The Friends of St Mary’s invite you to join them for mulled wine, mince pies and refreshments at the Old Church. Taking place between 12-2:30pm on Sunday 11th December the event is a social occasion to meet friends, chat and look at the decorated Christmas trees. You could also become a member (or renew your membership) of the Friends of St Mary’s Old Church. All are welcome, no admission charge but donations gratefully received. Any funds raised will go towards the urgently needed repairs discussed in a previous article on this site.
Christmas Cards
The friends are also selling packs of Christmas Cards featuring the Old Church in wintry scenes. Costing £3.50 you can buy the cards from Scissorhands, the Pharmacy or directly from Teresa (241878) or Jane (240167).
Taking place on 25th November between 10am – 4pm the Christmas Fayre promises food , gifts and festivities. The event is free to attend and will take place at 9 Firmin’s Court in aid of the Tom Bowdidge Foundation.
St Mary’s Church update for 17th November provides listings of services, bible readings and other events and news such as Children In Need, Mr Pickwick and Christmas including Messy Nativity.
Mr Pickwick’s Christmas
Adapted & performed by Robert MacCall, this performance takes place in the Methodist Church Hall at 7:30pm on Wednesday 14th December.
Mr Pickwick, and his friends travel by stagecoach to enjoy an exuberant country Christmas at Dingley Dell. There is a wedding, any amount of eating and drinking, dancing, games, skating, and a ghost story. All the delights of an age long past, brought vividly to life.
Inspired by the public readings of Dickens himself this one man show, adapted and performed by storyteller Robert MacCall captures all the zest and humour of the original.
A wonderful evening is guaranteed for all. Suitable for all from 9 upwards.
For more information or to reserve a ticket call Evelyne Conrad-Bell on 241916. Tickets on the door will cost £8 adults and £5 children.
1966 was a memorable year for many things, most notably England winning the World Cup after the Cup was lost but then found by Pickles. But locally music made a name for itself as the Radio Caroline pirate radio ship MV Mi Amigo ran aground on the beach at Frinton. With Pirate Radio pulsing on the airwaves everybody was in to the latest music and West Bergholt Concert Band aim to bring that all back to life in their special concert for Children In Need.
The Music
The Concert Band will be playing a selection of music both from and inspired by the revolutionary year that was 1966; it will include:
Pet Sounds,
Dr Who,
Rolling Stones,
Star Trek,
Motown,
The Jungle Book, and
The Producers.
Where, When & How Much?
The concert takes place in the Church of St Mary the Virgin on Saturday 19th November from 7:30pm. Tickets are available on the door, £5 for adults, under-18s free.
Our 1,000-year-old West Bergholt Old Church in Hall Road is now in need of serious care and attention to give it the chance to continue another 1,000 years. Its roof is leaking in 2 places requiring repair of the valley gutter and dormer window, and the belfry needs work on its weather cladding. The estimate of cost for this external work, by the Churches Conservation Trust which now cares for this redundant church, is an eye-watering £127,200. The CCT secured grant funding for most of this sum, but we have to raise the funding shortfall of £10,000 locally.
How you can help
We need your help! The plan is to erect scaffolding and do this specialist work next Spring, so we need to raise the funds quickly to make this happen. To confirm the grant the donors need to see that we can raise our share of the money.
We will ring-fence all donations to this appeal, you could help us in the following ways:
Firstly make a donation either:
by cheque to the ‘Friends of St Mary’s Old Church” sent to our Treasurer: Rhys Lloyd, 4 Coopers Crescent, West Bergholt, CO6 3SJ.
by electronic transfer online to a/c no. 65515734, Sort Code 09-92-99. Please indicate who the donation is coming from.
through justgiving.com: to the “ St. Mary’s Old Church West Bergholt” appeal.
Next, consider coming to the events we are planning this autumn:
Table Top Sale: Saturday 19th November at the Orpen Hall, 10am-2pm at the Orpen Hall. We will be serving Light lunches and refreshments. Call Gill Poole on 240512 to book a sale table. Entrance 50p.
Mulled Wine and Mince Pies in the Old Church – Sunday 11th December from 12.00 – 2.30pm. Come and admire the Christmas trees decorated by various village groups, and meet friends and neighbours. This is a free event but donations will be gratefully received, and memberships (just £5), renewed.
Buy our Christmas cards of the Old Church:
at our events,
the local shops, or
from Teresa on 241878 or Jane on 240167. 6 cards for £3.50.
Become a Friend of St Mary’s Old Church or renew your membership (just £5). Phone Rhys or Carrie or visit the church for details.
Make your friends aware of our Appeal; also that the Old Church is open to visitors from 10am – 4pm every day.
Hold a fundraising events or help us with one of ours. To offer help, please contact Jane or Carrie.
Internal works as well
While this external repair work is undertaken we will also carry out urgently needed plastering work and decoration inside the church. This will be funded by the very generous legacy of Mrs Yvonne Henderson which was left specifically for this purpose.
Thank you for reading this appeal. We hope you will be able to help us preserve our lovely ancient church for future generations and keep it available for the use of our village. Please be as generous as you can.
Celebrate Christmas with us
Start your Christmas celebrations this year by coming to the 2016 Candlelight Carol Service at the Old Church on 18th December at 2.30pm.
St Mary’s Church update for 1st November provides listings of services, bible readings and other events and news such as Remembrance & Christmas services.
Christmas Choir
Calling all Singers!Caroline Finlay will once again be getting together a group of people to sing at the Carol Services at the Old Church on 18th December and at St Mary’s on Christmas Eve (6.45pm). No auditions necessary! The first rehearsal is Sunday 20th November @ 10am in church.Continue reading “St Mary’s Update – 1st November 2016”
Chris Stevenson presenting the cheque to Will Owen
Village Bulletin Quiz 2016 Results
Fourteen teams entered the Village Bulletin Quiz held on Saturday 8th October in the Orpen Hall. Together with a raffle and a very popular game of ‘Human Bingo‘, the event raised £336 for the Colchester branch of the Parkinson’s UK charity.
Chris Stevenson, Chairman of the Parish Council, presented the cheque at this week’s Council meeting. Will Owen, who also attended the quiz, expressed his gratitude for the donation on receiving the cheque on behalf of Parkinson’s.
The wining team being presented with the Challenge Trophy
The Parish Council team of Phil Spencer, Chris Stevenson, Laura Walkingshaw and Harry Stone won this year; apparently this was not a fix. 🙂
Susan Leng, quizmaster, and other organisers and Bulletin Team helpers also attended for the presentation. The Parish Council thanked the team for their hard work in running such an enjoyable evening.
St Mary’s Church update for 19th October provides listings of services, bible readings and other events and news such as Remembrance and All Saints’ services.
The latest edition of Good News, St Mary’s Parish Magazine is reproduced below (together with additional material from 4th September notices), use the links to the various stories & news items.
