News & Views - March 1981 - Issue 20

Dear Friends,

How many times have you sung this children’s hymn?

I think when I read that sweet story of old, When Jesus was here among men.

How He called little children as lambs to His fold; I should like to have been with Him then.

I wish that His hands had been placed on my head, That His arm had been thrown around me.

That I might have seen His kind look when He said, “Let the little ones come unto Me”.

Such aspirations, are natural and understandable, but living, as we do, nearly 2000 years on, we recognise that this is not possible. However, one of the verses on the front cover holds out to us an even greater blessedness than that enjoyed by these who actually saw Jesus, either during His earthly life or at one of His resurrection appearances. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe”.

“Seeing’s believing” is a common worldly maxim.

But that is not the way of Christian faith. The resurrection of Jesus Christ, which we shall be celebrating on Easter Day, is not something that can be proved with the aid of a slide rule. Faith is based on the evidence of eye witnesses to the words and deeds of Jesus Christ, as recorded for us in the Bible. The Gospel call says, “Believe and you will see”.

Of course, there will always be those who will poohpooh the reliability of the Bible and will claim that it is full of mistakes. One whose leanings tended that way was Frank Morrison. He set out to write a book which would, so he thought, put the record straight. That book never got written. Instead, after investigating the origins of the Biblical literature and sifting some of the evidence at first hand, he came to write a very different kind of book. It is called, “Who moved the stone?” and is obtainable through the Hartington Church bookstall. The New English Bible translation of the text reads, “Happy are’ they who never saw me and yet have found faith”. May I wish you a truly happy Easter.

Yours sincerely, DOUGLAS GIBSON, Vicar.

COMMON CURES 1901

Apply a plaster of fresh cow dung.

Take the large key of the outer door of. the house or courtyard, and place it on the back of the neck. It must be the key of the outermost door of all.

Take a cup of water and put a hot cinder into it, shortly afterwards, take out the cinder and feed the child with the water from a teaspoon.

Steep gunpowder in hot water and form it into a pulp, which should then be spread on the eruptions.                       

 

“ON THE BOX“

One of the contestants in. “University Challenge” on ITV at 1,45 p.m., on Sunday, 26th April will be Alan Wolffe of Keble College, Oxford, who is a frequent visitor to his parents’ caravan at Barrack’s Farm, Beresford Dale. Just before moving to Hartington, the Vicar prepared and presented Alan for Confirmation by the Bishop of Repton.

“Songs of Praise” will be broadcast from Bakewell Parish

Church on Sunday, 17th May at 6,45 p.m., Choirboy Ben Truman of Biggin School hopes to see himself on the small screen,

NATIONAL FAMILY WEEK

I would like to thank everyone who helped with the door— -to-door collection for the Church of England Children’s Society in Hartington and Heathcote. £73.09 was collected, plus £66.88 from bondholders and £32.50 given in memory of the late Miss Alice M. Barker, making a grand total of £172,47. Thank you all very much.

                                                                           Valerie Shipley

INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF THE DISABLED

The Mental Health Foundation will be making collections in the Ashbourne area April 13th to 17th. There will be a collecting box in Stone’s Shop and on other premises.

NATURE RESERVES

The Nature Conservancy Council has added land at the nor— -them end of Biggin Dale and part of the south side of Long

Dale, near Pike Hall, to its Derbyshire Dales National Nature Reserve.

BIGG-IN YOUTH ORGANISATION

A small group of parents have got together to arrange fundraising efforts to promote the above organisation, with a view to starting a Social Evening during the winter months. The next Junior Disco for up to 16-year-olds, plus disco dancing competition, will be held on Saturday, 11th April from 8,00 p.m. to 11.30 p.m. A Jumble Sale will be held on Saturday, 25th April,

THINKING TOWARDS CONFIRMATION ?

Please contact the Vicar as soon as possible. Preparation for adults and young people, who must be at least 14 years of age by July, is now starting. The first meeting will be at the Vicarage, Hartington on Tuesday, 14th April at 7.30 p.m., The Bishop of Repton is due to come for a Confirmation Service on Sunday, 12th July.

GRACE AT MEALS

The Rev. Basil Watson recently surprised the guests at a fund-raising annual lunch for the Women’s National Cancer Control Campaign with a grace that ran : “Grant, 0 Lord, that we be not like porridge – stiff, stodgy and hard to stir. But like cornflakes – crisp, fresh and ready to serve”. The grace is attributed to Lancelot Fleming, a former Bishop of Norwich,

PRESENTATION

Jim Shepherd of Biggin received a real leather tobacco pouch and cash gift from his workmates at DSF Refractories when he retired on Friday, 13th March,

NEWS FROM AFAR

Janet Mollatt has arrived safely in Israel.  She is working on a banana plantation at Degania A, the first kibbutz, to be founded, and where Moshe Dayan, Israel’s former foreign minister, was born.

Hartington Young People’s Association raised £178.00 at their Coffee Evening.

A helicopter landed at Hartington on April 9th. It was flying between Ascot and Tees-side. Who were the lucky people to be given a bird’s eye view of the village?

BEREAVEMENTS

We offer our sympathy and the assurance of our prayers to the many families who have lost loved ones recently. In addition to those mentioned below, we have prayed for the relatives of the late Joseph Critchlow of Bridge End Farm, Jeffrey Sherratt of Buxton and Frank Haigh of Hole End Cottage, Hulme End.

Donations given in memory of the late Eileen Harlow, nee Barker, formerly of Hulme End, who died in London and was buried in Hartington Churchyard, were divided between the Heart, Chest and Stroke Foundation and St. Giles’ Church, Hartington, the latter receiving £48.00

Donations given in memory of the late Bertha Oliver were divided equally between St. Oswald’s Hospital, Ashbourne and Hartington Parish Church, each receiving £35.00.

Donations have been received by St, Thomas’ Church, Biggin amounting to £34.00 in memory of the late Sarah Gould, who died at the age of 92 years.

A donation of £10.00 has been received by Biggin Parish Church in memory of the late Edith Wagstaffe, nee Naylor, formerly of Biggin, who died at Fleetwood,

A legacy of £200.00 has been received by the Parochial Church Council of Hartington, to be used for general church purposes, among the bequests of the late Evangeline Beetham, formerly of Hartington, who died in Buxton, aged 85 years and was buried at Repton,

COFFEE EVENING AT HARTINGTON

A total of £188.77 was raised for church funds on Shrove Tuesday. A big “Thank you” to all who helped in any way. It was encouraging to see so many folk, including parties from Bigg-n and Staffordshire. The Vicar showed selections of coloured slides of the Holy Land

A GUIDE TO REGULAR GIVING

Sunday collections during the first quarter of 1981 averaged £15.11 at Hartington Parish Church and £12.35 at Biggin Parish Church, quite apart from any necessary repairs to the fabric of the church buildings, it is estimated, that our weekly expenses at Hartington will be £60.00 and at Biggin £40.00 during 1981.

HIDDEN TREASURE?

 

A few years ago, Reg Prince was digging a trench in Normanshaw

 Croft, Biggin, when he discovered a copper coin, the size of an old penny. On the reverse side there is a picture of what J.R.S Whiting calls ’genius’ holding a drill, with a worm in her right hand and a cogwheel in her left; and the wording is ’Macclesfield halfpenny,1790. On the obverse side appear the words, ’Charles Roe Established the Copper Works, 17.58 and show a portrait commemorating the founder. It is an eighteenth-century trade token.

In the British Isles, tokens of one kind or another have been known since the Middle Ages. However, because of shortages of regal money, there have been three major phases when they appeared on a very large scale and played a significant role as unofficial currency. Those phases can be divided:

The mid-17th century: tokens issued in England between I648 and 1673, and in Ireland until 1630. The late 18th century:   issued throughout the British Isles between 1787

and 1801, though only a handful appeared later than 1797 The early 19th century:                                               tokens issued in many parts of the

British Isles, largely in industrial areas, from 1807 to 1821.

The practice of putting a head and shoulders on the obverse side was started by John Wilkinson, the famous Ironmaster. The most striking thing about his tokens is the similarity of the portrait to that of the king, which is doubtless the impression he wished to give; that is, king of the iron world. This idea was copied by only one other firm, Roe and Co.

Charles Roe lived from 1714 to 1781, After starting in the silk industry, he turned to copper and ran the well-known Anglesey mines. As a memorial to his business success, he built Macclesfield’s Christ Church, at a cost of £7000, and a monument to him there shows the same designs as those on his tokens. His company had works in Macclesfield, Bosley, Cheadle, Neath and elsewhere.

Not only are there a large number of issues to this token, but a considerable quantity was struck between 1790 and 1792, so that they are very common. Have any other parishioners made similar ’finds’, whilst going about their farming or gardening? We would like to hear from them.

AN APPRECIATION

The collection made in Hartington for Mrs G. Rushton met with a very generous response, and the final total was £167.00.

This is some indication of the appreciation and affection many people feel for our “Milk Lady of Eight Years”.

After a little research into what would be most welcome, we bought a Kenwood Chef mixer, a garden fork and spade, and a cassette token.

Mr. S.J. Nicholl kindly allowed the presentation to be made in school on April 3rd, the last day that Mrs Rushton did the milk round. Several children had written something in praise of her and her work, and they quoted these, as well as singing songs and playing their instruments. It was. a very moving little ceremony.                                                         , ₄

Mr. E. Mollatt has kindly consented to the presents being put on display in the garage window during the week before.

Easter.                                                                                                               R.E.P.

CONGRATULATIONS TO…

……….. Arthur and Arnold Flower, who won 2nd and 3rd prizes in an agricultural competition sponsored, by the Derbyshire County Council and organised in conjunction with the Derbyshire and Bakewell Agricultural and Horticultural Societies. Their awards of £50.00 and £20.00 were in the class for upland stock rearing farms of 750 feet and over with a dairy herd.

…..Hartdale Motors who have received a retail dealer award of a silver salver in the New Chairman’s Challenge of the New Ford 2scort Car of the Year 1981,

……….. David King, our local policeman, who has qualified, along with Alsatian. Zak, as a trained dog handler in the Derbyshire Constabulary. He and his family have now moved to Buxton.

…..David Bainbridge of Biggin Rovers Football Club, chosen to play for the Derbyshire Youth Team,

On the move. “Teddy” Marshall, postman at Hartington for over 10 years, has been transferred to Southport, where he will be closer to his family.

Your prayers are asked for Mary Stubbs, member of the Editorial Committee, who, as we go to press, is in the coronary unit, of the Derby City Hospital.

SUNDAY SERVICES APRIL – MAY 1981

Good Friday services will be held at St. Thomas’ Biggin, at 6 p.m., and at St. Giles’ Hartington at 7.30 p.m. when coloured slides of the Holy Land will be shown.

From Easter Sunday, 19th April the 8 a.m. service of Holy Communion (1661) will be held every Sunday, providing a clergyman, is available, whilst the evening service will normally commence at 7.30 p.m. twice monthly as announced.

A Guest Service will be held at Hartington on Sunday, 3rd May at 6.30 p.m. when the speaker will be Mr Oswald Post of Hulland Ward, who is deputation secretary of the C.M.S. Ruanda Mission. Coffee will be served at the Vicarage afterward. and the latest mission filmstrip, “When Jesus comes” will be shown.

Biggin Spring Fair will be held at Biggin School on Saturday, 30th May at 2.30 p.m.

The annual Service of Dedication for the Backpackers’ Club will take place at Hartington Church, on Sunday, 31st May at. 10 a.m. Everybody is welcome.

The Fellowship Group meets at the Vicarage on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. as announced on the church noticeboard. Visitors are welcome.