PARISHES OF SHIRENEWTON AND NEWCHURCH
MAGAZINE
February 1999
INCUMBENT: The Revd Hugh Trenchard 424984
CHURCH WARDENS: Mrs Jean Jones Shirenewton 641627
Mrs Cynthia Smith Shirenewton 626712
Mrs Pam Manning Newchurch 650294
Mr Steve Manning Newchurch 650294
ORGANISTS: Mr Martyn Cole Shirenewton 626791
Mrs Kath Whittington Newchurch 641600
FROM THE RECTOR
Dear Parishioners
The New Year is already advancing apace and before next month's magazine we shall already be in the season of Lent. As our Lenten preparation this year we shall use and discuss the psalm and readings from "the Agreed Common Lectionary", which is used by all Christian denominations. Each Sunday, the readings will be available on a printed sheet and those who would like to join the discussion can do so beginning on Ash Wednesday 17 February with a Eucharist in Shirenewton at 10 am and Caerwent at 7.30 pm. The sermon will introduce our study themes and the first discussion fellowship will begin on Wednesday 24 February in Shirenewton Church commencing at 7.30 pm and ending with the service of Compline 8.30 - 9 pm.
The pages following will begin a fellowship process in the four parishes, which will follow after Lent and will consist of two evening sessions a month, one in Shirenewton and one in Caerwent. They will also focus on the new Lectionary material, which will be available on Sundays. Details will follow.
The Lenten fellowships will be as follows:
Wednesday 3 March, 7.30 - 9 pm at Caerwent Church.
Wednesday 10 March at Newchurch at the same time.
Wednesday 24 March at Shirenewton at the same time.
Wednesday 31 March at Caerwent at the same time.
May I take this opportunity to thank Jane, Glynis, Jackie and Helen for the work and commitment they gave to the Christingle Service and the super "Time Travel" Nativity. The enjoyment of the young people was catching and all who came were uplifted for their Christmas celebrations. A special thank you to Trisha and Martyn who gave the recipe and did the preparation of the "punch" which accompanied the mince pies. The Christingle raised over £150 - a delightful sum for the Children's Society.
If anyone has a charity plate they have not returned, it would be good to finalise the Honduran Christmas Appeal as soon as possible. Our thanks also to all who made the church a fitting place to celebrate. We should also thank the "old man with the beard" who visited church on Christmas morning and shared the sermon!!
Hugh Trenchard
MIRACLES HAPPEN SOMETIMES - OR HOW TO TURN £1 INTO £1.30 WITHOUT COSTING YOU A PENNY
Many of our parishioners have realised the benefit to our church of covenanting giving and this is very much appreciated.
There is a special virtue in covenanting in that every pound a standard rate taxpayer puts in the PCC can claim an extra 29.87p from the Inland Revenue.
There are different ways of covenanting: a lot of our regular churchgoers contribute through a planned weekly envelope scheme, others by way of standing order through their bank on a monthly/quarterly basis, and thirdly by a single lump sum contribution once a year.
There is no upper or lower limit to the amount that can be contributed. Although you will need to sign a form promising payment for four years you can, in fact, revoke or reduce the amount if your circumstances change, or even increase it if you wish.
All you need do is to contact the Covenanting Secretary, Dennis Hopkins on 01291 641 294 to sign a simple form which he will help you with, and probably fill in most of it if you wish.
Finally, it is emphasised that in making a Covenant with our church the transaction is dealt with in absolute discretion between you the Covenantor and the Covenanting Secretary.
Please consider carefully whether you can make the Tax Collector cough up a little extra for our church.
Dennis Hopkins, Covenanting Secretary
FREE WILL OFFERING ENVELOPES
For those who wish to contribute to church giving on a regular basis without the commitment of covenanting, or who are non-taxpayers, this can be achieved through a weekly/monthly envelope scheme. This enables the donor to set aside a contribution on a weekly/monthly basis and pay this to us by church attendance, or by arranging for the envelope to be collected by the Covenanting Secretary. Sets of envelopes are readily available by simply contacting Dennis Hopkins on 01291 641 294.
Dennis Hopkins
Covenanting Secretary
SHIRENEWTON CHURCH FETE - SATURDAY 12 JUNE 1999
A meeting will be held on Wednesday 10 February at 8 pm at The Huntsman to arrange the fete. All stall holders and anyone who would like to help will be very welcome.
The first event to celebrate the Millennium will be your Church Fete and the theme will the year 1900. Don't miss this opportunity to take part.
W M Jones
CHURCH FLOWERS
Mrs Felicity Hunt has very kindly said that she will assist me with the arrangements for flowers in the church. Please help us to fill the rota of arrangers in the porch and our thanks go to all who have helped last year and before.
Rose Robinson 641 539
Felicity Hunt 650 604 (evenings)
GAERLLWYDD WOMEN'S MEETINGS - WEDNESDAY AT 2.30 PM
3 February Rehearsal for Women's World Day of Prayer
17 February Rehearsal for Women's World Day of Prayer
3 March Rehearsal for Women's World Day of Prayer
Fri 5 March Women's World Day of Prayer - Gaerllwydd Baptist Chapel at 3.00 pm.
200 CLUB - JANUARY 1999 DRAW
£100 No 23 Maureen Moody
£50 No 165 Anna Baker
£50 No 239 W Benjamin
£40 No 183 Martin Milling
£20 No 3 Carol Richards
£20 No 225 Mrs Boast
£20 No 195 Joy Jones
MILLENNIUM WORLD WIDE WEB SITE
We now have a personalised address for our Millennium World Wide Web pages. The new address is: here.is/shirenewton which is much easier to remember than the old one.
The pages now include an on-line Village Bookshop, where you can buy books from home, with fifteen percent commission going to church funds. You will also find lots of local information on the web site.
Peter Hesketh
SHIRENEWTON WOMEN'S INSTITUTE
Members of Shirenewton WI had a busy month in December, starting on Saturday 5 December, with a successful Christmas Bazaar held at the Recreation Hall.
The following Saturday, 12 December, members gathered in the churchyard for a tree planting ceremony as our contribution to the Millennium celebrations. Mr E Jones gallantly dug the hole in readiness for our President Mrs Winifred Jones to plant a red hawthorn. Members then proceeded to the Recreation Hall for refreshments.
For our December meeting we visited The Huntsman and enjoyed an excellent Christmas dinner, following which we were entertained by our own Hand Chime Group who played carols.
Our February meeting will be held on 18 February at 7.15 pm at the Recreation Hall. Our speaker will be Mr David Delawder, GDBA, accompanied by guide dog 'Kirby'. Tea Hostesses: Mrs B Bowen and Mrs S Bonsey. Raffle: Mrs B Bowen.
Margaret Woodliffe - Secretary
SHIRENEWTON VPA
In December we had our Christmas Dinner. As usual we had a lovely evening in the Huntsman Hotel. The dinner was excellent and the attention of the staff was first class.
In January it was the turn of the 1998 quiz winners to compile this year's event. Unfortunately the attendance was poor.
February will be the start of our speaker list. This month's meeting will be a surprise as there has been a double booking and we drew the short straw. However we are sure we will manage to produce an interesting evening. The raffle prize and biscuits will be provided by Mrs M Grattan.
In March it will be our Spring Bulb Show, so we really should be starting to think ahead for that. The date and times are: Monday 1 March in the Huntsman Hotel at 7.30 pm. The biscuits and raffle prize to be provided by Mrs J Ovens.
SUNDAY SCHOOL AND YOUTH CLUB
We would like to thank all the children and young people who took part in the Christingle and Nativity Service on Christmas Eve and also all the parents who ferried them to and from rehearsals. It was great fun working with so many enthusiastic youngsters, some of whom have since started coming to Sunday School. Thanks also to all of you who came to the service and gave over £150 to the Children's Society.
The dates for Sunday School and Youth Club for the next few weeks are as follows:
7 Feb Sunday School 9.45 am at the Chantry
14 Feb Sunday School 9.45 am at the Chantry
21 Feb Family Service 9.45 am at Church
28 Feb Sunday School 9.45 am at the Chantry
Youth Club workshop followed by tea and bowling 4.00 pm at the Recreation Hall.
7 Mar Sunday School 9.45 am at the Chantry
Youth Club workshop 5.30 pm at the Recreation Hall
14 Mar Sunday School and Youth Club - Mothering Sunday Service - 9.45 am in Church
Jane Smith-Haddon
THE VILLAGE CAROL SINGING
Fantastic carol singing around the village just before Christmas. It was a great turn- out, and thanks to James on the trumpet too.
We raised £150.80 for the Honduras Disaster Appeal. Marjorie Price Jones has sent us a warm letter of acknowledgement from Multi International Aid outlining the relief plans they hope to put into operation in this disaster area. Thanks to everyone who came and sang to support this appeal.
Pyp
(Parish Youth Page)
Hi Ya Everybody!
Hope you had a great Christmas. I did, loads of bones and biscuits. And before I forget - best wishes to Philippa Broadrib who has had to ho into hopital for a bit. Hope you're back on your feet again soon Philippa.
Now last year the Youth Group and Sunday School went to see Charlotte's Web at the Sherman Theatre. at the end of the performance the actors came on stage for a question and answer session and the audience was asked what they might like to see performed this year. there were frankly some interesting suggestions and someone from our group (who??) did shout out Enid Blyton.
So is this why we got the see 'The Secret Seven Saves the World"?
So what about next year's panto, here are some muddled suggestions that I would like you to sort out for me....
1 The Tale of Peter Crusoe
2 101 Musketeers
3 The Three Dalmations
4 Charlie and the Chocolate Beauty
5 Robinson Rabbit
6 The Lion, the Witch and the Rabbit
7 Children of the New Web
8 Black Pig
9 Treasure Factory
10 Winnie the Forest
11 Charlotte's Wardrobe
12 The Sheep Pooh
....It's a long time since I read these books!...
Here's a report from our visit to the Sherman Theatre -
"On Monday 4 January the Sunday School, Youth Club and other people in the village went to see 'The Secret Seven Saves the World' at the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff. We all went on a big bus. The play was very good."
by a young theatre goer
FROM THE BIRTHDAY BOOK....
Firstly an apology... Gemma Hunt was 14 on 25 January, not 50!.. sorry about that Gemma.
Gemma's sister Zoe has a birthday on 10 February and
Rebecca Dodd is 8 on 18 February
Happy Birthday to you all!
JOKE LINE...
A notice seen at the butchers....
"Please don't sit your baby on the bacon slicer, we are getting a little behind"!!!
by Mike Penney
See ya! Pyp
SHIRENEWTON RINGERS WINTER TOUR
The other day Mike Penney asked me what on earth had I done with my life before I had taken up bell ringing. He suggested that a great void in my life had been filled! I don't know about that - but Kevin was heard to mutter that I had occasionally been known to do the cooking, ironing, housework ..
However, on Saturday 9 January the bell ringers went on their winter tour up around Gloucester. Around 14 of us met up at St Nicholas Hardwicke, where we were warmly greeted by the tower captain - he put the fire on. Now remember I'm only a novice ringer but the bells seemed easy to ring and we didn't break anything.
From there we drove to St Mary de Lode in the centre of Gloucester itself. Well, actually we didn't drive there, we had to park miles away (and pay) and then leg it through the shopping centre. The ringing chamber at the back of the church was awash with pigeon poo and feathers. As we rang, the ropes dislodged years of their activity down upon our heads. It was not a time to look up or talk.
Then on to St Giles at Maisemore. It was lovely and peaceful sitting outside the church in the surprisingly warm winter sunshine. Peaceful until we rang the bells - they were so noisy. The graves were all numbered - well how else would the postman deliver the letters?
And the Boat Inn at Ashleworth is to be recommended - tiny but toasty warm with the flooded River Severn surging down swiftly and powerfully just yards away. We walked round the corner past the Tithe Barn and into the church of St Andrew and Bartholomew. This is another very interesting church - you can still see some of the chevron stonework of the north Saxon wall. The bells were in good working order but sadly they do not have a regular band of ringers.
Tower five, St Mary's Hasfield was cancelled due to some technical hitch - a broken pulley I think. And so on to St Michael and All Angels where we were obliged to drive through some major flooding. The water pushed my plastic bumper off. But we were made very welcome and it was good to hear that at Tirley they have a thriving, young and enthusiastic ringing band (like us really). The bells were easy to handle and we rang well.
Home to celebrate at Mike and Pip's house where despite domestic travel arrangements breaking down, cars breaking down and a power cut we had a wonderful evening. Thanks Pip for the party - and thanks Mike for a great day out. The ironing can wait!
Glynis MacDonald
SOCKING-GREAT SNOWFLAKES IN SHIRENEWTON
Mrs Elizabeth Boles was sent this article by her brother Patrick Spence-Thomas who lives in Toronto, Canada. He found it while surfing the Net.
"In a recent review of records of falls of very large snowflakes, W S Pike lists eleven instances where flakes more than 5 centimetres in diameter have been observed .. This uncatalogued observation would certainly have been worth including .
March 24, 1888. Shirenewton, England.
"Snowstorm with extraordinary flakes, some were three and three-quarter inches in diameter, falling like plates. The storm lasted only two minutes but in this short period the ground was covered two inches deep."
This quotation is from British Rainfall, 1988, as requoted by Pike."
If you would like to read the whole article, here is the Internet address:
http://www.knowledge.co.uk/xxx/cat.sourcebook/
And if you do contact them perhaps you would point out that Shirenewton is in Wales, not England - or had we been annexed by a boundary change at this time?! Thank you for sending this in Mrs Boles, I am hoping for a repeat performance of this snowfall as I was given a sledge for Christmas! - Ed.
WINTER TIDINGS FROM THE WOODLAND TRUST
Here is part of a letter sent by Paula Keen of the Woodland Trust to the Community Council.
"Since I last met with some of you, plans for the wood have been formalised and approved by the Forestry Authority. The trees to be thinned were marked with coloured paint and saleable timber was measured at the end of last summer, but unfortunately the poor markets for timber meant that we were unable to sell it as we would normally. We have however been looking at other approaches and expect to have cutters working in the wood before the spring. Native broad-leaved trees will be planted in three areas, either immediately after the thinning or the following winter.
When the work is under way we will have to close some of the sections of paths within the wood temporarily for safety reasons, so please do not go past any red and white tape or warning signs at this time. The work should not take more than 2 months and we will try to keep as much of the wood open as possible throughout.
Our regular maintenance contractor is on standby to open up the new paths and glade that were proposed at the last meeting. We also aim to install a bench at the viewpoint and a bridge across the stream by the summer. If anyone would like to know more about plans for the woods, copies were sent to the Community Council last summer, they will also be able to put you in touch with me directly if they are unable to answer your questions.
I hope you will enjoy spending time in the wood once the initial works have been completed, there should be an interesting year ahead!"
MESSAGES OF THANKS
Mrs Lilian Remnant wishes to thank her many friends and relations who sent their best wishes, flowers and cards on the occasion of her 90th birthday which took place on 28 December.
Mavis and Bill Bryant and Family would like to thank relatives, friends and neighbours for their kind messages of sympathy and beautiful floral tributes and donations received after their recent sad loss of their daughter Betty.
Mavis Bryant
Margaret, Colin and Families would like to express their sincere thanks to relatives, friends and neighbours, who attended the funeral and sent cards, letters and messages of condolences in the sad loss of their mother, Mrs Kathleen Hughes. Also the Reverend Hugh Trenchard for his kind words and the tribute he paid to their mother.
COOKERY CORNER
This month's recipe by Rebecca, Anna and Charlotte Broughton, and I can vouch for its yumminess as I was given some for Christmas Ed
CHOCOLATE BISCUIT CAKE
8 oz digestive biscuits 4 oz plain chocolate
4 oz butter 2 tbs double cream
2 oz glace cherries 2 oz flaked almonds
Line a cake tin with foil. Chop cherries. Break biscuits into small pieces and put in mixing bowl with cherries. Break chocolate into a pan, add butter and cream, stir over low heat until the chocolate has melted. (We melted the chocolate in the microwave - child friendly). Add almonds to biscuit mixture then pour in the chocolate sauce and mix thoroughly. Spoon into cake tin and put in the fridge for at least one hour.
Keep the recipes rolling in, and we could soon have enough to put into the Village Millennium Book
GARDENING CORNER.
The beginning of yet another year in the garden. One which, as I write this article, has started the same as the last one finished. Meaning that we are well on the way to suffering the wettest January on record. This is always the quietest month in the year, but with the present weather, the best you can do is hang up your boots and warm your toes in front of the fire. That is unless you have a greenhouse to retreat to. I always hope to attack the greenhouse during the Christmas break or the first week in January. The attack begins with cleaning down the glass and insulating bubble plastic with a solution of Jeyes fluid. This removes all the algal growth that has built up during the previous growing season and allows for maximum light transmission as well as sterilisation. I remove all the plants before doing this operation. These are then brought back in and all the windows and doors sealed with tape, and the greenhouse is then thoroughly, fumigated using smoke cones. I think that this will have to be repeated this year, as, despite many efforts to control them, there still appears to be some white fly lurking. This is especially true on the Pelargoniums, which are overwintered for stock plants. This process is repeated in both of my greenhouses, the smaller one of which is used mainly for propagation. The heated bench has been working nearly all winter, being filled with cuttings of Penstemons, Pelargoniums, Carnations and Pinks. Most of these have now been moved on into individual 3" pots. The space created though has been filled with numerous seed trays, mostly filled with this coming seasons’ herbaceous plants. Some of these have been outside in the coldframe since Christmas Eve, having a pregermination chilling. Hopefully these will burst into life with the warmth of the hotbench. No doubt many of you do not bother to heat the greenhouse over the winter months. If so you have plenty of time before sowing seeds, so go back to my original suggestion, and warm your feet instead. There is still time to order seeds from the numerous catalogues, if you haven’t got this far yet. Not being one to miss a bargain, it may be worth looking around the many garden shops/nurseries to see if they have any bulbs going cheap. Many sell off the "left overs", at good discounts. Take a bit of time to sort through the packets, making sure that you do not pick ones that have sprouted too far, give the bulbs a little squeeze too ( making sure nobody sees you of course!) to make sure that they are sound and not rotting. I have recently bought a wide variety in this way. I have then potted these up in what I call proper pots (Terracotta ones), using a general, peat based compost, and put these under the greenhouse bench. They could also be put on a cool, well lit windowsill if you have one. They will shoot away, and depending on the variety of bulb, will probably flower about the same time as those planted at the recommended time. I use these pots then to either give some welcome colour indoors, or to stand in dull corners of the garden for some instant colour. Once they have finished flowering, I select a suitable spot in the garden, and bury the pot up to its brim. The bulbs are then transferred into the soil, probably in the autumn.
I will soon be buying a few more Lilies to put in pots too. I have a number that I potted up in November, which are starting to show now in the greenhouse. These will provide a lovely display of flowers in June and July. The later purchases will hopefully lengthen the season into August, and help fill a few holes in the flower borders where the early herbaceous plants have already finished.
I am hoping that it begins to dry up soon as there are some major projects to be undertaken in the garden. I can see that it will be some time before we can set foot onto the soil, and begin working in earnest. I will have to content myself with looking at the numerous gardening books that are on the shelf, and make great plans. The trouble is that I keep changing my mind as to what I want to do, depending on which book I am looking at, at that particular time. I know I want a large rockery, in front of the beehives, and originally thought that this would be based on conifers and heathers. The latter providing a source of much needed winter flowers for the inmates of the hives. I’ve now seen a very nice scree garden that would also fit in well, so am now in two minds as to what to do. At the moment the bees just have the edge, but according to Alan Titchmarsh in his Avant Gardening book, anything to do with heathers is definitely out. Still who cares about fashion, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, - isn’t it?
The other major project is a water feature outside the kitchen window. This is less contentious as I have rough plans for it. Fortunately there is quite a steep bank and then a flat area, so I will be building a waterfall, which will flow into a plunge pool, this in turn will then flow along a length of stream, before finally tumbling into another, larger pool. Both sides will be richly planted, with a bridge over the stream, and a bog garden on the edge of the first pool. Sounds wonderful! There will then be an area where I can sit, relax and while away the summer evenings. Now that part really is dreaming!! Well what do you expect, when I am sitting in front of the fire warming my toes, with little else to do until the weather improves. Hopefully by next month things will be improving. It is already noticeable that the evenings are drawing out, so things can only get better. It won’t be very long until April the thirteenth, and that first sound of the Cuckoo. Happy feet warming until next month.
Steve Hunt.
DIARY
Wed 3 Feb 2.30 pm W W D of Prayer Rehearsal - Gaerllwydd
Wed 10 Feb 8.00 pm Fete Meeting - Huntsman
Wed 17 Feb 10.00 am Ash Wednesday Eucharist - Shirenewton Church
2.30 pm W W D of Prayer Rehearsal - Gaerllwydd
7.30 pm Ash Wednesday Eucharist - Caerwent Church
Thu 18 Feb 7.15 pm WI - Recreation Hall
Wed 24 Feb 7.30 pm Lent Fellowship - Shirenewton
Mon 1 Mar 7.30 pm VPA - Huntsman
Wed 3 Mar 2.30 pm W W D of Prayer Rehearsal - Gaerllwydd
Fri 5 Mar 3.00 pm Womens World Day of Prayer - Gaerllwydd
7.30 pm Lent Fellowship - Caerwent
Wed 10 Mar 7.30 pm Lent Fellowship - Newchurch
Wed 24 Mar 7.30 pm Lent Fellowship - Shirenewton
Wed 31 Mar 7.30 pm Lent Fellowship - Caerwent
Please send notes or disks for next month's magazine to:
Jane Smith-Haddon, 14 Clearview, Shirenewton
Tel: 641 525 Fax: 641 520
by Saturday 20 February 1999
FEBRUARY 1999 - SHIRENEWTON
DATE READER SIDESPERSON
Feb
7 Sexagesima Mr R Grattan Mrs W Jones
Holy Eucharist - 9.45 am John Nicholas Claire Lewis
14 Quinquagesima Mrs W Jones John Nicholas
Holy Eucharist - 9.45 am Alicea Brown Kevin Bounds
21 1st Sunday in Lent Sunday School
Family Service - 9.45 am
28 2nd Sunday in Lent - St David Trisha Cole Mr B Robinson
Holy Eucharist - 9.45 am Colin Draper Mr R Grattan
Mar
7 3rd Sunday in Lent Gareth Thomas Mrs B Bowen
Holy Eucharist - 9.45 am James Bounds Mr D Hopkins
NEWCHURCH: 2.30 pm every Sunday