WELLOW CHURCH AND PARISH NEWS

August 2001

Churchwardens: Mrs. J. H. Mannings, Mr. J. R. Wyld

THE MOTHERS' UNION

125th Anniversary 1876 -2001

This year marks the 125th Anniversary of the Mothers' Union. For this month's Front Page I have published a brief history of the Mothers' Union reproduced with their kind permission from an article featured on the MU Website at www.themothersunion.org

"Throughout our 125 years of existence the Mothers' Union has changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of women and children worldwide. It was started in the village of Old Alresford near Winchester in 1876 by Mary Sumner, the wife of George Sumner, the Rector of the parish. Her own experience of motherhood made her aware of how little preparation and support women received for their vital role as mothers. This led her to invite some 30 or 40 local mothers to discuss the possibility of meeting regularly in order to help one another create a nurturing home environment in which their children could develop both physically and spiritually. Mary Sumner believed that many of society's problems could be solved if mothers were educated in the best ways of child-rearing. Prayer and practical action were at the heart of this union of mothers. Each member was given a card on which were printed simple practical suggestions for child training and the Mothers' Union Prayer.

The idea of bringing together Christian women, from all backgrounds, who shared a common concern about child-rearing proved to have a wide appeal. As a result of Mary Sumner's speech promoting the idea of a union of mothers to a mass meeting of church women in Portsmouth in 1885, the Mothers' Union came into existence first as a diocesan and then as a national organisation. By the 1890s the Mothers' Union had outgrown a single vicarage sitting room to become an international body with branches springing up throughout the British Empire. Today the Mothers' Union is one of the most visible fruits of the 70 million strong Anglican Communion.

Over the past 125 years the Mothers' Union has had as its primary aim the promotion of a Christian understanding of marriage and family stability. Needless to say our methods of fulfilling this aim have evolved, developed and changed in the light of social changes. A new constitution passed in 1974 opened membership to all baptised women and men, regardless of marital status, who supported our Aim and Objects. Further constitutional changes have been necessary since the 1970s to streamline the organisation and to meet the requirements of the 1993 Charities Act. In 1995 a new constitution was approved by the Privy Council.

The Mothers' Union's concern for families has drawn us often into activities beyond parish or even national boundaries. We have frequently been on the cutting edge of social change in both Africa and Europe. For example, in the early twentieth century, before women were granted the vote, we worked to influence and shape parliamentary legislation on marriage, divorce and the selling of alcohol. By so doing we challenged the idea that women's primary responsibility for the family meant that they should be excluded from public decision-making, especially when a decision could impact on marriage and the family. Another example of the Mothers' Union's concern for family life requiring it to venture on to contentious ground, was its condemnation of the apartheid laws in South Africa in the 1950s which were splitting up black families.

Some of the most significant gifts the Mothers' Union has given and continues to give women and the Church is the experience of female leadership, teaching and a deep spirituality for ordinary lay women.

Placing such an emphasis on the importance of nurturing women's skills means that the Mothers' Union was among the first Anglican organisations working overseas to replace its British workers with women indigenous to the area where they were working. Mothers' Union workers and leaders in developing countries represent a major voice among the tiny fraction of empowered women in Africa and Asia."

There is a branch of the Mothers' Union at Peasedown St John which meets on the last Tuesday of each month. If you would like to become a member, please contact me, or Shirley Dimery-Seek on 01761 437506.

Hugh Bonsey

For details of Church Services in Wellow CLICK HERE

For details of Church Services in Peasedown St. John CLICK HERE

WEDDING EXHIBITION AT TIMSBURY

On Saturday 1st & Sunday 2nd September 2001 there will be an exhibition of Wedding Dresses at Timsbury Parish Church. Visitors will be invited to share wedding cake and wine (or coffee/tea) while they enjoy the exhibition. All proceeds will be shared by Dorothy House, Winsley and Children's Hospice South West.

ST JOHN'S THEATRE CLUB : DISNEY'S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Another trip is being planned for the New Year. This time we go to the Bristol Hippodrome on Friday 11th January 2002 to see Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Tickets are priced at £31 each plus transport if required (from PSJ) at £3.50. Please contact David Cox on 01761 452262 for details and booking.

Hugh Bonsey

CHURCH NEWS

Church Heating

Good News at last regarding the church heating. If all goes well we should have phase one in for Christmas this year 2001.

Our sub committee are working very hard to bring this about, but we do need to raise some more money. If anyone has an idea or could help in any way to increase the coffers, we would be very pleased to hear from them.

Flower Festival

The Flower Festival weekend raised £3,250 profit. An excellent effort and many thanks to all concerned for the hard work that this entailed.

Spanish Guitar Concert Thursday 23rd August at 7.30pm, St Julian's Church

Our next function in aid of St Julian's Heating Fund will be by International Guitarist, David Russell and cousin of Charles Kerr. Do come and meet this talented Scotsman who is giving us this evening. Tickets £12, to include a glass of wine and canapés, available from the Parlour Shop or from Libby and Charles Kerr tel; 01225 833589. Hurry and get your tickets for this very special occasion.

David and Jenny Nixon

Some sad news. It is with deep regret we announce that Jenny and David Nixon will be leaving the village shortly for pastures new. They have both been stalwart members of our church over the years doing various jobs, Jenny as a Church warden and David as Treasurer, both serving on the Deanery Synod and doing duties as sidespersons among other things. The Women's Institute will miss Jenny too as she was always willing to be a delegate at special Annual General Meetings. Jenny is well known for her cooking at W.I. markets and also for the Lunch Club.

We do thank them both for all that they have done while living in Wellow. They will be irreplaceable.

Our best wishes and all God's Blessings go with them in their new home. (PS. They have promised to come back and visit us, so we shall look forward to seeing them both in the future).

Churchwardens

WELLOW PARISH COUNCIL

The July meeting of Wellow Parish Council was held on 16th July in the village hall after talk by Sustrans Ltd.

I'm afraid that the quotes for repair to the Playground equipment are not yet complete.

The planning application from Sustrans Ltd, re route Wellow to Midford was supported. A copy of all comments made on this application also to be sent to B&NES. Planning Dept.

Mr M Watson gave a detailed description of the Planning application at Folly Down (by Park & Ride). This could also have an effect on traffic passing through Wellow. Wellow will support the commercial aspect but not the residential plan.

Planning decisions received and permitted:

Mr N Lethby, Middle Twinhoe House, Midford

Mr A Howe; Welcot, Wellow

Mr & Mrs Lewis, Bath Hill House, Wellow

Two applications by Mr T Rothschild re the Signal Box have been refused.

An E-mail has been received from Gitte Dawson, our District Councillor, regarding 3 The Square. The cottage is to be included on the Buildings at Risk Register.

B&NES has an allocation of funds for which Parish Councils can make 3 requests each year for improvement to their area, with items such as Children and Pedestrians given top priority. If anyone would like to make any suggestions, please send to me in writing by the end of August.

Joyce Morphew, Clerk; tel: 01225 833947

VILLAGE HALL "150 CLUB" DRAW

The winners of the Village Hall "150 Club" prize draw were as follows:

The month of June:

1st Prize £33 Mrs J Rittner

2nd Prize £14 Mrs G Russell

3rd Prize £7 Mr R Williams

4th Prize £6 Mrs S Wheeler

The month of July:

1st Prize £32 Mrs M Doman

2nd Prize £13 Mr R Irving

3rd Prize £7 Mr W Wilcox

4th Prize £5 Mr L Venton

Thank you for your support.

Brian Messer, Chair

THE PARLOUR SHOP

Don't worry - there's still time to volunteer to help in the Parlour Shop in August. There are all too many Gaps in the rota this month, and any-one who could fill a few of them would be giving a real service to the village. Do make up your mind to have a go. Tell anyone at the shop, and wait for the cries of delight and relief. A stint behind the counter (including free tea/coffee!) is enjoyable and not too arduous, especially since we've had a new ham-slicing machine, which is very easy to use and completely safe, and a new till. Both of these pieces of equipment have been bought with 50% grant grants from Community Action. Many thanks to them for their continued support - and earnest hopes of seeing YOU as part of the team before long!

Marion Osborne

FROM THE PAST

1892 A report of "A Great Unionist Demonstration" "The Union Jack Van, belonging to the Liberal Union Club, visited Wellow and created a sensation. Arriving about 3pm it drove to the house of Mr W Light and later toured the village headed by the Wellow Vale Brass Band. The van was illuminated, in a novel way, by some ten or twelve youngsters sitting on the tailboard holding candles, the effect was decidedly good and the inhabitants turned out en masse to witness the procession.....At Mr Willis's wagon-house the lecturer, Mr Foster Boggis, spoke at some length on the Irish question, giving some very cogent reasons why Home Rule should not be granted to Ireland.....After the address some magnificent lantern views were exhibited with the brilliant lime light. The views were unusually fine and were much appreciated by the audience. A Warm eulogium was given to the lecturer by the vicar at the close. The meeting altogether was a good one.....and ended with the singing of the National Anthem, it will long be remembered by the people."

Gordon Hewlett

THEATRE ROYAL BATH COMES TO WELLOW - DATES FOR YOUR DIARY Friday 21st September at 7.30pm

Just one performance of 'Twelfth Night' will be playing in the Village Hall brought to Wellow by The Theatre Royal Bath's 'Theatre in a Box Company'. Stunning visuals, live original music and a piece packed with comedy and pathos. The cast of 12 will tell this story like it has never been told before.

But, if you don't believe this, try one of their free taster sessions. The Company will be in residence in the Village Hall on:

Saturday 25th August from 11am - 4pm and Friday 31st August from 12noon - 8pm.

They will rehearse the play just as they would in their own rehearsal rooms in Bath. The difference is, anyone can come along and watch the rehearsal. People can come for 5 minutes or for the whole session. They can hide in the corner and just watch or they can talk to the company and the director and get involved in decisions as they occur. Attending an open rehearsal is absolutely free.

For more information about the open rehearsals you can contact the producer, Kate Cross at the Theatre Royal Bath on 01225 448815 extension 233.

Tickets for the performance are £5.50/£4.50 (concessions) and can be purchased on the door or by phoning 01225 448844.

BATH CHRONICLE CORRESPONDENT

Earlier this year, in March I believe, I announced that I would cease to be reporter for the village. I stated that Mrs Kate Rowe had agreed to replace me. However, Kate later decided not to proceed with this.

Now I am delighted to tell you that we have a Chronicle correspondent for Wellow. She is Katy Gumm, 21 year old elder daughter of Chris and Lois, of Windyridge in the High Street. Actually Katy did some local reporting for the newspaper about four years ago and has been at Cheltenham College for the last three years studying media subjects, so she is ideally suited and skilled to report on what's happening in Wellow.

Please, therefore, let Katy know of what your society or group will be doing. A special anniversary or birthday, setting-up (or changing) a business, fund-raising activities etc. The list is endless.

Katy's Telephone number is 01225 835840. I know you will join me in wishing her all the best in her Chronicle activities, and indeed her future in whatever medium she persues as a career. Please support her in keeping Wellow in the public eye as you kindly did during the four years I was the village 'hack'.

Alan Taylor

A HUNDRED YEARS IN STONE

Last year I wrote about the initials "DJW - WWC 1900" chiselled in the wall at the top of Station Road. I asked if anyone could throw any light on who could have left their 'signatures' for posterity, so that we could give thought to the centenary of this little act. Unfortunately no-one responded and I was unable to solve the mystery.

However, Joyce Mannings told me that not long ago whilst in St Julian's Church, she was approached by a man who enquired as to whether she was the Joyce Willcox he knew in his younger days when he lived in Wellow. The man introduced himself as Peter Hooper, on holiday on one of his frequent visits, who had emigrated to Canada 42 years ago. He told Joyce that he had actually come across Richard Holland's Wellow Website while surfing the internet in Canada. (congrats. Richard - and I hope I've used the correct PC jargon!). Mr Hooper went on to relate that his great grandfather Edmund Peter Hooper, a farmer at Baggeridge Farm, had been a churchwarden at St Julian's in 1878. Apparently he had also been a local builder, being responsible, among other constructions, for building 'The Granary' at the top of Station Road, opposite the wall in which the aforesaid initials had been chiselled. Although letter 'H' ( for Hooper) was not among the six letters which were so prominently chiselled, I was prompted to look again (very closely this time) to the handmade 'plaque'. Lo and behold, below the 'DJW - WWC'', very faintly scratched in the stone rather than chiselled, were the initials 'AH'.

My theory is that while building the Granary, stonemasons put up the wall opposite the west elevation and left their initials well and truly carved. It is also likely that a descendant of farmer-cum-builder Edmund Hooper, with a first name beginning with letter 'A' added his initials 'AH', albeit in faint scratches.

I realise that this little piece of detective work isn't exactly conclusive, but having walked my two successive pet dogs past the site for about 20 years, I just had to try and find out about the carvings once their centenary had arrived in the new millennium. A pity though that I was unable to find out who 'DJW' and 'WWC' were.

Alan Taylor

REMEMBER OLD MONEY

Maybe you have some lurking at the bottom of a drawer, worthless to you? Some of the early decimal coinage has also been withdrawn and cannot be spent.

Children's Hospice South West are appealing to you to turn out this old money for them and their bank will credit them with the face value of the collection. Wellow W.I. has been asked to help, and with the kind co-operation of the Parlour Shop, there is a jar there waiting to be filled with coins or notes of any value. Thank you.

Chris Venton

WELLOW & DISTRICT HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY

Wellow Annual Flower Show and Country Fair

A very big thankyou to every-one who helped on this our 53rd year. All the hard work both in the long weeks of preparation and on the day, I'm sure you will agree, made it all worthwhile. Even if the sun decided to take a holiday and let the rain take over at times, there were enough dry spells and plenty to see under cover to enable us all to enjoy the day.

There was an excellent number of entries in the various classes this year plus the standard was very high, so well done every-one who made a great effort and took part. The whole spectacle created a very good (and mouth-watering) display indeed showing off all the talents and special interests of our local people.

Congratulations to all the winners. Those who received prizes were as follows:

JUNIOR GARDENING CLUB

There will be no meeting in August as the Village Hall will be having its floor resurfaced. The next will therefore be on the 3rd Sunday of the month as usual, which is September 16th. We look forward to seeing everyone then.

Mari Bartholomew

PARISH NEWSLETTER

The September issue will be back in the capable hands of Jill Tremellen. Can she please have all copy by the 20th August either to her house at St Julian's Well, the Parlour Shop or e-mail her at julians.well@virgin.net Jill's tel no is: 833506.

Thank you,.

Mari Bartholomew