As I write this, we are in unchartered waters nationally as we are currently
in mourning for the Queen. It is all very surreal. I want to thank all the bell
ringers who have rung bells following the strict London Bridge Protocol for
the death of the Monarch. The bells play such an important part in St
Leonard’s existence and having eight bells has made this time of mourning
extremely poignant. Michael Eastwood tolled the tenor bell on the night the
Queen passed away and the bells were half-muffled for the next day,
unmuffled for the proclamation of King Charles III on the Saturday, and
then half-muffled again to be rung for St Leonard’s commemoration service
for the Queen on the Sunday. A number of people came to this service led
by knowledge that faith played such an important part in our Late
Sovereign’s life. Attending a service in the local church together somehow
brought comfort. The church is a constant in a chaotic world, as indeed was
the Queen.
It was a moving service provided largely by the Church of England so that
every parish church could commemorate The Queen with the same words,
obviously St Leonard’s made a few additions, including the choir singing
John Rutter’s “Lord bless you and keep you”. The National Anthem finished
the emotional service - the new words will take a bit of getting used to, for
me at least. I thank everyone for joining us to make it such a memorable
and fitting end to the second Elizabethan era.
It seems appropriate that I move on next to the bell tolling for the burial of
Nora Pointer at St Leonard’s. Nora started ringing St Leonard’s bells in
1957 and was bell captain for many years. Nora was our last verger, and
she held the post for decades being particularly efficient at getting a church
full of people to do exactly as necessary – “All Stand” will never be said
quite the same at St Leonard’s, and her soprano voice from her seat at the
rear of the church will be ever present.
September brings our Harvest Festival and collecting non-perishable items
for Romsey Food Bank for those whose finances are starting to bite. We
celebrate together after the service and if it is sunny, we could even sit
outside on the new bench. St Leonard’s always decorates the church with
fruit and veg and flowers, some real and, quite possibly, some knitted, as
we celebrate everything to do with farming and nature. The
acknowledgement of the seasons in the church calendar is very much at the
forefront of our thoughts in this rural village
The season of autumn is upon us, and as we anticipate the approach of
winter (after the heat of summer do we expect a cold, cruel winter?) St
Leonard’s will be starting a new initiative with a “heat and eat” theme. We
would welcome donations of non-perishable items to make up food parcels
for anyone in this village who is going to have a tough time this winter as
the heating becomes more expensive and food prices climb, and some need
to make the decision to heat, or eat, each day. We will hopefully provide
food parcels for families with younger children, making sure that breakfast
is covered so that they can go to school fuelled to learn. And another parcel
for older people who just need a few extra meals. We hope that those who
genuinely need a little help will be able to venture into the church porch
subtly and collect a parcel at a time which suits them.
If anyone has any “bags for life” to contain the food parcels or nonperishable
food provisions that they would like to donate, then please just
leave them in the church porch and we will parcel them up regularly. We
hope that those in genuine need take advantage of this small assistance, so
please spread the word.
In the event that donations outstrip demand then we will donate the items
to Romsey Food Bank, so nothing will be wasted. It may be that there is no
need for a “heat and eat” project in Sherfield English, but we feel we would
like to support those that may need us in a practical way, so we are going
to try, and we can only wait and see, hope and pray.
Julia Noble. Churchwarden of St Leonard’s, Sherfield English