One man and his dog

Welcome to the September edition of the Parish Magazine.  As I write we’re not long back from our holiday – 8 nights in Bideford, North Devon (Clovelly, Woolacombe, Westward Ho! etc) a night on the edge of Dartmoor (in my Uncle’s house, so not as bad as it sounds) and 5 nights at my sister’s home in Twickenham.  We managed to get good weather too, so a good time was had by all (except perhaps for adjacent guests in the hotel who may have been wakened by crying in the night!) 

I thought I would share with you my version of a story I was told while we were away:

Having just died, a man was amazed to find his dog, which had died a couple of years before him, standing with its front paws on his chest and licking his face.  He was overjoyed and having revelled for a while in the happy reunion, he picked himself up off the path and they set off together to see what they would find.

After a little while they came to some pearly gates attended by an angel dressed in white.

Very nervously, the man asked if he could enter.

“Of course you can,” laughed the angel, “come right in.”

The man heaved a huge sigh of relief, whistled his dog and started in.

The angel coughed lightly and said, “Just one thing, Sir, the dog must stay outside.  You’re very welcome but I’m afraid it’s got to go.”

There was a long moment while the man looked at his four-legged friend and the dog looked at him, turning its head beguilingly to one side.  Finally the man’s mind was made up:

“If he’s not coming in then neither am I!”

“On your own head be it.” called the angel, “Think carefully about where you might find yourself …”  but man and beast were already on their way.

After a long but strangely pleasant walk they came to a place where the path broadened out.  A wooden gate had broken off its hinges and stood permanently opened wide.  There were some farm buildings and the familiar smell of cattle.  As they wandered into the yard a human face appeared that seemed to be that of a farmer.  She carried a tray on which were a mug of tea and an old ice cream tub full of cold water which she plonked down in front of the travellers.

“Hello!” she said with a beaming smile.  “Welcome.  Make yourselves at home and stay as long as you like.”

Man and dog somehow knew that they would do just that.  But the man, being a man, had one thing that he wanted to clear up first. 

“What’s this place called?” he asked.

“Oh, this is heaven.” said the woman, “Why?  Isn’t it quite what you expected?”

“Oh!  Well …” stammered the man, “I don’t know.  But the thing is … we passed another place on the way, you know, pearly gates and angels and so forth and I presumed …”

“Lot’s of people think that,” said the woman, “but the fact is, you won’t find anything like heaven in there.  We tried to get them closed down at one point but now we realise that they are actually quite useful.”

“Useful?” queried the man.

“Yes,” she said, “they weed out all the travellers who are willing to forsake their friends.”

From the Archives …

Report to the annual church meeting for the year ending Easter, 1924

Council Members: Mr WN Addey, Rev F Appleton, Mrs F Appleton, Miss Banham, Mrs Elmhirst, Mr WE Fowkes, Mr GA Habbeshon, Mr HL Humphrey, Mr L Humphrey, Mr WC Johnson, Mr R Littledyke, Mr F Morland, Mr EN Taylor, Mr F Thompson, Mr EH Wakefield, Mrs Wakefield, MTR Whitelock, Miss B Wright, Mr AW Wright, Miss E Elmhirst, Mrs Whitelock.

Electoral Roll – The Electoral Roll has been revised in accordance with the Constitution, and a copy is now presented to this meeting.  It contains the names of 952 Parochial Electors.

Banham Memorial Hall – The Building Fund has increased to just over £800, invested in War Loan.  The Committee submitted to the Council a tentative design by Mr Arthur Whitaker for a Hall at an estimated cost of £2,900, but the council did not feel justified in adopting provisionally a scheme which would involve so great an expenditure.  The Committee will reconsider the question of design, and will continue its efforts to increase the Building Fund.

Sunday Schools – an encouraging development is the opening of a Primary Department under the direction of Miss Wright in the Mixed School.  The Department is conducted on modern educational principles, and provides admirably for the younger children for whom the Infants’ School in Park road is too far distant.  There is urgent need of more teachers in the Boys’ and Girls’ Departments to fill vacancies caused by retirements.  The number of scholars is approximately 145 Boys, 165 Girls; Bible Class Members, 100 – totals 410.  An important step was taken by the teachers in the purchase of an excellent piano for £47.  of that sum £39 was lent and has yet to be found, and the need provides an opportunity for others than the teachers to show their practical interest in our Sunday Schools.  A mutually beneficial agreement with the Education committee has been made, whereby the Sunday School piano (on the upper floor) may be used for Day School purposes, and the Day School piano (on the ground floor) for Church purposes.

Swaithe Mission – Last year’s Report spoke of the necessity for larger accommodation than that afforded by the Mission Room.  Towards the end of the year the use of that room was brought to an end by the tenant of the house, who required it for his own purposes.  A good Army Hut was bought for £68 by means of funds raised in the Mission, donations and loans, and a site, at a nominal rent, was kindly granted by Mr CE Smith of Swaithe Hall.  This hut was inaugurated as the “Swaithe Mission Hall” on Sunday, March 30^th, when a large congregation filled the building for a service conducted by the Vicar, the lesson being read by Mr Fowkes and the music being led by the organist and choir of the Parish Church.  About £35 is needed to repay the money lent to defray the cost of erection and equipment.

Girls’ Friendly Society – Meetings for Members have been held twice weekly, on one evening (under Miss Banham’s guidance) for work in preparation for a Sale, the proceeds of which are to support a bed in a Missionary Hospital; on the other for devotion, education or recreation.  Interesting lectures were given by Mrs Dransfield, Mrs Elmhirst, Mrs Fryer, Mrs Wakefield, Miss Smith, Miss Woffinden and Miss Wright.  The candidates, numbering 80, show a slight increase.  Their weekly meetings have been occupied in games, singing, sewing (for the bed in the Mission Hospital), and Missionary and other talks.  Thanks to the good work of Mrs Buckley, Miss Banham and Miss Wright, these gatherings have been greatly appreciated by the girls.

Missionary Enterprise – The number of CMS Magazines now in circulation is 147 monthly.  A study circle on the text book, “Women Workers of the Orient,” was conducted.  Miss Irene Gregory has been giving a monthly Missionary address at the Children's Sunday morning service in the School. An interesting Lantern Lecture was given by Mrs. Wakefield, describing the work in China, and showing pictures of Funing Hospital, in which one of the beds is already supported by this Parish. At the Diocesan Missionary Festival, held at Sheffield in June, our Choir supplied its full proportion to the massed Choir, and the Parish was represented by a party of 35.

Parish Magazine – Under Mr. Taylor's vigorous management the Parish Magazine more than paid its way during the first year of its restored existence. The circulation has steadily increased to about 450.

Finance – The £40 fixed by the Council as the Parochial Contribution to the Diocesan and Central Funds for 1923 (as against the £100 at which the Parish was assessed by the Ruri-decanal Conference) was attained, but only by the gifts of a few donors supplementing the collections in Church. Church expenses showed an increase of £17 over the previous year, mainly accounted for by repairs, including the making good of a breach in the north wall of the Churchyard, and books, including a supply of new Prayer and Hymn Books for the use of visitors. Under Special Objects the payments were £3 less than in 1922. For the present year the position is one of uncertainty. The income from the Church Trust property on Worsborough Common will largely be absorbed in meeting municipal requirements for road making. On the other hand, a -Free-will Offering Scheme has been launched with the two-fold object of providing a steady income for the Memorial Hall Building Fund, and also for meeting the general needs of the Church with a special view to the Diocesan quota. Mr. W. N. Addey has undertaken the secretaryship of the scheme, and has secured 52 members, contributing the equivalent of about £1 10s. Od. per week. If this scheme were more widely taken up a reliable income, sufficient to meet all our needs, would be assured.

Interdenominational Christian Council – A Special joint Committee, representative of the various Denominations, organised a united procession of the Sunday Schools on Whit Monday. The undertaking was successfully carried out, and obviously made a favourable impression on the minds of the inhabitants generally. As a sequel to this co-operative venture, a permanent Council was created by the governing bodies of the several denominations to secure common and united prayer and action upon spiritual, moral and social questions, and to bring Christian principles to bear upon such questions. This Council is composed of representatives of this Church and St. James', Worsborough Bridge; of the Wesleyan, Wesleyan Reform, and Primitive Methodist Churches, and of the Salvation Army.

General – The congregations on Sundays have continued to show a slight increase, though they represent a lamentably small proportion of the nominal Church inhabitants of the Parish. The Council would specially appeal to the large body of Parochial Electors on the Roll not to forsake "the assembling of ourselves together." The candidates presented for Confirmation were 5 males and 13 females. The small number of those seeking Confirmation is a cause for concern, for apart from it there cannot be a full growth either in personal spiritual life or in the corporate life of the Church. The average number of Communicants per week was 30.5, or practically the same as last year. An impressive Service was held on Armistice Day, when the Church was quite filled with a congregation representative of the District Council, Ambulance and Fire Brigades, and Friendly Orders. Such a gathering suggests a thought of the possibilities of common worship and of the inspiration to be found in a great congregation.

The Council would conclude this Report by asking its constituency, that is, the Parochial Electors, as well as the congregation in general, to join with it in thankfulness to Almighty God for every token of His Presence and Blessing in the past year, and in the prayer that the coming one may be marked by inward growth in grace and outward activity in every work of faith and labour of love to which He shall call us in the fellowship of His Church,

F. APPLETON, Chairman.

A. W. WRIGHT, Secretary. 31^st MARCH, 1924.

Getting through

This morning we were up at 6.15 (not my choice) and shortly afterwards set off on the bike to go round the reservoir.  We stopped a little way up the mill stream where it is easy to get down to the water and there is enough flow to make throwing sticks in worth the effort.  Willow leaves become little fish, and sticks are canoes, but most of them get stuck within a foot or two of beginning their journey – a trailing weed, muddy shallows, some other debris – stuck fast and the current too feeble to free them and set them moving again.

Except that, eventually, one of the many (many) does miraculously sail on, perfectly avoiding every obstacle, merrily down the stream out of sight, and we can only imagine some wonderful adventure just beginning …

How many prayers do we pray, how many dreams do we dream, how many good intentions do we cherish in our thoughts, only for them all to get snagged up or bogged down before they have really got anywhere.

In the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes it says, “Cast your bread upon the waters and after many days it will return to you”.  I’m not sure if I really know what the writer was on about, but he seems to be encouraging a kind of reckless generosity (albeit with a pay back) – Don’t worry how much of your effort is wasted – if one prayer, or dream or good intention really does get through, then that is something beautiful and beyond the cold calculation of efficiency.

St Thomas

The third of July is the festival of St Thomas, our very own saint.  We don’t usually have a service on a Wednesday so we will be marking the festival on the following Sunday.

We all know the expression ‘a doubting Thomas’.  It’s not one that I like, because the way it is usually used suggests that to be like Thomas is to be weak and wishy-washy, someone who sits on the fence and doesn’t have the courage to make and sustain commitment.  Thomas certainly wasn’t perfect, but neither was he weak.  He was his own man and the way he doubted showed, I think, strength rather than weakness.

It is only in John’s Gospel that we are given any insight into Thomas’s character.

Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”
“But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there?” ….
Then Thomas said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”  John 11vs7,8,16

Okay, so it’s not exactly the most positive contribution to the conversation, but at least it shows a deep sense of loyalty when the others are probably more concerned about their own safety.

(Jesus said) “In my father’s house are many rooms … I am going there to prepare a place for you … You know that way to the place where I am going.”
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”  John 14vs1-5

Jesus is trying to paint a reassuring picture; but such rosy ideas simply bounce off Thomas’s hardened head!  He’s down to earth and stubborn.  Perhaps not the easiest person to have around when you’re trying to develop a vision of better things.  But then how often have we failed to challenge someone when, to be honest, we haven’t got a clue what they are going on about?  As a little boy Thomas might well have been the one to challenge the emperor’s birthday suit!

And then we come to Thomas’s main scene (John 20vs19-31).  From what we’ve seen already, it’s not surprising that he doesn’t take the word of the other disciples – after all it’s not everyday news that they are telling him.  But why does the situation arise in the first place?

The disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews.

… but Thomas was not with them.  That seems to sum him up.  While all the others were huddling together in secret, he was out and about, doing his own thing!  And I don’t suppose the rest were best pleased with him.

But when Thomas does see the risen Jesus for himself his exclamation “My Lord and my God” and the subsequent response of Jesus (vs39-31) are considered to form the climax of the whole of the Gospel of St John.

TRINITY

Trinity Sunday always reminds me of my 10 day trek along the Pembrokeshire coast path: physical challenge, mental freedom and spiritual pilgrimage all rolled in to one – in constant communion with the cliffs, the ever-changing sea and the all encompassing sky.

I felt sorry for the preacher in the church I attended in Pembroke on the evening of Trinity Sunday that year – after all I had picked my holiday dates wisely to avoid that particular sermon.  He tried to give some explanation of what the Trinity was and inevitably ended up by apologising.  If we get bogged down in mathematics or give too much emphasis to three leafed clovers then we inevitably ‘dumb things down’, as they say nowadays. 

Perhaps the power of the idea of Trinity lies in the fact that it is beyond explanation.  Rather it symbolises the complexities of life, the interplay of various contradictions, contrasts and competing interests; but also the relevance of God and the strength which God gives to the believer in the midst of all of these.

Take the basic ‘trinity’ of Self, Family and Community.  A key process in all our lives is to work out the balance between these three.  It would be great if each one was always in harmony with both the others, but of course that’s not the way it is in practice – perhaps it would be if we were all perfect but we’re not. 

Having said that, it is clear that some of the most beautiful things emerge out of conflict – how many of the greatest artists have conceived their works in response to the painful conflicts within body, mind and spirit.  The beauty of the coast is by no means lessened by a dramatic clash between wind, rock and wave. 

God is not a simple idea, nor is he a kindly old gentleman.  God is greater and more beautiful and more awe inspiring than anything we can think or imagine.  As the Old Testament patriarch Jacob found out: in wrestling with God we find strength, even as we are made painfully aware of our humanity.  But again, as St Patrick prayed:

I arise today through a mighty strength, the strong name of the Trinity.

Through belief in the three-ness, through the confession of the one-ness

of the creator of creation.

Memories of the Worsbroughs by Revd Howard Ansell

My first official visit to Worsbrough was in 1966, when I was still finding my way around South Yorkshire and learning the language.  I had come into teaching by accident, having left Lichfield Theological College after a very unhappy year there and arrived at Mexborough Grammar School because I had married a girl from Sheffield who was homesick!  I stayed until 1970, when I became Head of English at Penistone Grammar.  After part time training with the North West Ordination Course, I was priested in 1977, and after eighteen months as curate of Chapeltown I was asked by Bishop Gordon Fallows to take on the Worsbroughs, as he thought I was tough enough for the job!  It was not going to be easy, as Colin Hill had been there for about seven years and was very popular with the church people, and my family had been happily settled for thirteen years in Chapeltown.  However, I was immediately struck by the warmth and generosity of the congregation, as large working parties gutted the then vicarage, opposite the church hall, and redecorated it from top to bottom.

My memories of those four years are quite sketchy, as life was unbelievably busy.  Carol was still teaching in Chapeltown, but became very ill and had to have a hysterectomy, my mother down in Ramsgate went rapidly downhill after my father’s death and needed full time care, and the children were learning to cope with the survival problems which vicarage children usually had in those days.  Of course, the pits were still open but in serious decline, the railway line and many other businesses had closed down, and there was an air of dereliction and hopelessness throughout the parish.  Arthur Scargill, who was a national figure at that time, lived just behind the vicarage on Yews Lane, and so dodging reporters of all kinds and nationalities was an occupational hazard.

As I have no real contact with the parish now, I will give you the names of the people I remember most clearly, some of whom may still be around.  The wardens were Raymond Hampshire and Terry Kilburn.  Ray was our elder statesman, and his wife Marie ran the Mothers Union.  Terry worked for the Coal Board and was a valuable support to me and my successor until his untimely death.  My other valuable support was Pat Vaughan, who kept the keys, cleaned the church, wrote up all the records, ran the Girl Guides, and kept me on my toes – quite a difficult job, as I was still very inexperienced.  The organist was Ron Langdon, a saintly man who followed in his father’s footsteps, giving an immense amount of time and energy to creating and running a large choir, with real choirboys gathered from the back streets of Worsbrough.  The boys were regularly bribed with sweets from Percy, Gwen and Frank, and given occasional superb parties by Madge, Ron’s wife.  Ron sadly died not long after moving away from the parish.  The secretary was Audrey Hawes, who lived outside the parish, and now runs a hotel in Blackpool.  The treasurer was Derek Firth, who ran an engineering company, and grew magnificent dahlias.  The magazine, a monthly affair, was put together by Ann Wigglesworth, who lived with her aunt on the edge of the cutting.  The Church Lads Brigade was run with military precision by Malcolm and Kathryn Crowther, and the Sunday School was run by Hilda Hinde, including trips to exotic places like Mabelthorpe and Hornsea.  And then there were May and Mildred, Jean, Molly and Sally, who brightened my days with their cheery smiles and their willingness to help anyone do anything at any time.  There must of course be many more, but remembering even this lot for me is a triumph!

St Thomas’s was always a ‘church on the move’ – because of the amount of coal which had been dug out from under it.  The Coal Board strapped it and propped it, but yawning gaps appeared, and disappeared, from day to day.  However, nothing ever fell off, and eventually it always settled back on an even keel – unlike Chapeltown, which I gather has been condemned.   One old lady whom I visited regularly, always nagged me about the church bell which was never rung, because the frame was rotten.  When she died, she left sufficient money for the bell to be restored, retuned and re-hung on a very expensive metal frame.  Getting it down and up again, and removing half a ton of extract of pigeon from the loft was quite a problem!  Apart from this venture, I don’t think we attempted anything else of a structural nature during my time.


Visits were always popular with the congregation.  Apart from Hilda’s trips to the seaside, the Wives group and the MU would trek off to stately homes, gardens, and even on one occasion to Windsor Castle.  The choir liked to go on RSCM courses, and often came home full of enthusiasm and new music.  The PCC had at least one weekend away at Scargill, where, in company with other PCCs they ruminated over the problems and challenges – mainly financial – which they constantly faced.

Life for me was of course the endless round of funerals, weddings, and baptisms, with all the associated home visits, which I always felt I should do myself.  Trips to the factories and the pit were quite rare, but always rewarding.  Of course I always had to make my annual visits to the pubs for their Christmas carols and their harvest festivals, which sometimes made it a bit difficult to find my way home afterwards.  My first innovation in the church was a short family service before the main rather formal communion, which was welcomed by those with small children, but viewed with suspicion by everyone else.  The other was an annual Christingle service, quite rare in those days, which filled the church to overflowing.

Last of all there were my three friends from my teaching days, Dave Malkin, Les Foweather and Brian Ivett.  They seldom ever set foot in church, but their contribution to the artistic and creative life of the area was immeasurable.  Their best work – indeed, the best thing which has ever come out of Worsbrough – was ‘A Miner Too Many’ – a play written and researched by them about an actual Worsbrough family who lived and died in the pit disaster recorded on the monument in front of the church, and whose family history they traced in the church records.  It was performed in the school hall by children who were descended from the families they were depicting, to audiences of miners and ex miners who were gripped by the reality of the presentation, which included the creation of a coal face on stage, and an explosion with real explosives!  Their most spectacular project was a re-enactment of the Mystery plays in Worsbrough village churchyard, with the help and co-operation of all the schools, churches, factories, the NCB, and the Angels and Ministers of Grace!  I still remember the crucifixion scene under blackening storm clouds, when, as Christ on the cross said ‘Eli, Eli …’ a quite natural thunderbolt crashed to earth quite near, followed immediately by torrential rain.  On one moved!

Although I enjoyed my time at Worsbrough, and still like to visit Barnsley as a tourist, yet I never felt that I fitted in.  I was a young southern ex teacher with a Cambridge degree who didn’t smoke, drink beer, breed pigeons, or go to football matches, so although I was tolerated, yet I was never accepted, and my children had quite a tough time at school.  Therefore, when I was offered in 1983 the chaplaincy of a huge hospital with a small country parish in Essex, I felt I couldn’t refuse.  However, as I settled into my new job, the news that the miners strike was tearing my old parish apart gave me many sleepless nights.  However, no one is indispensable, and in the fullness of time a new man came, and parish life continued as it always had, and no doubt always will.

I wish you all well, and I thank you for giving me this opportunity to revisit places and faces which I had almost forgotten.

And now …

I’m getting older and more crotchety, and Carol is maturing gracefully.  She has had one cataract done, is eagerly awaiting the other one, while I remain as fit as a fiddle – apart from collapsing at a Mothers’ Union dinner and doing a blue light dash to the hospital.  I can, however, still manage Steep Hill (Lincoln) at a brisk pace without pausing – but of course, all my brain cells went years ago.  Stephen and Jackie are still in Ramsgate producing children – number three is on the way – Simon has just moved to a much happier Roman Catholic School in Dagenham, and Katie has decided to forsake the delights of Sheffield and move back down to London.

Howard Ansell

Take yourself for a Royd

Before coming to Worsbrough I hadn’t come across the word ‘royd’ before, but in this area you could say it’s hard to escape.  From Rob Royd to Clayroyd; Gilroyd to High Royd Farm; Hudroyd to Royd Close; and more remote – Stoney Royd Spring to Hall Royd Wood.  The word isn’t in my dictionary, so for some time I was rather puzzled and my interest aroused.  Eventually I read (somewhere I can’t remember now) that it means ‘a clearing in a wood’ which would make sense if you think back to when the whole area was forested and clearings were gradually named from features they contained or the person who made them.  If anyone knows more, please let me know.

Anyway, one of my favourite short walks from home is to go from Ward Green Community Centre, down the steps and along the stream flowing through the narrow belt of trees which, according to my AtoZ, is called Jarret Royd Wood.  The stream doesn’t flow much, except in winter after heavy rain, but such water as there is goes on through Wigfield Farm and finally into the reservoir.  We stop before the farm however, and retrace our steps.  (We being usually Imogen and I or Jemima and I – I once took both but on the way back up I. decided if J. was being carried she was too!)

Sadly, there are some signs of vandalism to the young trees, and occasional fly-tipping of old tyres and other ugly rubbish (like the old motor scooter that is gradually decomposing near the steps).  But at this time of year, all that begins to fade into the background as the bluebells appear and seem to float just above the ground in the patches of sunlight.

Last time, Imogen and I found a ‘secret’ little path off the main one which took us under drooping bows and round a corner to a miniature clearing by the stream – only a few yards but a world apart – a place to daydream waste a few minutes and be restored.  Sometimes ‘you can’t see the wood for the trees’ but a clearing in the forest brings out the beauty of everything that surrounds it.