Bishopstone with Hinton Parva

Newsletter - July 2002

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Dear Friends,

I seem to remember that 1977 was a good year for British sport. That was the last time a Wimbledon tennis final was won by a Briton; and Manchester United beat Liverpool 2-1 in the Cup final, (though I appreciate that not everyone might rejoice at that!). I think the England test cricket team did well that year too, though I can't quite remember the details. You almost had the feeling that if there had been a football European or World Cup that year then one of our national teams would have won that too. It was that sort of year.

And 1977 was of course the year of the Queen's Silver Jubilee. Now we are in another Jubilee year, and dare we hope for a similar run of sporting successes? At the time of writing this it's too late for poor old Man U, but there are hopes for England in the Test series against Sri Lanka, for Ireland and England in the World Cup, and of course for Tim Henman to win Wimbledon. By the time you read this all these might have been dashed to the ground, but meanwhile we can live in hope for a little while.

And meanwhile we are enjoying the feeling of well being that success for `our team' brings to many of us, and the sense of community that shared interest in national sporting events gives. (At long last we have another topic of conversation than the weather to share with strangers.) And surely these positive feelings have all been strengthened by the upsurge of national celebration for the Queen's Golden Jubilee.

Some people may dismiss all this as trivial escapism from the real problems of life. When there is so much to concern us, how can the country be so obsessed with sport and celebration?

It is true that for many people the world over, life is more difficult than it has ever been. The familiar areas of conflict and tension continue to simmer away. There is increasing famine and starvation in Africa. Many of the teams cheerfully competing in the World Cup have left real economic problems at home. And in our own country the farming community continues to suffer in ways which did not end with the foot-and-mouth crisis, and the falling investment market has brought hardship to many.

But someone once wrote `human beings cannot bear too much reality', and it is a natural human reaction to turn away occasionally from the problems and realities of life to escape into something more cheerful and light-hearted. We cannot always be thinking of miserable things, even when life is hard.

And for the Christian, celebration - any celebration - is a reminder that the story of the world and of the human race is a story with a good ending, not a story of despair. For we believe that God is working to restore the world to the glorious perfection that he planned when first he created us all.

And this is why we say `This is the day that the Lord has made: let us rejoice and be glad in it.'

With best wishes,

Robin Cardwell

`The Shepherds' (a group for fellowship and informal discussion):

Last Monday of each month - this month 29th July - at the Shepherds Rest, Foxhill.

Monday 22nd - Wanborough DCC - 8pm at the Vicarage

Wednesday 24th - Bishopstone and Hinton PCC - 7.30pm at `Mallards', Bishopstone

Tuesday 30th - Liddington DCC - 7.30pm at 'The Street', Liddington.

There are distressing reports of food shortages and starvation coming out of several countries in southern Africa. Christian Aid is one of the many charities trying to bring help to the people there. So it is very good to be able to report that just over £600 was donated to Christian Aid in the recent street collection.

A big thank you to our Christian Aid collectors, and to everyone who donated during the Week.

Sunday 14th July at 1pm

In

Wanborough Vicarage Garden

Tickets: £5 for Adults/£3 for Children available from Gill Clegg (791366), David Gent (790649) or Trish Mullins (790988).

These barbecues have always been good fun, so do come along. You will be very welcome.

26th May at St.Andrew's - Lucy Kate Hobbs

15th June at St.Mary's - Arabella Catherine Gwen Hall

16th June at St.Andrew's - Todd Samuel Burroughs

8th June at St.Andrew's - Iain Kenneth Crichton Inglis

& Jacqueline Sarah Edwards

22nd May at Kingsdown Crematorium - Dorothy Beatrice Lilian Law aged 71

(followed by Interment of Ashes at all Saints', Liddington)

7th June at St.Mary's - Peter Norman-Thorpe aged 72

7th June at St.Swithun's - Kenneth George Willstead aged 83

(Followed by Cremation at Kingsdown)

Saturday 20th July 2002

from 3pm until 5pm

£2.50 per head

Come and enjoy the Afternoon with a Cream Tea and Lively Company

at Spinney Cottage, 33 The Street Liddington.

All Proceeds to Church Funds

Everybody Welcome

Jane Cluett

Tel: - 790900

*******

The Vicar is the Rev.Robin Cardwell who lives at The Vicarage, Church Road, Wanborough, Swindon

SN4 0BZ. His telephone number is 01793 790242 and his day off is Friday.

The Curate is Jane Campbell: her telephone is 827021 and Thursday is her day off.

*******

Churchwardens Mr.Toby Ford Mrs. Joanna Jenkins

Home Farm, Hinton Parva, The Old Vicarage, Bishopstone,

Swindon, SN4 0DH Swindon, SN6 8PX

Tel: 790264 Tel: 790545

We had a very enjoyable afternoon and we did very well financially at the jubilee celebration fete on June 1^st. It looks as if we have achieved a net contribution to the Parochial Church Council of £2950, which is almost the same as we made last year without the advantage of being able to charge an entrance fee.

I think special congratulations go to the 'Nearly new' stall that was artistically displayed on Pat Selbournes's front lawn and made a magnificent £400.

We should be very grateful to all those who helped to organise the event, and run the myriad of stalls and games. This is a critical part of the fund raising that has to carry on all year, every year, to keep our vicar paid and our parish churches maintained. We are always grateful for contributions from those living in our parish as the only way we can maintain this very valuable service is by what we give.

• Paul Bailey, Treasurer, the parochial church council

Una and her family would like to thank everyone for the letters and messages of sympathy they have received from all their friends and neighbours.

Their kindness and prayers have been a great comfort at this time.

Readers are invited to contribute articles to the newsletter. Whilst historical pieces about a particular house or area within the two villages are welcome, other subjects are also encouraged. Travel tales, poems, artwork and other submissions will all be considered.

The winners for June are: -

May I, on behalf of the parishioners of Hinton Parva (Little Hinton) thank all members of the Cooke family for the presentation of the flag and flagpole to the village on the occasion of the Queen's golden jubilee on June 2^nd 2002. It is now placed outside the village hall.

• Councillor Toby Ford

Thank you to everybody who generously donated items to our white elephant stall at the jubilee fete and also to our customers. So far we have made over £400 for church funds. However, we still have some items for sale in excellent condition: -

A chair

An Invalid table

A single Futon base

A petrol lawnmower

If anyone would like

to purchase any of these items and add to the fund please contact Mogs Boon (790626)

www.swindonweb.com/arkells/royaloak-bishopstone

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On August 2^nd 26 different charities will be the beneficiaries of over £10,000 raised by the Rotary club of Swindon. This figure includes over £1000 to Bishopstone School and £500 to riding for the disabled at Ashbury. A substantial fundraiser was the Ridgeway Walk, with the Rotary Club matching money raised in the case of some local walkers. Also being presented will be over £200 to Cancer charity 'Breakthrough' raised by the Quiz nights at the Royal Oak.

Bishopstone with Hinton Parva W.I.

Bishopstone Village hall - Thursday July 11^th

Speaker is Irene Brain with a talk entitled 'Paint a Picture'

Tea ladies - Dorothy Parrett, Linda Polatch and Hilary Ponting.

All members and guests welcome, for more information call Doris Brown on 790740

Well, the weather was typically English, but in the marquee it was Summer! The marquee looked great, the food was delicious and the band were terrific and much appreciated by all.

A Very Big Thank You to everyone who came along, had a good time and dug deep into their pockets. Thanks to your generosity we raised £614.02 to help the work of Forgotten Africa.

Extra special thanks are due to:

• Roy and his staff at The Black Horse, who worked very hard to make the evening go so well.
• Roy's friend Jerome from Windsor Marquees who donated the use of an extension section for the marquee.
• The Rythmn Junkies who returned part of their fee to Forgotten Africa.
• Redlands Microlights Club and Guy Mathiot Design for the donation of Raffle prizes, and the mystery man in the pub that wasn't at the do but still gave us a donation!
• Thank you again everybody, see you all next year!

Well I hope that most of you had the chance to take a holiday during our English 'summer'. Whether you did or not there are plenty of areas locally that will allow you to escape from the pressures of modern life. We are indeed fortunate that we live in such close proximity to some outstanding countryside. Farmers who live locally of course may well wish that we lived a bit further away and sometimes it is easy to see why. Inconsiderate walkers who drop litter and allow animals to stray cause unnecessary work. You may well be able o remember some of the country code but just in case I have reproduced it below.

• Enjoy the countryside and respect it's life and work.
• Guard against all risk of fire.
• Fasten all gates (I always leave gates as I find them as the farmer may have left it open for a good reason).
• Keep your dogs under close control (That does not mean on a lead BUT it does mean at heel). Remember a farmer can destroy a dog worrying livestock. If you are walking with a dog in a field with livestock, putting a dog on a lead is simply common sense.
• Keep to public paths across farmland.
• Use a gate or a stile to cross fences, hedges and walls.
• Leave livestock. Crops and machinery alone. (Yes I do realise that the baby lamb may look lost but by picking it up and taking it elsewhere, perhaps to the farmer because you are concerned, is almost guaranteed to ensure it is lost. Leave well alone, it's mother will not be far away)
• Take your litter home (Barnfield tip is the place or rubbish and not a farmers gateway).
• Help to keep all water clean.
• Protect wildlife, plants and trees.
• Take special care on country roads.
• Make no unnecessary noise.

Most of it is simply common sense and if you follow it you will enjoy the countryside and not incur the wrath of farmers who earn their living by working the land.

Remember -

LEAVE NOTHING BUT FOOTPRINTS

TAKE NOTHING BUT PHOTOGRAPHS

KILL NOTHING BUT TIME

Whilst killing time in the countryside please bear in mind that, peaceful as it may seem, crime happens here too. Remote farm buildings and stables do get broken into. If you happen to see anything that does not seem right, you will know, contact us as soon as possible. A lot of people now have mobile phones, please use them. Make a note of any vehicle registration numbers if you can. Please contact us as soon as possible, preferably the same day as we may be able to apprehend any offenders with stolen property on them. This is sometimes the only way to prove guilt by catching them red handed.

I hope the only contraband you see being handled in the countryside are the nuts being stored by the squirrels! Respect and preserve the countryside so our children and we can continue to enjoy.

PC 1090 McLellan

A very successful Spring show was held on May 18^th, despite a damp start which only slightly improved as the day went on. We had near record entries in both the Horse and Pony Show and the Dog Show. It seems we may have to move to a larger field next year as Church Meadow practically overflowed! We estimate that some 300 Horses and Ponies took part and just under 100 dogs. In money terms we made approximately £1700 which will be a great boost towards staging the Summer Show. A big thank you must go to the Judges, Stewards and all the volunteers without whom we could not stage the show. Here is a quote from an email received from one competitor: 'I was over the moon to win the class of 20 on my little 11.2 hands pony. I hope you will be holding your Summer Show'.

This is of course well into the planning stage! A reduced size Horse and Pony Show and our usual Dog Show will be included.

A reminder of the date - August 17^th.

We have managed to secure a major new attraction for this year. Katy Cropper, the only woman to have won the BBC's 'One man and his dog' contest, has agreed to do a 45 minute slot in the afternoon. Her show includes a mini point to point with a sheep carrying miniature 'jockeys' and geese herding, followed by a race between the geese and some turkeys, also some turkey jumping. Katy involves the children in the crowd and the show promises to be good fun. Don't miss it!

As well as many other attractions, don't forget the Horticultural Show (including cookery, floral art and handicrafts), and the Children's show. Classes are open to all but the special awards are restricted to residents of Wanborough, Bishopstone, Hinton Parva and Liddington. We had over 500 entries last year, let's see if we can top that this time.

You could also participate in the Show Procession (phone Cathy on 791763 for details) or come to the evening 'do'. Dancing to 'Breeze' and a hot supper - tickets are £12.50 each. Phone Sue on 791593. There really is something for everyone at the Wanborough Summer Show!

St Mary's church in Bishopstone currently has a full set of eight bells that are used regularly with practice on Tuesday evenings. The heaviest bell (the tenor) weighs approximately a ton.

The bells are not the originals, In 1553 there were three bells and a Sanctus bell. In 1704 there was a peal of eight bells, the oldest was said to date back to 1602. By 1891 the peal included three cast in 1796 by Robert & James Wells of Aldbourne, and given his will by Thomas Goddard of Upper Upham.

In 1891 on Good Friday night that year a fire broke out in the tower. The peal of eight bells was melted, and all but one bay of the nave roof was destroyed. All the furnishings were burnt. It is unbelievable that by Christmas 1891 the church was again restored with oak pews replaced of the old pitch pine ones.

The bells were replaced by today's set of bells cast by Messrs. Mears and Stainbank (Whitechapel foundry), the tenor bell being made from the fragments of the old bells.

In 1680 Christopher Willoughby gave £1 a year for the ringing and preserving the bells. This provided sums of money and by 1980 at least part of this income was still used for bell ringing.

Curfew

In Willoughby's gift there is a provision for a curfew at 8 'o clock at certain times of the year. According to tradition the chimes of the church clock guided a man lost on the downs in a mist home. The curfew is to help others in need.

This ancient tradition was rung in 1999 in the lead up to the millennium. A curfew was rung at 8:15 every night in December leading up to the millennium.

Below are the inscriptions on each of the current bells: -

LET EVERYTHING THAT HATH BREATH PRAISE THE LORD.

PRAISE HIM UPON THE WELL TUNED CYMBALS

PRAISE HIM UPON THE LOUD CYMBALS

3rd

PRAISE GOD IN HIS HOLINESS PRAISE HIM IN THE FIRMAMENT

OF HIS POWER

4th

PRAISE HIM IN HIS NOBLE ACTS PRAISE HIM ACCORDING TO HIS

EXCELLENT GREATNESS

5th

PRAISE HIM IN THE SOUND OF THE TRUMPET PRAISE HIM UPON

THE LUTE AND HARP

6th

PRAISE HIM IN THE CYMBALS AND DANCES PRAISE HIM UPON STRINGS AND PIPES

7th

MAY GOD'S BLESSING REST UPON THE CHURCH AND THE PARISH OF BISHOPSTONE

Tenor

TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND FOR THE USE OF THE CHURCH THESE EIGHT BELLS WERE ERECTED IN DECEMBER 1891 IN THE PLACE OF A PEAL OF THE SAME NUMBER DESTROYED BY FIRE ON HOLY FRIDAY MARCH 27th. 1891

THOMAS HICKMAN
CHRISTOPHER W.C. EDMONDS
CHURCH WARDENS

HERBERT AULT
VICAR

This article was based on information taken from the Bishopstone bell ringers' Web site at http://www.bishopstonetower.cjb.net/

For more details call J. Williams (790576)

WEDNESDAY July 10th 2002 AT 7:30 P.M.

Minutes of last meeting (5th June 2002)

Date of next meeting - 14th August 2002 @ Hinton Parva Village Hall

Availability of these links cannot be guaranteed.

The content of these links were verified by the editor but cannot be guaranteed to be have remained unchanged.

Where relevant, content cannot be guaranteed to be current.

This is not an exhaustive list of links to Bishopstone and Hinton Parva related sites.

www.wanboroughshow.freeserve.co.uk
Wanborough spring and summer show

http://www.northwilts.gov.uk/
Local council site. Includes latest planning applications and decisions

http://www.swindonweb.com/arkells/royaloak-bishopstone/
The Royal Oak in Bishopstone

www.henrygeorge.co.uk
Henry george estate agents

http://www.hillsborough-nursery.co.uk/
Hillsborough nursery

http://www.ridgewayschool.com/
The ridgeway school

http://www.flexibase.freeserve.co.uk/wrnm/bishopstone.html
1758 map of Bishopstone and comparative recent aerial photo of same area.

http://www.bishopstonetower.cjb.net/
Bishopstone tower bell ringers

http://www.a1tourism.com/uk/a13172.html        
http://www.s-h-systems.co.uk/a13172.html
Prebendal farm accommodation 

http://www.thamesdown-transport.co.uk/schedules/weekday/047MFTTL.HTML
bus times

http://www.ucalgary.ca/~cns/schoolmedal.html

An article about the school in Bishopstone - printed in the May newsletter

http://www.geocities.com/bishopstone/  
Created by James

http://www.old-maps.co.uk/gazetteer/10wilts381/10wilts381gazH.htm

Link to an 1882 map of hinton parva

http://www.old-maps.co.uk/gazetteer/10wilts381/10wilts381gazB.htm

Link to an 1882 map of Bishopstone (second Bishopstone in list)

http://www.badgers-heritage.co.uk/wilts02.html - Bishopstone(Swindon)

Pen and ink drawings of Bishopstone church and the old mill

http://www.badgers-heritage.co.uk/wilts06.html - Hinton Parva

Pen and ink drawings of Hinton Parva church

http://www.swindonweb.com/life/pl-vill-bish03.htm

Some pictures of Bishopstone

http://www.wis.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/wil51cen.htm

Information on how to get the relevant 1851 census document for Bishopstone and Hinton Parva

http://www.norman-family.freeserve.co.uk/i0000071.htm

A family genealogy page relevant to Hinton Parva

http://www.bishopstone.demon.co.uk/   
Simon Warrick's original bishopstone site, out of date.

http://www.cardengland.com/gallery16.asp

Postcards of Bishopstone