To celebrate the successful inspection of our magnificent ring of eight bells, James Joynson has made this five-minute video providing a close-up view of the bells as they chime.
As Bell Master for the Wotton branch of the Gloucester and Bristol Diocesan Association of Bell Ringers (G&BDABR), James is and responsible for technical aspects of bells and bell ringing training within the Diocese, and has been doing a terrific job training St Mary’s new band of bell ringers, led by Tower Captain Colin Dixon.
New bell ringers are welcome to expand our band – no prior experience necessary – so if you’d like to try your hand at bell ring, please don’t hesitate to email Colin Dixon for more information.
Lisa Overton, Secretary of the Friends of St Mary’s, provides our latest news round-up:
Eastertime, spring on its way and winter behind us, all the conservation work of the church completed, the new bells soon to be hung and start ringing, this is surely a time of hope and celebration for the Friends of St Mary’s.
We hope that the ending of the lockdown will allow us to plan events for the summer and autumn, including a performance by the Bristol Male Voice Choir, so please keep an eye on our website, our Facebook page and the Hawkesbury Parish News.
We hope to hold the Friends of St Mary’s AGM on Sunday 25th July in the church, followed by choral evensong, so please keep the date free.
THANK YOU TO DONORS AND GRANT-GIVERS
At the end of our successful project on the tower, we would like to thank the following for their wonderful financial support:
The Friends of St Mary’s, who raised and donated £55,000
The Enovert Trust (£20,000)
Gloucester Historic Churches Trust (£8,000)
The Sandra Trust (£8,000)
The Headley Trust (£5,000)
The Cottam Trust (£4,000)
The All Churches Trust (£2,300)
South Gloucestershire Council (£500)
The Renishaw Trust (£1,500)
The Langtree Trust (£500)
The Rausing Trust (£8,000)
I must add John and Stephanie Appleby and many other individuals who have been so generous. Many thanks too must go to the energetic fundraisers, especially Peter Setterfield, who organised the highly successful Waterloo Ball in 2015, to our Chairman Sir Ian Macfadyen and to Colin Dixon.
LIKE TO BECOME A FRIEND OF ST MARY’S?
The Friends of St Mary’s, founded in 1980, exists to raise funds for the fabric and preservation of St Mary’s church, and is open to anyone to join (you don’t have to be a church-goer, though you would be very welcome!)
We have members from far afield who have particular affection for this special building and its history, and who value its place in the fabric of our village and community.
Lisa Overton, Secretary of the Friends of St Mary’s, provides our latest news round-up:
Welcome back, St Mary’s!
It is amazing how far the tower of the church is visible: our Carrek stonemasons commented on being able to see it right across the Sodbury Vale, from the M5, when it was shrouded in its scaffolding and white wrapping.
Now, it is settling happily back into the landscape, but it is well worth coming soon to see the excellent repair work that has been done:
new stone and mortar on the five bands of drip mouldings at each stage of the tower
careful repairs to the hunkypunks, gargoyles and crenellations at the top
Carrek’s conservation work went on in all winter weathers
The work carried out by Carrek conservation is of the highest standard and the stonemasons have been so jolly, even when working in intense cold through this winter: we thank them and will miss them. Take a look at the Carrek Conservation website (www.carrek.co.uk) to learn about more of their remarkable projects.
And we must thank the brave scaffolders from Clarke who worked through snow, wind and rain to take down the mighty structure in the coldest weather, and kept smiling!
THANK YOU TO DONORS AND GRANT-GIVERS
Along with the support of other donors and grant-giving bodies, this work has been achieved with a donation of £45,000 from the Friends of St Mary’s, raised over the last eight years, to the PCC who commissioned the project.
LIKE TO BECOME A FRIEND OF ST MARY’S
The Friends of St Mary’s, founded in 1980, exists to raise funds for the fabric and preservation of St Mary’s church, and is open to anyone to join (you don’t have to be a church-goer, though you would be very welcome!)
We have members from far afield who have particular affection for this special building and its history, and who value its place in the fabric of our village and community.
At present we are unable to announce fundraising events for the Friends for 2021, but we have dates and activities in the pipeline and will reveal them as soon as Covid restrictions are lifted, and will put them on our website.
PLEASE HELP US SPRING-CLEAN THE CHURCHYARD
However we would appreciate some volunteers to help with a socially-distanced, open-air clean up of the churchyard from 10 am on Saturday 27th March. If you would like to help, please contact me – and bring trowels and rakes!
MARCH SERVICES
Due to lockdown, all services will be online this month, hosted on the Badminton Benefice’s YouTube account here.
Friends of St Mary's Hawkesbury 