roots down walls down
What an amazing event the Christmas Market & Carols was at St Mary’s! We want to say a huge thank you to everyone who had a stall, all who came to support us and of course the choir who led us in the beautiful carols afterwards. We enjoyed being able to invite the whole community to be a part of Christmas at St Mary’s even though we couldn’t do our usual events indoors.
Continue reading “A huge * Thank You * to all of you who supported our first Christmas Market!”P: Great to have you as our ’Meet the Local’ – tell us a bit about yourself.
CF: My husband, Austyn, and I have two beautiful young children; 9 months and 2 years. We love spending time with them and feel very blessed every day.
Continue reading “Meet the Local: Catherine Free”
Before lockdown I was very much challenged by a talk at church about how we can love our neighbours; and in fact asking whether we even know any of them. We were asked if we took note of who moved in and if we welcomed people into the street. Jesus was big on telling people to love their neighbour, but I’ve never really looked at it terms of the people in my street – I’ve always seen my neighbour as relating to the people I work with, the parents of my children’s friends etc, because I spend time with those people. We don’t tend to have connections with neighbours other than living next door and sharing a hedge/fence! So the challenge was a good one …. and then lockdown happened!
We have lived in our current house for 24 years and in Ash Vale for 34 years since our marriage. We know our immediate neighbours but have not spoken to many of the others in the street for most of that time – even though there have been comings and goings along the road over the years. I guess the reason I have always used is that our street has only got houses on one side of the road – we can’t look in neighbours’ windows and be nosy! And it makes things a little less easy to connect with those we live side by side with. When we went into lockdown, to my shame I did not dash along to all the neighbours and check that they were all OK – I have followed the isolation rules as was demanded because we have an elderly relative that we have ‘bubbled’ with and so we were not involved with other community initiatives during lockdown. Covid has thrown us all onto a new horizon; giving us new ways of looking at our locality; making us re-evaluate how we work and how we connect with friends and our neighbours. We did become acquainted with one or two via a nod and a ‘Hello!’ as we walked past on our way to pick up shopping from the Village, but that’s about as far as it went.
As the restrictions started to lift in April and May, we started to think outwards again and realised that over lockdown there had been three houses in our little patch alone that had sold and now had new people settling in. Having two sons who also moved during lockdown I appreciate just how difficult a thing it has been for people to move and find out about a locality in these times of restrictions. So things had to change – I no longer wanted to be an ostrich. The best way I know of connecting with people is through food, so we decided to hold a cream tea in the garden which we could do within the restrictions. We hand delivered invitations and invited all the neighbours in the small section of street near our home – about 10 invites in all – and waited. Even though we had left it really late to invite people, we got responses almost straight away and had about 8 families accept the invitation. I was very pleased. The day we chose to host our cream tea was one of the hottest in the late Spring which meant that we could all gather in our shady garden and drink tea, prosecco, wine and eat scones to our hearts content; but more importantly it connected all the households who came together. People were initially hesitant, but by the time the afternoon ended everyone knew who each other was and which house they lived in. It was the first event of what I hope will be a continuing trend – how can we progress this? How can we really be neighbours to our neighbours?
How have you connected with your neighbours this last 18 months? I would love to know other peoples’ experiences – I want to pick up creative ways to be a good neighbour – to do what Jesus told me to do.
By Jackie Scott
Do you have a story about how you got to know your neighbours, or people being neighbourly? The Parishioner would love to hear from you. parishioner@ash-vale.org.uk
What’s on at St Mary’s, Vale Rd, Ash Vale,
Sundays 10am –Join St Mary’s for our weekly Church Service. All are welcome, both on Zoom and in person. Wednesday Evensong is back too, please contact the office for the latest rules and timings. Contact: Parishoffice@ash-vale.org.uk
Mondays 11am: Coffee Chat Zoom Join fellow parents and carers for informal coffee chat and friendship. (Term time only) Zoom ID: 520 880 119 / Password: Grownups Contact Alex: 07730 609446
Tuesdays 10am: Babies at St Mary’s Support Group We are open Tuesdays 10am-11am in term time for parents and carers with babies under 12mths. Booking is essential. Come and join us! Contact Alex: 07730 6094446
Thursday Café Once cafés are allowed to reopen we will be risk-assessing and reopening. Contact us for details. parishoffice@ash-vale.org.uk
Sat 26th June: 7:30pm: Poetry Night & Book Launch: Chapel Poetry Group are launching their latest collection, and celebrating the winners of the “Mirror Mind” Poetry Competition. Join us on Zoom or in person at St Mary’s to hear some of the winning poems and celebrate with us! St Mary’s Church, 26th June, 7:30pm. Contact Alex: 07730 609446 for tickets, zoom links and copies of the book!
August: Summer Café: Fridays in the holidays at St Mary’s—keep an eye on the notices for details. Sign up to receive the weekly news parishoffice@ash-vale.org.uk
Summer Fair! 10th July 12-3pm Sneakin’ Suspicion are booked for an ‘end of COVID’ Gig – and the Wood Street & St Mary’s Team are cooking up a bit of a festival! See inside back cover for details.
Donations for St Mary’s: https://givealittle.co/campaigns/47eb21e6-c2b0-4a23-a526-8d13fd24fa56 Thank you!
The Chapel Project, Wharf Rd, Ash Vale
Chapel Arts Monthly Makes: Artists in Residence Debi & Jono Retallick host a ‘monthly make’ fundraising workshop for The Chapel, teaching all kinds of art and craft techniques. Email Debi for event details, Zoom links, and to book your place on the workshops: (&See page 26) Contact debiretallick@googlemail.com
Tue 1 June 4pm: Dragonflies
Tue 6 July 4pm: Painting with fibres
Chapel Kids Baby & Toddler Group: Wednesdays 11:30am: Garden Praise Chapel Kids toddler group ages 0-4yrs at The Chapel in Wharf Road GU12 3AY (term time only, text us to book) Contact Alex: 07730 609446
Chapel Poetry Group Workshops: Join the group on WhatsApp for chat with like minded creative writers, and join us on Zoom for a monthly poetry workshop. (Hopefully in person once regulations lift). Contact Alex: 07730 609446
Chapel Craft Group: Join us on Wednesdays in term time 8-10pm at The Chapel on Wharf Rd. Bring along your latest craft project and have a natter and a cuppa as we craft. We have been zooming but aim to be back at the Chapel as soon as regulations allow. Contact 07730 609446
Chapel Filmshare: Your local fortnightly Filmshare is starting back in September! If you enjoy tea, coffee and cakes and appreciate films you’re welcome to join us fortnightly at the Chapel from 7.30pm. To sign up to our e-mail newsletter contact: Dick Elsey at richard.elsey45@gmail.com or on 01252 694314.
Donations for The Chapel : https://givealittle.co/campaigns/8d80cd98-df9f-494e-9808-b8898744146f Thank you!
St Paul’s Church, Poyle Rd, Tongham:
Baby Plus :
· Mondays 4-4.30pm. Toddler Storytime – stories, actions and songs
· Tuesdays 2.30-4pm Mum Plus— friendship and facilitated discussions
· Wednesdays 4-4.30pm. Toddler Storytime
· Thursdays 10.30am-12. Baby Plus – Informal chat session for mums, with some singing and action songs for the little ones.
Baby Plus Contact: CommunityWorker@stpaulstongham.org.uk Or via the Church office: 01252 783081
Messy Church at St Paul’s :
· 17th June (pack with Facebook live introduction)
· 15th July (format tbc)
Keep an eye on Facebook / Website
Open Church Event:
Keep an eye on Facebook & the website for our “Open Church” for reflection, a grand opening of the ramp, and an outside event for the community (or we might combine this into one big 3-in-1 event!)
Web.: https://www.stpaulstongham.org.uk/
St Peter’s Church, Ash
27th June St Peter’s Day: Outdoor (weather permitting) service in the St Peter’s Centre garden, followed by a bring-your-own picnic lunch in the Rectory Garden.
St Peter’s Craft Evenings: At St Peters we have a regular craft evening which will relaunch in September. It’s a free of charge group which meets at 7pm on the 3rd Monday of each month. It’s a creative session where people bring along whatever craft project they have underway. We have some painting, card making, jewellery making and lots of keen knitters! Refreshments are offered as well as an evening of friendship. All ages welcome. For confirmation of the relaunch please check our website Web saint-peters-ash.org.uk
Holy Angels, Ash
Youth Group: Our first face to face Youth meeting will be on Sat 29th May. Rounders and picnic on the field behind Holy Angels Church. 2-5pm – praying for the weather and no further lock downs!!! If you’d like to join our groups please get in touch.
Gloria: gloria.benson14@gmail.com
All events listed above are subject to change, due to Covid-19 safety rules. Please keep in touch!
A huge THANK YOU to everyone who took part in the Sheep Trail! We had a lovely time and we hope you did too. 💕🐑 The trail is now closed, but let us know which was your favourite sheep, we have a little prize for them! 🙂 text 07730609446
Can you find all these sheep? Why not see if you can find them all this half term? We have also hidden 17 sheep in the Parishioner Magazine, you can pick up a paper copy of it at St Mary’s.
Keep them coming – If you’ve got a sheep on display, send us it’s name and location and we will add them to the trail. 07730 609446. The more the merrier, we have all half term to enjoy the hunt for the lost sheep!
Share your photos online with the hashtag #AshValeSheepTrail and tell us who’s your favourite, or why not comment here?
Stay safe and have fun everyone!
#AshValeSheepTrail #LostSheepTrail #LoveWhereWeLive #AshVale #Ash #AshGreen #HalfTermFun #SociallyDistancedFun #LoveYourNeighbours #Community
By Carla Morson, Ash, Ash Vale & Ash Green Coronavirus Support Group
I’m going to start by thanking all of our volunteers, whether they are part of the Food Parcels Team or not, as all have done so much to help our community over the past 10 months. Without everyone we would have been lost and unable to do much of what we have.
Continue reading “Food Parcels Team Update”
James Morgan-Yates (local resident and founder of AshRanges.com) shares frustration at the situation that local residents find themselves in. http://www.AshRanges.Com
Continue reading “Frustration and Injustice”
Letter from the Vicarage — (p3&4) By Revd Neil Lambert
Get Ready! Lost Sheep Trail — (p5) Something fun for Half Term 13th-21st Feb
Food Parcels Team Update — (p8 & 9) By Carla Morson, Ash, Ash Vale & Ash Green Coronavirus Support Group
Continue reading “Back Cover… What’s inside? Feb/March 2021”During the snowy winter of 1981/82 here in Ash/Ash Vale, along with everywhere else in Southern England, we awoke one day to find there had been a huge snowfall overnight and everyone was totally ‘snowed in’! There was no way in, or out of Ash & Ash Vale, all roads were impassable until the snowploughs reached us with grit etc. For that day we were all ‘cut-off’! Those who did try to drive to work, found the roads where impassable & had to return home. This was a day I shall never forget!
What a wonderful day of fun and laughter the day turned out to be! Everyone (young or older, with or without children) made for the ranges! We all took everything we could find to have fun! We wore our boots, wellies, thick coats, gloves, mittens, and hats to keep our ears warm. Sledges, toboggans, tin trays, and even ski’s were the ‘order of the day’! . There were numerous snowball fights (between children & children, plus adults and adults!), several snow-men (or “snow-people” to be politically correct these days!) were built and children just enjoyed rolling in the snow, especially down the butts (but no damage was done, the snow was so thick)! Everyone mixed in with the fun, regardless of their age.
A couple of the menfolk built a fire (in a sheltered snow-hole) and managed to get a decent fire going. They then found sticks/branches, planted them in the snow with a line of string attached to make a ‘drying line’ for drying gloves!
As the kiddies (& adults) gloves became soaked through, they would take them to the fire, take them off and they were ‘pegged’ onto the line to dry out! In exchange they received another ‘dry’ish pair of gloves, any gloves that fitted!
I am certain no child (or adult) went home that day with their own gloves, but no-one cared! It was a day nobody who was involved in will ever forget and will probably not happen again? The ‘Community Spirit’ was definitely shown on that day.
By Pat Scott
Christmas Eve in 1972 was a Sunday. This is why the Sunday School at the Ash Vale Methodist Church planned a special Christmas procession on that Sunday morning. The idea of Mary and Joseph accompanied by a group of shepherds and the three Wise Men travelling to Bethlehem, appealed to the children and so a plan was hatched to produce something the people of Ash would remember and talk about for years to come.
I, as a new Sunday School Teacher, was one of the team elected to ensure the planned procession took place. My daughter, a newly recruited pupil at the Sunday School was also excited to help.
Many suggestions were considered and rejected. The shepherds should have some sheep and if possible lambs with them. Wasn’t a new born lamb one of the gifts presented to the Baby Jesus ? Enquiries were made but it transpired that sheep, and especially lambs, were not available, so this suggestion had to be shelved.
However, someone was found who could walk with the children whilst playing an accordion. For the next five weeks he, and the children practised their Christmas Carols.
We found an animal refuge that was prepared to lend us a Donkey for the day and they would deliver and collect the Donkey to meet our timing.
So on that Sunday Morning a transporter was met by forty, or so, Sunday School Children at the end of Wharf Road and a Donkey was off loaded.
Now every donkey I had ever seen, and certainly all the pictures I had seen in the Children’s Bible were of a creature that was about half the size of a small pony In the Children’s Bible, Mary was the only rider and she overflowed on all sides of the steed. The donkey that lumbered out of the transporter was huge. About five feet tall with enough space on his back to accommodate the whole Sunday School. We opted for Mary and Joseph together with three companions to ride and the rest of the ‘tribe’ to follow singing Christmas Carols.
Arriving at the Church we were met by the Minister, Bernard, who had thoughtfully brought a bucket and spade with him, in case of accidents. The idea was that the Children should celebrate Christmas and still be there when worshippers arrived for the morning service at 11.00 o’clock. And of course so would Mary, Joseph, the three Kings, Shepherds and, the Donkey.
Entry into the Church was simple enough, the doors were wide enough and it just needed a turn to the right and all would be well. This was when Neddy displayed his thespian independence. As soon as his front half was in, he stopped. He became rooted to the spot. I experienced my first example of an immovable object. We pushed, we pulled we pushed again, we offered carrots and pulled but to no avail. Neddy was not going in any further. But our attempts to put him in reverse were also no good. He had decided that he was there and was going to stay there. Front legs, head and shoulders in the Church and rear quarters firmly filling the doorway. Then, oh catastrophe, the congregation started to arrive. No way to get past this impenetrable blockage so they had to use Minister’s door and so were able to take part in the Service. Bernard was very amused but we faced to problem of getting Neddy out when his transport arrived to take him home.
By Mike Jacobs