Ex Choristers - Where are they now....                                             Sarah Nicholls

I am writing this from my home in East London where I live with my husband, Dan, our four young boys and four cats. Writing this article is proving a welcome break from the chaos in my front room as the boys have been set to work tidying and clearing a space in which to put our new piano due to be delivered any minute. They are very excited and have been peering out of the window for the past hour. The two older ones started weekly piano lessons about six months ago and thoroughly enjoy playing. Seeing their enjoyment gives me a thrill as I have always had, and still have, a great love of music. If music gives my children half the enjoyment it gives me, I shall be very happy, which brings me to Mellor church choir.  

I joined the choir shortly after Peter Harle took over as choirmaster. At that time, the treble section was made up of twenty-one children, two-thirds boys and a third girls. At various stages my three brothers, Thomas, Charles and Edward, also sang in the choir. I am very grateful for the musical opportunities and rich experiences the church choir gave me for over seven years; the beautiful and inspiring music we sang, gaining the RSCM chorister and Bishop’s award, the annual Edale weekends, singing evensong in a wonderful variety of cathedrals (I will never forget the choir teas laid on for us in Sheffield!) and choir tours to France. I left the choir just before taking my A-levels.  On going up to Cambridge the following October to read History of Art I promptly joined my college’s chapel choir and madrigal group where I sang in the alto section which posed new challenges as I’d only ever been a treble. We rehearsed twice a week and sang evensong every Sunday and it became a big part of my university life.  After Cambridge I lived abroad for a couple of years teaching English, firstly in Poland (where I met my husband) and then in France.  On our return to England we decided to settle in London and have been there ever since.  We were married at Mellor church and all our boys were christened there. I wanted them to also have a connection with the church I have loved and always will.

Because of my interest in art, sewing and dressmaking, I began studying Fashion, Design and Pattern Cutting whilst bringing up my children.  Now with my qualifications behind me and my children finally all at school, I am in the throws of setting up my own business, designing and making ranges of children’s costumes for schools and nurseries.     

I still sing every week. I joined a local choir over four years ago, the ‘London Forest Choir’.  We rehearse every Monday and perform concerts every 3-4 months.  Recent works include Bach’s St Matthew Passion, Handel’s Messiah and Judas Maccabeus, Brahms’ German Requiem and Durufle’s Requiem; the list goes on. I look forward to our weekly rehearsals which are a perfect balance of beautiful music, fun and friendship. Ah! There goes the doorbell. How exciting....

St. Ann’s Hospice                                                               Lynda Gwyther   

If you are unfortunate enough to need St. Ann’s Hospice then you will realise how lucky we are in this area to have this amazing facility.  St Ann’s is a major support for people in the Stockport area who have cancer as there is no funding for the Marie Curie Nursing Service and the Mcmillan Nurses, although they offer good advice, are not ‘hands on’ nurses.

Who does St. Ann’s care for?                                St. Ann’s Hospice cares for and helps around 3000 patients and their families each year who are affected by cancer.  

It delivers care which is special and unique to each individual person, whether it be final care or help with drugs or pain control.  Interestingly, around 40% of in-patients at St. Ann’s Hospice return home after treatment.                                                                         

Where do they provide it?                                    St. Ann’s Hospice in Heald Green opened in 1971 and is one of the oldest hospices in the country.  The sister hospice, St Ann’s at Little Hulton, was opened in 1979 and both are residential.  The Neil Cliffe Centre at Wythenshawe Hospital opened in 1998 and the primary function there is support and rehabilitation.                                                                                          

What does it cost?                                            Although care for the patient is free, only a third of the funding comes from the NHS so each day St. Ann’s Hospice has to raise £16,000 so that specialist staff can provide the right quality of care.                     

What does St. Ann’s Hospice do?                            This wonderful place provides care 24 hours a day,7 days a week, employing around 400 staff who are assisted by around 800 volunteers.  It has a record of delivering first-class care for over four decades and was founded to significantly improve the quality of life for people with limiting illnesses. The simple idea that a person who is dying is still very much a living person with unique needs.

Where does the money come from?                          To raise £16,000 each day means it is down to the kindness of people like ME. Like YOU. Like US. This is our Hospice. We need to look after it and treasure it.     

Tales from the Furnace……..                                                          Bob Norris

I learnt to swear properly in iron foundries. Not the foul-mouthed swearing just for the sake of it that you hear from people of all ages in the street and which seems to have no purpose other than to shock but swearing that is involuntary and done to relieve feelings too strong to ignore. There is nothing that encourages the use of the profane vocabulary like a “glob” of molten iron getting into one’s boot. It is true  that the vocabulary may not be large (some would say boring) but the level of expression and intonation that can be put into few words in those circumstances is breathtaking. I speak from experience; it happened to me in a foundry in Huddersfield now, like so many others, long gone. I still have the scars.

By its very nature the foundry industry is dangerous. Everyone relies on the vigilance of everyone else to avoid accidents. A very good friend who at the time was Technical Director of a major foundry in Cardiff once said “You know Bob, I love the foundry industry, it’s a man’s world.”  I knew what he meant. Young lads would join the workforce and very quickly learn that molten metal is something you were very careful with. They felt they were doing a real job and were, I believe, proud to be doing it.

The comment about it being a man’s world was not one hundred per cent true. The lady fettlers at a foundry in Tipton in the sixties and seventies gave the lie to any comment you might make about the weaker sex.

Most foundries that I knew in the seventies have been closed down and the work transferred to developing countries. I have seen photographs of casters in these countries pouring molten iron wearing only flip-flops. There is a certain irony in the transfer of dangerous work from the UK where safety is of paramount importance to countries where “health and safety” is virtually unknown.

Happy Easter To Me                              Roger Armistead

This has been a very good Lent for me, due, in a very major way, to what I have derived from the daily prayer meetings which have been held throughout the period. It has been a safe place to hear and express views we may hold even though those views may or may not be held by the other participants. The importance and value are the respect with which differing views were always regarded, and how much those different views added to and changed my understanding. For me the most important feeling which surfaced time and again was the HOPE in which we live as a result of Christ's life, death and resurrection. Despite all of our failures, our shortsightedness, selfishness, greed, lack of faith and understanding, we are NEVER without hope.  Not only hope for our time on earth but an eternal hope in the inextinguishable love of our God in which we are held.  And with this hope comes JOY.  Only when we are overtaken by hopelessness does joy disappear and if hope is ever ending then   this is also true of joy.  So for me my Easter will be very happy as we celebrate again the peace and hope which passes all understanding.  So I am not only wishing myself a happy Easter, it is my deep wish that we  ALL shared fully in its JOY.

Volunteers needed

We have had the benefit for some time of having a number of volunteers who work in the Parish Office to support Val and Peta on week day mornings. The work is generally clerical although typing skills are an advantage. From time to time volunteers  are asked to provide holiday cover. With the passage of time we now need to replace people. There is a great deal of flexibility and it need not be a case of being available in the Parish office for the whole of a morning or for a morning every week. The more volunteers we have the greater flexibility. I would be pleased to hear from anyone who feels that they could offer their services to assist in the office preferably on Friday morning. I would be very happy to discuss what is involved before a commitment is made.  Mike Benford-Miller 0161 427 4311

Goose Sense                                                                    Mike Barley

Some years ago, enjoying an October break in Northumberland, we were lucky enough to witness one of Nature’s wonderful sights. Three V-shaped flights of geese heading inland from the North Sea; thousands of them, wings thudding, a cacophony of noise. Last week we came across this piece, which has been modified only slightly:

* When you see geese heading south for the winter, flying in a V-formation, consider what science has discovered about their flight.  As each bird flaps its wings it creates an uplift for the bird immediately following. By flying in a V-formation the whole flock adds at least 71% to its flying range than if each bird flew on its own.

If we share a common direction and sense of community we can get where we are going more quickly and easily.

* When the leading goose gets tired it rotates back in the wing and another goose flies to the front.

It is sensible to take turns doing demanding jobs and to share responsibility.

* Geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

What message do we give when we ‘honk’ from behind? Is it encouragement or criticism?

* When a goose falls by the wayside, for whatever reason, two others follow it down to lend help and protection. They stay with the goose until it is able to fly or until it dies; only then do they launch out on their own to rejoin a formation.

If we have ‘goose sense’ we will stand by each other like that.

(Adapted from an article in the Parish Magazine of  St. Mary's Priory Church, Old Malton).

Link with DR Congo                                                             David Ackroyd

At a special service on 27 January we focussed on the Links the Diocese and this Church has with DR Congo.  I showed a nine-minute DVD of the Archbishop of the Congo and the Bishops of Aru and Boga talking about reconciliation and rebuilding.  It is a moving short account of some of the problems experienced in that war-torn Country and the work being done to make improvements.  It will be of interest to anyone who wants to know more about Africa and I am very willing to make it available if you would like to contact me.

At the same service we held a special collection for the Link which raised £700 including gift aid (thank you to everyone who contributed – it is not actually too late).  We have added our annual contribution from Tithed Giving and have sent £1,700 to the Bishop of Aru.  His intention is to use this money to enable them to build living accommodation for students at the Bible College.  We need to remember that the Diocese of Aru is the same size as the United Kingdom so most students have to stay for the duration of their study either with other families or in accommodation provided by the Diocese.

If you watched the Enthronement of the Archbishop of Canterbury you will have seen that one of the symbols of peace placed on the altar was brought by Rev Desire Mukanirwa.  He lives in Goma which is one of the most troubled areas of DR Congo.  He is a personal friend and former student of Bishop Ande the Bishop of Aru. I thought this was one of a number of very inclusive moments during the service and it was good to see the Anglican Church in DR Congo represented.

View from the bell-tower                                                       Clanger
A memorable year for the bell-ringers.  Record sales of their award-winning CD ’Ring me sunshine’ - a few copies left and rapidly becoming a collector’s item  (at least according to the campanology critic of “The Charity Shop Weekly”); a letter of congratulation from the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby; participation in the opening ring for the London Olympics; and a very successful Jubilee peal open to the whole village. But despite these notable achievements, the main talking point in the belfry has inevitably centred around the continuing debate on the thorny problem of women bell-ringers.  The tower’s No. 1 Honorary Chime-Lord, Obi-One Kenobi Paddy Whitham, attended the Campanologists’ Synod - this year in Belper - and naturally voted for their wholesale inclusion but was predictably thwarted by the troublesome Clangers from Belfast who ignored the wishes of the bell-ringing hierarchy by again turning back the clock.  We, in the tower, had already made initial preparations for universal suffrage and our apprentice GK Duckworth had been measuring up for curtains and carpets and had recently re-read the classic manual for distaff ringers, ‘Rope of the Sabine Women’.  Sherry had been added to our stocks in the medicine cupboard and our political adviser and No3 Lord Lowe, had been invited to entertain the Ladies of the Ludworth WI with some off-the-cuff ribaldry.  Unfortunately, our No2, Andy Sokill, remained woefully sceptical but has just started a course of penicillin and immodium and promises next year to reflect on his pulling technique before constantly immersing himself in hot water. Elsewhere, outside the Tower, work is well advanced for a Christmas publication of the  Bell-Ringers’ Anglican Cookbook—”Cakes and Ale”.

Rose Queen Appeal                                                  Tim Lowe                             

As part of the fund-raising appeal for the Rose Queen, we hope to publish a small book of photographs called ‘Mellor through the seasons’. If you have any shots that capture the spirit of Mellor, we would be happy to consider including them (no more snowy shots needed!!!!). Ideally we would like the shots electronically sent to lowe_tim@sky.com.

Rose Queen Elect         

Our new Rose Queen Elect who starts her reign in June 2013 is Rebecca Mann.  Her retinue will be Izzy Hope, Niamh Barry, Lucy Monk, Isabelle Rowntree, Erica Bissell and Nye Probert.   She will be crowned at the fete, in the time-honoured tradition, so come along and give her your support!

Dates for your diary

SATURDAY, 11TH MAY

STOCKPORT SCHOOLS JUNIOR AND SENIOR BRASS BAND CONCERT

Jubilee Methodist Church on Cote Green Lane, Marple Bridge. in aid of EducAid in Sierra Leone. Tickets are available from Gill Shaw 449 0037 and on the door, priced £5 for adults and £2 for children. will be available. Everyone is welcome.  7.00 p.m.

SATURDAY 18TH MAY                                                          

Piano recital by DARIA BITSUIK, winner of the Bemrose bursary 2013 RNCM. Programme includes works by Chopin, Brahms, Carlos de Seixas, Liebermann and Debussy.  Mellor Parish Centre at 7.30.  Tickets are £9 available from Paddi Cunningham and the Parish Centre.  Proceeds to the Parish Centre.

SATURDAY 25th MAY

PLANT SALE  Christian Aid, Marple Bridge United Reform Church, Hollins Lane,     

Marple Bridge.  10 a.m. — 12 noon

SATURDAY 22ND JUNE                                                                       

THE DRAGON BALL Mellor Sports Club

Headline act—A Few Good Men. Tickets £55.  Please contact Helen on 07730 939057 or 07771 593203  Proceeds helping to ensure the future of Mellor Lacrosse and Cricket Clubs.  

SATURDAY 22nd JUNE

MARPLE CHORAL SOCIETY gives a performance of  THE ARMED MAN A Mass for Peace by Karl Jenkins

Marple Methodist Church, Church Lane, Marple: 7.30 p.m.  For reservations please ring 494 8410  Tickets.  £8.  Students/Under 18s  £4.50.

Mellor Sports Club May events                                          Jill Kynaston

The Lacrosse season has ended and Tennis and Cricket are now under way. Both men’s and ladies’ Tennis teams have games throughout the month. Cricket’s first home game was on the 27th April and they now play Wilmslow on 11th May,  Audlem on 18th May and Ellesmere on the 4th June.  Games start at 2.00 p.m and the bar is open from 4.00 p.m. Spectators are very welcome. The club welcomes new members and the Cricket team are looking for new and up-and-coming young players.  Call in and make yourself known during any home game.  

The Big Pedal                                     School Newsletter

Mellor School came 70th in Britain out of 700 schools and 7th in the North West.

A great achievement where their routes were steeper than most. Well done Mellor. That comes from having an accomplished cyclist like Jim Nicholson for Headteacher - Mellor’s own Sir Bradley Wiggins.