Category: events

April 2023 News

Colin Dixon, Chair of the Friends of St Mary’s, writes:

Our Next Event

The first Friends fundraiser for 2023 will be on Saturday 22nd April and is the all-day Festival of Words.

This is thanks to the amazing kindness of Debbie Young who has organised the event to benefit the Friends of St Mary’s. Thank you Debbie. The full itinerary and the buying link for tickets is on the Hawkesbury Upton Literature Festival website here. It will be a full day from 10.30am to 5pm with a break for lunch. There will be an optional lunch of quiche, salad and fruit in the Malthouse for £10 per head, bookable only in advance. I shall be giving a talk on the language of bells at the event and there will be a demonstration of bell ringing.

Other Events for 2023

Other Friends’ events for this year will be:

  • An Open Tower Weekend, which was a great success last year – it will be held in the summer and the date will be announced next month.
  • The FOSM AGM will be held this year on Sunday 25th June followed by Evensong.
  • The renowned Friends of St Mary’s Pimm’s Tent which has become established in its new place on the far side of the show ground, on Show Day, Saturday 26th August.
  • We are anticipating a joint event with the Village Hall in the autumn, follow the success of the Gin Jolly last autumn.
  • The Friends of St Mary’s Nine Lessons and Carols will be held on Sunday 17th December.

We are hoping to run other events during the year and suggestions are welcome.

Our famous Pimm’s Tent at Hawkesbury Show on the last Saturday in August

Current Projects

The south side of the churchyard has been cleared by Tom Hodder’s crew and is looking very smart. We are currently debating whether to plant it with shrubs to break up the expanse or to leave it as grass. Any suggestions or help will be very much appreciated.

We have two tonnes of pea gravel ready to go on the paths as soon as the weather permits. We will need to kill off the weeds first to stop them growing up through the new gravel. All offers of help with the raking will be appreciated.

We will soon be restarting the monthly cycle of weeding and clearing up the churchyard and Peter Setterfield has been marshalling his troops to mow the grass during the summer.

The church will be open every day during the summer and we shall need to make sure that the churchyard is tidy as it is always the backdrop to visitors’ photographs. We don’t want the churchyard showing us up.

The discussions about the new eco-toilet for the churchyard are still ongoing. it is a PCC matter and the Friends have an interest but only because we are the fundraising arm of the church and may make a donation towards it in the future.

Please Join Us!

Finally, if there are like-minded people in the parish who are still not members of the Friends of St Mary’s, please join! Our sole purpose is to support St Mary’s Church to stay open and beautiful. You can join online here.

February 2023 News

Colin Dixon, FOSM Chairman, writes:

The new west gate is now in place and, because it is made of oak, it should last many, many years. The old gate was very old and desperately in need of replacement.

Many thanks to Max Bleaken for sourcing and fitting the gate – it is an excellent job and we are very pleased with it.

The new gate is just one of the many things that the Friends of St Mary’s organises and pays for to keep St Mary’s Church looking wonderful.

The Friends of St Mary’s has only one purpose, and that is to support the church by providing the things that the PCC cannot afford or are displaced by other priorities for the money.

There are still many thanks that need to be paid for, so please join The Friends of St Mary’s, and your subscription will help to keep this beautiful church beautiful.

For details of our next fundraising event, a Festival of Words on Saturday 22nd April, click here.

FEBRUARY SERVICES
Sunday 5th – Holy Communion (9.30am)
Sunday 12th – Evensong (5pm)
Sunday 19th – Family Service on theme of Lent (10.30am)
Sunday 26th – Evensong (5pm)

November 2022 News

Ian Macfadyen, Churchwarden, writes:

November is the month of Remembrance which will have a special significance with the horrors of the ongoing war in Ukraine. We will think of their suffering and of those families now living with us in the Parish and separated from their loved ones.

At 7.00pm on Tuesday 2nd November we will celebrate, as usual, All Souls with a simple service remembering those who are no longer with us. Then on Friday 11th November we will have our annual service of Remembrance at 7.30 pm which, this year, coincides with that day in 1918 when all finally went quiet on the Western Front. Both these services deserve your support.

The new family-orientated service will take place at 10.30am on Sunday 20th November when there will be free tea/coffee, croissants etc afterwards. All will be most welcome especially those with young families.

The Parochial Church Council have recently met to consider the re-ordering of the West end of the church, with some or all of the pews possibly being removed at the back of the church. The options will be on display in the church and opposite Hawkesbury Stores for all to see and make comment. Do take the opportunity to express your views on what is your Parish Church of England church.

Some still seem to be unaware that St Mary’s has been open every day since April. It will have been closed for the winter by the time you read this but opened again when the clocks go forward in the Spring. It may also be open at weekends during the winter if the weather allows.

Looking further ahead, make a note in your diaries of the Annual Nine Lessons and Carols on 18 December (after the World Cup Final!) and a family service.