair Raid, Rock Road<br />
Premier <strong>St</strong>ores, Irthlingborough Rd<br />
From 1st December to 18th<br />
December.<br />
Cards 25p for FINEDON ONLY.<br />
All proceeds go to the Scout Group.<br />
For further enquiries ring 01933<br />
680680.<br />
PLEASE ENSURE THE CORRECT<br />
ADDRESS (include house number)
Finedon Town Council<br />
Clerk: Mrs Julia Tufnail<br />
Office Hours: Monday-Friday Mornings<br />
7 Amen Place, Little Addington, Northants,<br />
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, Vice Chair & Planning<br />
Malcolm Ward, also WBC<br />
Barbara Bailey, also WBC<br />
Sally Farrell, Gill Spencer,<br />
Gordon Swann, <strong>St</strong>uart Cooper,<br />
Andrew Weatherill, Mike Bentley,<br />
Dennis Willmott, Ray Ogle, Louise<br />
Lawrence<br />
At the Extraordinary Meeting of the <strong>Parish</strong><br />
Council it was unanimously resolved that<br />
the Council should change its name to<br />
become a Town Council. The Council<br />
believes that this change will give Finedon<br />
a better stance in the negotiations which<br />
will form part of the local council<br />
reorganisations both currently and in the<br />
future. You can be assured Finedon Town<br />
Council will be looking after the interests of<br />
it’s residents at every stage of changes.<br />
At the same meeting it was decided not to<br />
request the transfer of Finedon’s assets<br />
from Wellingborough Borough Council. It<br />
was noted that WBC had just agreed a<br />
policy which meant they would only offer<br />
assets on a lease basis rather than full<br />
transfer of title.<br />
At the meeting on 5th September it had<br />
been resolved to request the transfer<br />
ownership of Pocket Park from<br />
Wellingborough Borough Council to the<br />
Council, which was done. The Council<br />
already maintains the Pocket Park and<br />
awaits the outcome of this request.<br />
Again at that meeting, the Council resolved<br />
to object to Wellingborough Borough<br />
Council changing Finedon’s <strong>Parish</strong><br />
boundary. The effect of this will take a<br />
large chunk of <strong>St</strong>anton Cross from Finedon<br />
and into Wellingborough by moving the<br />
ancient boundary of the brook to the<br />
outskirts of the housing estate. Not only<br />
has the Council objected to WBC but they<br />
have also made their objections known to<br />
the Boundaries Commission.<br />
The Council had also been informed by<br />
Wellingborough Borough Council of the<br />
outcome of the final recommendations for<br />
parliamentary constituency boundaries.<br />
Finedon will no longer have the same MP<br />
as Wellingborough and in future will have<br />
the same MP as Kettering. Finedon <strong>Parish</strong><br />
Council did object to this change when it<br />
was a first suggested, but to no avail.<br />
Finedon Health Centre – Nearly 800<br />
people signed a petition stating that they<br />
didn’t believe that the Finedon Medical<br />
Centre should close. They also stated that<br />
Finedon needed and deserved a fully<br />
functioning health centre within Finedon.<br />
The Council delivered the petition to Peter<br />
Bone MP who will be taking it to<br />
Parliament shortly. Keep an eye out for it<br />
on the local news as it will be televised!<br />
Remembrance Day Parade 11 th<br />
<strong>November</strong> <strong>2018</strong> at 11am<br />
A new plinth has been placed in the War<br />
Memorial gardens by the Council to mark<br />
the 100th anniversary of the end of the<br />
First World War. The Wellingborough<br />
Road will be closed as usual for the<br />
service of remembrance from 10.30am –<br />
12noon on that day from Rose Hill to Bell<br />
Hill.<br />
Finedon’s Emergency Plan<br />
The NCC’s Emergency Planning Officer<br />
has agreed to talk at the next meeting of<br />
the Emergency Plan Action Group in the<br />
Town Hall on Wednesday 21st <strong>November</strong><br />
at 7.00 pm to carry the plan forward, all<br />
welcome.<br />
As usual, please feel free to contact the<br />
Council should you have anything you wish<br />
to bring to their attention. Providing it is<br />
within the Council’s remit, we will try our<br />
best to make Finedon a better place to live.<br />
Julia Tufnail<br />
Clerk, Finedon Town Council<br />
<strong>November</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />
11
<strong>St</strong>ar Coffee House,<br />
Institute and Hallcontinued<br />
As the <strong>St</strong>ar complex expanded it is<br />
difficult, without any plans surviving<br />
and no other evidence to explain, to<br />
be absolutely sure where the facilities<br />
that are known about were situated.<br />
However it is possible to make some<br />
educated guesses. Within the Coffee<br />
House building there was a bar/<br />
refreshment room, this facility along<br />
with the reading room where a<br />
selection of newspapers and<br />
periodicals was available, were the<br />
only rooms open on Christmas Day<br />
between 6-10 p.m. It is therefore very<br />
likely that they were situated in the<br />
same building. There was also living<br />
accommodation for the Manager and<br />
his family within that building. The<br />
Coffee House was a members only<br />
facility, and membership appears to<br />
have been restricted to men who<br />
were aged over 18 years. It has not<br />
been possible to ascertain how much<br />
membership cost or the regularity of<br />
payments. Bearing in mind that it was<br />
aimed at the working man, the<br />
subscription was likely to have been<br />
modest and could have been paid as<br />
often as on a weekly basis.<br />
With the building of the Men’s<br />
Institute in 1884, the Trustees took<br />
the opportunity to provide a range of<br />
activities that they hoped would<br />
appeal to the working man and keep<br />
him away from the demon drink,<br />
some succeeded and some did not!<br />
Some of the activities appealed to<br />
boys who were younger than those<br />
previously allowed membership. This<br />
resulted in the Trustees having to<br />
agree changes to the membership<br />
criteria. In <strong>November</strong> 1887 it was<br />
agreed that boys at 15 may become<br />
members, but would not be allowed<br />
into the large billiard room. This<br />
would be the first of a number of<br />
adjustments to maximise the use of<br />
the buildings that the Trustees would<br />
have to make over the years.<br />
In the early months of 1887 the<br />
surviving Resolutions Book shows<br />
that the gymnasium was discussed<br />
on a regular basis. This facility is<br />
likely to have been in existence since<br />
the opening of the Institute, in 1884<br />
and to have been situated in one of<br />
the large rooms on the ground floor<br />
of that building. It appears to have<br />
been a popular attraction and if<br />
non-members wished to make use of<br />
it they were able to pay what<br />
amounted to an admission charge<br />
just for the gymnasium.<br />
In December 1887 the Trustees<br />
agreed to employ Mr Smith to attend<br />
the gymnasium three times a<br />
fortnight, at a cost of 1 guinea per<br />
half year, from 1 st January 1888. Half<br />
to be paid in advance and remainder<br />
at the end of the contract. Mr Smith<br />
appears to have been running<br />
exercise classes as on the 26 th<br />
January 1888 the Trustees decreed<br />
that no-one under 16 was to be<br />
admitted to the adult exercises in the<br />
gymnasium. However lads under 16,<br />
but over 15 could be admitted to the<br />
gymnasium on Wednesdays and<br />
Fridays from 7 to 8.15 p.m. and on<br />
Saturdays from 4.30 to 6 p.m. “but<br />
not to perform on the parallel and<br />
horizontal bars and rings with their<br />
ordinary boots on. All lads not<br />
otherwise members of the <strong>St</strong>ar to be<br />
sent away clear of all game rooms as<br />
soon as their allotted time is up at the<br />
gymnasium.” It was also agreed that<br />
two committee members should<br />
always be present when the lads<br />
were in practice, and no gloves were<br />
allowed--- this final comment implies
the lads were boxing, or rather bare<br />
knuckle fighting.<br />
During the same Trustees meeting<br />
they decided to extend the stricture<br />
regarding the wearing of boots to all<br />
adults, with Thomas Meadows being<br />
requested to put up a notice to this<br />
effect. The Trustees also authorised<br />
the purchase of 2 dozen single sticks<br />
and 2 of each dumb bells in weight 6,<br />
5 and 4 lbs. It was also agreed for<br />
safety that another bed (mattress?)<br />
rather larger than the one used for the<br />
horizontal bars be procured.<br />
Despite the Trustees doing much to<br />
encourage usage of the gymnasium<br />
by providing the facilities, employing<br />
someone to give exercise classes<br />
and by reducing the age of<br />
membership, after the initial interest<br />
the enthusiasm for the facility seems<br />
to have waned. By October 1888 the<br />
Trustees declared that they needed to<br />
“infuse life into Gymnasium”. In<br />
December they renewed Smith’s<br />
contract for another season. But in<br />
October 1889 they decided that they<br />
would only start a gymnasium class<br />
and engage a teacher if forty names<br />
were given in to the manager by<br />
<strong>November</strong> 2 nd 1889. Forty names<br />
appeared not to have materialized as<br />
there is no further indication that<br />
classes were provided.<br />
The gymnasium continued in use,<br />
with only the occasional mention by<br />
the Trustees after they had<br />
introduced a 1 shilling a quarter<br />
charge for lads of 15 and 16 years for<br />
gymnasium membership in January<br />
1890. Presumably the facility was not<br />
very successful as in February 1894<br />
the Trustees decided to sell all the<br />
gymnasium goods, the bagatelle and<br />
the little billiard board. The<br />
gymnasium then disappeared from<br />
the records.<br />
Septimus Drage to the left, trainer<br />
George Wheatley<br />
This is pure speculation but during<br />
the ten years of its life the <strong>St</strong>ar<br />
Institute gymnasium may have been<br />
used by Septimus Drage, Finedon’s<br />
most famous bare knuckle fighter.<br />
Drage was born in 1865, and for<br />
several years toured with Fatty<br />
Harvey’s fairground boxing booth. He<br />
returned to Finedon to work as a<br />
shoemaker, and lived out his life in a<br />
house next to what was the Gate Inn<br />
in High <strong>St</strong>reet, dying in 1951.<br />
More on the facilities, personalities<br />
and politics of the <strong>St</strong>ar Institute next<br />
time.<br />
Indonesian Tsunami<br />
Collection<br />
Thank you to all who contributed on<br />
Sunday 7th October to the collection<br />
held in <strong>St</strong> Mary’s Church for the<br />
Tsunami appeal. The collection raised<br />
£98.08.<br />
A cheque for £100.00 was sent to<br />
Christian Aid during the week.<br />
13
In My Day<br />
the ramblings of Hubert James<br />
In<br />
my<br />
day it was about this time of year that<br />
the colours of autumn would fade into<br />
the stark black and white of winter<br />
and hibernation would begin.<br />
So once we were shut in we needed<br />
to find something to pass the time.<br />
Something to do when you got bored.<br />
Board games surfaced when some<br />
one miss spelt the problem. Now we<br />
already had a pack of cards in the<br />
front room sideboard, and if we had<br />
hours to fill and didn’t mind a healthy<br />
family argument with some lasting<br />
division thrown in there was always<br />
Monopoly. But I used to enjoy<br />
something simpler; Dominoes.<br />
Now like so many inventions the<br />
game started in China and came to<br />
Europe through Italy. Which is sort of<br />
how we got it.<br />
There was an Italian chef called Luigi<br />
Corleone who lived on Well <strong>St</strong>reet<br />
and had a little restaurant in Burton;<br />
Corleone’s Cafe. He brought us our<br />
first pasta and pizza and as a novelty<br />
would put a set of dominoes on your<br />
table to play with while your food was<br />
cooking. Eventually, he introduced<br />
take away food and changed the<br />
name of the business.<br />
Anyway it got us all playing the game.<br />
I remember my old Granddad<br />
teaching me a version called 5’s-and-<br />
3’s. Some of you will remember it.<br />
You laid your tile then added up the<br />
spots and got a point for however<br />
many times the total could be divided<br />
by 5 or 3. So 9 was worth 3 points<br />
and if you could make 15 you could<br />
get 8 points.<br />
Suddenly, we all knew our 3 and 5<br />
times table.<br />
Course, when I say that Dominoes<br />
came from Italy I know some of you<br />
will be screaming “Elizabethans!” Yes<br />
it is true that Queen Elizabeth I is<br />
supposed to have played the game<br />
and they reckon she got it from<br />
Scotland. This is all because of<br />
Shakespeare’s Scottish play.<br />
Apparently, in an early version Lady<br />
M enters after the murder of Duncan<br />
carrying a blood stained domino and<br />
cries, “Out, damned spot!” Sensibly<br />
the Bard changed the stage direction<br />
and also the earlier line, Is this a<br />
domino I see before me,”<br />
Church Monthly Draw<br />
The results of the October church<br />
monthly draw are as follows:<br />
Total receipts of £242.00 are divided<br />
equally between the winners and the<br />
church funds.<br />
Winning numbers for the October<br />
monthly draw are:<br />
1st prize 242 £60.50<br />
2nd prize 105 £36.30<br />
3rd prize 272 £24.20<br />
If you would like to join the monthly<br />
draw (£1.00 per share per month)<br />
which takes place in the church on<br />
the first Sunday of the month, please<br />
contact Kathy Hobbs on 01933<br />
398794.
Town Diary<br />
<strong>November</strong><br />
December<br />
1st<br />
4th<br />
7.30 TG Town Hall, Betty West ‘The life of<br />
Nancy Wake’<br />
10.30-4pm Christmas Fete, Mission Room<br />
6pm Remembrance Evensong, <strong>St</strong> Mary’s<br />
Church<br />
1st<br />
10-4.30pm <strong>St</strong> Mary’s Church Christmas<br />
Tree Festival<br />
11-2pm Christmas Bazaar, Wesleyan<br />
Chapel<br />
7.30 Band Concert <strong>St</strong> Mary’s Church<br />
7.30 Jonathan Reynolds presents<br />
‘Curtain Up at Christmas’ <strong>St</strong>ar Hall<br />
5th<br />
6th<br />
RBL AGM, raffle<br />
9.45 Coffee Morning, Bowls Club<br />
2.30 Mothers Union, Mission Room<br />
2nd<br />
3rd<br />
11-4.30pm Christmas Tree Festival, <strong>St</strong><br />
Mary’s Church<br />
6pm Advent Candlelit Carol Service<br />
RBL Quiz night & nibbles/meat raffle<br />
9th<br />
10.50 Junior School lay wreaths and plant<br />
poppies at the War Memorial<br />
6th<br />
7th<br />
7.30 TG Town Hall, Peter & Gloria<br />
Wright, Christmas Flavour.<br />
RBL Christmas Party<br />
10th<br />
7.30 ‘Jonathan Reynolds presents<br />
‘Entertainment At Your Service’<br />
<strong>St</strong>ar Hall<br />
8th<br />
15th<br />
<strong>St</strong> Mary’s Church, Wassail Evening,<br />
Bowls Club<br />
Buffs Christmas Fayre, The Green<br />
11th<br />
18th<br />
20th<br />
11am Service at the War Memorial<br />
6pm 100th Anniversary Service, <strong>St</strong> Mary’s<br />
Church<br />
11-3pm Christmas Market & Craft Fair,<br />
Community Centre<br />
9.45 Coffee Morning, Bowls Club<br />
January 2019<br />
3rd<br />
February<br />
7th<br />
TG Town Hall, New Year Party with<br />
Soup & Sweet<br />
7.30 TG, Town Hall, Roy Smart<br />
‘Any Wonderful Amy’<br />
25th<br />
6pm Deanery Evensong, <strong>St</strong> Mary’s Church<br />
16th<br />
Valentine Barn Dance, Community<br />
Centre<br />
26th<br />
28th<br />
7.30 History Society, Mission Room, AGM<br />
& photos<br />
7pm <strong>Parish</strong> Council Meeting, Town Hall.<br />
Members of the public most welcome<br />
March<br />
7th<br />
April<br />
7.30 TG, AGM, Adrian Cale ‘Nostalgia’,<br />
The ramblings of Hubert James<br />
30th<br />
2-4.30pm Christmas Tree Festival, <strong>St</strong><br />
Mary’s Church<br />
4th<br />
7.30 TG, Town Hall, James Burton, An<br />
Antiques Valuation evening<br />
<strong>St</strong> Michael’s Mission Room, Well <strong>St</strong>reet, 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<br />
15