Dear Friends,
You are invited to an introductory session for a new, video-based, course that we are just starting. Called 'Beta', it is a small-group course involving multi-media video teaching sessions, Bible study, group discussion, creative reflection and prayer.
The course is brand new, and has been developed by a group from both the Psychology and the Theology departments of Cambridge University. Each week there is a separate subject, such as 'relationships', 'building community', 'sin and atonement', 'forgiveness and reconciliation' - from which you will see that it is very much about Christian attitudes and perspectives to some of the fundamentals of everyday life.
Beta says it is about 'Being Christian', `Becoming whole" and 'Building Community', and it seeks to interweave biblical and psychological perspectives on life in order to look at real life questions, such as:
what does a healthy relationship look like ?
how can my church become a more caring community ?
why do 1 find it so hard to forgive ?
why am I depressed and defeated by stress ?
what good can come from my suffering ?
what will help me become more whole ?
Although in no way related to the well-known 'Alpha Course', Beta sets out to provide a 'next' step' to that and other courses which introduce the Christian faith. It seeks to faster genuine fellowship, deepen individuals' self-understanding, promote personal development and maturity,' and deepen Christian faith.
Beta uses a variety of approaches, including art and music from contemporary, classical and early periods in Christian history, to stimulate thought, and each session tackles a different topic - so, although naturally we hope you will come to the whole course (!), it will not affect things greatly if you have to miss any particular evening out.
The first, introductory, session will be held in the North Hall at Thursley Village Hall on Thursday 4th November, starting at 8 pm. The venue(s) for subsequent evenings will be finalised on 4th November when we know how many people want to join,
! look forward to joining you there !
Wiliam Lang
I had occasion to have a meeting with a firm of solicitors the other day. One of the things we were talking about was deeds. Not deeds that we do, but deeds of houses. She was telling me how years ago, deeds were written out by hand, in duplicate, on a large sheet of parchment. One copy of the deeds was set out on the left hand side of the page and the other on the right. Having completed the exercise the page was cut in half but not a straight cut. The cut was made in a random jagged pattern – with good reason.
In the fullness of time if someone wanted to be certain that the copy of the deeds to hand was a genuine copy, it would be matched with the original held by the solicitors. Only if the jagged edges matched exactly could the copy be certified as true.
I have to say there was something about that idea which spoke to me. I like to think that we have that kind of relationship with God. We are, of course, all made in the image of God but we are also unique. We are all special. We are all different. We all have jagged edges. But I hope at the final day of judgement, when we stand before God, God just might in his infinite wisdom and graciousness invite us to stand next to him and see if our jagged edges match his. If they do, then the gift of eternity will be ours.
We are made in the image of God – more than that we are part of God’s original.
Rosemary
After receiving further information the Council re-examined the application for a housing development at the Croft Nursery site Hookley Lane and raised no objection.
We are pleased to see that minor road improvements have been in progress. In particular repairs to part of the Thursley Rd footway and work on drains have taken place but we are continuing to press for the whole of this footway to be properly surfaced.
Litter in the village still concerns us - this seems to be a national problem
which is difficult to resolve. Why do people sit at the seat on the village
green a few feet from a large litter bin and drop their empty cans and food
packets on the ground or on the seat itself ?
The Council will shortly be examining the case for employment of a litter collector.
We observe that horse riders are taking a short cut across the village green.
In time this will cause damage especially in wet conditions. The Council will
have to decide the best way to deal with this either by legal notices or notification
to local equestrians. It is illegal for horse riders to use the footways and
we have asked PC
Barnett to take action to prevent this.
Denis Holmes Chairman
At the time of writing we still have not had a frost so the garden is still looking quite good. The rain has ensured that the lawn needs mowing and the weeds keep growing. In fact most things seem to be still growing and the wild flowers in the field next door have started to flower. If this situation continues and the grass grows very lush horses unusually, sometimes get a disease called laminitus which is normally only seen when the fresh spring grasses start to grow.
The winter berries are looking most glorious sporting their red coats. The holly tree in particular has a great profusion of fruits. I am sure that the birds will make good use of them.
The temperature is getting lower for I keep finding dead or dying wasps on the windowsill which suggests that a queen has left the nest and gone into hibernation leaving the nest to die.
The lawn has a few dozen fallen quinces on it. My wife thought they smelled nice but didn't have the enthusiasm to take a bite. My memory tells me the taste was neutral but I didn't take a bite either. The birds will have a good feast when the fruits start softening.
I heard what sounded like a little owl during the day in the garden. They are the only owls that comes out during the day; we also saw one flying beside the car in our lane.
The other night very late we heard a high pitched screaming as if someone was being "murdered" out in the water meadows. It is the young fox cubs playing and the screaming went on for a few minutes until we got fed up with it and leaning out of the window I clapped my hands at which noise the scream instantly stopped. If you shine a powerful torch over the fields in the direction of the noise, two or three pairs of eyes peered back at you (from a safe distance) quite unconcerned.
The Red Admiral butterfly was seen in our garden and is a butterfly of autumn months. It's colours are red bands on a black background. They like to feast on rotten fruit so we have left a few apples beneath the apple tree for the insects to feed on. The caterpillars feed on nettles.
October is when fungi are seen. Some brown toadstools have emerged on the lawn where the old oak tree once stood. We had to fell it some years ago as it had succumbed to a disease and had died but the same fungus appears every year.
Richard and Di Terry
So it came down to the wire after all! A bit of wobble in my maths meant that even a win against Fernhurst in the penultimate game would not quite conclude promotion for the 1st X1 to I’Anson Division One.
As it was this game was a nervy affair played in grey damp conditions. Skipper Morgan Pearse put Fernhurst into bat and they clawed their way to 132 for 7 after 48 overs of tight bowling from Mark Wycherley (10 overs, 16 runs) and Haris Shah (5 for 31). Five overs were lost to rain as Elstead started their innings and the pitch became a slow difficult affair. Ben Egan batted with considerable aplomb to score 47 carefully grafted runs as he held the innings together. At the other end wickets tumbled. However decent contributions from Tauseef Butt (22) and Morgan Pearse (23) saw Elstead home with just two overs left.
So the final day battle with promotion rivals Thursley would matter after all. The week was spent nervously calculating all manner of points permutations. Suffice to say that if Thursley won they would go up instead of Elstead, if Elstead did not lose they would go up and, just to add a little spice, if Elstead won and leaders Grayswood did not then Elstead could pinch the title.
In the end the day turned out to be something of a damp squib, literally. The game started in gloomy autumnal conditions which became drizzle after a few overs. Thursley, put into bat by Morgan Pearse, battled to 89 for 1 off 21 overs before what was now heavy rain forced the players from the field. Eventually conditions cleared and the pitch began to dry. Thursley, desperate for the win, were keen to get going, Elstead’s bowlers, understandably cautious about risking injury on a still damp pitch, were less enthusiastic. In a bid to grab the promotion spot on offer Thursley immediately declared and asked Elstead to score 90 in 32 overs.
Grayswood’s game had long since been called off and, with only eight points on offer to Elstead (batting second) the title was now out of reach, so the objective was simple – do not lose. As it turned out a stunning 49 from Laeeq Ahmad almost saw Elstead home with ease, but no Elstead game is complete without a mini collapse and so it came to pass. Three batsmen were out cheaply with a mixture of bad shots, debatable umpiring decisions and appalling light accounting for the heart of Elstead’s batting. It needed Kaliq Ahmed and Morgan Pearse to steady the ship and Kaliq eventually settled the issue with an enormous straight six.
Despite the tension, despite the disagreements over the resumption of the game these two old rivals played the match in a good spirit and there was a great atmosphere in the bar afterwards. Morgan Pearse revealed the result of several hours labour in the week, an Elstead flag, and a triumphant convoy made its way back down the hill to Elstead, flag flying, to continue the celebrations. Wonderful!
Gordon Wycherley
We now have our highest number of children on roll for many years and, as a result, have appointed another full-time teacher. Mrs Jane Fisher joined us in September to work with Year 2 children and she is already proving to be a very welcome addition to our staff team. Visitors to the school in recent years may have noticed some strategically placed buckets and missing ceiling tiles. We are delighted that these are to become a mere memory as we have, at last, secured the funds to replace our leaking roof. I am very grateful to the governors – particularly the Premises Committee – who have supported my drive over a number of years to persuade the authorities that we are a top priority.
Excellent Results
Our Standard Assessment Test results (SATs) in 2004 were a credit to the hard
work of the children and staff, with a substantial number of children achieving
levels above those expected for their age both at Key Stage 1 (age 7) and Key
Stage 2 (age 11). Our Key Stage 2 results will soon be published nationally
showing that 94% of our Year 6 children achieved the expected level 4 for English
and 100% achieved level 4 for both maths and science. Our year groups are much
smaller than those at local Junior schools, so when comparing results it is
important to remember that each Year 6 child at St James represented 6% of the
total.
We are delighted that, for the second year running, St James is in the top 25% of schools nationally for our Value Added score. The Value Added score measures the progress of individual children from KS1 to KS2 and is regarded by many as a better guide to the effectiveness of a school than SATs results alone. This result reflects the effectiveness of our excellent pupil tracking system, the high standard of our teaching and the commitment and hard work of our children.
Events this half term
Whilst accepting that SATs achievements are important, at St James we are equally
concerned with developing the whole child. One of the ways we broaden our children’s
educational experience is through visits and this half term has already seen
much activity:
All KS2 classes went to Haslemere Rugby Club’s Open Day to take part in
tag rugby events.
Years 1 and 2 enjoyed the sights and smells at the Hollycombe Steam Collection
where they went on the steam train and old fairground rides. The smell of smoke
from the engines also evoked many nostalgic memories for the older adults who
enjoyed accompanying them on this trip.
Years 3, 4 and 5 visited the spectacular Fishbourne Museum as part of their
topic on Romans..
Year 6 went to Chichester to see a special presentation of the film “Holes”
(based on Louis Sachar’s popular book). They will compare aspects of the
film and the book as part of their English work.
Other exciting events this half term have included:
A very successful Open Morning when the School Council (children from KS2, elected
by their peers) took parents and other visitors from the village around the
school to see classes at work.
A Street Dance workshop for all KS2 children who gave a memorable performance
to parents at the end of the day.
Cycling Proficiency Training for Year 6 children who, I am delighted to say,
all passed their tests.
Your help requested
I received a letter last term suggesting that I tell you the topics we are covering
at school, as you may be able to provide artefacts or information which would
support our work in school. We would love to hear from anyone who could come
in to talk to groups of children or offer experience/artefacts in any of the
areas we are covering. Some of the topics this year are particularly relevant:
Our school - past and present; toys in the past; the local area – geography and history; the Celts, Romans, Vikings, Anglo Saxons; China/Thailand; Andy Warhol, Van Gogh; rivers and coastlines.
We are also looking for someone to help manage our library. Do you have an interest in books and a spare hour or two each week? This voluntary post involves repairing books, checking that children have returned books correctly and entering new books on to our library computer system. Please do contact the school if you are interested and would like to find out more.
Ann Tann
Elstead Garden Club had a colourful evening in September when Mr Bernard Newman came to talk to us about growing sweet peas. They should be planted in September he told us, which was why the talk was appropriate for now. They could be germinated between layers of damp kitchen roll in the airing cupboard for two days and then planted-plastic coffee cups would do well. After two months when root growth was well established, the plants could be transferred to a cold frame. The important thing at all stages of growth, and when the plants were growing outside in the garden was to give them plenty of water, and not too much heat. The plants are tied to canes at the bottom, and need to be layered regularly, as they can grow to 20 to 24 feet high.. There are miniature varieties, which do not require so much effort.
We saw many pictures of displays of sweet peas, and were told that left facing and right facing flowers should be used in each vase, to form a regular fan shape. Any gap in the fan was a fault, in the eyes of the judges at sweet pea shows. As flowers only grow on one side of the stem, display vases are fairly easy to create. Flowers come in many shades of pink, blue and white, with the yellow ones being the rarest.
Our Autumn show saw the Village Hall filled with a good range of exhibits across the board, with some very fine dahlias, vegetables and flower arrangements.
Our October meeting sees Ron Smith giving his hugely popular talk "The Reluctant Gardener" and on Nov 8th, we have our AGM and a Quiz. Do come along - AGMs need not be boring! - and have your say about what you would like the Club to do. 7.45 p.m. in the URC Hall.
Gillian Drew
The wonderful warm weather this Autumn (so far !!) has meant the children have made full use of our enclosed area at the rear of the pavilion. We're so lucky to have such a beautiful recreation ground to look onto, which sets the colour themes of orange, gold and red this month.
The children are having fun creating leaf collages as well as collecting the abundance of conkers and acorns. It's little wonder that Elstead seems to be so popular with many new families. With this in mind, I thought it would be a good opportunity to explain how Peter Pan operates.
We are a registered charity and run as a non-profit making community group. Our committee is run entirely by parents on a voluntary basis. Peter Pan is OFSTED registered and runs exactly the same as a nursery, with fully trained staff employed by the committee.
At the moment two members of our staff are undertaking courses. Wendy is due to complete her studies early next year, so we wish her well in the coming months. Madeleine is studying one day a week, to gain Level 2 Certificate in Pre-School Practice, which means we are in need of a Pre-School assistant for a few hours a week.
If you are interested then please come along to the Pavilion and ask for Andrea
or ring Helen on 703456.
The Autumn term is under way and it's good to see that all the new children have settled well. We have been enjoying the mild weather with local walks, and were fortunate to see the builders at work on the church wall. Our children were invited to lay pennies in the cement as part of the wall. Is this a local custom?
As part of our transport theme, the children were invited to Chandler's Garage to see what happens there. Thanks to P.C. Sam Barnett we were able to cross the road safely, and the children enjoyed meeting her. We were all interested to see a car up on the ramp, and learnt all about tyres, windscreen wipers and petrol. A special thank you to Caroline Reynolds for her time and patience. The children were thrilled to receive a 'goody bag' each.
Many of our former pupils who are now at infant school have been back to say hello this term. It's lovely to hear how happy and settled they are, and amazing to see how much they have grown!
Jane Kinnard
A consistently good attendance set off the October meeting of Elstead Afternoon W.I. It was reported that two members plus husbands had joined the Hale W.I. on their organised trip on a narrow boat along the Basingstoke Canal, leaving from Odiham, which included a generous tea, on board.
One member secured a place at the Denmark Road `Card Making' day, on 5th October.
Future visits around the area are planned including the Farnham Group meeting
on 21st October.
The speaker, Robin Radley, expanded on his title of `To India with Love' by giving a moving account of his involvement with the Save The Children Fund. Twenty five years ago he started up a children's home in South West India, together with Sister Mary, one of Mother Teresa's nuns. The Home is supported by the charity `Children's Homes in Kerala State', known as CHIKS . Currently there are sixty children ranging in age from tots to thirteen years old, some of whom are disabled, but they all attend school. These children come from areas of extreme poverty but, as was illustrated with slides, they are transformed into happy, smiling young people with the hope of a good future.
After a tasty tea provided by Diane Tulett, Joan Howard and Beryl Jeffery, the winner of the competition for `A souvenir from India' was adjudged by Mr. Radley to be Audrey Barnes with an intricately carved sandalwood goddess.
The next meeting will be on 4th November 2004. This is the Annual General Meeting where there will be a Quiz, an Art and Craft Exhibition, card and craft stalls.
Christine Welland.
01252 703233
24 members attended the meeting on 5 October to celebrate 30 Years of the group with a Birthday supper. The President, May Deaville, introduced Wendy Stuart, who would provide entertainment for the evening and was already welcoming members with old-time songs played on her piano keyboard. While we ate a card would be sent round for signing for Ronda, who has now moved with her husband to Bexhill-on-Sea to live with and care for her father.
While waiting for supper to be served, members attempted a pencil-quiz, with clues pinned around the wall. Each answer consisted of two words, both beginning with the same letter, listed from A to Z, e.g. clue: A child's toy; answer: Yo yo. Some clues were really difficult! Two long tables were beautifully laid out, with blue and yellow striped cloths and serviettes, and centre-pieces of flowers in pinks and mauves surrounding a candle. There was a choice of meal - chicken casserole or lasagne, both judged to be excellent, and two delicious desserts - chocolate trifle or exotic fruit salad, served with fruit juices or lemonade, and tea or coffee to finish. There was plenty to eat, with seconds if desired!
While the washing-up progressed, very nice raffle-prizes were given out and Wendy resumed her playing. Then everyone joined May in thanking heartily those who had organised the food, especially Lynn who had done most of the arranging, also the 3 Joans and all those who had helped in the kitchen so efficiently. The Quiz was won by Cilla with only one wrong answer! And to add to the celebrations, May gave Joan Ellis a signed card and a packet of bulbs for her new garden in Christmas Pie, with everyone hoping we will see her sometimes at future meetings.
It was announced that the Juniper Trust will be holding an Autumn Fair in Guildford on 2 November in aid of gynaecological and breast cancer; and there will be a coffee morning at the URC Hall, also in aid of cancer research, held by the Saturday Club on 16 October.
Before the meeting ended, Wendy played more songs on request and also some which members tried to identify and even attempted to sing, with mixed success! It had been a very Happy Birthday party!
Susan Holmes, Minutes Sec. (702285)
At our September meeting we had a very interesting evening with Dr Bray. She talked about the changes in general practice and took us back to the days when she did her training right up to the present day and what a lot of changes there are and not always for the better. As we know her so well we felt very much at home with her and were able to ask her lots of questions. The monthly competition was a stuffed baked apple there was only one entry for this so maximum points were awarded to Mrs Mary Royall.
A reminder to you all about the County Conference at Chiddingfold Village Hall will be on Saturday 4th December we will be hiring a mini bus so if any you would like to join us please let us know. The competition for the Crawford Cup will be a Christmas stocking and the Bradley Cup will be a Harvest Fruit Loaf. Also our AGM will be on Thursday 18th November the competition will be a chocolate gateau for the Mary Ellis Cup if any of you would like to stand for election please let us know.
We are organising a trip to see Holiday on Ice in January (the date to be advised) it is being held at the Brighton Centre the theme this year is HOLLYWOOD. So if any of you would like to join us please let us know everyone is welcome not just Legion members so please ask your friends and neighbours the more the merrier, we thought it would make a nice change from the pantomime. I will let you know prices for tickets and the coach next month.
We meet in the Legion Barn on the THIRD Thursday of each month new members are always very welcome.
Sue Taylor Secretary
It seemed a long time since we had met together in July before the summer break, and now here we are, by the time this is printed we shall be into November (this being as our meetings are not until the end of each month).
Our September meeting found us fairly low in number, several members being unwell, some away on holiday, but all were welcomed back. There was news that Trudi Mayo was unfortunately back in hospital after a fall, a card had been sent, and also one of the members, Pat was probably moving to Dorset in the fairly near future.
News was given that people born before 2nd September 1929 were now able to apply for a FREE PASSPORT. HURRAY! I ! This was instigated for the 60th Anniversary of D Day for service in the Armed Forces, or for those who were at home, doing whatever.
Folk over 60 years could now get advice from the Fire Brigade, who would visit homes if there were any queries about fire risks, and appointments could be made for such visits.
We welcomed Mr. Arthur Brown who had come to give us entertainment of music on his accordion. He is a member of The Thames Valley Accordion Band, and 'Chair' had on occasions played some of their music on tape, which had been bought when hearing them play at various venues. She had 'tracked him down' when playing locally, and booked him for the Club. Their 'uniform' as it were, are red shirts and bow ties (ladies with red blouses and sometime straw boater hats) Of course he wore his red shirt for us, and we had some lovely music with his professional playing of his accordion, very often joining in with songs from the shows, songs of yesteryear, and giving us the opportunity to choose a favorite. We had a really enjoyable afternoon, and he said it made his job all worthwhile, when folk join in and participate.
The usual good tea was served, the raffle drawn, although some of the tickets were rather 'illusive' to say the least!!!
Next month. Experiences of a retired Police Officer.
F.E. Sheppard
The Fellowship met in September to hear John Janaway, former local studies librarian of Surrey, talking in his own inimitable fashion about the subject of one of his recent books., "Surrey Privies".
John told us that he had initially been doubtful when asked to write the book, wondering whether there was enough material in Surrey to add it to the series of County surveys of these humble but necessary buildings, but he was inundated by responses to his requests for information. Everyone with a privy building remaining in their garden seemed to be eager to show it to him! Many former privies had now been converted to other uses- they obviously made well built and convenient garden sheds. In other cases he managed to hack through the undergrowth and discovered privies, still with their original fittings, which had not been used in over forty years.
The privy was a social place. He had many tales told to him of the pleasures of sharing a conversation with your neighbour, either in an adjoining privy, or one on the other side of the garden fence! It was also a place to sit, to contemplate life, or to read the newspaper! Most privies were of the bucket type, and were emptied, either by the householder, or by the "lavender men" in later years, who came weekly with the cesspool cart!
Some buildings had several privies in a block, and would have served a group of houses. In some cases there were two, three or four holers., some of the holes being smaller, for the use of children. Hambledon was the privy capital of Surrey, still not having mains drainage to this day, and the largest number of surviving privies in the County, one of them in use until quite recently.
Our next meeting in October sees Jill Fry coming to talk about local wildlife,
and on Nov 23rd we have Pam Pearson with some more of her fascinating slides
of old shops, in Guildford this time rather than Godalming. Do try and come.
We will continue to meet in the Common Room at Guardian Court for the remainder
of this year, then move to the Church Room, all being well.
We meet at 2.30 p.m.
Gillian Drew
The response of the village to our appeal was magnificent - we have received over £4,135 so far and we hope to be able to raise more through our application for various grants. The Management Committee would like to express our heartfelt thanks to all those wonderful people who have so generously contributed to date.
If you missed the Gift Day and feel you could still contribute, every donation will be very gratefully received! Please give or send your donation to either:
|
John Manches [Treasurer]
Squirrels Wood Thursley Road Elstead GU8 6LW |
Peter Hartley [Chairman]
2, Hazelwood Elstead GU8 6HJ |
|
Please make cheques payable to:
Elstead Village Halls. |
|
Thank you very much for your support
On Saturday November 6th the Traidcraft Goods will be split, as in other years at this time, between the Village Hall and the United Reformed Church. The cards and gifts will be at the Village Hall and the tea, coffee and dried goods will be in the URC hall.
The jewellery has been as popular as ever. There is some beautiful blue handmade paper that is stitched with silver thread. Of course it is a little more expensive than printed paper but, for someone special, well worth it. The black cats sitting together are proving popular too. So remember to take a good look at the stall and help someone work themselves out of poverty.
My daughter, granddaughter, husband and I will look forward to seeing you at both or one of the venues on Saturday. Remember 9.30am - 12.30pm at the Village Hall and 10am - 12noon at the URC Hall.
Jean Wheatley