Friends of St Mary's Hawkesbury

December 2020 News

Lisa Overton, Secretary of the Friends of St Mary’s, provides our news round-up for December 2020:

AGM

The 2020 AGM of the Friends of St Mary’s took place by Zoom on Sundy 29th November at 4.30pm. We had hoped to be able to hold the meeting in the church, but Lockdown 2 frustrated our efforts. A report of the meeting will be circulated to all Friends as soon as possible.

End-of-Year Message from the Chairman

Ian Macfadyen, Chairman of the Friends of St Mary’s, writes:

By the time the December Parish News is delivered, we hope that much of the work to the vestry will have been completed. With the new bell-ringing chamber accessed via the old tower staircase, elegant oak vestry storage cupboards, much improved lighting and a beautiful glass screen soon to be installed in the Nave. All parts of the project envisaged and funded by much help from FOSM fundraising along with numerous grants and donations.

Our construction company, Carrek Ltd, whose excellent stonemasons have worked in all types of wind and weather upon the scaffolding, has been raking out decayed mortar, replacing worn away stone drip mouldings and applying fresh lime mortar to opened joints and cracks between the stones. The work is truly impressive, and it will be a wonderful day when the cladding and scaffold come down and we see the tower in all its glory early in the new year.

At the same time the new bells, which without Mr John Appleby’s immense generosity we could never have funded, should have arrived in this country from Milan by the end of December and will be prepared for tuning and hanging by Matthew Higby Ltd, our bells engineering company.

None of this great work would have been possible without the energetic support of the Friends over the last eight years, and many others in the parish and beyond, so I would like to extend heartfelt thanks to all of you.

May I also extend Christmas greetings in the hope that we can all be with family and loved ones.

Ian Macfadyen

December Services

At the time of writing, we have no knowledge of changes to services for December, which are listed below, but there may well be alterations as government restrictions change, so please keep an eye on the Badminton Benefice website for up-to-date information, especially for our Christmas services.

Inevitably some of our best-loved Christmas activities will be cancelled or limited this year, but there will be no lack of goodwill from all on the PCC towards parishioners, regular worshippers and visitors. Let us hope that the new year will bring a return to regular worship.

St Mary’s will be open for visitors on Christmas Eve between 4 and 5pm. There will be simple Christmas decorations and families will be especially welcome. Let us hope to be able to return to regular Christmas worship in 2021.

6th (9.30am) Morning Prayer (Holy Communion)
9th (9.30am) Matins
13th (5pm) Carol Service
16th (9.30am) Matins
20th (10am) Morning Praise
23rd (9.30am) Matins
24th (4-5pm) Happy hour to visit the crib
25th (9.30am) Christmas Morning Holy Communion

Ringers Get Ready for Shiny New Bells

Our new ring of eight bells has now been removed from their moulds and polished to perfection, ready for shipment from the bell foundry in Italy to the UK. They should be arriving in time for Christmas, but before they can be put into service they must be hung in the tower, allowed to settle and tuned.

Ringers Get Ready

photo of dumb bell in use — Tower Captain Colin Dixon trains Debbie Young on the dumb bell

In the meantime, St Mary’s bell ringers are continuing to practice (pausing only for lockdown) on the dumb bell in St Mary’s Tower Captain Colin Dixon‘s barn. As their skills develop, they are starting to practice ringing in rounds with a virtual team online.

Additional coaching is being given by two local experts:

Chris Cooper, Chairman of the Wotton Branch of the Gloucester and Bristol Diocesan Association of Bell Ringers (G&BDABR) and who rings at Chipping Sodbury
James Joynson, Bell Master for the Wotton branch of the G&BDABR and responsible for technical aspects of bells and bell ringing training within the Diocese and training

James has also been really helpful with St Mary’s training to date, including setting up the dumb bell.

Like to Try Bell Ringing?

New ringers are always welcome to join the team, which will need to be at least 8 strong by the time the bells come into use, ideally with some reserves.

No previous experience is necessary as full training will be given. Bellringing is great fun for all ages, with our youngest team member in his teens and the oldest well into retirement. Provided you’re tall enough to reach the rope (minimum recommended age is about 10), you’re never too young – or too old – to give it a try!

A Hunky Punk Comes Home!

As part of the ongoing restoration works of the tower at St Mary’s Hawkesbury by specialist firm Carrek, this ancient hunky punk is seen here being returned to its original position.

Many years ago it had fallen to the ground, and fortunately some wise person stashed it away in the tower for safekeeping. It is good to see it restored to its rightful position at the top of the tower.

What’s a hunky punk?

It’s a grotesque Gothic carving similar to a gargoyle, but it’s purely for decorative purposes -unlike the gargoyle, which includes a water spout to direct rainwater away from the fabric of the building.