September Services at Ansley Churches
| 6th September
Trinity 14 |
St John’s
|
10.45 a.m. | Holy Communion |
| 13th September
Trinity 15 |
St Laurence | 10.30 a.m. | Morning Worship |
| 20th September
Harvest |
St John’s | 10.30 a.m. | Morning Worship
|
| 27th September
Trinity 17 |
St Laurence | 10.30 a.m. | Holy Communion |
From the Registers
Baptisms
Rose Amanda Julie Small and Gigi Elizabeth Taylor were baptised at St Laurence Church on Sunday 9th August, supported by their families and friends. We welcome them both into the family of the church with prayers for their health and happiness.
Wedding
The wedding of Roxsan Orme and Jamie Danvers took place at St Laurence Church on Saturday 8th August. Family and friends joined them in marking this special day. We offer Roxsan and Jamie every good wish for the future.
Draw Nearer – September Meetings
Meet from 19.00 for a 19.30 start. Ends around 21.00.
| Venue | Date | Theme |
| The Barn, Old Arley | 14th September | Prayer |
| The Annexe, Ansley | 28th September | Pilgrimage |
During the September meetings we will decide which themes will be the basis for discussion in October and November. Your suggestions will be very welcome.
St John’s Harvest Festival
St John’s Harvest Service will be held on Sunday 20th September. Donations of food with a longish shelf life will be welcomed. These will be taken to a local food bank in October, along with items from the St Laurence Harvest Service. Cash donations will be sent to the Salvation Army for their work with those in need.
Ansley Village Art Group Exhibition and Sale
The fifteenth Art Exhibition and Sale will take place on Saturday 12th September in Ansley Village Church Hall, Birmingham Road, Ansley (CV10 9PS) from 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. Entry is free and light refreshments will be available to purchase.
Do come along and see the many pieces of artwork in a range of media. Those for sale will be clearly marked. Visitors have made very positive comments in the past on the high standard of the exhibits and a similar response is anticipated this year.
Afternoon Tea at Ansley Village Church Hall
The first ‘Breast Cancer Now’ Afternoon Tea to be held in the hall raised £570.00. Many thanks to the Hanslei Harriotts WI volunteers who made sandwiches, cakes, washed up and served refreshments. Grateful thanks too to those who supported the event by purchasing tickets, making donations and ensuring that this was a wonderful afternoon of camaraderie and generosity of spirit. Leanne Mobbs, President, Hanslei Harriotts WI
Back in Time Event at Ansley Church – Report next month
Family History
Recently we had a couple doing research on their family history visit the churchyard. They were looking for any possible ancestors’ gravestones. With nearly 900 stones in various states in the churchyard this can be a mammoth task, especially if you don’t have any idea where they might be in the 2½ acres.
If you consider that most people in Ansley in by gone ages would not have had much spare money. The grave of the loved one would only have had a wooden cross to mark the plot. After a few decades the wooden cross would have rotted away and, unless the next generation passed on the information, the actual site of the grave would have been lost. This would have been particularly true for young children. (While researching for the next ‘Back in Time’ event it has been very noticeable that there were sometimes more children and babies buried than there were adults.) However, if funds permitted, a stone would be erected. Unfortunately the local stone in Ansley is sandstone, which is very soft and soon weathers. Any inscription is then lost. Later, with the coming of the canals, it was possible to transport slate to this area, which would withstand a lot more weathering. Sometimes family members were buried near to one another if space permitted.
However, there may not have been any real record of where people were buried in the church yard other than the fact that there would be an entry in the church burial register.
Fortunately for Ansley back in 1991 members of the Genealogy Society did a survey of the churchyard and produced a book listing all the then graves and a plan of where to find them. We understand that most churches have such a book.
If you are doing any such research, it may be worth contacting the respective church and asking if they have such a book. It could save you a lot of time.
Please remember that the actual church registers are held in the County Record Office in Warwick.
From the PCC
The churchyard
As we are sure you know, we employ a contractor to mow the grass. On average he does this every two weeks during the growing season. He strims around the graves that he can access and blows the paths clear of grass and leaves. He also clears the leaves at the end of autumn. The average cost to the Churchyard fund for this work is £4,500 per year.
The work of trimming the low growth of the trees, cutting the hedges and bushes is done by volunteers annually in mid-August. At the same time volunteers clear the overgrowth in the natural area, allowing bluebells, celandines, snowdrops, cow parsley, nettles etc. to regrow in the spring. It is also good for insects, beetles etc. to have some natural areas.
Other voluntary work in the churchyard, which we usually start mid-June, includes clearing the growth of grasses and weeds from around the flat stones especially those in the Cremation Garden and inside the curb stones of some of the older graves. Loose stones can fly up if a strimmer is used in these places. The other very time-consuming hand work is going round the edges of the paths – which are estimated to be over a third of a mile – as it has to be on hands and knees!!
Another time-consuming job is to ensure that the ivy and other weeds that grow are kept under tight control. The ivy spreads, getting onto the gravestones and other stonework, including the perimeter walls, damaging these structures. The ground gutters are especially prone to damage. It is important that they are kept clear to ensure that water does not ingress into the building. Ivy also does not help the trees!
Every five years the forty-seven trees have to be inspected by an arboricultural consultant. An inspection will be arranged for this autumn. These inspections help to keep the trees in good health and can inform us of safety issues. Any high level remedial work will need to be carried out by paid contractors.
We greatly appreciate the time people do spend trying to keep the churchyard as tidy as possible. As always many hands make light work. We should mention however that we cannot keep tools in the churchyard. It is amazing that they always seem to gain legs!
The Annexe
It is pleasing to be able to report that work has been carried out on the Annexe to replace some rotting wood in parts of the window frames and to repaint the woodwork on all the window frames and under the eaves.
This is the first time the woodwork has needed attention since 2003.
Magazine
For a while we have known that Penny, who produces our magazine each month, will be retiring at the end of the year. We were hoping that her successor, if and when appointed as office administrator at Exhall church, would be happy to carry on helping us with the magazine each month. However, Penny has at short notice been advised by the IT company that the programme that is used would no longer be available after the end of September. We will be ensuring that the October magazine will be sent to Penny in good time so that at least that one will be available in its usual format. We will do our best to ensure that the November and December issues are produced but we will have to see at what standard they can be printed.
We are very grateful to Penny for her help over the past few years at putting the magazine together to such a professional standard.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 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.