August Services at Ansley Churches
| 2nd Aug Trinity 9 | St John’s | 10.45 a.m. | Holy Communion |
| 9th Aug St Laurence | St Laurence | 10.30 a.m. | Morning Worship |
| 16th Aug Trinity 11 | St John’s | 10.30 a.m. | Morning Worship |
| 23rd Aug Trinity 12 | St Laurence | 10.30 a.m. | Holy Communion |
From the Registers
Interment of Ashes
The ashes of Mavis Brooks, who died aged 91 and her husband Anthony Brooks, who died aged 90, were brought back to St Laurence churchyard and interred in a family grave on Saturday 11th July. We remember their family and friends in our prayers.
Draw Nearer – August Meetings
| Venue | Date | Theme |
| The Barn, Old Arley | 10th August | Evangelism |
| The Annexe, Ansley | 24th August | Trinity |
Notes from Meeting on 13th July 2026 at The Barn, Old Arley
Future meetings were discussed and a programme agreed up to the end of September 2026.
The named person for each meeting will act as ‘leader’ and will attempt to keep the group on theme! They will not necessarily be experts. The group will share what they understand and, if not sure, the issue can be researched for the next meeting.
It was felt that it would encourage participation if as many people as possible look at the theme beforehand and bring a quote, reference, question or extract etc. that will contribute to the discussion.
Preparation is not compulsory, so do come along even if you have not managed to do any! Arrive from 7.00 p.m. for light refreshments (tea/coffee, biscuits) and a chat. Meetings will start around 7.30 p.m. and aim to end around 9.00 p.m.
Churchyard trees, hedges and bushes.
On Monday 17th we will be cutting the hedges trimming the trees and bushes. With over 40 trees and a considerable length of hedge there is a lot to do. All that is cut has to be gathered up and put in the carpark so that it can be cleared away. If any can come and help in any way, even making a cupper is much appreciated.
Back in Time 2026
Plans are progressing well for this event which will be on August bank Holiday Monday 1.30p.m. – 5.30p.m. at St Laurence Church. There is a full programme of activities as well as the raffle and the refreshment tent. This is being set out differently this year to allow quicker service to customers.
There will be two talks during the afternoon. One is ‘The life and times of the church in the Victorian Era’ and is about the clergy, the church building and finance plus a few photos. The other is entitled ‘Nickers and Nighties’. Elizabeth Smitham will be bringing along her collection of Victorian clothes made by her ancestors and will talk about them in her very amusing way.
If anyone has a mannequin or dress maker’s dummy that could be borrowed for the day, we would be very grateful. Please speak to Margaret Antill 07788917822.
There will also be a Victorian Themed Treasure Hunt, plenty of colouring for children and a ‘Sunlight Washing Competition’ as was done at the Church Fete in 1897 (The Port Sunlight Company providing the prize.)
HELP is needed to ensure another very enjoyable day.
SELLING of Raffle tickets, which can be obtained from Janet Down or a Churchwarden; DONATIONS of Raffle prizes; HELPERS on the day (over 60 needed) and CAKES – we estimate around 50 will be needed equivalent to an 8 inch tin. Also SETTING UP on the Saturday and TAKING DOWN on the Monday evening require willing hands. Please let Janet or one of the wardens know if you can help in any way.
Afternoon Tea
Hanslei Harriotts WI are hosting an afternoon tea on Sunday 2nd August at 3.00 p.m. This will be in Ansley Village Church Hall and will cost £5 per head. This event is to raise money for breast cancer research. Everyone will be welcome to come along. To reserve your seat, please contact Leanne.
Ansley Village Art Club Exhibition and Sale
You are warmly invited to this event which will take place in Ansley Village Church Hall on Saturday 12th September from 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. Further details will be in next month’s magazine.
First Chapel End Girls Brigade News
The annual awards night on 13th July at St John’s, Ansley Common, was well attended by girls and parents. Two new girls had joined the group before May half term and three more joined just after the half term, which meant a good number were there. The weather was very hot but fortunately it was cool inside the building.
The girls presented an account of what they had done during the year and played a little game with the parents. One girl did a demonstration with balloons to explain what had been learnt about feelings/emotions. This did not go well in practice but worked beautifully when she showed it to the parents.
Over the year the group had fun learning about life skills with a paramedic, washing cars, budgeting, Also we shared our favourite things (films, music…), our feelings (good and bad) and how to handle them plus lots of other things, including a visit from the leprosy mission.
A visit to the pantomime was made near Christmas. The girls’ tickets were paid for by the group and families, who were invited to join the outing, paid for their own tickets. This visit is becoming something of a tradition for the group.
Next year we hope to camp again and will be looking into grants to help subsidise it. We do not ask for high subs from the girls as we believe strongly that GB should be accessible for any girl, irrespective of family income. Fees to HQ keep increasing as do other costs but by God’s grace we are still going and managing somehow to cover costs.
We rely heavily on our fund-raising coffee mornings, held three times a year, to cover fees. These are held in Nuneaton Methodist Centre on the first Wednesday of December, January and July. If anyone fancies a coffee and cake on those days, do please turn up. Contact us if you would like to bake a cake or help serve on the day.
It is lovely to welcome new girls but as with many groups we do need more helpers/trained leaders. Please get in touch if you know of anyone who you think would be willing to help.
Please pray for us all as we take a break after our final meeting of the term at Hartshill Hayes. We pray for everyone’s safety over the summer. Thank you all for your support. Ruth Kinderman 07752468145.
Britain In Bloom 2026
This year the very hot weather had not been very helpful for those trying to get the village and churchyard ready for judging. A lot of work had been carried out though by community groups and individuals. The ARC school in Old Arley, children of Nursery Hill School, Ansley Common, who grew sunflowers and a group from Oldbury Cottage Care Farm, who planted up the tyre displays outside the church car park entrance, had all made a contribution. A lot of local people committed themselves to looking after different areas, planting up flower troughs and trying to keep them watered. The hot weather made it necessary to curtail the working parties and their time spent in the churchyard.
We are very grateful to members of Ansley Village Gardening Group and all the other volunteers, children and adults who had prepared for the judging day, Friday 17th July. The results will not be known until later in the autumn.
From the PCC
Bequest
The PCC have just received a wonderful bequest of over £44,000 from the estate of the late John Burns. John died at the age of 91 just a few weeks after he had visited the church to tune and carry out any necessary work on the organ. John had first come to Ansley Church with his organ builder father at the age of 9 and he had looked after our organ ever since. We, along with a few other local churches, have been remembered in his will. We are very fortunate to receive this bequest as it will help us greatly. It will go some way to help us in the next year or two as we will have to replace a good number of stones that are crumbling. Some of these are at quite a height and in a very poor condition. We expect a very large bill for this work.
Churchyard Notice Board
The notice board at the bottom of the car park just inside the church yard is getting in a sorry state. The PCC at their last meeting decided to buy a new one that will fit on the existing posts. It will be very similar but the notices will be fixed with magnets (much easier than drawing pins). The header board will have the name of the church and contact details, which will include the post code and the what3words reference. This will ensure that, if ever anyone needs to direct someone to the church, the what3words will take them to the top of the car park.
Ansley Village Church Hall
At the time of writing, we had just heard from North Warwickshire Borough Council that we had been successful in being granted at least some of the funds required for the necessary repairs to be carried out from its Prosperity Fund. Once the funding has been confirmed and the contractor is able to come on site, work will commence. At this stage we do not know how long it will take or how disruptive it will be. However, we will endeavour to ensure that as many of the activities can continue as planned as possible.
Also included in the funding application is provision for the requested Wi-Fi installation in the hall. This will be password protected and only available to hall users. While the first two years for this have been included in the funding, we will need to monitor how it is used. We will need to ensure that its usage is funded by those using it so that the hall hire charges are not increased for non users.
Lightning Conductor
Every few years it is required that we have our lighting conductor tested to ensure that there is sufficient protection for the church fabric. Unfortunately, at the last testing, it failed miserably. This was probably mainly due to the dry weather we have had recently. It is hoped that this work (installing additional earthing electrodes etc) will be carried out as soon as possible. Back in the 1970s when a storm hit, the drain cover by the porch entrance ended up going through the nearby stained glass window!
Pew seat covers
It has been pleasing that we have had a good number of people interested in taking part in the Latch Hook work to produce the new seat covers, probably commencing in November. This will not be too soon as it has been found that the cat when in the church has, shall we say, ensured that one of the old covers has had to be disposed of. We will keep you updated once we have the timing sorted.
……………………………………………………………………………………………. Prayer Requests
If you would like someone, or a particular situation, to be remembered in prayer, please make contact by email or phone one of the contacts on the front cover.