NEWSAt Harvest Festival Evensong on the 2nd October we were delighted to welcome as our preacher the Rev Martin Bailey, father of our own Rev Josh. The church was looking beautiful, thanks to the flower arrangers, who excelled as always in creating spectacular displays of seasonal flowers (front cover) in addition to Colin and Margaret’s Turk’s turban squashes and their fantastic ornamental gourds. This year we were invited to bring tins of food for the Beccles Food Bank and these were duly blessed and subsequently dispatched. Harvest Supper that evening at the village hall was another welcome and successful collaboration between Barsham church and village hall. It was attended by 45 guests, who enjoyed excellent company and a choice of magnificent dishes. Huge thanks to all those who prepared the delicious food and provided the drinks, and those who decorated and laid the tables so beautifully and, likewise, to those who washed up and cleaned the following morning. On Wednesday 12th October the U3A History Walking Group enjoyed one of Barsham’s celebrated church teas, kindly provided by the ladies of the church. The U3A group had spent the afternoon looking at aspects of past and present landscape use, exploring evidence for the continuity of settlement in Barsham from the Mesolithic through the Bronze Age, Iron Age, the Roman period, and the Middle Ages up to modern times; and then hearing a little about the history of Barsham Hall and some of its former owners. Our congregation donated 143 items to the Foodbank in September and the generous gifts given at Harvest Festival on 2nd October will be reported in the next edition of the Newsletter. Warmest thanks to all who continue to support this vital service at a time when more people are struggling in the current economic climate. The Waveney Foodbank website says the most needed items at present are UHT fruit juice and instant mash, though other foods are equally welcome.Collections at Sunday services in September amounted to £1,163 and the sales tableorganised by Jenny raised a splendid £110. Thanks to the efforts of those who gamely took part, the total raised through Ride and Stride was £869, to be shared equally between the Suffolk Historic Churches Trust and Barsham. The Harvest Supper yielded £525, and the tea provided for the U3A history walkers brought in a further £80. FORWARD PLANNINGBarsham Village Hall Curry Night, 29th October at 7pm in the village hall. All are welcome and tickets are available from Carol and Zane Blanchard (01502 711394, carolzaneblanchard@talktalk.net)Service of Remembrance at the Village Hall, Friday 11th November. The hall will be open from 10.30am and the service will start at 10.50am, with the Last Post, two-minute silence and Reveille starting at 11am. Wreaths will be laid at the village war memorial outside and the names of Barsham’s First World War dead will be called (there were none in the Second World War), as will the names of the American airmen killed when their aircraft was shot down at Barsham in 1944 (see below). Marking Remembrance-tide, on Saturday 12th November at 7.30pm in St Michael’s Church, Beccles the Beccles Choral Society with the Kingfisher Sinfonietta will be performing The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace by Karl Jenkins. The programme also includes George Butterworth’s The Banks of Green Willow and war poems read by Paul Heiney. Butterworth, who wrote his Idyll The Banks of Green Willow in 1913, was killed in action three years later in the Battle of the Somme. Tickets for the concert cost £20 each and are available through Cheryl (cherylcoutts468@btinternet.com) and Beccles Bookshop. The second Barsham Church Light Show will take place on Friday 18th and Saturday 19th November from 5.30 to 8.00pm. Free of charge, this art installation exhibition by artist William Lindley is a repeating display of digital artwork projections inside the church and includes projection of historic photographs of the local area. Do drop in at any time between 5.30 and 8.00pm. All ages, no booking and no tickets required, donations appreciated. Ample parking. Refreshments available. Holy Trinity Church, Barsham, Suffolk, NR34 8HA.SNIPPETS - The Barsham B-24 Liberator and a new American ConnectionWith Remembrance Day approaching, readers will, I am sure, remember the story of the American B-24 Liberator aircraft that fell to earth just opposite the village hall on the night of 22nd April 1944, killing seven members of the crew, just 12 days after flying their first mission. The aircraft was returning to its base at Rackheath, near Norwich after a raid on Hamm in Germany when it was attacked and shot down by one or possibly two German Me 410 intruders. That night the intruders destroyed 14 returning USAAF Liberators with the loss of 60 airmen (for further reading see Night of the Intruders by Ian MacLachlan, published by Patrick Stephens Ltd, 1994, ISBN 1 85260450 6). Thanks to the efforts of former church warden Denis Sporle, the crew of the Barsham B-24 are commemorated at the war memorial beside the village hall, and they will be remembered by name at the Remembrance Day service. I mention this because I was contacted earlier this year by Professor Al Claiborne, who is related through his mother to the wife of 2nd Lt Glen Ferguson, the aircraft’s navigator. Ferguson and his wife Helen had married just three weeks before he was deployed to England and three months before he was killed at Barsham. Now retired, Al has been involved in a good deal of historical research, including the stories of several relatives who came to England with the USAAF in the Second World War. He lives in North Carolina, where he was for 22 years Professor of Biochemistry at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. To further his research and add colour to his understanding of events, he has suggested that he might make a trip to England and to Barsham next year – in which case I am sure we shall have the opportunity of meeting him.NOVEMBER DIARYSunday 30th October – All Saints. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Josh Bailey.Sunday 30th October – All Saints. 6.30pm Benefice Choral Evensong, Holy Trinity, Bungay. Rev Josh Bailey.Sunday 6th November – Third Sunday before Advent. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). RevJonathan Olanczuk.Sunday 13th November – Second Sunday before Advent. Remembrance Sunday. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Priest TBC.Sunday 20th November – Christ the King. Safeguarding Sunday. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Josh Bailey.Sunday 27th November – First Sunday of Advent. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Josh Bailey.Every Wednesday at 8.45am – Matins at Barsham Every Wednesday at 10am – Holy Communion (CW) at Holy Trinity, Bungay.Church correspondent: Robert Bacon 07867 306016, robert.bacon@yahoo.co.uk
NEWSFollowing the death of the Queen on Thursday 8th September, special prayers and a Collect for the Queen were said at Sunday service on the 11th, and Rev Jonathan Olanczuk’s sermon was crafted around snippets taken from the Queen’s 90th Birthday Book, in which she discussed her views on faith. At the end of the service the National Anthem was sung for our new king, Charles III, who succeeds the Queen as Supreme Governor of the Church of England. It is with great sadness that we record the death of Bob McNeil-Watson, our faithful organist of some years. Almost fifty church goers attended the last Eucharist celebrated by the Reverend Roy Wormald on Sunday 18th September and all enjoyed tea or coffee and cakes afterwards. Bridget spoke eloquently of Roy’s sterling service over the last twelve years and presented him with a card and cheque, whilst Margaret bestowed Audrey with a colourful bouquet of flowers.The annual Suffolk Historic Churches Trust Ride and Stride event went ahead on Saturday 10th September. For many participants the day out gave them an opportunity to reflect on what the Queen’s life and reign meant to them and the country. Thanks go to the riders and striders who represented Barsham, and to their generous sponsors, as well as to the volunteers who greeted and signed in the riders and striders at Barsham and other churches, and to Dick our local organiser. The sum raised for the upkeep of Suffolk’s beautiful churches, and ours in particular, will be announced in due course. The re-thatching of the lychgate roof was completed on schedule at the end of August and looks splendid (front cover photo). Some repairs to the flintwork of the lychgate wall have also been carried out. Many thanks to the five volunteers – Bridget, Sarah Jane, Reverend Roy, Dick and Colin, who attended for the annual brass cleaning. Between them they cleaned or polished the chandeliers, the pascal candle and various pieces of brass furniture.On the day of the Equinox the bright sunshine that had promised so much in the late afternoon was swamped by cloud at the critical moment and there was no ‘light show’. Nonetheless there was tea and talk for the small gathering of visitors who attended. As part of the church’s Health and Safety Policy, we are required to have a named and qualified First Aider: this is Malcolm Bardsley.The beehive in the churchyard will shortly be removed. The lime honey (some say the ‘king of honeys’) from its bees will be sold by auction at Harvest supper.Warmest thanks to Amy for continuing to manage our Foodbank donations, and to all who contributed to August’s 180 gifts. The current need is particularly for tinned meat, pasta, instant mash, rice puddings and microwavable puddings.The August sales table organised by Cherry yielded £120 and Sarah Jane’s splendid efforts to sell the legacy teddy bears have added another £111 to the cumulative total, which now stands at £1,893.FORWARD PLANNINGHarvest Festival is to be celebrated with Evensong at 5.30pm on Sunday 2nd October, and with Harvest Supper at the village hall afterwards at 7pm. Tickets are available from Bridget and Diana. A date for the winter diary: Will Lindley will be presenting another Light Show in Barsham Church on the evenings of Friday 18th and Saturday 19th November. SNIPPETS – Waveney Foodbank Every week Amy collects our donations from church and delivers them to the Waveney Foodbank, which hugely appreciates our commitment to support them. The Waveney Foodbank is part of a nationwide network of 428 foodbanks supported by The Trussell Trust, which aims to combat poverty and hunger in the UK. The Trust provides an Area Manager for the 11 centres of the Waveney Foodbank, each of which is individually organised. Beccles has two foodbanks, at St Luke’s Church and Hungate Church, both under the organisation of Pam Bayliss, assisted by some 28 volunteers. Donations are collected at supermarkets and direct donations are received from a range of charities, individuals and organisations, including churches, schools and businesses. Donations are sent to a warehouse, where volunteers check ‘use by’ dates, sort and pack up boxes of provisions. These usually comprise a three days’ minimum emergency supply of healthy and balanced meals, and are made up for single, couple or family use. A food box might contain breakfast cereals, soup, pasta, pasta sauce, rice, tinned foods – beans, meat, vegetables, fruit – as well as tea, coffee, sugar, biscuits, and snacks. Each foodbank centre then requests supplies from the warehouse. At Beccles there are farmers who donate sausages, bacon and eggs, and the two foodbank centres can issue vouchers for the purchase of fresh vegetables at Field2Fork in Blyburgate. The Beccles foodbanks go well beyond the provision of food, supplying toiletries, laundry powder and cleaning products, bedding and clothing for all sizes and ages (new and good quality second-hand – particularly hoodies and jogging bottoms); and to help reduce energy costs, they are now providing slow cookers. Beccles also provides sleeping bags and tents for homeless people and makes up special ‘kettle boxes’ of foods that only need hot water added. People in crisis can access support from the foodbanks via vouchers issued by agencies including Citizens Advice, doctors, health visitors, social workers, the Police, children’s centres and so on. These agencies can also identify the cause of the crisis and offer guidance and signposting to further agencies that can provide help and support.OCTOBER DIARYSunday 25th September – Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Josh Bailey.Sunday 2nd October – Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). RevJonathan Olanczuk.Sunday 2nd October – 5.30pm Harvest Evensong. Rev Josh Bailey.Sunday 9th October – Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Canon John Fellows.Sunday 16th October – Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). RevJosh Bailey.Sunday 23rd October – Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Canon John Fellows.Sunday 30th October – All Saints. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Josh Bailey.Sunday 30th October – All Saints. 6.30pm Benefice Choral Evensong, Holy Trinity, Bungay. Rev Josh Bailey.Sunday 6th November – Third Sunday before Advent. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). RevJonathan Olanczuk.Every Wednesday at 8.45am – Matins at Barsham Every Wednesday at 10am – Holy Communion (CW) at Holy Trinity, Bungay.Church correspondent: Robert Bacon 07867 306016, robert.bacon@yahoo.co.uk
NEWSRoy Wormald (photo) will celebrate Eucharist for us for the final time on Sunday 18th September. He has supported Barsham by celebrating our Eucharist service once a month for the past 12 years, and during the two years of Covid shutdown he continued to provide a monthly sermon for church members. We are most grateful to him, and we shall miss him officiating on the third Sunday, but we are delighted that he and Audrey will continue to be regular attenders at Barsham church. The Summer Lunch Party at St Bartholomew’s Church, Shipmeadow on 3rd August was a memorable occasion, enjoyed by over 70 people. Very many thanks to everyone who contributed to the organisation, logistics and catering, and special thanks to our hosts, Nick and Jenny Caddick. The churchyard is looking splendidly tidy following haymaking on 5th and 6th August: Colin reckons smarter than ever post-haymaking. As he points out, the sixteen people who toiled over two hot days were undoubtedly incentivised by the prospect of the excellent lunch provided by Chris Bardsley, who was assisted on the Friday by Carolyn. Many thanks and well done to ‘The Sixteen’, amongst whom were five young and energetic haymakers whose contribution was especially appreciated: thank you Annabelle, Louisa, Tilly, Josh and Tom. Janet has kindly prepared a variety of plants for sale at Old Hall, Barsham, with all proceeds going to the church. Warm thanks to everyone who donated to the Food Bank in July: you gave an impressive 259 items.The July sales table organised by Jenny yielded £100. Sarah Jane’s remarkable endeavours in selling the legacy teddy bears continue with further sales of £195, bringing the total to a splendid £1,782. The Barsham PCC gratefully acknowledges donations of £150 and £100, the latter being made in memory of the late Roy and Marian Pike. FORWARD PLANNINGThis year’s Suffolk Churches Ride and Stride is on Saturday 10th September. The Autumn Equinox Event takes place on Thursday 22nd, Friday 23rd and Saturday 24th September at 5.50pm with refreshments served from 30 minutes beforehand. Weather permitting, the spectacle is best on the middle day.Harvest Festival will be celebrated with Evensong at 5.30pm on Sunday 2nd October, with Harvest Supper at the village hall afterwards at 7pm. Tickets will be available in due course from Bridget and Diana. A date for the winter diary: Will Lindley will be presenting another Light Show in Barsham Church on Friday 18th and Saturday 19th November. He describes it as a ‘refreshed’ version of last year’s show. SNIPPETS – God’s AcreChurchyards are sometimes referred to as God’s Acre, an expression borrowed in the early 17th century from the German Gottesacker (Dutch Godsakker) – Field of God. I like that ancient Saxon phrase, which callsThe burial-ground God’s-Acre! It is just;It consecrates each grave within its walls,And breathes a benison o’er the sleeping dust.(From Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem God’s Acre)Our churchyard at Barsham is a beautiful place whatever the season: trim and neat as now after summer haymaking, bathed in the dew and mist of autumn, dressed in white in winter, or lush with wildflowers in spring. The existence and bounds of our churchyard are almost certainly as ancient as the church itself – nearly a thousand years old – but its current appearance has been forged largely over the last two centuries. A very small number of headstones began to appear in churchyards in the late 17th century, but the rows of headstones and ledgers that characterise churchyards today are predominantly later and at Barsham they are mostly of the 19th and 20th centuries. Previously, a burial might be marked at most by a wooden cross, but the norm in churchyards was the unmarked grave. One thing that has not changed over the centuries is the focus of responsibility for the upkeep of the churchyard, which lies today with the churchwardens and laity, as it has done since it was decreed by the Lateran Council 800 years ago in 1215. Perhaps the adoption of the term ‘God’s Acre’ in the 17th century reflected a new reverence for the churchyard imposed by the Protestant reformers, particularly the Puritans, during the Reformation. Prior to this and throughout the Middle Ages, the churchyard had been a community space used in part for devotional purposes – processions, preaching, mystery plays etc – but also for secular entertainments including games and sports, fairs and feasts, dancing and celebrations. In particular, churchyards were the venue for church ales: traditional festivities which took place regularly in the medieval church calendar, especially in spring and summer. Their purpose was to raise money for the upkeep of the church, in a loose sense perhaps the precursors of the modern church fete – or even our summer lunch. At church ales there would be food and drink, entertainments, music and dancing. Church ales were regarded by many as the embodiment of the ideal of community, and they enjoyed wide support at local level as well as from the Establishment in both Church and state. Like the critics of the 13th and 14th centuries, however, the reformers of the 16th and 17th centuries saw in church ales only gluttony, drunkenness and moral danger, and they attacked them on religious and moral grounds. Despite the support of the Stuart monarchy for the tradition of church ales, the 17th century reformers had their way and church ales were suppressed, to be replaced as a means of raising funds for the church by the less colourful and more sober church rates!September DiarySunday 28th August – Eleventh Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Canon John Fellows.Sunday 4th September – Twelfth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). RevJonathan Olanczuk.Sunday 11th September – Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Josh Bailey.Sunday 18th September – Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (CW). Rev Roy Wormald.Sunday 25th September – Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Canon John Fellows.Sunday 2nd October – Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). RevJonathan Olanczuk.Sunday 2nd October – 5.30pm Harvest Evensong. Rev Josh Bailey.Every Wednesday at 8.45am – Matins at Barsham Every Wednesday at 10am – Holy Communion (CW) at Holy Trinity, Bungay.Church correspondent: Robert Bacon 07867 306016, robert.bacon@yahoo.co.uk
NEWSThere will be no Matins on Wednesday 27th July. The PCC met in early July and it was agreed that the lychgate should be re-thatched. This work will be undertaken in late August by Nick Walker of Geldeston. A Master Thatcher, Nick uses traditional techniques (his tools are pictured on the cover) and he follows the stringent guidelines laid down by the prestigious East Anglia Master Thatchers Association. The work should take no more than a fortnight. Nick worked on Barsham Church once before, during his training. Some flintwork in the lychgate is also due to be repaired and this work will be done by Theo Wells, who worked on the flintwork of the porch recently. At the end of June we hosted our first overnight stay by a pilgrim walking the Via Beata (see below). She slept between the pews and in the morning attended Wednesday Matins. In mid-June Colin hosted a visit to the church by a tour group of 18 people from all over North America: from Canada and a range of US states including New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Wisconsin, Idaho, Iowa, Missouri and California. They were in the UK to trace their common Throckmorton ancestry, all of them descended from Sir Lionel Throckmorton (1525-1599) and Elizabeth Blennerhassett (c.1537-c.1608). Sir Lionel came from South Elmham and Elizabeth was the daughter of John Blennerhassett of Barsham Hall. They married at Holy Trinity Barsham in June 1561. Both are buried at Holy Trinity, Bungay.With the lime trees flowering, the bees and their hives are back in the churchyard. Thank you for the 132 items donated to the Food Bank in June. The June sales table yielded £70. Sarah Jane has sold more legacy teddy bears, adding a further £165 to the total sum, which now stands at an impressive £1,587. FORWARD PLANNINGThe Summer Lunch Party will take place on Wednesday 3rd August at 12.30pm at St Bartholomew’s Church, Shipmeadow by kind invitation of Nick and Jenny Caddick. Tickets cost £10 and are available from Bridget and Diana. Food is provided and drinks, including wine and fizz, will be available to buy. Help with the provision of food would be much appreciated: please use the sheet at the back of the church to indicate how you can help. Please bring your own seats (and tables if you want them). Haymaking in the churchyard is planned for Friday and Saturday 5th and 6thAugust, weather permitting. All hands welcome!This year’s Suffolk Churches Ride and Stride event takes place on Saturday 10thSeptember. Last year Barsham Church raised over £1,000 and it would be great to match that or beat it this year. Dick, our Local Organiser, reminds us that we need Barsham Riders and Striders as well as Recorders at the church to sign in the visiting Riders and Striders and to offer refreshments. Harvest Festival will be celebrated with Evensong on Sunday 2nd October with a harvest supper at the village hall afterwards.SNIPPETS – The Via Beata and Church Walking PilgrimagesThe Via Beata – the Way of Blessing – is a waymarked long-distance walking route across Britain at its widest point, from Lowestoft to St Davids. It links a network of footpaths, bridleways and quiet lanes for some 340 miles, including through Barsham. Initiated for the new millennium in 2000, it was consciously designed as a pilgrimage route and features a number of contemplative Christian artworks along the way. The Via Beata’s destination, St Davids, was already a popular pilgrimage destination in the early Middle Ages, drawing pilgrims to the shrine of St David. Well established by at least the late 8th century, its many subsequent visitors included William I in 1077, Henry II in 1171 and Edward I in 1284.In recent years, an organisation called Church Walking Pilgrimages has worked to set up overnight sanctuaries for walking pilgrims in churches and church halls roughly every ten miles along a number of pilgrimage routes in England, including their latest, the Via Beata. Barsham Church is part of the Via Beata sanctuary network. Explaining the rationale behind its mission to promote these overnight stop-overs in churches, Church Walking Pilgrimages writes: ‘Pilgrimage has been for over a thousand years an activity undertaken by many people... For some it is a transformative process, for others it is healing, for others it is a holiday, for most it is a combination of all three. Pilgrimage was a major part of people’s lives in the medieval period and is experiencing a revival now. Why so? Because spiritual searching by individuals is as strong as it has ever been, but sadly most seekers will never attend a conventional church service. The church still speaks to them though: the peace of the building, its setting and resonance of worship and simplicity is meaningful to everyone, the very atmosphere of the building imparts God’s presence’. 2023 is a particularly important year for the Via Beata since it marks the 900th anniversary of the declaration by Pope Callixtus II in 1123 that two pilgrimages to St Davids should be equal to one journey to Rome.August DiarySunday 24th July – Sixth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Canon John Fellows.Sunday 31st July – Seventh Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Canon John Fellows.Sunday 31st July – Seventh Sunday after Trinity. 6.30pm Benefice Service, Choral Evensong, All Saints, Mettingham. Rev Josh Bailey.Sunday 7th August – Eighth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). RevJonathan Olanczuk.Sunday 14th August – Ninth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Josh Bailey.Sunday 21st August – Tenth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (CW). Rev Roy Wormald.Sunday 28th August – Eleventh Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Canon John Fellows.Sunday 4th September – Twelfth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). RevJonathan Olanczuk.Every Wednesday at 8.45am – Matins at Barsham Every Wednesday at 10am – Holy Communion (CW) at Holy Trinity, Bungay.Church correspondent: Robert Bacon 07867 306016, robert.bacon@yahoo.co.uk
