February 2003 - Contents Thought for February Repton, Foremark and Newton Solney Parish Churches Services Readers and Intercessors at St. Wystan's Altar Flowers at St. Wystan's Brasses at St. Wystan's United Reformed Church Services at the United Reformed Church Coffee morning, Saturday 8th February, 10.30 - 11.30am Shell Baptisms, Marriages, Funerals and Burial of Ashes St Wystan's Church, Repton Bible study group Mothers' Union Aid to Russia and the Republics St Saviour's Church, Foremark Foremark Church says thank you St Mary's Church, Newton Solney All-age Services at Newton Solney St Mary's Church Flowers Parish Magazine in Newton Solney Musical Events Instant Sunshine - Saturday 15th March Repton School Subscription Concerts Society - Tuesday 18th February Repton Parish Council Repton Village and History Rainbow Birthday - Thursday 27th February Remembering Repton & Milton - Saturday & Sunday, 15-16 February Repton Primary School News St Wystan's School Open Day - 11th February Repton WI Exhibition by David Pilkington - Repton School gallery Explorer-artist visits Repton - Tuesday 18th February Repton Village Sports Club: badminton Repton recycling Speed up that internet! Gardening Notes Adverts Repton Primary School PTA Jumble Sale The Red Lion under new management

The Church, where it matters

A delightful piece of news at the beginning of the year was to see the name of the Reverend Timothy Allan-Jones in the New Year's Honours list. He is the Vicar of Soham and the award of the MBE was for his work in providing hope and comfort for the parents of the murdered schoolgirls, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, and indeed for the whole community at that sad time It was good to see the role of an ordinary parish priest and of a local Church being recognised.

Contrast that with another piece of news, from the Lichfield Diocese in which I spent all my working life, that because of shortfalls by the parishes in paying their parish quota the Diocese is going to cut the number of parish clergy by ten per cent. Two years before I left we had already made severe cuts in the numbers of clergy, linking together many of the smaller parishes.

In the light of the events in Soham this seems to me a very short-sighted policy. The strength of the Church has always been its ministry at the local level. Dioceses need to spend less on central administration, specialist ministries, bishops and archdeacons, and more on parish priests. Parishes need to be prepared to give more to pay for this ministry. And above all, the government needs to help parishes to maintain their lovely but very expensive buildings. In my twelve years at Alrewas I reckoned that we gave over £20,000 to the government because of VAT charged on essential repairs.

The only alternative is for many of the Christian communities to vacate their buildings and move into cheaper, more practical buildings, eg renting village halls and local schools. We could still exercise an effective local ministry from these bases.

I hope all this doesn't sound too depressing. This month begins with the feast of Candlemas. This is a reminder that God has a message of hope for dark times. We may face war, violence on out streets, difficult times for the Church but, just as winter gives way to summer, so does the light and peace of Jesus come into our troubled hearts and give us hope for the future.

Services at Foremark, Newton Solney
and St. Wystan's Churches

St. Wystan’s

Sunday 2nd	Presentation of Christ in the Temple
	8 am	Holy Communion
	10 am	Mattins
	6.30 pm	Informal Service

Wednesday 5th
	10 am	Holy Communion	

Sunday 9th 	4th Sunday before Lent
	8 am	Holy Communion
	10 am	Parish Communion
	6.30 pm	Evensong

Wednesday 12th
	10 am	Holy Communion	

Sunday 16th	3rd Sunday before Lent
	8 am	Holy Communion
	10 am	Morning Worship
	6.30 pm	Choral Evensong

Wednesday 19th
	10 am	Holy Communion	

Sunday 23rd	2nd Sunday before Lent
	8 am	Holy Communion
	10 am	Parish Communion
	6.30 pm	Evensong
		
Wednesday 26th
	10 am	Holy Communion	

Foremark

Sunday 9th	4th Sunday before Lent
	6.30 pm	Evensong

Sunday 23rd	2nd Sunday before Lent
	8 am	Holy Communion	

Newton Solney

Sunday 2nd	Presentation of Christ in the Temple
	8 am	Holy Communion
	4 pm	Evensong		

Sunday 9th	4th Sunday before Lent
	10 am	All-age service
		
Sunday 16th	3rd Sunday before Lent
	8 am	Holy Communion
	4 pm	Evensong
			
Sunday 23rd	2nd Sunday before Lent
	10 am	Parish Communion

Readers and Intercessors at St. Wystan's

2nd February	1st lesson: Malachi 3, 1-5: Mr. J. Cawdron.
		2nd lesson: Luke 2, 22-40: Mrs. M. Shepherd.

9th February	Epistle: 1 Corinthians 9,16-23: Mrs. A. Morris.
		Offertory: Mr. & Mrs. N. Brewin.		

23rd February	Epistle: Colossians 1,15-20: Mrs. W. Mair.
		Offertory: Mr. & Mrs. A. Argyle.

Altar Flowers

2nd February 		Mrs. F. Scott. 
9th February 		Mrs. A Argyle.
16th February 		Mrs. D Roberts.
23rd February 		Mrs. R Muir.

Brasses

2nd February 		Mrs. M Quinton.
9th & 16th February	Mrs. F Scott.
23rd February		Mrs. J Griffiths.

The United Reformed Church

Coffee Morning, Saturday 8th February, 10.30 - 11.30am

Have coffee and biscuits with friends, buy home-made marmalade and cakes, browse the Webb Ivory collection of cards and stationery and play the children's games. Everyone is welcome.

Shell

Shell (age 7+) meets on Mondays from 6.30 to 7.30 pm - but not on Monday 17th February which is during half-term week.

Baptisms

Charlotte Katie, daughter of Tom & Kathryn Robinson of 19 Main Street, Milton, was baptised at St Wystan's on Sunday 19th January.

 

Funerals and Burial of Ashes

Mary Elizabeth Adams of 30 Main Street, Newton Solney died on Monday 6th January at The Queen's Hospital, Burton-on-Trent. She was aged 87. Her funeral was held at St Mary's, Newton Solney on Monday 13th January and was followed by burial in the churchyard.

Rhoda Hemmings of Silverdene, 12 The Pastures, Repton died at the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary on Friday 10th January. She was aged 88. Her funeral at Bretby crematorium on Monday January 20th was followed by a Service of Thanksgiving for her life at St Wystan's.

St Wystan's Church, Repton

Bible study group

The group which meets at 44 Pinfold Close with Stanley and Audrey Morris begins again this month. We are meeting on alternate Monday evenings instead of on Wednesdays and the dates this month will be February 10th and 17th, starting at 7.30pm. We shall be looking at the books of Genesis and Exodus and their relevance to life in the 21st century. Everyone welcome.

Mothers' Union

Apologies were received from Branch Leader June Scott who was unable to be at the meeting on January 15th. The speaker, Mrs Jeanette Griffiths, told us about her visit to Cambodia while visiting her daughter in Singapore. She brought along many beautiful items of Cambodian art and crafts including basket work, scarves and materials, together with lots of photographs of the fascinating carving to be found everywhere and glorious colourful scenes. Although a very poor country obviously still suffering from the effects of the Kmer Rouge era, which can so readily be seen, it is striving very hard to rebuild its economy. She was thanked by Angela Mayger.

Following the talk the AGM was held and a brief résumé of the past year's events was given by Margaret Venables. She said it was very sad that numbers had been depleted by the loss of three very loyal members, Rona Palmer, Nora Chell and Wyn Wellings and that no new members had joined - a fact reflected in many branches today. She thanked Audrey Morris for volunteering to take the place of Wyn Wellings as branch secretary and proposed that she be co-opted on to the committee, existing members of which were willing to continue in office. This was seconded by Mrs Ros Hudson and carried. She also thanked Mrs Hudson for presenting the financial statement and for all the work she does as branch treasurer. An adoption of the accounts was proposed and seconded by Mrs Kay Dent.

Members were reminded of the buffet lunch to be held at the Boot Inn on Wednesday January 22nd at 12.30 for 1 pm. The speaker at the meeting on February 19th will be Mrs Anna Venables, the newly appointed editor of Roots and Branches. Her subject - the theme for 2003 - 'Empowering and enabling'. Tea hostesses: Mrs B Thorley and Mrs M Venables.

Aid to Russia and the Republics

Glenda & Norman Brewin have made jam making a speciality and regularly sell their products after the Sunday morning service at St Wystan's. They write: 'Many thanks to all who have bought our home made preserves during the past year. We have been able to forward £500 towards a mobile soup kitchen for street children in Siberia with the profits of the past five months - making a grand total of £1,000 for the year.'

St Saviour's Church, Foremark

Foremark Church says thank you

Betty Thorley, Churchwarden at Foremark, writes: "Thank you very much to all the people who, during 2002, helped with the cleaning of the church, doing the flowers and making the celebration of the new roof such a success. Thank you too for the help we had with the Harvest Festival and the Carol Service and thanks to the Headmaster for allowing us to use the Hall for refreshments from time to time."

St Mary's Church, Newton Solney

All-age Services at Newton Solney

The first two such services were held during the seasons of Advent and Epiphany, when the children enjoyed planning first a journey to see Jesus and second the gifts they would take to him. Judging by the encouraging feedback, these experimental services can be deemed successful, and we are preparing our next All-age Services for 9th February, 9th March and 13th April (the last of these falling on Palm Sunday). The main theme of each service accords with the recently published common Lectionary, and it is hoped that members of the congregation will gradually become more involved in various aspects of the services.

St Mary's Church Flowers

At the beginning of June we are, as already advertised, planning to hold a Flower Festival to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Queen's Coronation. Meanwhile the arrangement of Church flowers week by week continues, and members of the community are invited to donate (and maybe also arrange) flowers to commemorate persons or events dear to their hearts. Anyone wishing to make such a donation is invited to sign the list in St Mary's church porch against the appropriate date.

Parish Magazine in Newton Solney

The wider circulation of the Parish Magazine has been greeted with enthusiasm, but we are still working our noviciate in Newton Solney. Contributions relating specifically to Newton have been slow to appear and could certainly be extended without conflicting in any way with the Village Hall Newsletter. Furthermore we are still learning by experience the skills needed to collate and staple the additional 300 copies of each monthly edition - and extra help, whether regular or occasional, would be warmly welcomed. If you would like to assist, please contact Jennifer Haynes (703827).

Musical Events

Instant Sunshine

Those hoping for an early summer will be offered an evening of “Instant Sunshine” at Pears School, Repton on Saturday 15th March 2003 at 7.15pm when the band give one of their legendary performances in aid of the leading medical research charity Action Research. “Instant Sunshine”, which was formed 35 years ago by a young medical student David Barlow, (in response to a crisis in the NHS – his hospital’s New Year’s Eve Ball cabaret act was forced to cancel!) is a comedy musical quartet whose members still pursue full-time careers in the field of medicine.

Their own brand of humour has featured over the years in Radio 4’s Pick of the Week and Stop the Week. An ability to combine topical news stories with wit and music has endeared them to listeners everywhere.

‘Instant Sunshine’s musicians comprise David Barlow and Peter Christie on guitar, Tom Barlow on bass and Alan Maryon Davis on what has been described as ‘exotic percussion’. The latter consists of numerous whistles and bells, together with a bottle of pills in place of maracas. Alan also provides the voice behind the songs.

The concert, which is being organised by the Repton Committee for Action Research promises to be an evening not to miss. In addition to the cabaret entertainment and licensed bar, guests will be served a selection of canapés. Tickets for “An Evening of Instant Sunshine” are £15 and may be obtained from Morag Hill, Fairfield, 22 Main Street, Newton Solney, DE15 0SJ. Tel 01283 702799. Cheques payable to Action Research (Repton).

Dress Code: please wear a bit of sunshine!

Repton School Subscription Concerts Society

Sarah-Jane Bradley - viola, Jonathan Ayerst - Piano

Repton Council Jottings

A few matters discussed by the Parish Council on 14 January

Ø Repton Road, Willington will be closed for about 2 months from 3 February (this is the most recent advice), to enable the installation of large pipes beneath the roadway, as part of a flood alleviation scheme. Although the published diversion is via Burton, in fact it will still be possible to get from Repton to the centre of Willington, and beyond, along Hall Lane and Oaks Road.

Ø Doubts have been raised about the validity of the assurance reported last month concerning the future of the Post Office. Further enquiries are in hand.

Ø A gate is to be erected at the entrance to Mitre Field to combat vandalism around The Den and the Play Area. There will be a side gate to permit pedestrian access when it is locked.

Planning Issues:

~ Redevelopment of Repton Garage site. The Environmental Agency has determined that some of the land is at risk of flooding; consequently a Flood Risk Assessment is needed. Also investigations are required into the possibility of ground contamination. The Highways Authority considers that in view of the current use of the premises, any objection on grounds of traffic movements would not be upheld. Their attention is being drawn to the different considerations that apply to vehicle parking and movement during business hours, and those for a residential development.

~ Stable Block, Main Street, Repton. A third version of this proposal has been submitted, with the Stables repositioned further away from Shakespeare Cottage. All the other original objections have been reiterated.

~ Concerns were raised recently over certain aspects of planning procedures, including how the public are made aware of applications that are lodged. SDDC Planning Dept has written to advise that a public notice is usually displayed only if there is a statutory requirement, or where there are no residents within 4 metres of the site, otherwise neighbours are notified individually. Well now you know the theory...!

The next Parish Council meeting will be on 10th February at 7.30pm in Repton Village Hall.

Repton Village & History

Rainbow Birthday

February 26th will be the 1st Repton Rainbows' 6th Birthday. (Rainbows are mini-Brownies aged 5-7. Ed.) Founded in 1997, the troop has offered fun and friendship to many in this short time. Girls have attended from Bretby, Newton Solney, Milton, Ticknall, Willington, Burton and Repton.

We would like to extend a warm welcome to Rainbow Guides, Guiders, and parents past and present to join us at The Den on Thursday 27th February at 5.15 pm for a slice of our Birthday Cake.

If you have been connected with Repton Rainbows in any way, please come along. It would be impossible to invite everyone personally, so if you know someone who does not receive the magazine, but who has a connection, please extend the invitation to them on our behalf. For further details, please phone Carol Hickebottom, Rainbow Leader, on 01283 703991.

Repton Village Society & Repton Village History Group

'Remembering Repton & Milton'

Repton Primary School News

The whole school enjoyed a trip to Derby Playhouse to see Dick Whittington and his cat in December.

Year 5 had a great Victorian time at Sudbury Hall.

Years 1 and 2 dressed up as Victorians for a trip to Elvaston Castle.

The Christmas Fayre which was organised by Repton Primary School PTA raised a grand total of £1200.

Aki, who is a Japanese student, has introduced the children to origami, calligraphy and spoken language. Before returning to Japan at Easter, she will introduce Japanese cooking, festivals and specific customs such as the Tea Ceremony.

St Wystan's School Open Day: February 11th, 10am-3pm

Brian Allen, Headmaster, invites you to come along to meet the staff and see the school in action. St Wystan's prides itself on its small class sizes and its family atmosphere. Scholarships are available for Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 for September 2003.

Brian was appointed in September having previously taught in Oman and Egypt. At present he lives in Repton along with his wife Jill and two sons. Having spent time overseas he is delighted to be in Derbyshire and is enjoying the delights of rural England. He and his family enjoyed a traditional Christmas after all those years in the sun!

He looks forward to seeing you on the 11th. For more information, telephone 01283 703258.

Repton WI

After the DIY Christmas meeting when each member made a table centrepiece from candles and holly, we were expecting to sit back and listen to a talk on Acupuncture at the January meeting. Instead, Mrs Chris Fadley had us doing T'ai Chi to stimulate our energies, finding our acupuncture points and watching as a WI member (already being treated by Mrs Fadley) had needles inserted in her feet. Who said the WI is dull?

Next month: Tuesday, February 11th: Derek Palmer on Well-dressing. Visitors are always welcome. Just come to the Village Hall at 7.15pm.

'In praise of Prague' by David Pilkington

In Gallery 1, the Repton School gallery in the High Street, there is to be an exhibition of photographs exploring the architecture of one of Europe's most beautiful cities. It will be open from 9 am - 1 pm, Monday to Friday, or at other times by appointment if you ring 559301.

Explorer-artist visits Repton

We have the great opportunity to listen to and examine the art of Mr Dimitar Kurtsev from Bulgaria. On Tuesday February 18th he will be giving a lecture on The Lacandón Indians of the Mexican Rain Forest through an artist’s eyes.

Mr Kurtsev has spent time over the past three decades living with the Lacandón Indians, the nearest ancestors of the Classic Maya people of south-east Mexico, who number about 400 and live in what is left of the Montes Azules Rain Forest reserve in Chiapas, Mexico. He has many unique paintings of these people illustrating their singular way of life. Mr Kurtsev has also been a teacher of art in the USA where he has lectured on television and has also exhibited his artwork all over Europe and Mexico.

The lecture will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Tithe Barn at Repton School. Please come and enjoy what promises to be a very fascinating talk and exhibition.

The art of shuttlecock diplomacy

The Repton Village Sports Club currently holds badminton sessions in Repton Village Hall, Askew Grove on Tuesday afternoons. We will be running sessions for beginners from 2 to 2.30pm at a nominal charge of 50p. Guidance on playing and scoring will be given and all equipment is provided (suriable clothing and footwear should be worn). We would also welcome more experienced players from 2.30 to 3.30pm. The cost is £1.50. More information on either session may be obtained from Carol Bradley (tel 568364).

Repton recycling

After the Christmas gap, the paper collection started again on Tuesday, 14th January. We are assured by the Council Recycling Officer that it will be fortnightly from now on. Gillian Coates congratulated Repton and Milton residents on saving more newspapers and magazines than any other council area. Keep up the good work!

Brown bin collection of compostable material resumes on Tuesday 11th March.

Speed up that internet!

no longer the ‘world wide wait’

In the matter of communications with the outside world, Repton is still stuck in the 20th century, with painfully slow internet operations via a normal telephone modem. ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) or ‘Broadband’ would increase the download speed by a factor of around ten, and provide continuous internet access - no logging on and off - AND allow simultaneous voice transmission, all down one normal telephone line. The voice signal passes through the middle of the wire, the high-speed digital signal along the outside (yes, really). All the subscriber needs to do is to connect a special modem, supplied by the telephone service provider; BT charges for this equipment, some others don't.

Sixty six percent of the country now has broadband access, from 1129 telephone exchanges. Sadly, Repton exchange is not one of them. Why? because it costs a lot of money to convert an exchange to ADSL, so a sizeable number of users are needed to warrant doing it. Whether and when Repton subscribers will enjoy the benefits of broadband will depend on the demand for the service.

how you can find out more and boost the demand

Log on to the Broadband welcome screen at www.bt.com/broadband for detailed information about ADSL, including an impressive demonstration of its speed. If you click ‘check registration levels’ and follow instructions you will be able to register an interest with one of the many providers listed (it doesn't have to be BT); this of course does not commit you to any action in the future. All the responses are sent to BT and totalled. At the last count only 75 lonely Repton subscribers had registered. Several hundred will probably be needed, although the site also mentions some possible innovations that may reduce this number – in any event the greater the interest expressed, the sooner Repton will be on broadband.

Help end this suffering now...

Gardening notes for February

These gardening notes are written two or three weeks before publication and so at this time of year, as one surveys the floods, it provides pleasure to look ahead to the postdiluvian spring and hope it will be drier. Excessive wetness suits very few plants except those normally growing in bogs. Apart from the obvious drowning effects and washing of nutrients out of the soil, it has many less obvious consequences such as drowning normal soil creatures and encouraging fungal growth. Yew and box trees are at increased risk from this.

However, by February we can hope this will all be behind us and we shall be encouraged by the first of the spring bulbs. It will then be time to tidy up the border, cutting back any perennials retained for their winter interest. Divide congested clumps of snowdrops after flowering and allow pots of bulbs grown indoors to dry off after flowering and plant outside later on.

Remove any dead or damaged wood from trees and shrubs. Prune the dead, woody tops of fuchsias, both outdoors and established plants in pots, down to their base. Prune mop head hydrangeas, cutting off the dead flower heads and about a quarter of the stem back to a pair of strong buds; these will form this new year's flowers. Hydrangea grandiflora flowers on this year's new wood, so can be pruned back harder. Epimedium leaves also need cutting back now before the new flowering buds appear and late flowering clematis should be cut back in February. Cuttings of greenhouse and outdoor chrysanthemums - if wintered under glass - can be taken now.

Make a plan for seed sowing and for the vegetable garden for the year and cover some areas of the vegetable garden with cloches or plastic sheets to warm the soil for early sowings. Broad beans can be sown in boxes under glass for planting out later. Also leeks, lettuce, parsley, carrots, summer cabbages and cauliflowers and greenhouse tomatoes. Onion sets can be planted out at the end of the month if the weather is suitable. Plant seed potatoes in trays for chitting and keep in a cool, light and frost free place. It may be possible to plant the first earlies outside. Summer bedding plants seed can be sown if heat is available. Cover strawberry plants with tunnel cloches to encourage early flowering. Open the cloches when the plants are in bloom to allow access for pollinating insects.

The Lenten Hellebores will be in full flower in February. The original of these (H. orientalis) has white flowers with a greenish tinge but they have been hybridised extensively and colours now range through dark reds to almost black and shades of pink, white and primrose, some with marked mottling. Ashwood nurseries at Kingswinford just west of Birmingham are leaders in this field and they have a fine show at this time of year. H. niger is the Christmas rose and flowers earlier. The named variety 'Potter's wheel' is the best. H. foetidus has panicles of small tulip shaped flowers - green with pink edges. It seeds freely and grows readily in poor soil and drier conditions. H. argentifolia - the Corsican hellebore - and its hybrid H. Sternii grow up to four foot high and have green flowers and prominent yellow anthers - the flower arrangers' favourite. And there are many more rarer species to choose from. Hellebores are easy to grow and seed freely though the subsequent plants will not be true to colour. They need a fairly good soil in sun or light shade and mulching with compost in the spring. Blackened leaves should be removed as these may be infected with a virus.

Repton Primary School PTA

Jumble Sale

Saturday 15th March 2003 at 11am

under new management

The Red Lion at Repton