The Forerunner – April 2014

forerunner 

The Magazine for the Parish of Newington Bagpath with Kingscote

 Calendar for April 2014

Wednesday   2nd Nailsworth  10.00 am Holy Communion
Sunday

 

  6th Nailsworth

Kingscote

Horsley

  9.30 am

  9.30 am

11.00 am

Family Communion

Morning Prayer BCP

Holy Communion  CW

Wednesday    9th Nailsworth  10.00 am Holy Communion
Palm Sunday

 

 13th  Kingscote

Nailsworth

Horsley

  8.00 am

  9.30 am

11.00 am

Holy Communion BCP

Family Communion

Family Service

Wednesday  16th Nailsworth  10.00am Holy Communion
Thursday  17th Nailsworth   7.30 pm Holy Communion
Good Friday  18th Nailsworth

Nailsworth

Horsley

Kingscote

 11.30 am

  2.00 pm

2.00 pm

  2.00 pm

Service in Mortimer Gardens

Quiet Hour

Quiet Hour

Quiet Hour

Easter Sunday  20th Nailsworth

Nailsworth

Kingscote

  8.00 am

9.30 am

 11.00 am

Holy Communion  BCP

Family service

Parish Communion CW

Wednesday  23rd Nailsworth  10.00 am Holy Communion
Sunday  27th Nailsworth

Kingscote

Horsley

  9.30 am

11.00 am

6.00 pm

Family Communion

Family Service

Evening Service

Wednesday  30th Nailsworth  10.00 am Holy Communion

The Little Angels mothers and toddlers group meets on Fridays at 9.45 am at St George’s Church Nailsworth, except on 18 and 25 April.

The next stage in the process to appoint the New Vicar will be a meeting of the selection panel on 29 April to choose the applicants to be interviewed on 13 May.

The Annual Parochial Church Meeting    will take place on Monday 7 April at 7.30 pm in the Village Hall.  This meeting is open to all parishioners who are most welcome to contribute.    

     Diocesan News             www.gloucester.anglican.org/news/publications

                                          www.gloucester.anglican.org/news/blog

     Nailsworth Benefice       www.stgeorgesnailsworth.org.uk

     Kingscote Community   www.kingscoteonline.co.uk

  

The Vicar’s Letter

The Christian Faith stands or falls on the resurrection !  Without the raising of Jesus from the dead there is no Gospel, no Good News.  As St Paul says when some in Corinth were denying the Resurrection, “If there is no resurrection, then Christ was not raised:  and if Christ was not raised, then our Gospel is null and void and so is your faith …..  But the truth is Christ was raised to life – the first fruits of the harvest of the dead !”

Indeed, the Resurrection is the true starting place for the study of the making and meaning of the New Testament.  We can be tempted to believe that although the Resurrection may be the climax of the Gospel, there is yet a Gospel which stands on its own feet and may be understood and appreciated before we pass on to the Resurrection.  The first disciples did not find it so !   For them the Gospel without the Resurrection was not merely a Gospel without its final chapter, it was not a gospel at all.  Jesus, it is true taught and did great things:  but he did not allow the disciples to rest in these things.  He led them on to paradox, perplexity and darkness –  and there he left them.  There too they would have remained, had he not been raised from death !

All the New Testament writings were written in the light of the Resurrection, and the conviction that Christ is raised and alive shines through in the letters of Paul, James and John.  As I said at the outset, the Christian Faith stands or falls on the Resurrection.

Yet there is a temptation for us to see the Resurrection as a past event, or as a future event when we will be called to share in the final Resurrection.  However, if we see it as something past or future only, we really lose the true impact of Christ’s resurrection, for as the New Testament writers show time and time again, the Resurrection of Jesus is something that is to be experienced here and now.  It is in our lives now that we should experience the power and freedom that God in Christ has given us in overcoming death and sin.

So that which was dead is made alive and that which was old is made new.  Indeed, when we begin to recognise the power of the Resurrection present in the ordinary everyday routine of our everyday lives, then we shall see for ourselves that all that separates, injures and destroys, is being overcome by what unites, heals and re-creates – all because we are empowered by the Risen Christ.

So let us joyfully celebrate this coming Holy Week from Palm Sunday through Maundy Thursday and Good Friday to Easter Day, and thereby proclaim the Easter Faith – that Christ is raised and that He lives in us – “Alleluya Christ is risen !  He is risen indeed”.

With every blessing,

Michael Irving

Flower Rota           

Sundays 6th and 13th April            LENT No Flowers
Sundays 20th and 27th April        EASTER Flower team
Sundays 4th and 11th May Zoe Nichols 

Wedding:  Saturday 26 April, 2.00pm, Timothy Benford and Georgina Payne

Lorna Reynolds

Cleaning Team

The next church cleaning session is at 2.30 pm on Monday 14 April.  We are always delighted to welcome anyone who would like to join the team.

Teresa Day

Grumbolds Ash Group

On Tuesday 8 April we will explore the lovely old market town of Marlborough.  We plan to join the timed tour of The Merchant’s House and Garden (SN8 1HN) at 10.30 am which will take us up to lunchtime.  Admission costs £6-00.

We meet therefore at 9.00 am at the Village Hall to share the driving.

Jutta Tubbs

Village Hall Programme

Film Night – Tuesday 8 April, 7.30 pm, ‘Walk the Line’  based on the early life and career of country music artist Johnny Cash.  It stars Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon who won Best Actress for her role.  Admission free, Pay Bar.  Last film of the season.

Coffee Morning – Wednesday 16 April, 10.30 to 11.30 am.  Coffee and cake in the Reynolds Room, £1.50.

In view of the Easter holidays, there will be no further events in the Village Hall in April.

Carol Paton Tel. 860 649

Book Club at 8.00 pm

Wednesday 9 April, ‘The Sisters Brothers’ by Patrick de Witt, at the Village Hall.

Wednesday 14 May, ‘Secret History’ by Donna Tartt, at the Village Hall.

Wednesday 11 June, ‘Harvest’ by Jim Grace and/or ‘The Rosie Project’ by Graeme Simpsion, at Jane’s.

Angela Wooldridge

 

Kingscote Parish Council

The next PC meeting will be on Tuesday 15 April at 8.00 pm in the Hunters Hall.

The Parish Assembly will be on Tuesday 13 May at 7.45 pm in the Village Hall, preceded by the Village Hall Committee AGM at 7.00 pm

 

Carbon Monoxide gas poisoning:

Following the recent tragic death of Tommy Cooksley and Pat’s near escape, we need to be more aware of this domestic threat which appears to have been responsible.

All heating devices involving combustion generate variable quantities of this poisonous gas, but if the flue through which the exhaust gas discharges to the chimney is partially blocked, or if the appliance has leaks, great danger to life results.  The particular problem is that the gas does not smell and just slowly asphyxiates.

The only sure solution is to have a detector unit in any room where a combustion appliance is operated.  They cost between £15 and £30 and are available in all stores selling household goods.  It is essential to have one with a sound alarm, and they can be portable and taken to the room where the risk exists.  They must be used in compliance with the manufacturer’s instructions.  They do not detect smoke.

Plenty of official advice is available on this subject from local authorities and the Citizens’ Advice Bureaus.

 

Planning:

Shepherds Way, Calcot  –  Reduce the conifers on the boundaries with the roads by no more than one third.

No objection (County Council)

Anna Davison, Tel. 860 244

 

Plants for sale

At Bumpers Island we have a range of plants for sale from 1 April.  Call 01453 860 498 to check availability. 

Jane Bateman

 

SAVE THE DATE – VILLAGE FETE !

Kingscote and Bagpath Village Fete will be held on Saturday 28 June at Kingscote House;  Hog Roast, Afternoon Teas, Bar, Dog Show, Children’s competitions, Stalls and lots more.  Guest band appearance by Dr Jazz.  Bring your friends.  Full details next month.

Village Hall and PCC fete organising committee

 

Free-range eggs for sale

Mrs Pat Cooksley of 2 The Windmill normally has some free-range eggs for sale at £1 for six. Best call afternoons.

Weekly Recycling – Green food boxes and wheelie bins

All current collection points – from 7.30 am, Fridays.

Fortnightly Recycling – Black boxes, White Bags and Blue bags

All current collection points – from 7.30 am, Fridays 4 and 18 April.

Fortnightly Waste – Grey wheelie bins to landfill

All current collection points – from 7.30 am, Fridays 4 and 18 April.

 

Bus Timetable Enquiries Ring traveline on  0871 200 2233.

Mobile Police Van

The Mobile Police Station will visit Kingscote between 6.30 and 7.00 pm on Tuesday 22 April. Please support this initiative.

Mobile Library 

Due to the Easter holidays the next visit will be on Friday 16 May when the van will park as usual in front of The Walled Garden from 9.30 to 11.30 am.

Magazine

Any material which may be of interest for the next issue of the Forerunner should be sent by 20 April to H. Tubbs,  3 The Walled Garden,  Tel. 860 194.

The Editor

 

An Easter Message – Experience Easter : Experience Hope 

(Copied from the Diocesan Messenger for April) 

Ukraine, Syria, South Sudan – just some of the places deeply scarred by conflict today.  And in our own country a range of challenging issues – communities recovering from floods and storms, unemployment, a fragile economic recovery – the list goes on.   It can all seem a long way from the story of new life and resurrection that the church will be celebrating once more as Lent and Holy Week give way to Easter.  Where do we find hope?

The Easter story speaks of transformation born out of Jesus’ defeat of death.  His rising to life eternal happened out of a crucible of pain and crucifixion.  That is the ground of Christian hope.  Not simply optimism which believes that somehow everything will be okay, but a true hope founded on the power of God to raise Christ from the dead.  If death can be defeated, then all those other things that scar our world can be transformed too.  But to do so takes courage, faith and love.  Hope is not cheap.

Easter proclaims that the power that raised Jesus from the dead can now work in us and bring transformation to the world.  Are we bold enough to be an Easter people who allow that power to be at work through us so that others too can experience the hope that Easter celebrates ? 

Revd Canon Andrew Braddock

(Director of Mission and Ministry) 

 

An Easter Prayer

 O Lord God, our Father. You are the light that can never be put out; and now you give us a light that shall drive away all darkness.  You are love without coldness, and you have given us such warmth in our hearts that we can love all when we meet.  You are the life that defies death, and you have opened for us the way that leads to eternal life.

 None of us is a great Christian; we are all humble and ordinary.  But your grace is enough for us.  Arouse in us that small degree of joy and thankfulness of which we are capable, to the timid faith which we can muster, to the cautious obedience which we cannot refuse, and thus to the wholeness of life which you have prepared for us through the death and resurrection of your son.  Do not allow any of us to remain apathetic or indifferent to the wondrous glory of Easter, but let the light of our risen Lord reach every corner of our dull hearts. 

Karl Barth 1886 ~ 1968

 (He was the most prominent Protestant theologian of his time, and he asserted that the supremacy of God, revealed in Jesus Christ, was far above the grasp of human reason.  Most of his life was devoted to his academic work and to resisting the Nazi movement.  But in his mellow old age he preached a series of sermons at Basle prison in his native Switzerland, each of which concluded with a prayer.)

 

May Hill

Gloucestershire

This they once called Yartleton Hill,

From the Celtic, meaning ‘round topped’, still

A name that fits, that’s suitable.

Close to a thousand feet above sea level,

An encampment of towering Scots pine

Is assembled here, like a conquering clan

Claiming the hill.  We gaze around

The circling counties, admire the border ground,

The silvered Severn reflecting sunlight,

The Forest, the Malverns, and Welsh hills receding.

 

The sky is blue-and-yellow bright,

But crisp chilly March will keep us moving.

These are the early-in-the-year days we love

When landscapes awaken with the life we crave.

A pine-cone is blown from its tree-top,

Pin balling off branches as it tumbles down –

The tall and the small of this Gloucestershire crown.

 Roger Pope, from his book

‘Love Between Sandwiches 2

 

Parish Directory

 

Vicar:                    Interregnum – awaiting new appointment.

Curate:                  Reverend  Sue Sobczak, Horsley, Tel.  01453 833 526 

Reader                  Sue White, Nailsworth, Tel: 01453 835 693 

Churchwardens:   Harry Tubbs, 3 The Walled Garden, Kingscote, GL8 8YP.            Tel: 860 194

                            Godfrey Ainsworth, Kingscote House, Kingscote, GL8 8XY Tel: 861 683

Hon.Sec.PCC:        Georgina Harford, Ashcroft House, Kingscote, GL8 8YF Tel: 01453 860 227 

Hon.Treas.PCC:    Jane Nichols, Asheldown, 3 Ashel Barn Cottages, Kingscote, GL8 8YB Tel. 01453 860 534

Members of PCC:   The Churchwardens, The Hon. Secretary, The Hon. Treas- urer, Elin Tattersall, Zoe Nichols, Philip Kendell, Chris Alford.

Flower and Clean Team: Teresa Day, Vivienne Ainsworth, Angela Wooldridge, Pauline McTear.

Nailsworth MU:     Trissa Jones,   Tel:  832 551

Editor of Forerunner:  Harry Tubbs, 3 The Walled Garden, Kingscote, GL8 8YP Tel: 860 194

Gift Aid and Envelopes:   Jane Nichols, 3 Ashel Barn Cottages, Kingscote Tel. 860 534.

Church Flowers Rota: Lorna Reynolds, Tel. 860 231 

Organist:               Rosemary Sims, 15 Badger’s Way, Forest Green, Nailsworth,  GL6 0HE  Tel: 832 446

Sidespersons:         Harry Tubbs, Rod Tibbert, Elin Tattersall, Godfrey Ainsworth.

Electoral Roll:        Elin Tattersall, 3 Boxwood Close, Tel.01453 860 182

Mowing Team:         Tim Sage, Harry Tubbs, Sebastian Cooper, Rick Bond, Roger Lucy, Godfrey Ainsworth, Ken Davies. 

Village Hall:        Bookings: Pauline McTear, Kingscote,  Tel. 861 311

                            Secretary:  Carol Paton, Bagpath, Tel. 860 649

Parish Council Chairman: Graham Nichols, Asheldown, 3 Ashel Barn Cottages, Kingscote  Tel: 01453 860 534

Parish Council Clerk:   Anna Davison, Bagpath Court, GL8 8YG, Tel. 860 244

Village Agent:        Aileen Bendall, Tel. 07810 630 156 or 01452 426 868

Printer of Forerunner:  Godfrey Ainsworth, Kingscote House, Tel. 861 683                                                   

 

The Forerunner is published by the P.C.C. who are usually most willing to accept copy from village groups and individuals. However, please note that the opinions and views expressed by the contributors within the Forerunner are not necessarily those of the Church, P.C.C. or Editor.

 

 

 

 

Save the Date – Village Fete

Kingscote and Bagpath Village Fete will be held on Saturday 28th June at Kingscote House.

Hog Roast, Afternoon Teas, Bar, Dog Show, Children’s competitions, Stalls and lots, lots more.  Guest band appearance by Dr Jazz.  Bring your friends.

Full details next month.

From the Village Hall and PCC Village Fete sub-committee

Forerunner – March 2014

forerunner

Revised Calendar for March 2014

Sunday

 

  2nd Nailsworth

Kingscote

Horsley

  9.30 am

  9.30 am

11.00 am

Family Communion

Morning Prayer  BCP

Holy Communion  CW

Ash Wednesday    5th Nailsworth

Horsley

 10.00 am

   7.30 pm

Holy Communion

Holy Communion

Friday    7th Christchurch    2.30 pm Women’s Day of Prayer
Sunday

 

   9th Kingscote

Nailsworth

Horsley

  8.00 am

9.30 am

11.00 am

Holy Communion  BCP

Family Communion

Holy Communion

Wednesday  12th Nailsworth  10.00am Holy Communion
Sunday  16th Nailsworth

Nailsworth

Kingscote

  8.00 am

9.30 am

11.00 am

Holy Communion  BCP

Family service & Baptisms

Parish Communion

Wednesday  19th Nailsworth  10.00 am Holy Communion
Sunday  23rd Nailsworth

Horsley

   9.30 am

6.00 pm

Benefice Family Communion

Evening Service

Wednesday  26th Nailsworth  10.00 am Holy Communion
Mothering

Sunday

Clocks advance

 30th Nailsworth

Horsley

Kingscote

  9.30 am

11.00 am

11.00 am

Family Communion

Family Service

Family Service

The Little Angels mothers and toddlers group meets on Fridays at 9.45 am at St George’s Church Nailsworth when all are welcome.  Followed by refreshments in the Parish Rooms.

The next stage in the process to appoint the New Vicar will be advertising the vacancy between 21 and 28 March in appropriate ecclesiastical publications and on the diocesan web-site.

Next PCC Meeting     Monday 10 March at 7.30 pm in the Village Hall. 

Communications

     Diocesan News                 www.gloucester.anglican.org/news/publications

                                          www.gloucester.anglican.org/news/blog

     Nailsworth Benefice         www.stgeorgesnailsworth.org.uk

      Kingscote Community      www.kingscoteonline.co.uk

 

The Curate’s Letter

With the ending of the coarse fishing season and nearing the completion of the football season, spring surely is just round the corner.  Will the spring bring better weather for those struggling to cope in already soaked and flooded parts of the country ?  As the opinions and points of view about how to deal with the floods, and who is to blame, are swiftly knocked back and forth across the political tennis net, surely it is good old common sense and folk law about not building on flood plains that comes to mind.  Neither does blame help the victims.  It is heart warming to read reports about neighbours helping each other in such difficult times.  In particular the farmers who have carried to safety and taken care of other farmers’ livestock.

Jesus was a team player and he gathered around him twelve ordinary men who were fishermen and tax collectors, which later ended up a squad of eleven men.  These men became his close friends and were the pioneering leaders of the early New Testament Church.  Not one of them was a scholar, each one of them had his shortcomings and faults, but as they worked together in teams they helped to spread the Good News of Jesus around the then known world.  Later further team work would carry the message to all corners of the globe.

With every blessing,

Reverend Sue Sobczak

 

 Lent Study and Discussion Groups

Kingscote and Horsley parishioners are invited to join Canon Michael Irving at meetings in the Reynolds Room in the Village Hall on Tuesdays 4, 11, 18, and 25 March, and 1 and 8 April at 7.45 pm, for informal discussions on the book  God Lost and Found  by John Pritchard.  The book is a reasonably priced paper-back and 8 have been purchased so far for those who have indicated their intention to partake.

Although the meetings will follow a logical sequence, they will be as far as possible self-contained so that it is not essential to attend the whole series.  Please let Harry Tubbs (860 194), Georgina Harford (860 227) or Stan Burrage (832 952) know if you plan to come.

As many of you know, the Reynolds room is extremely comfortable and warm.  The meetings will close by 9.30 pm.

 Flower Rota           

Sunday 2nd March

No further flowers in March          LENT

Sunday 20 and 27 April             EASTER

Sheila Grey

 

Flower Team

There are no weddings in March.

Lorna Reynolds

Cleaning Team

The next church cleaning session is at 2.30 pm on Monday 10 March.  We are always delighted to welcome anyone who would like to join the team.

Teresa Day

 

Grumbolds Ash Group Inside

On Tuesday 11 March we visit the Tetbury Police Museum at The Old Courthouse, 63 Long Street, to see life in the cells.  It is open from 10.00 am until 3.00 pm.  We meet at the Village Hall to share transport and parking at 10.00 am.

Jutta Tubbs

 

Village Hall Programme

Film Night – Tuesday 10 March, 7.30 pm,  ‘The Man Who Would be King’  starring Sean Connery, Michael Caine,    Saeed Jaffrey and Christopher Plummer, based on a Rudyard Kipling story.   Admission free, Pay Bar.

Coffee Morning – Tuesday 17 March, 10.30 to 11.30 am.  Coffee and cake £1.50. 

Bridge Evening – Thursday 20 March, 7.00 to 10.00 pm.  Get together a table of 4 friends to play social bridge.  Admission £10 per person to include Light Supper, with raffle and pay bar.  Contact Annabella Lucy on Tel. 860 617 to book a place.

(NB We are hoping to get as many as 40 people at this event, many from outside the village, and have explained to them that parking is difficult and car sharing essential.  We ask for the forbearance of residents if cars are in the wrong places.)

 Lost Property – following the very well attended Curry Evening a blue scarf and a black folding umbrella were left in the Village Hall.  If you believe they belong to you please ring Brian McTear on Tel. 861 311. 

Carol Paton Tel. 860 649

 

Book Club at 8.00 pm

Wednesday 19 March, to discuss ‘The Fishing Fleet’  by Anne de Coursey and/or

‘The Ladies of Grace Dieu’  by Susannah Clarke, at Viv’s house.

 Wednesday 9 April, ‘The Sisters Brothers’ by Patrick de Witt at the Village Hall.

 Wednesday 14 April, ‘Secret History’ by Donna Tartt, at the Village Hall. 

Angela Wooldridge

Kingscote Parish Council

The next PC meeting will be on Tuesday 15 April at 8.00 pm in the Hunters Hall.

 

Planning approvals:

Bagpath Court Cottage, erection of two storey side, and single storey and two storey rear extensions to existing dwelling, insertion of two dormer windows and roof-light to the rear.

To reassure those who are concerned about the state of the roads, GCC Highways are fully aware that we are waiting and I hope that we will see some repairs soon.

The completed footpath improvement in Kingscote is appreciated. 

Anna Davison, Tel. 860 244

 

Churchyard Path

In recent months the Public Right of Way footpath proceeding south past the tower had become very muddy, and grateful thanks are due from all of the community to Graham and Philip Nichols for the new gravel path which they laid before the wedding on 15 February.

The PCC

Free-range eggs for sale

Mrs Pat Cooksley of 2 The Windmill normally has some free-range eggs for sale at £1 for six.

Lost and Found Kingscote Cat

THANK YOU to everyone who helped look for my missing cat, Rexy.  He has returned safe and well.

Joyce Broomhall

Weekly Recycling – Green food boxes and wheelie bins

All current collection points – from 7.30 am, Fridays.

Fortnightly Recycling – Black boxes, White Bags and Blue bags

All current collection points – from 7.30 am, Fridays 7 and 21 March.

Fortnightly Waste – Grey wheelie bins to landfill

All current collection points – from 7.30 am, Fridays 7 and 21 March.

 

Bus Timetable Enquiries Ring traveline on  0871 200 2233.

 

Mobile Police Van

The Mobile Police Station will visit Kingscote between 6.00 and 6.45 pm on Wednesday 12 March.  The programme has been revised to delete some villages including Beverston where the community makes little contact with the service.  As a result they are able to stay a little longer here.  Please support this initiative.

The Editor

Mobile Library

The next visit will be on Friday 21 March and the van will park as usual in front of The Walled Garden from 9.30 to 11.30 am.

Magazine

Any material which may be of interest for the next issue of the Forerunner should be sent by 20 March to H. Tubbs,  3 The Walled Garden,  Tel. 860 194.

The Editor

Did you know ? 

(Information copied from a Dutch Tourist Information web-site)

26% of the land area of the Netherlands is under sea level

The lowest point in Holland is 6.8 metres below sea level

Schiphol Airport is 4 metres below sea level

Holland still has around 1000 old-fashioned working windmills

Clearly we have some catching up to do.    The Editor

 

The First Steamboat

 ( Copied from the book ‘Tales of Old Gloucestershire’ by Betty Smith) 

Jonathan Hulls was born in 1699 and was baptised at Blockley Church.  As a boy he attended Chipping Campden Grammar school for a brief period, and this probably gave him a thirst for knowledge and a love of learning that lasted until the end of his life.  He had two close friends who encouraged his endeavours, Richard Darby, a local maltster, and William Bradford, a schoolmaster, both of Chipping Campden.

As a small Cotswold farmer, it is extraordinary that Jonathan Hulls sought to invent of all things a steam boat !  It is doubtful that he saw many steam engines, and he lived quite a distance from any major river.

Steam engines in existence in Hull’s time worked on Newcomen’s principle of atmospheric steam, in that they derived their power from the pressure of (ambient) air on a piston descending in a cylinder in which the condensation of steam created a vacuum, creating a vertical motion.  The only engines of this type  in Jonathan Hull’s time were used for raising water from the mines.

However he did read widely.  He studied mechanical objects constantly and took all the scientific journals of the day available to him.  In 1737 he published a pamphlet about his idea, entitled  Description and Draught of a New-Invented Machine for Carrying (sailing) Vessels or Ships out of and into any Harbour, Port or River against Wind and Tide or in a Calm, for which His Majesty Has Granted Letters-Patent for the Sole Benefit of the Author for the Space of 14-years.

 Jonathan Hulls looked for financial backing, and found it at Moreton in Marsh, in the person of Mr Freeman of Batsford Park who gave him £160 to patent his invention.  He then set about designing a vessel, forwarding drawings to the Eagle Foundry in Birmingham which then produce the various parts for him.

In 1737, Jonathan Hulls took his completed boat to Evesham and launched it on the river there.  It was a somewhat strange looking contraption, with an axle attached by ropes to a crankshaft near the stern.  By means of this crankshaft, Hulls endeavoured, for the first time, to convert vertical motion into rotary motion, which would make the six paddles which he had attached to the boat revolve in the water and drive it forward.

This amateurish trial was not a resounding success.  Hulls did prove that steam navigation was possible, but the task proved too much for the frail vessel.  The boat was shaken apart by the action of the machinery and it unceremoniously sank !

Many people have since thought that if Hulls had managed to find further financial backing, he could have gone ahead and brought his ideas to fruition,.  But financial help was not forthcoming, and Hulls had to let the project die.  However, all the work put in by the Cotswold farmer was not in vain.  Many experts now believe that William Symington, who launched the Charlotte Dundas, the first workable steamboat, at Grangemouth in 1802 got his ideas from Hull’s prototype. 

This mortal coil

 (A letter to The Times published on 5 February)

Sir, It is encouraging that ‘people are becoming more comfortable talking about their mortality and planning their own funerals’.  However there may be limits to ‘taking the guesswork out of a situation at a time of grief ’.

I recently attended a funeral where a late mourner arrived as the coffin entered the church.  We all heard his Smartphone announce:  “You have reached your destination.”

Bernard Kingston, Kent

 

Augustine of Hippo  354 – 430 AD

(The son of a Christian mother and a pagan father, he spent the early years of his life seeking inner peace

through philosophical knowledge, despising the simplicity of Christianity) 

You are great, Lord, and greatly to be praised.  Great is your power, and of your wisdom there is no end.  And man, who is part of what you have created, desires to praise you.  Yes, even though he carries his mortality wherever he goes, as the proof of his sin and testimony to your justice, man desires to praise you.  For you have stirred up his heart so that he takes pleasure in praising you.  You have created us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.

 

Parish Directory

Vicar:                    Interregnum – awaiting new appointment.

Curate:                  Reverend Sue Sobczak, Horsley, Tel.  01453 833 526

Reader                  Sue White, Nailsworth, Tel: 01453 835 693 

Churchwardens:   Harry Tubbs, 3 The Walled Garden, Kingscote, GL8 8YP. Tel: 860 194

                            Godfrey Ainsworth, Kingscote House, Kingscote, GL8 8XY Tel: 861 683

 

Hon.Sec.PCC:        Georgina Harford, Ashcroft House, Kingscote, GL8 8YF Tel: 01453 860 227

 

Hon.Treas.PCC:    Jane Nichols, Asheldown, 3 Ashel Barn Cottages, Kingscote  GL8 8YB Tel. 01453 860 534

 

Members of PCC:   The Churchwardens, The Hon. Secretary, The Hon. Treasurer, Elin Tattersall, Zoe Nichols, Philip Kendell, Chris Alford.

 

Flower and Clean Team: Teresa Day, Vivienne Ainsworth, Angela    Wooldridge, Pauline McTear.

 

Nailsworth MU:     Trissa Jones, Tel:  832 551

 

Editor of Forerunner:  Harry Tubbs, 3 The Walled Garden, Kingscote, GL8 8YP  Tel: 860 194

 

Gift Aid and Envelopes:   Jane Nichols, 3 Ashel Barn Cottages, Kingscote Tel. 860 534.

 

Church Flowers Rota: Lorna Reynolds, Tel. 860 231

 

Organist:               Rosemary Sims, 15 Badger’s Way, Forest Green, Nailsworth,  GL6 0HE  Tel: 832 446

 

Sidespersons:         Harry Tubbs, Rod Tibbert, Elin Tattersall, Godfrey Ainsworth.

 

Electoral Roll:        Elin Tattersall, 3 Boxwood Close, Tel.01453 860 182

 

Mowing Team:       Tim Sage, Harry Tubbs, Sebastian Cooper, Rick Bond,  Roger Lucy, Godfrey Ainsworth,

Ken Davies.

 

Village Hall:        Bookings: Pauline McTear, Kingscote,  Tel. 861 311

                            Secretary:  Carol Paton, Bagpath, Tel. 860 649

 

Parish Council Chairman: Graham Nichols, Asheldown, 3 Ashel Barn Cottages, Kingscote  Tel: 01453 860 534

 

Parish Council Clerk:   Anna Davison, Bagpath Court, GL8 8YG, Tel. 860 244

 

Village Agent:        Aileen Bendall, Tel. 07810 630 156 or 01452 426 868

 

Printer of Forerunner:  Godfrey Ainsworth, Kingscote House, Tel. 861 683                                                   

 

 

The Forerunner is published by the P.C.C. who are usually most willing to

accept copy from village groups and individuals. However, please note that the opinions and views expressed by the contributors within the Forerunner are not necessarily those of the Church, P.C.C. or Editor.

 

 

 

 

Garden Waste Collection

Cotswold District Council wants even more residents to go green this year and contribute to the authority’s excellent waste recycling record.

The seventh year of the Council’s chargeable garden waste service starts on Tuesday 1 April and CDC is urging existing subscribers to sign up again while hoping that even more householders will follow suit. Everyone participating will help contribute to the Council’s impressive recycling/composting rate of almost 60% – yet again one of the best in the UK.

Those signing up for the service for 2014-15 will have their garden waste collected weekly provided they have paid a £30 licence fee to use the green garden waste wheeled bins.  They will also be able to empty their unwanted food waste into the green bin. Additional licences can be purchased for a further £30. 

Alternatively, for those who cannot accommodate a green wheeled bin at their property, 50 compostable brown paper garden waste sacks can also be purchased for £30 (available from the Council’s Trinity Road offices or at the Moreton Area Centre)

Residents who receive Council Tax or Housing Benefit are entitled to a 50% discount on the price of a green waste licence.

Cllr David Fowles, Cotswold District Council’s Cabinet Member for the Environment, comments: 

“We have a great track record for recycling thanks to our residents, and it would be great to see even more people signing up for the service this year. We have pegged the price at £30 yet again and this represents better value for money than ever.

“As we continue reducing the amount of waste which goes to landfill, we will help combat climate change and reduce the amount of infill taxes paid by residents across the county.”

 

The Forerunner – Feb 2014

forerunner

Calendar for February 2014

Sunday   2nd NailsworthKingscoteHorsley   9.30 am  9.30 am11.00 am Family CommunionMorning Prayer  BCPHoly Communion
Wednesday    5th Nailsworth  10.00 am Holy Communion
Sunday    9th KingscoteNailsworthHorsley

 

  8.00 am 9.30 am11.00 am Holy Communion BCPFamily CommunionFamily Service
Wednesday  12th Nailsworth  10.00am Holy Communion
Sunday  16th NailsworthNailsworthKingscote

 

  8.00 am9.30 am11.00 am Holy Communion  BCPAll-age Family ServiceParish Communion CW
Wednesday  19th Nailsworth  10.00 am Holy Communion
Sunday  23rd Nailsworth 

Horsley

 10.00 am 

6.00 pm

Benefice Family Communion with the Archdeacon of Gloucester Jackie SearleEvening Service
Wednesday  26th Nailsworth  10.00 am Holy Communion

The Little Angels mothers and toddlers group meets on Fridays at 9.45 am at St George’s Church Nailsworth when all are welcome.  Followed by refreshments in the Parish Rooms.

The next stage in the process to appoint the New Vicar will be the Vacancy Meeting on Tuesday 25 February when all three PCCs will meet in Horsley with the Archdeacon of Gloucester to agree the ‘Benefice Profile’ document to be used for advertising.

Next PCC Meeting

Monday 10 March at 7.30 pm in the Village Hall 

Communications

     Diocesan News                 www.gloucester.anglican.org/news/publications

                                          www.gloucester.anglican.org/news/blog

     Nailsworth Benefice         www.stgeorgesnailsworth.org.uk

     Kingscote Community      www.kingscoteonline.co.uk

 

The Interim Minister’s Letter

Life is not easy or straightforward.  Indeed, the older we get the more life seems to throw googlies at us !  I am fascinated by life itself and the way that we engage with it and seek to understand it.

I am hoping there might be some who would like to journey together exploring this very subject during Lent and I an offering some Tuesday evenings in March and April in which to meet.  As a catalyst we will use a book called ‘God Lost and Found’ by John Pritchard, Bishop of Oxford (SPCK ISBN 978.0.281.06352.9) £9.99.

Two well-known people say of this book:

“This is an unusually honest book.  Its analysis is plain-spoken and compassionate, and what Bishop John has to say about finding ways to live constructively with times of emptiness is superbly well focussed.  You’ll emerge from reading this with –

probably – relief that a widespread set of challenges has been so sensitively identified – and certainly – with gratitude for sensible, durable advice on how to go on making friends with the mystery we can never digest or contain.”  Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury.

“What a courageous book !  In his inimitable, engaging style, John Pritchard exposes the doubts, anxieties and spiritual dryness which can afflict even faithful believers.  He shows us the darkest reality of being unable to find God.  But he does not leave us there.  His many stories and insights lift us gently to look again, experience afresh and be open to ‘new beginnings’.  The result is a deeply compassionate book – full of hope and full of God.”  Elaine Storkey, President of Tearfund.

I do hope that anyone from Kingscote or Horsley will feel free to join us, to be fellow explorers and to journey together to understand more fully the mystery of life, as far as we are able, and how we can live it even after we have been bruised by it and at times lost our hopes for it.

The meetings will be at Kingscote Village Hall at 7.45 for 8.00 pm finishing no later

than 9.30 pm, on Tuesdays 4,11,18, 25 March,  and 1,8 April 2014. To give some idea of the numbers could you let Harry Tubbs (01453 860 194) or Georgina Harford (01453 860 227) in Kingscote, or Stan Burrage (01453 832 952) in Horsley know if you are coming, even if only to some of the meetings.  It will give us some idea when ordering the books and putting out the coffee cups !

With every blessing, Canon Michael Irving. 

Flower Rota           

Sunday 2nd February

Sundays 9th and 16th February

Sundays 23rd February and 2nd MarchJane Bateman

Wendy Ingram

Sheila Grey 

Wedding:  Saturday 15 February, 2.30 pm, Rory Spanton and Rebecca Griggs 

Lorna Reynolds

Cleaning Team

The next church cleaning session is at 2.30 pm on Monday 10 February.  We are always delighted to welcome anyone who would like to join the team.

Teresa Day

  

Grumbolds Ash Group

On Tuesday 18 February we visit The Museum in the Park in Stroud, to see particularly the visiting exhibition Tracing the Blue Print describing the historic indigo fabric printing of Central and Eastern Europe.  We met at 10.00 am at the Village Hall to share transport, and will go for lunch after the visit.

Jutta Tubbs

Village Hall Programme

Film Night – Tuesday 11 February, 7.30 pm, Oscar winning film West Side Story with Natalie Wood and George Chakiris.  Admission free, pay bar.

Coffee Morning – Wednesday 19 February, 10.30 to 11.30 am.  Coffee and cake £1.50.

Wine and Cheese party – Friday 28 February, 8.00 pm, with light headed wine quiz.  £5.00 for a glass of wine and cheese, pay bar to follow.

Carol Paton Tel. 860 649

Book Club at 8.00 pm

Wednesday 19 February, to discuss ‘Arcanum’ by Janet Gleeson or ‘The Cashmere Shawl’ by Rosie Thomas at Angela’s.

Wednesday 19 March, to discuss ‘The Fishing Fleet’ by Anne de Courney at the Village Hall.

Angela Wooldridge

Kingscote Parish Council

 The next PC meeting will be on Tuesday 15 April at 8.00 pm in the Hunters Hall.

Planning approvals:

Rosemary Cottage, Kingscote, erection of single storey rear extension.

Planning applications:

Bagpath Court Cottage, erection of two storey side and rear extensions to existing dwelling, insertion of two dormer windows and roof-light to the rear (amendment to 13/02598/FUL). 

Major work is now scheduled on the pavement outside the Matara Centre. 

Anna Davison, Tel. 860 244

Free-range eggs for sale

Mrs Pat Cooksley of 2 The Windmill normally has some free-range eggs for sale at £1 for six.

Weekly RecyclingGreen food boxes and wheelie bins

All current collection points – from 7.30 am, Fridays.

Fortnightly Recycling – Black boxes, White Bags and Blue bags

All current collection points – from 7.30 am, Fridays 7 and 21 Febuary.

Fortnightly Waste – Grey wheelie bins to landfill

All current collection points – from 7.30 am, Fridays 7 and 21 February.

Bus Timetable Enquiries Ring traveline on  0871 200 2233.

Mobile Police Van

No announcement has been made concerning the visit schedule for 2014.

Mobile Library

The next visit will be on Friday 21 February and the van will park as usual in front of The Walled Garden from 9.30 to 11.30 am.

Church Gutter Clearing

We thank all the helpers who took part in the gutter clearing activity on Saturday 11 January.  Considering what has been going on, we were very fortunate with the weather.

The PCC

Weddings in Kingscote Church in 2014

 We hope that it will be helpful to have this advance warning of the dates and times of the 2014 weddings in the church:

Saturday 15February                            2.30 pm

Saturday 26 April                                2.00 pm

Sunday 4 May                                    2.00 pm

Saturday 17 May                                 1.20 pm

Friday 20 June                                    1.30 pm

Saturday 16 August                             2.00 pm

Saturday 27 September                         1.30 pm

Saturday 4 October                              2.00 pm

Wednesday 8 October                          2.00 pm

Thursday 30 October                           1.00 pm

As you can see this totals 10 weddings which is the PCC’s agreed limit for the year. 

Georgina Harford and Jane Nichols

(Wedding Administration team)

 

Magazine

Any material which may be of interest for the next issue of the Forerunner should be sent by 18 February to H. Tubbs,  3 The Walled Garden,  Tel. 860 194.

The Editor 

Stop imposing single, simplistic truths on a plural world 

(Extracts from an interesting article by Ziauddin Sardar co-editor of ‘Critical Muslim’,

published in the Times on Saturday 11 January 2014)

A thought provoking e-mail popped into my inbox last week. It was an article entitled ‘All religions are true, Adam and Eve a fable, hell is a mere metaphor – says Pope Francis.’  Long held Catholic doctrines had been redefined, it suggested.  The essay suggested that there is a problem with the religious conception of truth.

I agree.  All monotheistic faiths claim to possess absolute truth.  In Judaism, Christianity and Islam, there is only one single path that leads to salvation.  The Jews are not just the keepers of God’s laws but also His chosen people.  In Christianity, you can only be ‘saved’ by accepting Jesus Christ as the Saviour; it is the sole route to heaven.  Muslims have to believe that the Koran is the Word of God, Muhammad the Last Prophet, and God’s laws must be implemented in full to avoid the fire of hell.

These notions of truth set up a false dichotomy.  If all truth is the same for everyone at all times, then if I am right, you must be wrong.  And, if I really care for truth, I must convert you to my view.  If necessary, as history shows, by force.  They instil a sense of superiority in the believers.  As possessors of the absolute truth, or the chosen people of God, the believers are morally superior to the rest of humanity. Their way of life is the best in this best of all possible worlds.  This arrogance is responsible for much of the inter-religious strife we see around the world, and the sectarian violence in the Muslim world.

This Platonic idea of truth makes religion unfit for the globalised world.  This is why religions are inept at dealing with equality, pluralism and the moral chaos of our times.

Monotheistic faiths, I think, have to abandon much of what they have held to be true, including their historic goal of imposing a single truth on a plural globe.  If God is Infinite, then She cannot be enveloped in a single, ancient, simplistic construction of truth.

Jonathan Sacks, the former Chief Rabbi, came up with a neat prescription for religions to cope with the complexity and plurality of modern life.  In the first edition of The Dignity of Difference, he wrote that the way forward for religion is to drop the old recipe that  ‘faith is supremely important, and therefore all men must have one true faith’ and replace it with the new formula that ‘faith is supremely important and therefore every man must be allowed to live by the faith which seems true to him.’  He was shouted down by the Jewish Orthodoxy and had to delete this passage from subsequent editions of the book.

I would go one step further.  We have to see religious truths as human constructions made at certain times and places to serve certain ends.  Revelation may be inspired by God, but it is humans who receive it, interpret it, and turn it into a dogma.  We see Moses, Jesus and Muhammad not as historical figures struggling with truth, but as personification of truth without a past.  As historical figures they can be recycled in sermons and invoked as role models.

If we see religious dogma as human constructions, then they can be redefined and updated by other humans without qualms.  All religions teach that God is not a static but an active agent.  A corollary of this teaching is that faith communities can only be true to God by embracing change.  No religion is ever complete or fully realised.  All are work in progress.  All have to embrace notions of equality, pluralism and adjust to our expanding knowledge of the cosmos. 

MISS  THOMPSON  GOES  SHOPPING

In her lone cottage on the downs,

With winds and blizzards and great crowns

Of shining cloud, with wheeling plover

And short grass sweet with small white clover,

Miss Thompson lived, correct and meek,

A lonely spinster, and every week

On market day she used to go

Into the little town below,

Tucked in the great down’s hollow bowl,

Like pebbles gathered in a shoal.

 

So, having washed her plates and cup

And banked the kitchen fire up,

Miss Thompson slipped upstairs and dressed,

Put on her black (her second best),

The bonnet trimmed with rusty plush,

Peeped in the glass with simpering blush,

From camphor-smelling cupboard took

Her thicker jacket off the hook

Because the day might turn to cold.

Then, ready, slipped downstairs and rolled

The hearthrug back; then searched about,

Found her basket, ventured out,

Snecked the door and paused to lock it

And plunged the key in some deep pocket.

Then as she tripped demurely down

The steep descent, the little town

Spread wider still its sprawling street

Enclosed her and her footfalls beat

On hard stone pavement; and she felt

Those throbbing ecstasies that melt

Through heart and mind, as happy, free,

Her small, trim personality

Merged into the seething strife

Of auction-marts and city life. 

Martin Armstrong 

Parish Directory

Vicar:                    Interregnum – awaiting new appointment.

Curate:                  Reverend Sue Sobczak, Horsley, Tel.  01453 833 526 

Reader                  Sue White, Nailsworth, Tel: 01453 835 693 

Churchwardens:   Harry Tubbs, 3 The Walled Garden, Kingscote, GL8 8Y. Tel: 860 194

                            Godfrey Ainsworth, Kingscote House, Kingscote, GL8 8XY Tel: 861 683

Hon.Sec.PCC:        Georgina Harford, Ashcroft House, Kingscote, GL8 8YF Tel: 01453 860 227

Hon.Treas.PCC:    Jane Nichols, Asheldown, 3 Ashel Barn Cottages, Kingscote, GL8 8YB Tel. 01453 860 534

Members of PCC:   The Churchwardens, The Hon. Secretary, The Hon. Treasurer, Elin Tattersall, Zoe Nichols, Philip Kendell, Chris Alford.

Flower and Clean Team: Teresa Day, Vivienne Ainsworth, Angela Wooldridge, Pauline McTear.

Nailsworth MU:     Trissa Jones,   Tel:  832 551

Editor of Forerunner:  Harry Tubbs, 3 The Walled Garden, Kingscote, GL8 8YP Tel: 860 194

Gift Aid and Envelopes:   Jane Nichols, 3 Ashel Barn Cottages, Kingscote Tel. 860 534.

Church Flowers Rota: Lorna Reynolds, Tel. 860 231

Organist:               Rosemary Sims, 15 Badger’s Way, Forest Green,

                            Nailsworth,  GL6 0HE  Tel: 832 446

Sidespersons:         Harry Tubbs, Rod Tibbert, Elin Tattersall, Godfrey Ainsworth.

Electoral Roll:        Elin Tattersall, 3 Boxwood Close, Tel.01453 860 182

Mowing Team:       Tim Sage, Harry Tubbs, Sebastian Cooper, Rick Bond, Roger Lucy, Godfrey Ainsworth, Ken Davies.

Village Hall:        Bookings: Pauline McTear, Kingscote,  Tel. 861 311

                            Secretary:  Carol Paton, Bagpath, Tel. 860 649

Parish Council Chairman: Graham Nichols, Asheldown, 3 Ashel Barn Cottages, Kingscote  Tel: 01453 860 534

Parish Council Clerk:  Anna Davison, Bagpath Court, GL8 8YG, Tel. 860 244

Village Agent:        Aileen Bendall, Tel. 07810 630 156 or 01452 426 868

Printer of Forerunner:  Godfrey Ainsworth, Kingscote House, Tel. 861 683                                                     

The Forerunner is published by the P.C.C. who are usually most willing to

accept copy from village groups and individuals. However, please note that the opinions and views expressed by the contributors within the Forerunner are not necessarily those of the Church, P.C.C. or Editor.

 

 

Try Something New

Try Something New
Canon Michael Irving has offered to run a series of study meetings in the weeks leading up to Easter, probably in the evenings during the week and held in the Reynolds room in the Village Hall.  He would like to avoid days and times which are inconvenient for those interested in attending.
If you are interested, please let Harry Tubbs (tel. 860 194) or Georgina Harford (tel. 860 227) know what to avoid.  The meetings will be as self-contained as possible, so that if some have to be missed they should still be worthwhile.  As you may have heard, Michael is a very engaging and entertaining presenter.
Harry Tubbs.