Christmas lights dusk at Paddock End next to the Village Hall 08-12-2014
Coming up …
More details in church gazette and separate wel-e-bulletins
Sun 14 Dec Nine Lessons & Carols 6 pm St Leonard’s
Wed 17 Dec Carol Singing round the village, meet 6.30 pm Duke of Wellington
Sat 20 Dec Flat Back 4 band at the Duke of Wellington (free) Party Night
Sun 21 Dec Eucharist with Bishop Gordon Bates, 11 am at St Leonard’s
Sun 21 Dec Children’s Christmas Party (free) 5 pm at the Duke of Wellington Wed 24 Dec Midnight Eucharist, 11.30 pm at St Leonard’s
Thu 8 – Sat 10 Jan Mother Goose Panto 7.30 / 2.00 / 7.00 pm Appleton Village Hall
Wed 14 Jan Parish Council 8 pm Village Hall
Thu 15 Jan WI annual dinner, 7 for 7.30 pm Duke of Wellington
Sat 24 Jan Family Ceilidh and Burns Supper, from 6.30 pm East Harlsey Village Hall
John Benson …
John passed away peacefully on 19th November, aged 85. John and Joyce are original Spring Hillers having arrived in 1971 at Number 14. The plot would have been number 13 but the developer wouldn’t allow it! John loved Welbury and is well remembered for his quiet but deep involvement in village affairs such as in the cricket team and the village hall project and as church warden. A church service was held at St Leonard’s, Welbury, at 2:00 pm on Thursday 27th November, conducted by Brian Mayne, followed by a more private family
cremation, and then refreshments at the Duke of Wellington. Joyce Benson sends her grateful thanks to all her friends in the village and beyond who have been so kind and helpful. The many lovely cards are all are very much appreciated.
Pat Wade …
Pat is back home “at last” and recovering steadily after her 29 days in hospital, many in intensive care. She sends her heartfelt thanks to all for their prayers, messages and cards, and to the staff at James Cook and Friarage hospitals who treated her so well.
Farewell and Welcome …
It’s been a rather long farewell to Didi Arkwright at Welbury House. Didi and Anthony occupied a central place in the village in more than one sense over many decades. They came here in 1968 and sadly we lost Anthony in 2011. Now we send Didi our warmest good wishes in her new home in Helmsley.
An equally warm welcome to the new arrivals at Welbury House, Mike and Becky Waddle, from Yarm, who are moving in this month. It may be a little hectic as their first baby is expected at the end of December. They’re sure to have a memorable Christmas and here’s wishing them a happy life in their new home.
Congratulations …
Peter and the late Jan Such, formerly of Jasmine Cottage, Welbury, have a new grandson Edward Finn born to their daughter Katie (now Katie Allan) and her husband Jamie, a welcome brother to their daughter Ruby. Edward was born on Wednesday 19th November and weighed in at 8lb 13 oz.
Quiz of the month …
Poplars and Glebe Farm 12-12-2014
Taken from the Harlsey road by Willey’s drive
Tallest building? … Having thought about trees, what is Welbury’s tallest building?
Answers from last month (as far as we know; tell us if you know better).
Tallest tree? The tallest tree in the village is probably a poplar at Glebe Farm opposite the village hall, the 10th or 11th one in the row from Peter Bumby’s bungalow towards the old station. It is near 30 metres, more than other species can match. The poplars were planted in 1978 by Dave Moore. There are some fine beeches on Parson’s Bank but the tallest might be on the east of the church yard beside the old tennis court, around 25 m.
Book of the month …
Is it just me?
by
Miranda Hart
A slightly more light-hearted offering than usual this month as we approach the festive season. Miranda Hart is known to most of us as a television comedienne of fairly generous and somewhat clumsy proportions. She certainly possesses the ability to laugh at herself and does it to great effect in this book.
Miranda takes the view that life as an adult continuously throws up unexpected horrors and she
catalogues some of her own in a bid to help the reader cope with their own awkward experiences. She reckons that life needs a manual and attempts to provide guidance to us all as we proceed along life’s rocky road.
This book is very funny. Hart deals with just about every eventuality we are ever likely to come across: music, hobbies, technology, exercise, health and Christmas, to name but a few. She has a chatty style and an inclusive manner so it is easy to identify with the dilemmas which she describes and to gain her own particular insight into how best to deal with them. Miranda Hart’s ebullient enthusiasm carries this humorous volume along at a satisfying rate – the reader is never bored with her conversational style or her dedication to our entertainment. Do have a read if you get the chance.
Sarah Hoiles
WI Monthly Report (November)
From Dervor Hanson
Our AGM this year took on a woodland hue with members wearing more thn 40 shades of green from the wigs on their heads to the polish on their finger nails. Business was quickly dispatched with the committee being unanimously re-elected. Then we all enjoyed a green supper of avocados, brocolli and pasta, followed by lime and kiwi fruit deserts cooked by all members. The fun concluded with an informal game of bowls on the green carpet.
Mend of the month …
Not so much a jeanetic modification as a simple patch repair, but it can save your old favourite jeans for another year or two. You can cut patches from the better parts of even older jeans. It would be difficult to sew onto trouser legs, but you can stick patches without sewing, with the right adhesive. Copydex works and is robust in washing machines, though expensive. Runnier fabric glues may leave stains unless used very thinly. These patches are on the inside, but for more of a fashion statement (a bit too much for wel-e-news!) patches stick just as well on the outside.
Welbury in the Wars
Stories of those serving in World War 2 … Part 3
This month’s instalment tells of young soldiers in epic campaigns in far-off lands, significant turning points in WW2. They experienced the worst horrors of war without counselling or modern support. No wonder they didn’t talk about it for so many years and still rarely do.
Although he’s not one of the ten people then “from Welbury” who served in WW2, Alan Hollis had already worked in Welbury while living in Brompton when he was called up in 1942 aged 19. He has now lived in Welbury for over 50 years and has long been part of the fabric of the village. Alan built ten homes in Welbury (one house and nine bungalows), including Raymont where he has lived since 1968, and he has worked on most properties in the village. The Welbury book records some of his memories.
Alan was first drafted into the 51st Highlanders, but he only once wore the kilt, for guard duties. He served in Africa in the second battle of El Alamein, the “Big Push” in October 1942, and later in Italy, transferring to the 5th Battalion Blackwatch and to the Royal Corps of Signals. As a builder, Alan was “let out early” in 1946 on B-release, so he got back to work in Brompton. He rarely talks about his wartime experiences and doesn’t watch war films. Like many survivors he prefers to put it behind him.
Right: Alan at Raymont with medals (L to R) Africa Star, Italy Star, 1939-45 Star and 1939-45 Medal photo 10-10-2014
Uncannily, Alan was following in the footsteps of Maurice William Waller at El Alamein in 1942. Maurice was born in Welbury in 1913, according to Tone Eaton’s book “At the Going Down of the Sun” (in Northallerton Library). He moved to Deighton well before the war, so wasn’t “from Welbury” at the time. The Welbury school photos 1919-1920 and 1921 (page 119 of the Welbury book) show a young Maurice, wearing a peace medal in the first picture,
somewhat ironically as he was killed at El Alamein on 28 June 1942. He is commemorated in All Saints Church Northallerton and by a Mouseman chair in Deighton church. Maurice is possibly the only native Welburian to die in either war.
Another still-surviving WW2 soldier is Ken Blake, who did live in Welbury at the time he was called up in 1942. Ken was born in 1925 at the railway cottages down Long Lane (now demolished) and later lived at Church View and then the “long bungalow” opposite the pub, before his family moved to Deighton then returned to Welbury in the end cottage next to the shop in what is now Greenacres, his family home at the time of WW2. After the war, he has lived in the same house in West Rounton since he married in 1950.
Ken in uniform near Rangoon at the time of the Japanese surrender 1945
Ken served in India and Burma in the army, driving trains loaded with ammo on the precarious Burma railway. He started in the Green Howards, and later Yorks and Lancs, where only about 165 survived out of a thousand. He lost many mates in the far east. Dead bodies could disappear in a day or so, scavenged by vultures. He fought alongside Gurkhas and many others. He was in Rangoon when the Japs surrendered. One Jap prisoner cried when Ken put a photo of his wife and kids back in his pocket. “There’s good and bad in all sorts”, he says. Then he set off for Singapore, where he was at the relief of the notorious Changi Prison, and Indonesia, called Dutch East Indies, to clear up fighting still going on.
Weather from Rod …
Apologies for the belated review of October’s weather … … A very dry September and start to October came to an abrupt end with 16.5 mm of rain on the 6th – more than during the whole of September! Total rainfall
for the month was 68 mm, very similar to October 2013.
The maximum and minimum temperatures were 22.8 °C and 1.8 °C, with a monthly average of 11.6 °C, again comparable with 2013 data. The first week in November brought us another deluge with over 16 mm of rain on the 7th and a monthly rainfall of 62 mm.
I don’t recall November as being particularly warm, but the average monthly temperature of 7.8 °C was more than 2 degrees higher than in November 2013 and 2012. There was a maximum temperature of 16 °C on the 1st and a minimum just above zero on the 6th. In November 2013, the respective temperatures were 13 °C and –2 °C.
To date, December has been much colder with 5 nights below zero and the coldest night of the winter (-3.3 °C) on the 12/13th. So far though, it’s been fairly dry with only 6 mm of rain and no snow.
Christmas for everyone …
We’ve had a mild autumn. The worst of winter may be to come, and it’s getting dark around half past three in the afternoon. But very soon the days will start to lengthen again, bringing a hopeful sign. It’s a good time for mid-winter festivals, for good cheer, and for solidarity among friends, family and community, and, sometimes, even enemies. What more poignant image could we have than that World War I football game a hundred years ago?
The rich diversity and long history of “Christmas” extends from its pre-Christian roots to the modern economy. It is keenly celebrated in non-Christian countries like Japan. It should be for everyone. But some may struggle to get through it: the poor, the bereaved, the lonely and the increasing numbers with clinical depression and other mental illness.
Our vicar Jonathan Cooper writes that “the meaning of Christmas has been overwhelmed by commercialism”. “Money-saving-expert” Martin Lewis and The Archbishop of Canterbury have shared a lament against extravagant gifts which pressure people to respond tit-for-tat beyond their means. There is a similar case for thinking of those who may struggle emotionally.
Trees …
Photos 12-12-2014
Fine beeches on T’ Parson’s Bank
Beeches left and oak right, east of churchyard