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Dear Friends,
August always tends to make me think of long brown grass beside long hot roads, of harvesting and holidays - despite the geography teacher who, years ago when I asked him if he would help me out with an outdoor holiday play scheme for 8 to 12 year olds, asked me if I knew that August was the second wettest month of the year… he did help me, and it didn’t seem to rain that much !
I think that our fixation with August as a holiday month still has more to do with the (now long defunct) need to free school children to help with the harvest than it does with the appropriate weather, and those of us (myself now included) who do not need to have our holidays in August can more or less please ourselves when we go away, and pay less by going `out of season`.
On the other hand, from my point of view at least, August is a good time to catch up with people - because there are few meetings and other distractions organised - and to prepare for the onset of autumn when everything cranks up again. People somehow seem more relaxed, too, and the rush hour traffic is noticeably less.
This year I have begun to prepare in July, by engaging the PCCs with two projects which I hope to start at some time in the autumn. One is an interesting video-based course on feelings and relationships, from both a Christian and a psychological foundation; the other is a form of outreach into the wider community, inviting people to let us know what we might do for them - this is (if you remember what I wrote about last month) really a parish-wide exercise in listening to other people, but of course it will involve more than just listening. More of both in due course.
We look forward to our holidays - and often set great store by what we hope to `get out of them` - but it equally often seems that the benefits and effects of having a holiday all too easily get swallowed up by activity when we return ! The same, of course, applies to going on courses and retreats, if we are not careful, and I will have to fight hard to retain the benefits and insights of that retreat that I wrote about last month, which already seems an age behind me… I really hope that, if you are going away this summer, you will return suitably refreshed - and manage to hang on to the benefits of the break !
On a more personal note, perhaps I might take this opportunity to say that both Liz and I continue to recover slowly - from slipped disk and shingles respectively - but we are neither of us `out of the woods` yet. Liz is also expecting to have an operation (but not, mercifully, for her back) in the autumn, which would mean a further period of convalescence afterwards, so we are taking a holiday beforehand, part of which will be in August - somehow we just can’t get away from it, can we ?
Have a good summer,
William Lang.Village News Editor
The report in last month’s Magazine regarding the ‘Show Stoppers’ Concert at the U.R.C. the group in fact came from NEWHAM U.R.C. not NEWHAVEN. The ‘Shoulder to Shoulder Project’ organised by Rev. Derek Wensley to equip people for work is in this London area, where unemployment is double the average.
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The Art Exhibition and Sale of Marjorie Noble’s Water Colour Paintings held recently, raised the sum of £500, and this she had very kindly donated to the United Reformed Church.
Very many `Thanks You`s, Marjorie, for your great kindness.
The Elstead (Thursley Road) Recreational Trust have advised the Council that
it is not possible to proceed with its plans for a new pavilion on the basis
of the current costs of the tenders received. The Council will now have to consider
a way to achieve a major refurbishment programme of the pavilion and will be
discussing with Trust members the best way to arrange financial and practical
help.
It has been suggested that we should have a village sign on the Green, similar to some neighbouring villages. Councillors will be sounding out opinion on this so please let us know your views. If the idea is popular would anyone like to volunteer to design a sign ? We are told that they can cost between £1500 and £2000.
The Recreation Ground Committee with two co-opted members is pressing on with further plans for the children's equipment and fencing but as usual there are constraints of funding - any help from sponsoring would be appreciated.
At this time of year vegetation growth from gardens spreading over pavements is a real problem. Trying to get action is very time consuming for Councillors, the Parish Clerk and Surrey CC Officers. It would be a great help if residents would prune back their hedges and bushes without waiting for us to chase this up. Please check your boundary with the pavement and take any necessary action.
ELSTEAD PARISH WALK : The next parish walk will be on Saturday 31st July starting at the Village Green at 10.00 am and will cover about 3 to 4 miles lasting approx. 2 hours. Come along and discover your Parish paths and bridleways.
Denis Holmes Chairman
I am trying to remember what I read some time ago answering the question “What is man’s soul?” G.M.A.
In St. Paul’s first letter to Timothy he writes “We brought nothing
into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out” Well we know
what he means and in terms of material things he is absolutely right, but in
another sense he’s not so right. Christians expect to take their characters
through and beyond death. Christians expect to be what they are. We talk of
the ’soul’ of man, nut we must be careful not to think of this as
being somehow detached from us like a kite is to the boy who is flying it. The
soul is the man and Christianity is the religion of personality and what continues
in life hereafter must be fully “our selves”.
Further than this, it is inadequate to the situation to speak of immortality
as mere ’survival’ or simply as a prolongation of our present existence
and not necessarily something to look forward to. Christians are not concerned
with mere ’continuance’: but with the ’resurrection’ of
persons and this is the gift of God through Jesus Christ. And though our present
body will decay there must be some means by which our personality can be more
fully expressed.
Two things are certain, Christ rose from the dead and His resurrection body
was freed from physical limitations, and He promised that those who loved Him
and served Him would never taste of death in the final sense.
There can be no satisfying Christian faith which does not firmly believe in
the fulfillment of this promise.
G.M.A
[Then] Editor’s note:
Mrs Atkins - G.M.A - is a very sick woman, Nonetheless her article arrived at
the church on the first of the month as usual. It was obviously written with
great difficulty and knowing just how poor she is I must pay tribute to her
determination and faithfulness. She has been a regular contributor to this magazine
for more that 40 years. I hate to think how many persons she has seen come and
go! I am sure that I speak for all subscribers in wishing her a swift recovery.
The Elstead Thursley Road Recreational Trust was established as a charitable trust in 1999 in order to rebuild and subsequently manage the Sports and Community Pavilion at the Thursley Road Recreation Ground in Elstead. The formation of the Trust was the result of close collaboration between the three main users of the pavilion (Elstead Cricket and Football Clubs and the Peter Pan Pre-School) and Elstead Parish Council.
The Trust has had considerable success in raising funds and pledges of funds for a new building. It currently has £23,000 in cash and a further £130,000 pledged by individuals, businesses and organisation, including Waverly Borough Council. All of these funds have been generated locally. None has been pledged by national bodies, such as the Sports Lottery Fund, much to the Trust’s disappointment.
The lack of national funding meant that the Trust was unable to proceed with its original plans for a new pavilion. It accordingly scaled down its objectives and hoped that it would be possible to proceed with a more modest design within the funds currently available, plus those which might reasonably be raised through further fundraising efforts.
In the event, the construction of even the more modest design has proved to be too expensive in terms of the funds which the Trust feels it will be able to raise. The Trust has therefore reluctantly concluded that it will not be able to proceed with the construction of a new pavilion. Instead, it plans to discuss with the Parish Council the possibility of a major refurbishment of the existing building.
The Chairman of the Trust, David Preston, said:
“I am very grateful to those in Elstead and further afield who have worked
so hard to bring the pavilion project to fruition. We have received huge support
locally, but the lack of national funding has prevented us from achieving what
we set out to do. It is very disappointing that we will not be able to provide
Elstead with a new pavilion, which is clearly needed, but the Trust will now
work with the Parish Council and the three main users to develop plans for a
major refurbishment of the existing building in order to ensure continued use
of the Thursley Road facility. “
The good weather of course couldn’t last but, despite some cloud, drizzle and unseasonal temperatures, Elstead’s season continues in fairly satisfactory vein. Indeed the 1st X1 has reached the final of the Pope Cup, an evening knockout competition, where they will meet Tilford on Frensham’s ground. This follows a relatively easy win in the murk and drizzle, even heavy rain, at Witley and a handsome victory over Peper Harow in the semi-final.
The Ones’ league season has taken a slight wobble with defeat to local rivals, Thursley, and a losing draw against Grayshott. The Thursley result came in spite of a fine six wickets for 75 runs by Mubarak Ahmad as something of a batting collapse hastened the team’s demise. The guys had to dig deep against Cody as a drastic shortage of players left the regulars having to get their heads down, none more so than Mark Wycherley whose four wickets and 68 patient runs was instrumental in securing the win. Just past the season’s halfway mark the 1sts are still top of the I’Anson Division Two table.
It’s great to report, too, that the 2nds are on the up. A sudden burst of extra players has strengthened the side no end and the result was a nail-biting last ball victory over Kingsley, Richard Jones’ 50 being the mainstay of the run chase. So to Frensham, and Pat Murphy, approaching his 60th birthday, did the business once again. His eight wickets for 18 runs from 16 overs was as good a bowling performance as you could wish to see and Simon Wade’s 51 runs simply put the icing on the cake as another eight points were clinched. A draw against Lindford followed and the Twos are off the bottom.
The annual President’s match was the usual joyous occasion, marked by a maiden fifty for Graham Gilbert and some fiery hitting by Morgan Pearse in an entertaining last ball win for the President’s X1. The day was enlivened late on by two unusual incidents. The first saw Morgan’s cracked old bat shatter into many pieces as he tried yet another hefty blow. Quite simply the bat exploded into fragments. How we laughed! Then, with a new weapon, he hit one of the biggest sixes seen at Elstead for many a long year, carrying from the furthest corner of the square on to the roof of Keith Tilson’s house. We enjoyed that one too – sorry Keith!
Gordon Wycherley
Elstead Garden Club had an unusual and very entertaining story
unfolded to them in June, when Geoff Peach came to talk about moving his garden
from Ripley, where he used to work for the Basingstoke Canal, to what he thought
of as the “great metropolis” of Elstead!
A trip into Guildford is not our speaker’s idea of a good day out, and
he is essentially a practical “hands-on” gardener. He was full of
useful tips about how he has developed his Elstead garden, and gardening in
general.
The chickens and bantams were the most important items to be moved, and new
accommodation had to be built for them at the bottom of the garden - Cyril the
cockerel certainly seemed to approve!
Large Leylandii had to be removed, as they were preventing a total view of the
garden, and Geoff is not an advocate of the “garden room” type of
design! In fact he has very definite views on most things, from which plants
he likes - roses and fuchsias - to where to site the clothes line!
Having decided at three o’clock one Sunday afternoon that they would like
a pond in the garden, they had it filled with water by ten o’clock that
night which must be close to an all-time record! The pond was to be as large
as his son was prepared to dig, and we had some useful tips about growing water
lilies, as well as the battle to keep the herons off the fish!
The sheds and features in our speaker’s garden are all home made, and it
was certainly an enormous transformation to see what he has created in Elstead,
even if some of us are not quite able to match his energy and enthusiasm - “don’t
have anything in concrete because you will want to move it all around next year!”
We had a brief look at vegetables, being introduced to the sweet million cherry
tomato, a truly beautiful little plant in appearance, and, we were assured,
in flavour.
Most aspects of gardening, and some outside! Were covered in a very entertaining
way.
We have enjoyed a very pleasant visit to Hethersett, our late President’s
garden, and an outing to Wisley. By the time you read this, our summer show
will be over, as will our July meeting, on vegetables, but on August 9th, Mrs
J Cooper will be talking on “Wild Orchids of the UK and Europe” in
the URC Hall at 7.45 pm. Do try and come.
The July meeting of Elstead Afternoon Women’s Institute was well attended by forty one members and one guest, Mary Copland, all of whom were welcomed by President Venetia Pearce. Leaders of the activity groups reported that the Bowls club resumes on the second Wednesday in September; there will be no Discussion Group in August but the Walkers will meet on 9th July at Cut Mill car park for a short walk followed by a pub lunch. Members were encouraged to attend a Creative Card Making day at Denmark Road on 5th October.
The results of the national vote on the May Resolutions are: Trafficking of Women and Children - 98 per cent FOR: Opposing the growing of G.M. Crops in UK - 88 per cent FOR, and Funds for Air Ambulance Service LOST the vote.
Ann Chance gave an amusing and enthralling talk entitled “Saddle Sore in Montana”, describing how, at the age of sixty four, in order to fulfil a childhood dream, she undertook horse riding lessons. This achieved, albeit not without pain, she embarked on a trip to Montana for eight days to learn the skills of becoming a wrangler. To the cries of “Yee haa, Head ‘em up, move ‘em out” and “Wagons roll”, wearing eighteen inch high boots to deter rattle snakes and a bandanna which can be soaked in water and placed over the nose and mouth to prevent choking in dust storms, eleven hour days in the saddle were endured, rounding up cattle. The daily reward was to sit on a straw bale around a camp-fire under the sky of shooting stars eating steak and beans, listening to traditional songs on the guitar. Members joined in a rendition of the camp-fire song “Amazing Grace”. A vote of thanks was proposed by Diana Terry.
Tea was provided by Muriel Ragless, Diana Terry and Jacqui Williamson and the competition was won by Doris Parker with an ornament of a shire horse with foal.
The August meeting will be substituted with a coach trip to Hampton Court. Next meeting in the Village Hall is on 2nd September.
At the meeting on 6 July, the President, May Deaville, began by welcoming members
from Farncombe and Milford WIs. She then introduced the speaker, Mr. Douglas
James, who gave a very interesting talk on the life of Countess Mountbatten
of Burma.
Edwina was born in 1901, married in 1922 and died in 1960. Her ancestry, and Lord Mountbatten's, can be traced back to Queen Victoria. She was also extremely wealthy and loved spending her money. Travel and adventure of all kinds occupied her varied and exciting life. She could be described as irresponsible and thoughtless in her earlier years, but when World War 2 began she turned her inexhaustible energy into nursing, especially during the Blitz. This led to her being put in charge of organising hospitals for the wounded in Europe after D-Day. This activity, and her involvement with Nehru in India when Lord Mountbatten became Vice-Roy during the handover of power, earned her many important positions and awards, mostly to do with charity work connected with nursing. It was in Borneo, where she was giving a number of speeches, that her energy gave out, she felt unwell and died suddenly and unexpectedly. Mr. James illustrated his talk with many little anecdotes from the colourful life of a fascinating and unconventional woman.
After the tea-break, notices included the results of fund-raising events at coffee mornings, with £320 for the Meningitis Society and £192 for CHASE. At Clandon, last month, the Craft Market had been a great success, with a record number of visitors and £7000 raised over the two-day event.
A report about the Presidents' meeting was rather disheartening. Little enthusiasm had been shown for the continued organisation of the twice-yearly meetings, so it was decided the Downfold Group should be suspended for a year. However, the meeting at Ewhurst on 28 September will go ahead, with a talk for 'SCOPE' at 8 pm.
Before the meeting closed, Susan Holmes gave an account of her visit that day
to the Queen's Garden Party at Buckingham Palace. The memorable moment was Prince
Philip speaking to her husband when he noticed Denis's insignia as Chairman
of Elstead Parish Council. This prompted May to suggest that a future meeting
might be members recalling their special event of the past year.
We welcomed Mrs. Clifford and Rachael who brought along some of the youngsters from St. James School to sing to us. We heard a selection of songs, bringing back memories about Winnie the Pooh. Some of the songs were new to us, but they were much appreciated, and the programme finished with the familiar ‘Christopher Robin is saying his prayers’. Mrs. Clifford have to be back at school by 3 pm or just after.
Before they left, there was squash and biscuits to be had, and Mrs. Clifford and Rachael were asked to cast their eyes over our table of interest, which this month was a single stem of flowers. They chose a lovely Lily which Eva had brought along, having thought this appealed to them the most.
Visitors having departed, we had a few items of business and interest. Firstly, we were sorry to hear that Norah Nash had passed away since we last met. Norah had for many, many yeas run what was our Grocery Stall, where we could buy items a little more cheaply, and she had been a stalwart member and also on the committee for a long time, before she found that age was creeping up and she had not been able to take her usual place in our monthly meetings. A card had been sent to her relatives, and a couple of our members were able to attend her Cremation Service.
Enid was welcomed back, but we were several members short owing to illness etc.
After the business, we sat down to a Fruit Salad and Cake Tea, but before doing so, a table quiz went under way, covering various subjects, out of 25 questions, the winning table achieved 18 marks.
No meeting in August, we have our full day outing instead, Worthing being the destination. It suits us, as there is plenty going on, a choice between sea, pier, shops, gardens, maybe a concert in the Pavilion, and a favoured fish restaurant to which there is a ‘bee line’ at the appropriate time of day for those that wish, and its ALL ON THE FLAT, NO HILLS.!!!!
Sometimes we have a few spare seats for our outings, if you feel you would
like to go and be put on a ‘short list’ let me know.
Firstly, thank you so much to all those of you who supported our coffee morning in June for the Chase Childrens’ Hospice. We raised £192, which is far and away the best result we have ever had, and it is grand to think that we can help such a worthwhile cause, even if just a little bit.
In June we had a “home grown” afternoon, when most of us brought along a favourite recipe, ready cooked, so that the rest of us could sample it. It was really a great mistake to have had lunch first, as we had a magnificent feast - ginger drops, chocolate pieces, fairy cakes, fruit bread, chocolate cake, shortbread, and carrot cake - which alas I cannot claim to have made! This led on to a lot if “cooking conversation”, and various hints and tips were exchanged, as well as a lot of frantic copying of recipes! We really should do this kind of thing more often we decided, as it always leads to an enjoyable afternoon.
We do not meet at Guardian Court until September 28th, when John Janaway will be talking on the subject of one of his recent books - Surrey Privies! This promises to be a lively afternoon, so do try and come along to the Common Room at 2.30 pm.
We are off to Hever Castle on July 31st, and playing skittles at the Woodcock at Beacon Hill on August 18th. Both of these events would welcome everyone, so do give me a ring on 702237 if you would like to join us.
Our Village Youth Club needs more helpers in the autumn. Could you give a Tuesday evening to assist the Youth Leader - not necessarily every week, but on a regular basis ?
If you are interested, please contact Peter Hartley (703461) or William Lang (703251).
The Surgery is considering forming a
Meeting topics include:
If you are interested in being part of this group please contact the surgery.
Telephone 01252 703 122
Many of you will have admired the skilled craftsmanship of John Hickmott last year as he carefully rebuilt the worst section of our 140 year old wall, and you will be pleased to know that he is returning at the end of this month to complete the next section - from where he left off last year up to the main churchyard gates. We are also looking to replace the gates this year with new ones designed by David Oakley.
(Click here to find out more about the "Tithe" Wall and see the 2003 work. Web Editor).
William Lang.