History Matters – Allensmore Matters

300th ANNIVERSARY OF ST. ANDREW’S CHURCH BELLS

St. Andrew’s Day is on Wednesday 30^th November and this year is a particularly special occasion as it provides an opportunity to celebrate the 300^th anniversary of the bells in the church. A complete ring of six new bells was cast by Abraham Rudhall II of Gloucester in 1722 (although the tenor bell was recast in 1890 and again in 2003).

To mark this historic occasion and celebrate three centuries of the bells providing the background music to the rich tapestry of parishioners’ lives, the following events are planned:

26^th November – 4^th December: A display about the history of the bells and ringers in St. Andrew’s Church. You will be able to read about

Rev. Barnabas Alderson – ‘the singing vicar’ from 1722 – (a very naughty vicar!)
The time the ringers got locked out of the church in the 1830’s because of concerns about drunken revelry
17^th, 18^th and 19^th century neglect of the church – ‘our parish church is all fallen down to ye ground, Tower and all’!
Bell ringer and first-class cricketer, Rev. Charles Gough Littlehales from the 1930’s
The bell restorations of 1890, 2003 and 2021
And much, much more.

26^th November: A full “peal” of 5,040 changes will be attempted from 10.30 a.m. for the first time since 1986. Following this there will be an open session for visitors from 1.30 pm -3.00 pm. This will be an opportunity to see the bells in action, have a go (under supervision) if you wish and ask any questions that you might have. Some of you might even have your own recollections about the bells that you can share. Tea and coffee will be available, and you can also browse the history display.

30^th November: Local ringers will ring a quarter peal before the service at 7pm for St. Andrew’s Day and of thanksgiving for the bells – everyone welcome. During the service, the Platinum Jubilee Cross will be dedicated [the cross was made specially for the Queen’s 70^th anniversary as monarch in June 2022 by two of our parishioners: it re-used old timbers salvaged from the remainders of the porch gate].

We do hope you will be able to share in the celebrations for this historic occasion.

Nick Chapman (tower-captain) & Yvonne Chapman (history department!)

The Porch, its gates and the Platinum Jubilee Cross

‘RE-USE, RECYCLE, RESURRECT!’

The photograph left shows the porch at St. Andrew’s as it looks today – a little sad and in need of restoration. Whilst the formal process of enabling this restoration to take place is well advanced and the job of raising the necessary funds is underway [but sadly still well short of what is needed], the journey of exploring the porch’s history has been a time consuming although interesting one.

This photograph from 1961 [of Margaret (Peggy) Davies] is the best one we have to show-case the heavy oak gates on the porch that village elders remember. Other wedding photographs collected for a Platinum Jubilee Exhibition, indicate that the gates were removed some-time between 1967-71. We are told that they were often pegged back although they needed to be shut when sheep were grazing in the church yard!

Fast forward to around 2020 and all that was left of this distinctive entrance feature was part of a single gate, decaying in the churchyard shed.

As part of the research to ascertain the porch’s historical significance [needed to obtain the necessary legal permission or ‘faculty’ to restore it] the decaying wood from the gate was laid out like a particularly tricky jigsaw to check what might be salvaged.

Anthony (Tony) Cramp, from Church House kindly agreed to use his practical skills and creative talents so as to reconstitute a panel from the gate. This gives us (and indeed the church architect) a record of what has gone before. This re-constituted piece – heavily doused in treatment for woodworm – is on display in the church alongside the architect’s plans for the restoration of the porch.

This left us with a jumble of bits and pieces, many crumbling away. One of our number had the brain-wave that a rustic cross could be made for the altar when the ‘silverware’ is not in use. As if by divine intervention, four of the remaining pieces were exactly the right proportions and needed no extra shaping. Tony, however, performed a small miracle in ‘invisibly stitching’ them together, as well as treating and cleaning the timber, but as the wood was pointed at the bottom it would not stand upright without some modification. The picture left shows that the cross looked beautiful, but given its weight, carrying it around looked rather like a one person Passion Play as it was best hefted up against your shoulder!

Rather than destroying this feature in the original wood, we sought the advice of David Lloyd of The Butts Cottages about making a metal stand that would keep the cross vertical. Having given David a garbled specification together with the pious hope that it might be ready for the Queen’s Jubilee, we left him to ponder potential solutions; this was a real challenge given that the cross is so heavy. Several weeks later, David’s skill in metal work was apparent for all to see when the cross appeared back in my hall. Like Tony before him, David had done an excellent job – this time in creating a sturdy and yet delicate and aesthetically pleasing base which held the cross firmly upright.

The beautiful cross was proudly in place on the altar of the church for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June 2022. It was much admired by the many parishioners who came to the bell ringers ‘open session’ and to view the display of Allensmore photographs and memorabilia during the Queen’s lifetime. Our final picture shows how the cross complements the woodwork of the communion table.

In our sustainability-minded times, we can truly take pride that our local crafts-people have RE-USED and RE-CYCLED to make this splendid new addition to St. Andrew’s. However, given its core purpose, perhaps the last word needs to be RESURRECTED!

Yvonne Chapman (Allensmore History Matters)

Allensmore History Matters: Allensmore during the Queens Reign

In celebration of the Queen’s 70 years on the throne, a display has been put together of photographs as well as recollections of people, places and events in Allensmore during the Queen’s lifetime. The display will be on view in St. Andrew’s church from Thursday 2nd June until 4th June. On the morning of 5th June it will move up Church Road to Little Village Farm (HR2 9AF), ready for viewing during the Queen’s Platinum Picnic, which starts at 2.00 p.m.

We do hope that you will be able to come along to see the display – one of the highlights being photographs of many of the brides and grooms who have married at St. Andrew’s.

Why not combine this with a ‘bring your own picnic’ to little Village Farm? The church bells will also be ringing from 2.00 p.m. on 5th June – you might like to start at the church and see the ringers in action before strolling up the road to Little Village Farm for an afternoon of good company and celebration of the Queen’s reign.

ALLENSMORE HISTORY MATTERS

It was a pleasure to see nearly 40 people come to the village hall on Friday last to hear the talk on ‘Education in Allensmore from 1824-1957’. As with the informal get together in July, we were particularly delighted to welcome past pupils, including a couple who were not there at the summer session. We heard about the evidence for early charity schools in Allensmore and the transition from voluntary education to a national system after the 1870 Education Act, which led to the building of a school in Allensmore (now used as the village hall). However, this transition did not go smoothly due to the terms and conditions laid down by Evan Pateshall, who gave the land for the school in 1871. We read the heated exchanges that took place over who would have control of the new ‘Board’ school ….. and thought that our modern politicians do not have a monopoly on inflammatory language! The evidence from the National Archives at Kew had also revealed lots of interesting correspondence at the Board of Education about what to do when the school was failing its inspections between 1910-20; some of the internal memos would not have been out of place in the old television programme ‘Yes Minister’! We heard about the recollections of pupils at the school in the 1940’s and 50’s and then found out what happened between 1957-60 before the school was officially handed over to the community for use as the Pateshall village hall.

The services of Pam, Brigitte and Dorothy in serving refreshments was much appreciated, as was all the help from those who put the furniture away at the end of the evening. Yvonne Chapman, the speaker for this event, would also like to thank everyone for the lovely flowers – they have pride of place in her lounge.

The next ‘Allensmore History Matters’ event will be after Christmas; this will probably be another informal get-together over a ‘cuppa’, when different people can chat about by-gone days. If you have any topics that you are particularly interested in, do let Yvonne know [01432 806 414].

ALLENSMORE HISTORY MATTERS

27^th Sept 2019, 7-9.00 p.m. – final reminder

The third meeting about local history will take place on Friday 27^th September, from 7.00-9.00 p.m. in Pateshall Hall. There will be an entrance fee of £3 to include ‘half-time’ refreshments. The session this time will be a talk about education in Allensmore covering the period 1824-1956 when the school closed, then a little about what happened during the next three years, before the building became the village hall. There will also be a display of some of the evidence that has been found including a lovely photograph of the pupils taken on May Day 1901 (it would be great if more photographs come to light – of the school and/or Allensmore generally! Bring them along and Nick will scan them onto the computer.)

If anyone else if prepared to help Pam and Brigitte on refreshment duty, this would be much appreciated [Yvonne’s number is 01432 806 414)

We look forward to seeing you there and exploring the story of schooling in the village. If you have any topics of local history that you are interested in exploring, then we would like to hear about them.

‘ALLENSMORE HISTORY MATTERS’ – NEXT SESSION

27^th SEPT. 2019, 7.00-9.00 p.m., IN PATESHALL HALL

‘Allensmore History Matters’: Following the very successful get-together in July to talk about Allensmore Village School, we will be having a follow-up session on Friday 27^th September 2019, from 7.00 – 9.00 p.m. in Pateshall Hall (on the A465). There will be an entrance charge of £3 to cover room hire, refreshments and any other expenses.

This meeting will be a talk about ‘Education in Allensmore 1824-1957’ and will include newly found material on:-

19^th century schooling in the village
Documents from the National Archives in Kew – kept under wraps for 50 years – until being opened for research purposes
What happened when the school closed in 1957 up to it becoming the village hall in 1960

We look forward to welcoming you on 27^th September, to find out about the story of education in Allensmore. As before, we would be particularly delighted to see any past pupils of the village school. If you have any old photographs of the school or of Allensmore generally, please bring them along or give Yvonne Chapman a ring on 01432 806 414

ALLENSMORE HISTORY MATTERS

We were delighted that almost fifty people attended the get together last Friday with the main topic of conversation being’ Allensmore Village School’. It was a particular pleasure to welcome thirteen past pupils who shared memories of their school-days in the time before the school closed in April 1957. We traced the journey of education in the village before the ‘Board School’ was built on the site of what is now the village hall; we looked at a copy of the 1870 plans for the current building and thought about how it had changed over the intervening years; finally, we heard what the inspectors had to say about the school in their last report from 1956 (the lack of running water and electricity were noted!) The display of information about the school generated a lot of interest ….. but we are still exploring, so if anyone has any further information or photographs please contact Yvonne Chapman on 01432 806 414. Similarly, if you want to find out about a particular topic of local history, do let us know.

All that talking and listening proved once again to be thirsty work, so we are grateful to the ‘behind the scenes’ crew who materialised with the tea trolley (take a bow – Pam Edwards, Bridgette Ratcliffe, June and Steve Jonigk) and also washed up all that crockery. Thanks also go to Tony Edwards and others too numerous to mention, who helped put the furniture away. Finally, Nick Chapman has been indispensable on the IT and admin front – laminating, scanning and generally doing all the 101 things needed to help make the evening a success. Thank you all!