Did you know? The Chapel will soon be welcoming a Thursday morning Yoga group run by Maria. Have a look, and why not book today?
I’m excited to be starting a new yoga class after Easter on Thursday mornings at 10am in The Chapel on Wharf Road. Do have a look at my website and let me know if you would like to join for a free trial class.
My classes are suitable for everyone, especially those managing back problems. The focus is on restoring strength and elasticity to the spine. No class is ever completely alike! So come a long to a few before you decide if this is the right class for you. Maria
Did you know? Jono and Debi Retallick are two of our Artists in Residence at The Chapel in Ash Vale. As well as local community arts (remember the giant heart lantern at Love & Light?) their work reaches much further afield, both nationally and internationally.
This photo is of Jono working on the ‘Fields of EveryWhen’ project. Here is one of the many embroideries from the Royal school of Needlework, ready to be photographed and digitised to go on the 25m high balloon!.. See more at g-foew.art
Jono Retallick Director M+R musson+retallick Limited Civic Trust Award Winner 2017 Darc Award Finalist 2016/17/18/21 tel +447779169851 http://mussonretallick.com/ instagram @jonoretallickartist
A letter from the Vicarage — (p3&4) By Revd Neil Lambert
What’s going on at Ash Manor? – (p8&9) by Sue Wyeth-Price
Advice from Ash CAB—(p10)
*** QUIZ NIGHT 20th November **** full details (p11) book today!
Shopping Local – (p14) By Jackie Scott
Seasonal Recipe: Oat cookies—(p15) by Jackie Scott
What’s on in October & November—(p16&17)
Autumn Bible Study—(p20&21) By Helen Lambert
Ash Vale Community Street Team—(p22&23) By Pat Scott
Autumn Word Search – (p23)
News from Age UK Surrey—(p24)
An update on the ‘Save the Ranges’ campaign—(p25) by Tim Jones
Remembering Ada Young—(p26) By Nikki Glover
Autumn Challenge—(p27) by Steph Farry
Helping Others—(p28) Local Action for Refugees & shoebox appeal
Harvest Home 2021 —(p29) Scrivener’s seasonal reflections
Useful Numbers—(p30)
*** Love & Light Trail “”” 31 Oct 2021 full details inside back cover
Community café welcomes you at St Mary’s on Fridays 10:30-12:00. No need to book just pop in.Tea, coffee, chat, come and say hello (and you can pick up a Parishioner Magazine while you’re here!) 🙂
We welcome fun, informative and local interest items!The copy deadline for the Dec/Jan 2021 issue is 10th November.Emails please to: parishioner@ash-vale.org.uk Thank you!
While the COVID infections rates remain high, we are minimising the risk to our readers and volunteers by printing only on request, and by sharing The Parishioner far and wide via email, website and social media instead. Please remember to like & share online! If you or someone you know would like a paper copy please pick one up at St Mary’s or contact 07730 609446 to request one. Best wishes & stay safe!
The Parishioner seeks to explore and reflect upon a wide variety of local issues whilst recognising that not everyone will agree with the views expressed. These do not necessarily reflect the views of all the members of St Mary’s Church nor those of its Parochial Church Council.
Book Today! Our Love & Light trail this year starts at St Mary’s on Vale Rd and finishes at The Chapel on Wharf Rd with music, fairy lights, food, sweets and hot chocolate. (outside if fine, inside if wet) Start times and group sizes will be advised once we know what the covid rules are, but please book now to secure a place. If you complete the trail you will also receive a messy church Love and Light kit to take home, so be sure to get your name on the list and we will have your bag ready for you.
Do you live between The Chapel and St Mary’s? Please fill your windows and gardens with lights and hearts on 31st October! If you’re happy to display a trail clue in your window on the day please get in touch, Alex would love to include you! Thank You xxx
Here are some of the useful numbers you may need if you need support in Ash Vale. If you think we are missing a number please let us know.
Local Churches:
St Mary’s, Ash Vale – 07863 311165 (Parish Administrator’s Mobile)
The Chapel, Ash Vale – 07730 609446 (Project Manager’s Mobile)
St Peter’s, Ash – 01252 331161
Holy Angels, Ash – 01252 321422
St Paul’s, Tongham – 01252 782790
Local help and support during the Covid-19 crisis:
Ash, Ash Vale & Ash Green Coronavirus Support group (volunteers doing shopping & prescription runs & emergency food parcels) – 07843 489796
Ash Parish Council – 01252 328 287
Ash Citizens Advice – 01252 315569 or 01252 314711
Ash Vale Health Centre – 01252 317551 (Out of hours phone 111, in an emergency dial 999)
Guildford Borough Council Covid-19 Community Helpline – 01483 444400
Community Wellbeing Team – 07769 642053 / 07901 513652
Safe & Settled Team – 01483 444476 for those needing help at home on arriving back from hospital or needing some help to manage at home.
If you need to talk to someone : national helplines
Samaritans (24/7 service) – 116 123 or text SHOUT 85258
National Domestic Abuse Helpline – 0808 2000 247 www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk/ (run by Refuge) The Men’s Advice Line, for male domestic abuse survivors – 0808 801 0327 The Mix, free information/support for under 25s in the UK – 0808 808 4994 National LGBT+ Domestic Abuse Helpline – 0800 999 5428
Early Autumn is hard work for the farmer, the allotmenteer and the home gardener alike. It’s harvesting time. For the non-professionals there are beans and more beans, courgettes by the millions until one becomes sick and tired of ratatouille, produce to go into the freezer: jams, chutneys, pickles and damson gin to make. It’s hard work time all round, but enjoyable as the fruits of the harvest are sorted and stored for the winter and the harder times ahead. The Harvest Home is a collective sigh of relief at a job well done leading to many a sore head the morning after.
But there is a sadness in the air too, as the plots are cleared the compost bins start to fill up and the ground becomes a little bare unless planted with green manure crops or one of the overwintering spring vegetables. We can plan and re-plan what we would like to do, but in reality we are blithely ignorant of what nature has in store in the future. For the moment we can enjoy our ignorance by studying the plant/seed catalogues and dreaming of next year’s extra special crops for as the saying goes,
“Yesterday is history, tomorrow a mystery, today is the present, accept it as a gift”.
But this Autumn there is more uncertainty than usual, the effects of Covid 19 and Brexit (I refuse to “do a rant” about either) are still working their way through the system and there have been warnings of commercial shortages ahead. However, what can be said is that very little can be expected to return to what was “normal” before and we are just going to have to get used to it.
Some students have found on-line learning superior to face to face learning; office workers especially, have discovered how they can successfully perform their jobs in the spare room or the garden shed; online shopping is causing a revolution on the High Street; Zoom has entered the English lexicon and many a meeting has been held with the participants sitting at home in comfortable surroundings (with good biscuits and a cup of coffee/tea) instead of round a board room table with uncomfortable “sit up and beg” chairs with knees bashing the table legs, (this may or may not lead to better decisions being taken).
So Harvest Festival 2021 is going to be a real oddball. For many of us, besides the happiness of the Harvest Home, there is the sadness of the memories of friends and relations who are no longer with us. We may not have even been able to attend the funerals in person to close the relationships and that can hurt. We can but pray and hope that the mystery that is tomorrow will give both us and those around us the chance to re-set our lives from hereon in.
St. Peter’s church in Ash will be filling shoeboxes for Christmas to send a little love to children through Operation Christmas Child. If you would like to help by making up a box or donating items please bring them to St. Peter’s Church, leave them by the Rectory door or at 50, South Lane, Ash. We will be collecting until 1st November. A list of suitable toys, school supplies etc. can be found on the website. It would be great if we could be a little greener this year by buying things like wooden pencil crayons, yoyos and wooden handled skipping ropes or wind up torches and solar powered calculators. Thank you
Donations: Farnham Help for refugees in the UK & Overseas are collecting donations in October. Check their Facebook page for details of what items are needed and where to take them. There is a drop-off point in Farnham at Anytime Fitness where you can drop off donations at any time. Most needed are: New men’s boxers and socks (size s/m) and warm clothes, coats, t-shirts, shoes, joggers and essential toiletries. (See the facebook page online for more)
Housing: As more refugees are welcomed in to the area, housing will be needed so that families can move out of emergency accommodation. Council housing cannot be used for this, so private rental housing is needed. The diocese are hoping to help find more landlords willing to house refugee families. If you have a property you would be willing to let, to help a family, please get in touch. Diane.peters@cofeguildford.org.uk
Volunteering: Volunteers are also much needed, as an essential part of settling in, sorting paperwork and becoming part of the local community. If you can offer help with lifts, appointments, paperwork and befriending please get in touch Diane.peters@cofeguildford.org.uk
It can be so hard to say goodbye to the golden days of summer. Even if your day to day life doesn’t change much over July and August, there’s a sense of freedom and opportunity that can be missing from the other seasons.
If you’re looking for ways to find joy in the shortening days and misty mornings, why not try this autumn challenge? There are twenty activities to help celebrate the special pleasures of this time of year. You could even challenge a friend to complete them, and share pictures to show how you’re getting on! We do this each year, and it’s lovely to see our friends out on their adventures. Our rules are that you have to do the challenge in order, there’s no time limit on each activity, and you can switch activities as long as you keep to the ‘feel’ of the original (for instance, don’t drink cider? Try an apple juice, or pear cordial!).
1. Go outside, smell the air, and set an intention to enjoy the new season.
2. Pick up a conker, or a handful of acorns, and put them somewhere you’ll see often.
3. Bake something autumnal (eg pumpkin bread).
4. Drink some cider.
5. Watch a film or TV programme with an autumn ‘feel’ (eg Gilmore Girls, You Got Mail, Mona Lisa Smile, Casper).
6. Make a ‘happiness capsule’ with some treats or special memory items, to open if you need a boost of joy later in the season – or better still, make one for someone else!
7. Make an autumn craft (eg a leaf wreath, wooden wind chime, pinecone creatures), or put up some fairy lights.
8. Do a random act of kindness.
9. Plant some bulbs for spring.
10. Make and listen to an autumn themed playlist.
11. Mess about in some fallen leaves.
12. Practice loving kindness meditation.
13. Cuddle up with a cosy blanket and a book.
14. Clear out some old clothes to donate to charity.
15. Do a puzzle or crossword.
16. Find a really beautiful autumn tree.
17. Make or buy an autumn themed hot drink
18. Cook a stew.
19. Knit something (choose a small project!).
20. Drink hot chocolate under the stars.
Share your pictures with us on Facebook @StMarysashVale and @AshValeChapel #AutumnChallenge
As Church Warden, one of my duties is taking care of the church and organising clean-up days indoors and out. Our team of helpers have been busy sprucing up the area around Ada’s memorial stone, and I wanted to find out a bit about her and share it with you all, so she is remembered in our community. Here is what I was able to find out:
Ada Francis Young was born on January the 1st 1899, the second child of Edward and Francis young of 87 Heath vale bridge road. On February 15th 1899 she was baptised in the tin church that used to be on this site called the mission of St Mary.
Her father was a cab proprietor and had a boarding stables and also employed his brother. The Ash Vale hotel was 3 properties away and her father and uncle would have been quite busy driving the handsome cab to and from the train station collecting passengers.
By 1911 the family and business had moved to 11 station road in Ash Vale, and Ada now had 6 siblings, on October 2nd 1911, her older brother Edwin joined the navy. In 1915 able seaman Edwin Young was sent to Gosport for torpedo training on H.M.S Vernon. Tragically, on September 10th 1915 he died in an accidental explosion when a charge exploded prematurely. Ada then became the eldest child with all the responsibility that that entails. She was courting a young man who also served and unfortunately died during the Great War. So much tragedy for an 18 year old girl to deal with, but she became a nurse and served throughout the war.
Ada loved music, particularly hymns, and she actually paid for our church organ. She was very busy within church life, and I like to believe that this helped heal her grieving heart, for she never married and never spoke about her brother or fiancé to anyone that I could find.
She was very good at getting others to do what she wanted and I would call her a woman of strong morals and faith. She loved wild flowers and liked to look through her book naming them all.
When she died on October 2nd 1987, Ada left a very large bequest to St Mary’s, which has helped us for many years. This memorial stone is a very small token of remembrance for a remarkably lived life.
If you have memories of St Mary’s in years gone by, why not send them in? We would love to hear your stories. Email
