PARISHES OF SHIRENEWTON AND NEWCHURCH
MAGAZINE
November 1998
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 PCC
CHURCH HARVEST SUPPER: Once again held at he Huntsman Hotel and was a most enjoyable evening.
A hot and cold buffet started the evening, followed by an up-date on the Chechnya news by Marjorie Price Jones who expressed her appreciation for all the support we have given to her appeal for the Chechnya refugees who have benefited from the clothes, money etc, we have given and delivered in person by Marjorie.
The raffle and auction followed, raising £210 for the appeal. Our auctioneer for the evening was Dave Cornwell who conducted it with an enormous amount of fun, managing to persuade the very willing bidders to part with their cash amid much laughter providing us all with a most entertaining evening - Many thanks to you Dave.
Also our thanks to everyone who supported this event, to the hotel, and the organisers and generosity of the folk who gave produce, raffle prizes and donations and all who helped to make it such a successful evening.
CHURCH AUTUMN FAYRE: Please come along to Shirenewton School on 14 November at 10.00 am and support the Church Autumn Fayre. There will be a good selection of goodies on sale from cakes to gifts and that special 'find' on the White Elephant. Plants to fill your garden, wonderful toys and books and of course the 'cuppa' and cake while you sit and chat while you wait for the Big Draw which as usual completes the event. A relaxing way to spend a Saturday morning.
If you wish to contribute to the stalls with unwanted items please contact me, Barbara Davies on 641 553.
CHURCH PEWS: As you will have seen one pew has been dipped to reveal its true colour. For this to happen throughout the church approximately £100 per pew will be required. If you would like to sponsor a pew for its dipping, sanding and waxing to finish please see the Churchwardens or Felicity.
FLOODLIGHTING OF THE CHURCH: The PCC has applied to SWALEC under the Lighting Up Churches in Wales scheme. If successful we will receive a 50% grant towards the cost of this scheme. This project would enable the church to be lit for the year 2000.
CHECHNYA
Our Guest of Honour at the Harvest Supper this year was Marjorie Price Jones of Multi- International Aid. She came to give us an update on the conditions in Chechnya, and because of the continuing violence there, people are still suffering from lack of food, shelter, warmth and medical facilities. Sadly, recent reports from Chechnya about kidnappings have not helped the flow of aid to the vast numbers of people who are still living in appalling conditions. Marjorie has urged us to continue to give what we can. The people there will need warm clothing as temperatures are already dropping below freezing - any warm clothing and toiletries would be very much appreciated.
Please could you leave any contributions at the back of the church, Peter Jones has kindly arranged for them to be taken away and sorted. We need to do this rather speedily in order to catch the next convoy, which goes in mid November. Ring Jean Jones: 641 627 or Glynis MacDonald: 641 818 for more details.
AN EVENING OF MUSIC
The 'Evening of Music' held in the Church on Saturday 19 September, was a truly virtuoso performance by Robin Stubbs on what we all thought was just another church organ and which is in urgent need of repair.
It was a most entertaining concert and Robin demonstrated his skills in producing a wide selection of melody and harmony. We were also given a short talk which explained why Robin needed to raise money for the essential repairs to restore the volume and quality of music which this type of instrument can achieve.
The end result of this enjoyable and entertaining evening was some excellent refreshments and a sum of £243 towards the organ repairs.
Thank you Robin for giving your time and talent and we hope you will give us another 'Evening of Music' soon - perhaps for the Christmas celebrations.
BELL NEWS (OR DON'T RING US WE'LL RING YOU!)
Congratulations to Glynis for ringing her first quarter peal on Friday 25 September.
Glynis MacDonald
Thomas Utting
Sally Utting
Mike Penney
Dudley Surman
Alex Osley
The summer tour proved to be such an exciting and popular event that even as we speak Mike Penney is planning the winter tour for early in the new year. Don't forget - young or old, tall or short, experienced or novice, clever or daft - all welcome to bell ringing on a Friday night 7.30 - 9.00 pm (9.01 pm in the pub!).
GAERLLWYDD WOMEN'S MEETINGS
Wednesday at 2.30 pm
4 November Speaker: Mr A Haime, Earlswood
Monday 9 November Social Evening 7.30 pm
18 November Speaker: Mrs N Howard, Magor
NEWCHURCH NEWS
Burial register: St Peter's:
22 September 1998 Phyllis Mary Lloyd aged 76
26 October 1998 Elijah Lewis Smith aged 84
The memorial services for both Phyllis and Lou brought a church full of friends remembering well loved characters of our villages. The family would like to thank everyone for their sympathy.
Reverend Nanci Davies was thanked for her warm tribute to Lou comparing his gentle country pace of life with her hurry to the church.
SHIRENEWTON MOTHERS UNION
At our October meeting as the Rector was still ill, our Enrolling Member, Ivy Wells, gave a talk about her first visit to the United States of America. She spent one week in New York, one week in Washington and one week in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. As she had some amusing experiences, we enjoyed a few laughs.
Our next meeting is on Wednesday 11 November at 2.30 pm in the Recreation Hall.
SHIRENEWTON WOMEN'S INSTITUTE
Our October meeting was well attended. Our speaker, Mrs Feeling gave a talk about her childhood in China, illustrated by slides. Mrs Feeling was born in China, in 1932, the daughter of a medical missionary and his wife, a qualified nurse. The family were there, when the Japanese invaded China and still there when war broke out in Europe in 1939. After VJ Day they were able to return to England, not having heard any news, all those years. We were enthralled by her talk.
Ivy Wells
Secretary
SHIRENEWTON GUIDES
Christmas Bazaar Tuesday 1 December at Shirenewton School
7 - 9 pm. Everyone welcome
Christmas Service Tuesday 8 December at Shirenewton Church
7.30 - 9pm. Mince pies and drinks
Carol Singing Tuesday 15 December 7.30 - 9.30 pm
SUNDAY SCHOOL DATES
1 Nov Sunday School 9.45 am at The Chantry
8 Nov Remembrance Sunday No Sunday School
15 Nov Family Service 9.45 am at Church
22 Nov Sunday School 9.45 am at The Chantry
29 Nov Group Service No Sunday School
6 Dec Sunday School 9.45 am at The Chantry (Nativity Play rehearsals start)
SECRETARIES: please pass your notes or disks to:
Jane Smith-Haddon, 14 Clearview, Shirenewton tel: 641 525
by: Wednesday 25 November 1998
Please note: Next month's magazine will cover both December and January
PYP
PARISH YOUTH PAGE
Hi ya!
Sorry about last month, but as it was my birthday my owners took me away on a fantastic holiday - sun, sea, sand and bonios. So here I am back again, tanned and refreshed. We have had so much rain recently I thought we could do
NOAH'S NUMBER PUZZLE
To help you along here are some useful numbers:
22 3 44 150 600 13 7 133 40 6 3 601 0.5
These are not necessarily in the right order.
1 Noah was .. years old when God told him to build an ark.
2 Noah had .. sons.
3 The dimensions of the ark were .. metres long by .. metres wide by .. metres high.
4 It had .. decks.
5 A space of .. cm was left between the roof and the sides.
6 In some Bibles the measurements are given in cubits which are about .. a metre
7 The unclean animals went in two by two but Noah had to take .. pairs of every clean animal.
8 It rained for .. days and .. nights.
9 The flood lasted for .. days.
10 Noah was .. years old and a lot more grey haired when the flood finally dried up.
11 You can find the story of Noah in Genesis Chapter
See the end of the mag for the answers. Thinking about the ark it must have looked rather like a shoe box but it certainly lasted better than the Titanic!
Birthday Book
Rosie Hancock Alicea Brown
7 on 7 Oct 15 on 2 Nov
Joke Line .
1 What did Zimbabwe used to be known as?
2 What did Sri Lanka used to be known as?
3 What did Iceland used to be known as?
Answers: 1 Rhodesia. 2 Ceylon. 3 Bejams!!!!
Bye for now
Pyp
THANKS
The Waters family would like to thank all who contributed, helped and supported the concert in aid of St Peter's Church, Newchurch and the Bazaar in aid of Earlswood Hall.
Total sum raised: St Peter's Church £342.65
Earlswood Hall £1,072.43
Many thanks
Enid Heritage
Church and Hall Treasurer
THANKS
Yvonne and family wish to thank all their friends in the village for the lovely cards, after the sad loss of Dennis.
Yvonne Moon
200 CLUB
September 198 Draw:
£40 No 183 Mr M Milling
£20 No 166 Brenda Hobbs
£20 No 37 Clive Jones
£20 No 156 Frances MacLean
SHIRENEWTON IS ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB!
At the recent meeting to discuss what we should do in the Shirenewton area to celebrate the Millennium, it was suggested that one possibility was to create a Shirenewton Area Millennium Website. This would allow people from the area, and from all over the world, to find out what was happening in the village.
The basic framework is now in place, with some dozen pages so far available, on http://phesk.demon.co.uk/
We now need lots of information to fill those pages. If any local societies, associations, sports clubs, local businesses, etc. would like to be included, so that people can discover what you do, please contact me. There is plenty of space for adding information, but if an entry runs to more than a hundred words (about the same as this article), I would be happier if it arrived on floppy disk!
Peter Hesketh Tel 641596, email pbh@phesk.demon.co.uk
SHIRENEWTON CHURCH
AUTUMN FAYRE
14 NOVEMBER 10.00 AM
AT SHIRENEWTON SCHOOL
CAKES PLANTS TOYS
BOOKS PRESERVES GIFTS
RAFFLE WHITE ELEPHANT
REFRESHMENTS
PROCEEDS TO CHURCH FUNDS
RECIPE CORNER
This month's recipe was sent in by Glynis MacDonald after a successful morning's baking by the Sunday School to celebrate Harvest Festival. She says it's an excellent recipe for using up sour milk.
1 lb SR flour a pinch of salt
11/2 oz melted margarine 1 egg
1/2 pint sour milk (soured with lemon juice or just milk on the turn)
Put flour and salt in a large bowl. Add margarine, egg, milk - and mix. Turn out onto floured board, pat or roll out to 1/2 inch thick and cut into about 14 scones. Bake at 200ºc for 12 or so minutes.
To vary add cherries, sultanas or cheese etc.
GARDENING CORNER
If someone asked me what my favourite plant family was, I would have great difficulty in actually deciding. Lilies have all the show which are guaranteed to catch the eye in any garden. Penstemons display such a variety of colour, and flower over a long period of time. The hardy Geraniums have a limited spectrum of colour, being mainly pastel in nature. They vary from white through to pink and lilac through to blue, with every colour in between. Some come marked with darker veins and others with different shades in the same flower. One of the most eye catching in our garden, has to be Splish - Splash, which has a very pale blue, almost white base, and petals that, as the name suggests have been splashed with a darker blue. Just as if a child had flicked paint onto a piece of paper. Another is Chocolate Pot, which has rich chocolate brown coloured leaves and white flowers.
They must be one of the most honest of plants. They appear to have few pests and diseases, and will thrive in any type of soil. It doesn’t matter how poor. The only thing they don’t like is waterlogged soil. They don’t mind neglect and yet respond with a flowering period that rivals any other flower family. Most will seed down with gay abandon. The only attention that they benefit from is the removal of dead and dying foliage from the larger, herbaceous species. If this is done after the first main flowering period, the plant will reward you with a further flush of flowers, which will continue up to the frosts. Some of the evergreen ones will even respond during milder spells during the autumn, giving you a gentle reminder of the good times gone, and a taste of those to come in the new season. There are a large number of named varieties of which our twenty only scratches the surface. Those that we do have vary from low growing, rockery species to large herbaceous varieties, some four feet tall and the same across. The taller varieties really need supporting, but I find the best way of achieving this is to grow the plants among other hardy herbacious subjects.
The autumn storms have hit the garden with a vengeance. The last of the flowers to put on a brave show have been blasted into submission, despite the generally sheltered nature of the garden here at Barn Farm. Unfortunately one of the polythene tunnels has also been ripped apart in the last winds. Fortunately it was the cover that was to be replaced this season. It had been on for four years and was only meant to last three, so we had seen good service from it. The ground is now so wet that it won’t be seeing a foot set on it for some considerable time. Still, regular readers will know that I am a great advocate of leaving the bulk of the "Autumn Cleanup", until the Spring anyway! The only pruning job that we will be undertaking is that of the rambling roses, cutting out all of this seasons flowering wood and tying in the new canes, ready for next year. Despite early attacks of Blackfly and Greenfly, the ramblers seemed to enjoy the cooler, wetter summer of this year. Flowering right up to the first frosts. Dahlias too, enjoyed the abundant rainfall and cooler days. These survived the first frosts, but it will not be much longer before the foliage dies down, and they are dug up, to be dried and stored in the greenhouse for the winter, alongside the Canna lilies.
I’m still fighting a battle with whitefly in the greenhouse, one which I am determined not to lose. That’s the penalty for not looking at plants when you buy them in, plus a run of mild winters. Now is the time to give your lawn its final round of TLC, with an autumn weed and feed. The directions on the bag say that you should wait for rain, but I’m not going to spread mine until the current typhoons have passed us by. Otherwise it will all wash off with little effect. Time has really run out if you were going to plant daffodils, although you are still alright for Tulips, until middle of November. I have still got a lot of dwarf daffs which were destined for the rockery beds. These will now replace the summer flowers in the patio pots so all is not lost, they will then be transplanted into the beds in the green, once flowering has finished next year. Whilst the ground is still relatively warm, you have the chance to complete the planting of spring flowering plants, such as wallflowers, sweet williams, pansies and polyanthus. Do not leave this for too much longer however as their roots will just sit there and they will then give you little repayment for your neglect next spring. If the ground does decide to dry up (wishful thinking), you should have a look at your herbaceous borders. There is still time to lift and divide congested clumps. Make sure you throw away the older centres and only retain the younger growth around the outside. Dig in some manure or pelleted chicken fertiliser when replanting, this will give the roots that necessary get up and go and will ensure good establishment. One of the other jobs I enjoy doing at this time of year is one which requires a ruthless streak. I never plan what plants go where, half of the enjoyment for me is the apparent chaos that the flowerbeds display, one which really only copies nature in the way that plants seed down with gay abandon. Often springing up in the most unexpected places. Sometimes I get it wrong, but if the plants appear promising they are given a second chance, dug up and replanted somewhere else. Sometimes new varieties are a complete and utter failure, and do not warrant a second chance. These will be dug up and burnt or end up on the compost heap. This then gives me the excuse to go and buy something completely different and have another go.
If nothing else, this weather has made me sit down and look at the numerous seed catalogues that appear in increasing numbers through the letterbox. There is always something new to tempt the purse, but this supplies that unknown quantity every year that makes gardening such a pleasure to me. The wait to see just what will appear next.
Happy gardening until next month.
Steve Hunt.
ANSWERS TO PYP'S NOAH'S NUMBER PUZZLE
1 Noah was 600 years old
2 He had 3 sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth
3 133 metres long. 22 metres wide and 13 metres high
4 3 decks: upper, middle and lower (were the cows kept on the lower deck?! - ed)
5 An important 44 cm between the roof and sides
6 Cubits are about 0.5 metre
7 7 pairs of each clean animal
8 It rained for 40 days and 40 nights
9 The flood lasted for 150 days
10 He was 661
11 Genesis chapter 6.
DIARY
Nov
Wed 11 2.30 pm Mothers Union - Shirenewton Recreation Hall
Sat 14 10.00 am Church Autumn Fayre - Shirenewton School
Dec
Tue 1 7.00 pm Guides Christmas Bazaar - Shirenewton School
Sat 5 Shirenewton WI Christmas Fair
Tue 8 7.30 pm Guides Christmas Service - Shirenewton Church
Tue 15 7.30 pm Guides Carol Singing
NOVEMBER 1998
SHIRENEWTON
DATE READER SIDESPERSON
November
1 Trinity 21 - All Saints Cynthia Smith Mr J Nicholas
Holy Eucharist - 9.45 am Trisha Cole Kevin Bounds
8 Trinity 22 - Remembrance Mrs B Davies Mr D Hopkins
Holy Eucharist - 9.45 am Alicea Brown Mrs B Bowen
15 Trinity 23 Sunday School
Family Service
22 Sunday before Advent Joe Smith-Haddon Mrs C Lewis
Holy Eucharist - 9.45 am Gareth Thomas Mrs W Jones
29 Advent Sunday
Group Sung Eucharist
Dec
6 Advent 2 James Bounds Mr F Davis
Holy Eucharist - 9.45 am Felicity Hunt Colin Draper
NEWCHURCH: 2.30 pm every Sunday