bells – Friends of St Mary's Hawkesbury

May 2022 News

Colin Dixon, Chairman of FOSM writes:

SPRING CLEANING CONTINUES

As the wonderful sunny weather starts, so we are back in the churchyard clearing out the weeds and nettles from the south side, where the trees were. Do come down and see the progress – it looks a lot better. If you have a few minutes to spare, do come down and help.

PLEASE SUPPORT OUR FIRST FUNDRAISER OF THE YEAR

Our next big fundraiser is on the horizon – the Bristol Male Voice Choir and the Hawkesbury Choir in concert on Saturday 14th May at 7.30pm. Our own village choir will also be singing, and their Musical Director Ben Humphries will give an organ recital.

Ticket price includes a glass of wine. Book your tickets online here or buy from Hawkesbury Stores, Colin Dixon or Lisa Overton.

photo of Bristol Male Voice Choir — One of the largest and best male voice choirs in the west

Hawkesbury’s own choir will also be singing some pieces at the concert

CHILDREN’S TALLEST SUNFLOWER COMPETITION

We are pleased to announce our new Children’s Tallest Sunflower contest. We have managed to source some “competition” sunflower seeds. These are the ones that will grow to eight feet tall and more. The seeds are £1 for three, with all proceeds going to the Friends of St Mary’s, but it’s really just a fun competition with a spectacular plant. Adults may buy the seeds for children and offer advice on growing plants. The seeds are available from Hawkesbury Stores, Hawkesbury School and Colin Dixon. The competition will be judged in the last week of August by sunflower expert John Appleby.

JUBILEE BREAKFAST WITH BELLS (Sunday 5th June)

We will have the church open over the Platinum Jubilee weekend and on the morning of Sunday 5th June, after the 9.30am Thanksgiving Service, we will be serving coffee, tea and croissants , with the bells ringing a quarter-peal at the same time.

Come and have breakfast with the sound of the bells overhead!

OPEN WEEKEND (23rd-24th July)

We are still planning our open weekend in July, which will include a ring of bells and Jazz on the Lawn. More details to follow shortly.

MAY SERVICES

Sunday 1st May Holy Communion (9.30am)

Sunday 15th May Morning Prayer (9.30am)

Sunday 22nd May Evensong (6pm)

Sunday 5th June Morning prayer (9.30am), followed by Breakfast with Bells

Online video services will continued to be streamed at 10am on the first and third Sundays and live-streamed from Hawkesbury on second and fourth Sundays at www/youtube.com/c/badmintonbenefice

April 2022 News

Colin Dixon, Chairman of FOSM writes:

SPRING CLEANING CONTINUES

As you saw in last month’s news, we are beginning to get the south side of the churchyard under some control. It is taking a while to wrest it from the clutches of the alder, laurel and nettles, but we are making good progress. Do come and join us! We are next having a churchyard clearing session on Saturday 9th April.

The area we cleared from undergrowth to create a light and open space ready for greening

CURRENT PROJECTS

After the forced cessation of our fundraising for the past two years courtesy of Mr Covid, we are back in business! Fundraising for St Mary’s is our raison d’être, so it has been a difficult two years.

Despite being unable to fundraise over the past two years and paying out vast sums of money for the bells and to assist with the refurbishment of the church, we still have a healthy balance in the accounts, and have been doing our other job, which is to help with irregular outgoings for the church.

Many of you will have seen the sad condition of the west gate of the church and that that it was about time it is replaced. Probably the same can be applied to the noticeboard by the side of the west gate, which is also in a poor state. The Friends thought so too and have commissioned a new noticeboard and a new gate, so watch this space – actually, it’s probably better to watch the west side of the church!

The new LED energy-saving light bulbs have been installed in the church, and they seem to be very good replacements. The Friends contributed £1,000 towards the cost of the lighting and their installation. The new bulbs use less than 10% of the energy of the previous bulbs for the same amount of light, giving considerable savings in energy costs.

The new lights were installed in time for our Ukraine vigil on 1st April

NEW EVENTS FOR 2022

BRISTOL MALE VOICE CHOIR CONCERT (14th May)

Our first fundraising venture of 2022 is the concert by the Bristol Male Voice Choir on 14th May. Tickets are now on sale via Eventbrite here, from committee members, and from the Hawkesbury Stores.

This concert has been planned for the past three years, and it is good that we have now got it off the ground. In addition to the Bristol Male Voice Choir, we also have our own St Mary’s Choir in the programme, and the amazing Ben Humphries playing the church organ during the interval.

OPEN CHURCH WEEKEND (23rd-24th July)

We are currently planning an Open Church Weekend in July with the bells being available to ring and access to the bells themselves for the energetic. There will be other activities including music and picnics in the garden of Church Farm House.

James Joynson’s beautiful working model of a full-circle bell will be on display at our Open Weekend – James, Bell Master for the Wotton branch of the G&BDABR, is pictured above left presenting the model to Tower Captain and FOSM Chairman Colin Dixon

FOMS AT HAWKESBURY SHOW (27th August)

We will be running our ever-popular Pimms tent at the Hawkesbury Show on 27th August so make sure it is in your diary to come and visit us. We will be in our new position on the far side of the arena near to the Hawkesbury Stores and Hawkesbury Upton Literature Festival tents.

photo of FOSM Pimms tent at the village show

HAWKESBURY SCARECROW TRAIL (23rd-30th October)

The Friends will again be entering a scarecrow in the Hawkesbury Scarecrow Trail over the autumn half term. The theme has yet to be decided by the Pre-school, but the Friends will be actively participating.

Last autumn Bellinda the Bell Ringer was FOSM’s Scarecrow

NINE LESSONS & CAROLS (18th December)

The FOSM Christmas Service of Nine Lessons and Carols will be held on Sunday 18th December at 5pm. This is a wonderful service of readings and carols and is especially good for children. Following the service, mulled wine and mince pies will be served at Church Farm House, courtesy of Christopher and Lisa Overton.

APRIL SERVICES

Sunday 3rd April Holy Communion (9.30am)

Sunday 10th April Palm Sunday Ecumenical Service combined with Methodists,
meeting at Farm Pool to walk to the Methodist Chapel (9.30am)

Sunday 17th April Easter Sunday – Morning Prayer (9.30am)

Sunday 24th April Evensong (6pm)

Online video services will continued to be streamed at 10am on the first and third Sundays and live-streamed from Hawkesbury on second and fourth Sundays at www/youtube.com/c/badmintonbenefice

February 2022 News

FOSM Chairman Colin Dixon writes:

We held our Nine Lessons and Carols service for the first time in two years on 19th December with a larger than expected congregation. Once more a very satisfying service led very ably by Reverend Tunnicliffe.

COMPLETED PROJECTS

In the intervening two years since the last Nine Lessons and Carols Service, the Friends have provided over £200,000 to St Mary’s Church for the new vestry cupboards, the wonderful new glass vestry screen, the new bell ringing floor (pictured above), and of course the bells themselves.

This was only possible through the good offices of members of the Friends who donated their hard-earned money or went out and garnered charity grants from a variety of sources. We also raised money through events held over the past few years.

CONTINUING PROJECTS

At the same time, the Friends continued with their normal maintenance work, such as mowing the churchyard, clearing the weeks and paying for the cutting of the yew hedges. The yew hedges always look so wonderful when they have been cut and it is the Friends who pay for it.

NEW PROJECTS

There are still more things that are in need of replacement or repair in this ancient and lovely church of ours. Most pressing is probably the boiler which is on its last lets and will need to be replaced by an environmentally-friendly option at an horrendous cost. We still haven’t forgotten the desperate need for a toilet for use by the congregation and visitors to the cemetery and the management of the churchyard now that the large conifers have been removed.

HOW TO BECOME A FRIEND OF ST MARY’S

Please join the Friends of St Mary’s if you are not already a member and support a dedicated group of people determined that this beautiful church should not fall into decay. Details of membership can be found here. If you are already a member, don’t forget to renew your membership for 2022.

NEW VICE PRESIDENTS

The Friends of St Mary’s has The Right Honorable The Earl of Liverpool as President and His Grace The Duke of Beaufort as Patron. We also had one Honorary Vice President in Sir George White, one of the original founders of the Friends.

However, in the past year it has been our great pleasure to elect three new Honorary Vice Presidents. This honour goes to people who have given outstanding service to The Friends of St Mary’s and to the church. The new Honorary Vice Presidents are:

Mr John Appleby
Mr William Fairney
Sir Ian Macfadyen

The first two were presented with their scrolls at the Service of Nine Lessons and Carols, and Sir Ian, who was on holiday at the time, received his scroll at the St Wulfstan Service on 19th January.

PLEASE HELP US TIDY THE CHURCHYARD

We are planning a number of maintenance forays into the churchyard this year to see if we can at last get it under control. The first will be Saturday 12th February at 10.30am. Please do come and help – no experience necessary, just enthusiasm and whatever tools you have to hand.

NEW FUNDRAISING EVENT: Bristol Male Voice Choir (14th May)

To end on a brighter note, as we see the light at the end of the Covid tunnel, we are beginning to plan new fundraising events for the coming year. The first of these is the Bristol Male Voice Choir singing in the church on Saturday 14th May. Don’t forget to put it in your diaries.

Best wishes to all Friends and potential Friends.

Colin Dixon
Chairman

FEBRUARY SERVICES

Sunday 6th February Holy Communion (9.30am)

Sunday 13th February Evensong (6pm)

Sunday 20th February Matins (9.30am)

Sunday 27th February Evensong (6pm)

Online video services will continued to be streamed at 10am on the first and third Sundays and live-streamed from Hawkesbury on second and fourth Sundays at www/youtube.com/c/badmintonbenefice.