Anyone who would like to see the Siddington corn dollies will be able to go from Monday 8th September until the end of October from 10am to 4pm daily. This is around the festival of harvest. The hundreds of dollies were mostly created by the late Raymond Rush, who lived in a nearby house. The tradition is being carried on by Raymond's granddaughter following in his footsteps by becoming a master corn dolly maker. Corn dollies have been made for thousands of years since it was believed the ‘spirit of the corn’ could be kept alive by keeping the last sheaf from a crop and making a shape or doll to keep over the winter to be ploughed back into the next crop. He said: “The dollies were made because it was thought there must be a spirit to teach the grain how to grow. It takes a lot of patience but I have been given a talent and want to share that with others. When people come into the church they say ‘wow’ at the display.”Raymond made the symbols from when he was 25 when he saw his first corn dolly and was impressed by the intricate nature of the creations. He made hundreds each year to add to a collection of more than 1,000. The items create a stunning display made all the more beautiful by being hung on the black paint of the church interior.
The Rev Jim Cartlidge was formally welcomed into the Rural Daneside Churches at a special service at St. Peter’s, Swettenham on 7th July. The Bishop of Chester, the Rt. Rev. Mark Tanner led the service in a packed church with representatives of our four parishes coming together with many visitors from the Rev Jim’s former Benefice in Stone, Staffs.Bishop Mark suggested Jim approaches his time with us with a little bit of mischief alongside his deep faith, and encouraged him always to remember ‘Anyone, any time, anything, anywhere’ in his approach to his ministry. Wardens from the four parishes within Rural Daneside gave their own welcome, along with representatives from the wider church community, including Marton C of E school. The Rev Jim was later able to mix with people from his new parishes at a buffet at Swettenham Club with refreshments by Daisy Bank Catering.
If you have any names that you would like to be placed on the weekly pew sheet's prayer list, please would you email rural.daneside@gmail.com or leave a message on the vicarage answerphone on 01260 224447. It would be helpful if you could let us know which church you are with.It would also be very helpful if you could let us know when the name can be taken off the list. Thank you.
From the Youtube video description by James Balme, 'Welcome to episode 2 of our 3rd series of 'History Walks' filmed at the medieval St James' & St Paul's church in Marton, Cheshire. In this episode entitled 'A Medieval Treasure of Marton' see for yourself this wonderful timber framed church dated to 1343 and join me as I take a tour of this archaic religious site and show you the wonderful history and treasures within including the stone effigies of the 14th century Davenport family, the medieval religious 'Doom' wall paintings and two beautiful oil paintings depicting the Ten Commandments amongst other artefacts... We also fly high above the the church giving you a great perspective of this archaic religious site from the air and allowing you to see how it blends into the open countryside that surrounds the church. I would like to express my gratitude to the Rev. Ian Archer for his support in making this film and for allowing access into the church without which this film would have not been possible.'Click here to see the video.
