DECEMBER 2020 FEBRUARY 2021 60p Lymington

DECEMBER 2020 — JANUARY 2021 60p

Lymington Parish News

FEBRUARY 2021 60p

Lymington Parish News

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Lymington Parish News St Thomas’ and All Saints’ Churches

St Thomas’ Church All Saints’ Church St Thomas Street All Saints Road Lymington Lymington SO41 9ND SO41 8FD

Services For details of Sunday and midweek services, please see the Diary inside.

Enquiries There is a great deal of information to be found on our website: www.lymingtonchurch.org To enquire about weddings, baptisms, funerals, church and hall bookings please contact our Parish Office which is open at St Thomas’ Church, Monday to Friday, 9.30a.m.—11.30a.m. You can ‘Meet the Vicar’ by appointment on Tuesday evenings. Administrator: Mrs Gill Maunder: [email protected] 01590 676194

Contacts Vicar: The Revd Canon Peter Salisbury (day off Friday) [email protected] 01590 673847 Churchwardens: Mr David Bridges, 01590 678732 Mrs Maureen Harris, 01590 674458 Licensed Lay Minister: Mr Malcolm Ward, 01590 679651 Organist & Choir Director: Mr Martin Penrose, ARCO, LTCL, [email protected] 02380 864439 Verger & Sacristan: Amanda Dawson 07743 719044 [email protected] Tower Secretary: Mr Larry Stace, 01590 682417

Magazine Publication date: 1st of each month. Please submit copy to the Editor by the 6th of the previous month. Editor and Advertising: Nigel Mussett, [email protected] 07531 179544 or 01590 718438 Subscriptions: Susan Canter-Visscher 01590 679666

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Please mention the Lymington Parish News when responding to adverts.

We welcome Jenny Foster our Leprosy Mission speaker on Sunday 4 February following her recent visit to

CSL Danja Hospital in Niger, the project we help to support.

We look forward to a first-hand update of the situation - both the successes of, and challenges to, the dedicated staff who work to

transform the many leprosy-affected people of that region.

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DDeeaarr FFrriieennddss,,

As Lockdown v3.0 arrived last month Sarah started a book club. A founding principle was that the books chosen would all have a positive and uplifting message to counter the gloom of dark days in enforced isolation. What better selection could there have been for their first book than Pollyanna, the 1913 novel by the American author Eleanor H. Porter?

The title has slipped into common parlance so that a “Pollyanna” is a person who insists on being positive, upbeat and cheerful come what may. The implicit part of the definition is that the person manages this by ignoring the reality of their situation and is therefore rather annoying!

When you read the book it is clear that this modern usage is far from the character portrayed by Eleanor Porter. In the book Pollyanna makes a conscious decision to “play the game” of looking for something about which she can be glad in every situation. She even has quite strict rules for the game, so that the doctor can't be glad that at least he's not suffering as his patients are, but he is allowed to be glad that he is in a position to help them.

As Pollyanna encourages others to play her game, she is often confronted with situations where it is a struggle to find anything about which to be glad, and yet comes up with imaginative and life-affirming answers. By doing so she transforms the lives of many of her acquaintances who are then reciprocally inspired to encourage Pollyanna when she in turn faces a dark time (no spoilers here!).

The book is suffused with spiritual awareness and even has a critique of those who squabble over whether to help a local orphan while sitting under a sign reading “God is love”.

For me the book gives a worked example of Christian hope in action. Our hope is not “looking on the bright side” but seeing, even in the difficult and painful times, the hand of God and therefore the seeds of the redemption of the darkness.

As we approach Ash Wednesday (17 February) I wonder if we could all decide to join in Pollyanna's game, finding hope for ourselves and for others even as we face these difficult times unflinching? I for one am GLAD to have made Pollyanna's acquaintance!

“We exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts.” (From Romans 5.2-4) WWiitthh bbeesstt wwiisshheess,, PPeetteerr

To help minimise the risk of infection during the Covid-19 pandemic, public worship is temporarily suspended following new restrictions imposed in January. St Thomas’ Church remains open for private prayer each day 10.00a.m. - 4.00p.m. and the following on-line events are scheduled to take place in February: WEEKLY ON-LINE EVENTS: Sunday: 10.00a.m. Pennington and Lymington Joint Services streamed from our shared YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UCKRF1l-cpB5- rn1o5tUNWUw followed by Zoom Sunday morning coffee [2] Monday to Friday: 9.00a.m. Zoom Prayer with Sarah and Jane [1] Tuesday: 11.00a.m. Taketime Ignatian Meditation with Sarah [1] Saturday: 9.00a.m. Prayer for the work of the parish [1] MONTHLY ON-LINE EVENTS: Wednesday 10 February 4.00p.m. Book Club discussion of Moominland Midwinter by Tove Jansson [2]

Sunday 21 February 9.00a.m. Messy Church streamed from our shared YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UCKRF1l-cpB5- rn1o5tUNWUw

FEBRUARY EVENTS

Zoom Details – Prayer [1] https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89529902640pwd=QVQxTGxjODdwV3ROT1gxM2NWUjN0dz09 or from a landline phone: 0203 481 5240; Meeting ID: 895 2990 2640: Passcode: 2020

Zoom Details – Social [2] https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85117060907?pwd=SThHQWROTGRxSVROMEVVZlprTFJvdz09 or from a landline phone: 0203 481 5240; Meeting ID: 851 1706 0907: Passcode: coffee

As I write we are in our third lockdown and the state of the pandemic has been declared to be at its most severe. The PCC took the wise decision to cancel in-person services in the church for the foreseeable future. Although we could legally carry on holding public worship, it was not sensible to do so. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should!

I think we should take the advice of a government scientific officer and treat matters as though we had the virus and let that consideration govern how we as individuals behave: minimise all social interaction, the number of times and the duration for how long we go out, and maximise the social distance and always wear a mask. I have wondered, as no doubt have others, ‘where is God in all this?’. Are we in an Old Testament-like plague, brought on by our disobedience to the Lord? I think not. Our loving Heavenly Father doesn’t necessarily exempt us from suffering but always provides a way out, ultimately through the way of salvation provided by his Son. The fact that we now have three vaccines to counter Covid-19 and which were developed in less than a year when that process can take ten years is in my view nothing short of a divine miracle.

Our church remains open every day for private solitary prayer and the joint Sunday morning on-line service with St Mark’s Pennington at 10:00 is a great strength in that we can meet virtually, if not in person. Zoom meetings (another new word for the English language!) have provided for house groups, prayer, socialising and administrative meetings.

Once again we have been trying to contact everyone to check if they can access our church emails and website, but more importantly for those not au fait with the technology to ensure they have a point of contact if they need something provided or if they would like prayer for anything. Most people appear to have at least one person, and often many more, looking out for them and their needs. If anyone reading these notes does need assistance please feel free to call the Churchwardens: Maureen and I are only too pleased to help — our contact details are listed at the front of the magazine.

The church, of course, is the people rather than the building, but neverthe-less our beautiful physical church is also a matter of concern. The Quinquennial Report revealed that the damp at the east end and a leak in the roof and gulley to the west of the tower all need addressing. There are also some potential structural problems with the gable parapets: these will be surveyed and, if found to be failing, will involve us in some considerable expenditure.

Let us pray that 2021 holds eventual relief from the pandemic and heralds the dawn of a new normality. David Bridges

THE ORGANIST PIPES UP! Making music during lockdown at St Thomas’ has been a steep learning curve for all involved.

Our choir members were lucky enough to be able to start singing again at the beginning of December, thanks to the large galleries we have – 18th century additions to the building that could have been almost designed with Covid-19 in mind.

However, to achieve this our singers had to follow very strict guidelines, arriving and leaving via different stairways and sitting at least three metres apart in pods of six (this is where the design of the gallery seating helped).

This makes singing together very difficult indeed, and it is a tribute to our choristers and their hard work and willingness to abide by the restrictions that we managed to achieve some very pleasing results.

Added to all this, the organ was unable to cope with the very damp conditions in the building, caused by the mild and very wet weather in early December, and the fact that the building had to be left with the doors and windows open for ventilation purposes.

One Friday evening I arrived for choir practice to find the organ totally unplayable. The hygrometer which measures the humidity in the building was reading 95 per cent (not far off raining!), when the normal reading would be about 65 per cent. Thanks to the intervention of the Vicar and Churchwardens, who turned on the heating and put a dehumidifier in the room behind the organ, it was playable again by Sunday.

The scale of the problem was perhaps best demonstrated by the fact that at one point we were emptying the tank in the dehumidifier (which holds around 4 gallons) every day!

Martin Penrose

WWee sshhoouulldd lliikkee ttoo wwiisshh HHaappppyy FFeebbrruuaarryy BBiirrtthhddaayy

ttoo......

Sunday 21 February

The Armour of God — 2

Belt of Truth

We cannot meet face to face so join us for Worship Songs, Bible Readings and Craft Activities from 9.00a.m. at:

www.lymingtonchurch.org/messy-church/

To find out more about Messy Church visit: www.messychurch.org.uk

St Thomas’ Church Lymington

MMaassoonn PPeeaarrccee ++ HHeennrryy AAmmbbrroossee WWiilllliiaamm BBuubbbb ++ MMaaddiieellyynnnnee TTaayylloorr ++ JJaaxxoonn BBrroowwnn CCeerryyss WWiillssoonn ++ MMaatttthheeww BBuullll ++ IIssaaaacc BBuuttcchheerr ++ AAmmyy WWiillsshheerree

TThhoommaass MMoonnkkss ++ OOlllliiee LLiinnddssaayy

This month's cover: Lymington River and reed beds from the causeway. Photo: Nigel Mussett

I’m sure we can all agree that 2020 has been a year like no other. Who would have thought when we held the Fairtrade Fortnight event last February that this year’s would have to be on line – most of us had never heard of Zoom then! Look out for more details of this year’s event in the Weekly News Sheet.

Although opportunities for sales of Traidcraft products in St Thomas’ have been limited in 2020, thankfully the work of the Fairtrade Foundation has continued around the world. The following is extracted from the CEO Michael Gidney’s reflections on 2020 and his outlook for a brighter 2021. If there is one good thing to come from

this tough year it is that we have recognised more than ever that we are all in this together. We cannot go it alone. We’ve clapped for Carers, volun-teered for neighbourhood schemes, supported local businesses and donated to food banks. Covid-19 has also shown us how inter-dependent we are globally.

FAIRTRADE

AND CLIMATE JUSTICE

Honduras coffee co-operative donation of personal protective equipment

The economic impact of the virus has been huge. People in developing countries who grow and make products for the UK have been particularly hard hit. Reduced orders have meant produce has gone unsold and wages unpaid. Millions have seen their incomes fall and are struggling to feed their families and send their children to school.

This is where Fairtrade comes into its own. A cornerstone of Fairtrade is the requirement for farmers to be organised at community level. For many this has been a lifeline, producers have used their Fairtrade premiums to help their communities respond to the pandemic. Fairtrade producers have proved to be more resilient, better able to bounce back – important for the families involved but also for us in the UK as this provides the products we buy every day.

Covid-19 has shown why farmers need to be valued and fairly paid. The same is true as we face the future challenges of extreme weather like floods, hurricanes, droughts and wildfires, caused by the climate crisis, that these farmers have done the least to cause.

For instance, the carbon footprint of someone in Cote d’Ivoire is 17 times smaller than the average person in the UK! If we don’t invest in farmers we will all be more vulnerable. 2021 will see our new global strategy put the fight for climate justice front and centre in the lead up to Glasgow’s COP26 conference.

Farmers are at the front line of the climate crisis but they will not be able to transform their land and practices if they are paid poverty wages. Fairtrade Fortnight 2021 will focus on the reality for farmers of the climate crisis and poverty and how we can all play our part.

As we look forward to a brighter 2021, we need to remember how much we depend on producers in low-income countries for the food and products we buy every day. So, make sure you look out for the Fairtrade mark when you are shopping. We have the power as consumers to bring about amazing change.

Annette and Brian Cox Photos: Sarah Salisbury and

Fairtrade Foundation

The Friends’ Christmas Tree set up during December attracted wide-spread interest and support, with many messages and prayer cards being added to the decorations. The Christmas Tree Festival unfortunately had to be cancelled at the last moment due to the increasing restrictions imposed in the face of the Covid-19 crisis.

The Committee thanks everybody for their support throughout the year and is now planning a fresh series of events for the future.

In the meantime, if you are not already a member of The Friends of St Thomas Church now would be a good time to join! Forms are available at the back of the church. The annual cost of membership is £20.00.

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Penni Jolly reports… Our craft activity for the December Messy Church was to make gift boxes and fill them with sweets, biscuits or any small gift. The idea was to share the joy of Christmas with any who were feeling lonely, isolated or missing family and friends. Lots of boxes were made, then filled and delivered to some forty people locally.

Sharing the joy of Christmas

Two of the happy recipients: Pauline King (left) and Shirley Blick (right).

Robyn making sweets ready for wrapping up.

Maisie

Willow

Denny, Baden & Winston

Natalia

Alice and Flora with their peppermint

creams Annabel & Stella

Our busy young gift

makers and

helpers

One of the earliest names by which the followers of Christ were known was “ People of The Way “ – and I cherish that! It has about it a dynamic, nothing fixed nor final. It speaks of journeying, adventuring and learning to live with change, hurt, the unknown and so on. At the heart of Christianity is the belief that God loves us just as we are – but loves us SO much that He doesn’t want us to stay like that.

There are two ‘conversions’ in Christian discipleship: the first when the Gospel somehow begins to make sense and something inside us stirs. The second is that of the rest of one’s lifetime, slowly, often haltingly, trying to adjust to this different light, to being reschooled in relationship – to each other, to the world around us, to the created order, to the often unfamiliar and the disturbing – reschooled and awakened, our all too easy assumptions challenged. (A man I read of recently had 541 ‘Friends’ on Facebook – but none of them knew he was dead!)

Lent is not best approached as a time for petty self-denial (giving up chocolates?) but as a time of awakening and renewed awareness. In the silence of the wilderness Jesus Christ grew in his understanding of what his baptism by John woke him to – what living out the divine really called for and would cost!

The silence of the pandemic has ruthlessly exposed truths about our society which were half-known by some, ignored by most and suffered by many: systemic racism, overcrowded housing, paucity of green public space in cities, an epidemic of social and domestic violence and very questionable social priorities. It has also begun to show and help us how to re-assert what it means to be ‘an open church ‘ in a society in which the majority of people live their lives without reference to organised religion.

Ron Swan

REFLECTIONS ON LENT

HHeerraallddrryy iinn SStt TThhoommaass’’ CChhuurrcchh 24. James Monro 1849

We first encountered James Monro in this series in September 2020 when featuring the memorials relating to John Vassall (c.1800-1827). James Monro was born in 1775/6 and in 1805 had first married Martha Anne, daughter of Rear-Admiral James Samber of Lymington. The couple lived in New Street and had a son, James Hale Monro, born around 1810 but he died aged 3, being buried at St Thomas’ on 3 September 1813. His mother had died in June of that year, leaving James Monro a widower in his late 30s. On 23 October 1814 he married Elizabeth Vassall, widow of John Vassall (1762-1800). He subsequently built a large property on the High Street called Grosvenor House, the rather sad remnants of which we see today.

According to the 1841 Census, James Monro was a man “of indepen-dent means”. He championed the reforms introduced in the 1832 Reform Act, challenging the long-standing influence exerted in local affairs by the Burrard family. He played an influential role in the Borough, serving as a magistrate and town councillor. He was elected Mayor 1831 and 1836, and held a Commission in the North Hampshire Militia. In 1843 he was widowed again when his second wife Elizabeth died on 29 June at the age of 72; he himself died aged 73 on 26 October 1849. All three are buried at St Thomas’.

The rather splendid hatchment incorporates the central shield, blazoned as: Or an eagle’s head erased gules in its beak an olive branch vert, impaling azure a chevron between three molets pierced argent, helmet, crest and mantling. The right-hand side of the shield with the eagle’s head is for the Monro family, the eagle also being incorporated into the crest, and described as an eagle close or beaked gules. Close means that the wings of the bird are folded close to the body, but the significance of the olive branch is uncertain. The colours of the wreath and the eagle as portrayed here are gold (yellow) and red, the livery colours of the Monro family.

Unfortunately, the family to which the arms impaled alongside on the left of the shield have so far not been traced. The three molets, sometimes called mullets, represent a rowel or wheel attached to be the back of a riding spur.

The closed helmet is that of an Esquire, appropriate to James Monro’s rank and, like some others of the period, is ornamented in gold and fashioned into the shape of a man’s face. The motto Non inferiora (“Not mean pursuits”) is the family motto of the Monros of Bearcrofts, near Grangemouth. Nigel Mussett

Grosvenor House, 52 High Street, built c. 1830 by James Monro. Threatened by demolition in the 1970s, the building was trans-formed into commercial use while retaining the Grecian style

façade. Photo (left): courtesy of St Barbe Museum and Art Gallery, Lymington.

PRAYER THOUGHTS

. God knows God understands God loves you

with an enormous love, and only wants to look upon youwith that love.

Quiet.

Be silent. Be still. Alone.

Empty, before your God.

Say nothing. Ask nothing. Be silent. Be still.

Let your God look upon you. That is all.

Based on an original by Edwina Gately, from ‘In God’s Womb’

MMaallccoollmm WWaarrdd

Two invasive winter-flowering aliens The Mediterranean has, for better or worse, given us two interesting species which have become naturalised in Britain, adding a touch of colour to the short days of winter and leading us into the brighter days of spring. They are, however, invasive and not altogether a welcome addition to our flora.

Winter Heliotrope, Petasites pyrenaicus, was introduced in 1806 as an ornamental plant, flowering from as early as November through into February. It is a member of the Aster-aceae or Daisy family and is related to Butterburs. It grows in damp situations, waysides, verges and hedgerows, often forming extensive colonies comprising a cover of broad leaves which arise from underground rhizomes, successfully obliterating practically all other species.

The plant is dioecious, male and female flowers being formed on separate plants, but in Britain there are no female plants and so repro-duction by seed is impossible in this country. The flowers are formed in clusters at the top of thick erect stems and smell distinctly of almonds or vanilla. Like other heliotropes, the flowering shoots follow the course of the sun throughout the day, as their name suggests (although many other flowers do likewise!), performing a nifty ’reset’ by daybreak.

The generic name Petasites is derived from the Greek petasos, meaning a broad-brimmed felt hat, alluding to the large leaves whose underside is covered in a dense mass of soft white hairs which have the texture of fine felt. In our native Butterbur, P. hybridus, the enormous leaves were once used for wrapping butter because they provided a freely available soft wrapping material which had the added benefit of helping to keep the butter cool on account of the insulation provided by the hairs on the back of the leaves.

NNaattuurree NNootteess

The pink-tinted flowers of Winter Heliotrope

Also successful in forming large colonies when the opportunities arise is Three-cornered Garlic, Allium triquetrum, sometimes also known as Stinking Onion on account of the strong smell emitted when picked or crushed. The plant is native to the central and western end of the Medi-terranean and was introduced into Britain in 1752. Within a century it had become established on Guernsey and very soon afterwards became naturalised in other parts of England, notably the west country, and its spread eastwards and northwards continues to this day.

From a distance the colonies of both leaves and flowers give the appearance of a swathe of white bluebells. But garlics, along with onions, daffodils and snowdrops belong to a different family from bluebells (the Amaryllidaceae as opposed to Asparagaceae), despite the fact that they all produce bulbs. The plant is often regarded

now as a weed of roadside verges, shaded areas, culti-vated ground and gardens. The flowers appear between March and June.

The flowering stem is triangular in cross-section, the corners forming acute angles. The six ‘petals’ of the drooping snow-white flowers have a distinctive green line running down the centre of their under-side. They are called tepals

because, unlike the flowers of many familiar plants, the outer sepals and inner petals of the perianth appear similar to one another.

Like bluebells, they owe their ability to form large carpets of flowers to the prolific amount of seeds produced each year, which in this case are dispersed by ants. Reproduction may also be brought about vegetatively by means of the bulbs although, unlike garlic and onions, the plants do not produce bulbils at the top of their tall stems. NJM

female catkins shedding ripened fruits and bracts

An index to all of the topics, activities and contributors featured in Lymington Parish News throughout 2020 will shortly be available. Please inform the Editor if you would like to receive a copy either as a printed document or in electronic format.

Some past copies of the magazine are still available if required.

Canon William Cummings begins a new monthly series this year with his reflections on selected Psalms and the relevance of their message for us today.

Reflections on Certain Psalms — 1 Every author knows the need of opening with an arresting punch line. When the Jerusalem priests had assembled in, say, 130 B.C., in preparation for the publication of their collection of psalms from all previous ages, they had in mind whom to employ to write an introductory Psalm.

The person selected had to know how to construct an opening verse that challenged attention and how to follow it up with an image of pastoral idealism. So Psalm 1 begins with a sketch of a contented searcher basking in, and drinking deep of, the blessings that abound in “the law of the Lord”.

Many Psalms — though not all — are written in the first person: “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills” (Psalm 121); “My heart sheweth me the wickedness of the ungodly” (Psalm 36); “I am well pleased that the Lord hath heard the voice of my prayer” (Psalm 116). Whenever we read or recite these ‘first person’ Psalms, we can throw our minds back to the first image of Psalm 1 and imagine “the man who exercises himself in the law of the Lord day and night”, developing in peaceful gratitude the fruitful blessings that come through acquaintance with the word of God. We can aspire in some small way to identify with him.

For this reason, all the Psalms due for consideration month by month in the magazine this year (except for this introductory Psalm 1) will be ’first person’ Psalms. As we read them, we can measure the “I” of the psalmist in comparison with the individual “I” who is meditating upon his composition today.

Psalm 1 shows itself to be introductory because of the way in which it summarises the great contrast that is emphasised throughout the Psalms, the contrast of the righteous and the ungodly. The imagery of this Psalm not only places the two opposites side by side, but also artistically illustrates the weight of them. The image of the “righteous” (vv. 2-4) is leisurely and fulfilled. The image of the “ungodly” (v. 5) is shrivelled and dismissive.

William Cummings

Note: In the Psalms, due to differences in the translators, there is sometimes a discrepancy in the numeration of the verses between the version in the Bible and the version in the Prayer Book. In these monthly articles, the Prayer Book will be followed.

TTHHEE WWRROONNGG EENNDD OOFF TTHHEE SSTTIICCKK?? Bachelor Moments - 1 A young man telephoned his mother and announced excitedly that he had just met the woman of his dreams and asked her what he should do next.

His mother replied “Why don’t you send her some flowers and invite her round for a home-cooked meal? You’re good at cooking.”

He thought for a while and the following week the young lady came to dinner.

His mother rang up the next day to see how the evening had gone.

“I was totally humiliated!”, he moaned. “She insisted on washing the dishes!”

“What’s wrong with that?”, asked his mother. “It’s good that you can both share the chores around the house.”

“Yes, but we hadn’t even sat down to eat!”, replied her son .

SmileIT’S NEVER





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