Wimborne Minster Celebrating 900 Years
Parish Magazine No. 408
July 2020
Working on safety procedures to enable part of thehave Minster to open private prayer. e churchwardens been working onfor safety procedures to enable part of
The churchwardens have been working on check safety procedures enable part of the nster to open for private prayer. Please with the to Weekly News for deta Minster to open for private prayer. Please check with the Weekly News for details, ook on the Minster website. or look on the Minster website.
ile theWhile Minster is closed we we can continue toworship worship together by joining the Minster is closed can continue to together by joining Morning and Evening Prayer on Zoom Video Conferencing Evening Conferencing Morning and Morning Prayer:Prayer 8.30on amZoom MondayVideo to Saturday am Monday to Saturday Morning Prayer: Evening Prayer:8.30 5.00 pm every day Evening Prayer: Holy Communion: 9.30 Sunday 5.00 pm am every dayand Wednesday 11.30 Praise: 11.30 am 2nd and 4th Sundays
Holy Communion:
9.30 am Sunday and Wednesday
• You can Praise: either download the App go through theSundays internet. 11.30 11.30 amor2nd and 4th • You will need to create an account with a password. • Please share a screen with members of your the household to minimise You can either download the other App or go through internet. feedback. You will toView create with a password. • Inneed Gallery you an can account see screens for everyone participating. • share Please mute your audio are not the speaker. Check you have Please a screen with when otheryou members ofmain your household to minimise audio enabled when you want to speak, and video if you want to be seen. feedback. • Logon early and you will see/hear anyone else who arrives. That way you get a In Gallery Viewtoyou can see screens for and everyone moment check everything is working get help participating. if you need to. Join Minster Meeting linkthe on the Minster websiteCheck you hav Please mute yourZoom audio wheneither you via arethenot main speaker. or ID: 883 2976 1518
audio enabled when you want to speak, and video if you want to be seen. areand unable to will access Zoom from a computer, listen and be heard LogonIf you early you see/hear anyone else you whocan arrives. That way you ge via any telephone by simply dialling-in on 0203 481 5240. An automatic moment to check everything is working and get help if you need to. response will ask you for the current meeting ID which is 883 2976 1518#. Press a second time when asked, and you will connected! is worth finding Join#Minster Zoom Meeting either viabethe link onItthe Minster website the MUTE button on your phone so 883 that you can1518 mute yourself and not just rely or ID: 2976 on the host of the meeting.
you are unable to access Zoom from a2computer, you can listen and be hea
and toothbrushes. Any help is very much appreciated. There are donation bins in the Coop and in Waitrose. Donations can be made by bank transfer: A/C Name: Faithworks Wessex, Sort Code: 40-52-40, A/C No: 00015300, Ref: Wimborne. Thank you for your support. - Sue
Thank you all so much for your continuing generosity. Stock levels at the Food bank are good despite a rising demand, up 80 - 90% on last year. At the moment we are in need of small bags of sugar, tinned potatoes, rice pudding, shampoo, washing up liquid, small boxes of washing powder
For updates on latest needs, please see the Foodbank’s Facebook page.
THE MINSTER
FL WER FESTIVAL
One of the highlights of the Minster’s 900th anniversary celebrations was to be the Flower Festival, due to take place in September. Due to the pandemic, the lockdown, and the knock-on effect, we have had to make the very difficult decision to postpone the event. It is likely that the event will not be held until 2022; the weekend of 2nd to 5th September that year has been reserved in the Minster diary but do watch this space in case of any changes. There could well be other celebrations in 2022; all being well it will be Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. We are sure that many will remember the Flower Festivals we held to mark the Queen’s Golden (2002) and Diamond (2012) Jubilees. The publication of the 900th anniversary commemorative brochure remains on hold.
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Contact details Rector
Canon Andrew Rowland 01202 882340 rector@wimborneminster.org.uk
Churchwardens Mr Peter Cook 01202 885470 peter-churchwarden@wimborneminster.org.uk Mr Andrew Patrick 01202 886871 andrew-churchwarden@wimborneminster.org.uk Assoc. Priests
The Revd Suzie Allen 01258 840668 suzie-assocpriest@wimborneminster.org.uk The Revd Bill French 01258 841061 bill-assocpriest@wimborneminster.org.uk The Revd Heather Waldsax 01202 884753 heather-assocpriest@wimborneminster.org.uk The Revd Elise Harding 01202 884775 elise-assocpriest@wimborneminster.org.uk
Organist
Mr Colin Davey 01202 884753 organist@wimborneminster.org.uk
Vergers
Mr John Hughes 01202 884753 john-verger@wimborneminster.org.uk Mr Ashley Coombs 01202 884753 ashley-verger@wimborneminster.org.uk
Admin. Assist. Mrs Donna Gosney 01202 884753 adminassist@wimborneminster.org.uk Parish Secretary Mrs Jane MacCaig
01202 884753
The Parish office is open Monday-Friday, 10am-12 noon, phone and email enquiries only, please. parishoffice@wimborneminster.org.uk www.wimborneminster.org.uk http://fb.me/TheMinster1
@TheMinster1
Parish Magazine publication details Co-editors: Rosalind Jensen and Barry Gibbs. Please send articles and information, by email if possible, to parishmagazine@wimborneminster.org.uk or leave in the “J� pigeonhole in the church. Copy deadline for AUGUST issue: Thursday 16th July. For advertising information, contact the e-mail address above or phone Barry Gibbs on 01202 054407
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Dates for your diary – July Thursday 2nd
Visitation of the Virgin Mary
Friday 3rd
Saint Thomas the Apostle
Sunday 5th
7.30 pm Greenbelt Group virtual meeting:
‘No Justice, No Peace: Religion and Protest’.
Sunday 12th
Sea Sunday
Wednesday 22nd
Mary Magdalene
Thursday 25th
Saint James the Apostle
Remembering anti-slavery campaigners
On 30th July, the Church of England remembers William Wilberforce (d.1833), Olaudah Equiano (d.1797) and Thomas Clarkson (d.1846), antislavery campaigners.
Wilberforce’s life is wellknown. Equiano puchased his freedom from slavery, lived in London and was part of an abolitionist group composed of Africans living in
Britain. His powerful autobiography depicted the horrors of slavery. Clarkson continued to campaign for the abolition of slavery worldwide to the end of his life.
Greenbelt Group on-line meeting, Sunday 5 July 7.30 – 9.00pm. Christianity has had a complicated relationship with both black oppression and black liberation. The Bible has been used to justify slavery but has also been the script of the civil rights movement. ,Which side do US and UK churches sit? What role do they have now in the fight for racial justice? Join us to listen to and discuss a BBC recording, ‘No Justice,
No Peace: Religion and Protest’, a thoughtprovoking conversation chaired by Chine McDonald, Greenbelt trustee, with the Rev. Canon Broderick Greer, Canon Precentor at Saint John's Cathedral in Denver, Robert Beckford, Professor of Black Theology at The Queen's Foundation, and other guests. All welcome. Zoom meeting ID 842 0804 3698. Password 384539
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Praying for the Minster and the Northern Villages, Wimborne and the world
Prayer cycle for July 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Our Rector Those in training for ministry The OASIS group; the widowed The Lunch and Chat team The Society of St Francis at Hilfield Wimborne Deanery; Rural Dean Wimborne Town Council Dorset County Council Christian Aid Victoria Hospital; Streets Meadow and Stoneleigh homes Our Associate Clergy Parish Office staff The Mothers’ Union Housegroups: prayer and study The Bible Society Staff of the Diocesan offices East Dorset Heritage Trust
18 The police, PCSOs, the Probation Service 19 The Sudan Medical Link 20 Ambulance services, paramedics and firefighters 21 Churchwardens 22 The shop manager and volunteers 23 PCC members 24 The Chained Library: custodians, volunteers 25 The MARS Trust 26 Diocesan links with Evreux and Latvia 27 The Citizen’ Advice Bureau 28 New housing developments 29 Wimborne Dementia Action Alliance 30 Wimborne First School 31 A cause dear to your heart,
Please use this diary as a part of your own prayers. In this way we can pray together as a parish for our common concerns.
SEA SUNDAY (Sunday 12th July)
to their locked-down home country. The Mission has been reaching more seafarers digitally, delivering care packages, and supporting families, as well as acting as advocates, even though access to docks and ships is restricted for safety reasons.
On Sea Sunday (Sunday 12th July) we celebrate the work of seafarers and of the Mission to Seafarers. The Mission (one of the Minster’s charities) supports seafarers, helping them contact family, or deal with the trauma of piracy and shipwreck, loneliness and fatigue. This year in particular there are seafarers isolated for months at sea, or unable to leave their docked ships or to return
Find out more at: https://www.missiontoseafarers.org.
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“...He will wipe every tear from their eyes” Dear Friends - we don’t really know what tomorrow will hold. Some days, time passes slowly and the day can feel mundane and tedious, while on other days we may have the joy of a loved one’s phone call or a pleasant surprise. But at other times, life can be gruelling, agonizing even, and the days feel never-ending. But despite life’s unpredictable ups and downs, we can still be securely grounded in God’s peace - because we know the end of the story. We know who ‘wins’. Chapter 20 in Revelation, the Bible’s final book, lifts the curtain on that spectacular finale. After the final defeat of death and evil in chapter 21 John describes a beautiful victory scene: [1] Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first
earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
[2] And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from
God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
[3] And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
‘See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be
his peoples, and God himself will be with them;
[4] he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and
crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.’
On difficult days, we can cling to this promise. No more loss or weeping. No more what-ifs or broken hearts. Instead, we’ll spend eternity together with our Saviour - and the other saints who have gone before us. What a glorious celebration that will be!
Reverend Elise Harding
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Welcome two new curates We welcome our two new curates, Nick Wells who will be based at the Minster and Sharon Boyle who will work in the Villages. Nick and Sharon were licensed on 28th June. Sharon says: “I live in Colehill with my husband and two teenage children. Prior to the call to ordained ministry, I worked in adult and paediatric nursing both here and abroad, before moving into health and social care. For the last year, I have worked as a teaching assistant at a school for children with special needs and will continue to do this part time, being passionate about having a ‘foot in the world and a foot in the church’. Following a new rural ministry ordination pathway at Sarum College brought me to the villages two years ago, it is a privilege to continue serving here into my curacy.”
Nick studied theology and youth and community work at Moorlands College, graduating in 2003. He has worked as a professional youth worker in a variety of settings since then, most recently working for Bournemouth YMCA whilst completing a MA in theology at Sarum College in Salisbury after following a call to ordained ministry. Nick is married to Rev Ruth and they have three children Esme, Eden and Etienne. In his spare time Nick enjoys reading, spending time with his family and writing music. Having you been sorting out old photos in lockdown? Do you have special memories of events and people at the Minster decades ago? We’d love to hear your stories!
Furzehill Sunday School
There may be a small number of the current Minster Family who remember the Furzehill Sunday School. This was held in what was called the Furzehill Mission Hall, part of the Minster Ecclesiastical parish, and was situated on the right-hand side as you climb the hill into the village of Furzehill, just before the large bend. Sunday School was held there weekly with 20 plus attending and other services were also held on a regular basis. The Sunday School was formed circa 1946 by Mrs Mollie G W Large (no one in the Minster dare call her Mollie) and Mrs Catherine Vine and it continued until the late Sixties. The picture, taken in 1966, show Mrs Large standing to the
rear and Mrs Vine playing the piano. There will be a few more of the Minster family that remember that duo, both somewhat formidable ladies! Regular attendance at Sunday School was not only expected but achieved, with awards given for 100% attendance to many of the young people. A small but important part of the life and history of the Minster a few decades ago. Francis Vine
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Update on the Minster electrical work Bruce Jensen, Deputy Churchwarden
As the lockdown has eased slightly, the churchwardens have brought in contractors to complete building work in the Minster. The work has four components:
the opportunity to use the lighting in different ways - for tourism, for services, for concerts - they will return to make adjustments and complete the work.
• All lighting replaced and enhanced; • All electrical wiring replaced and enhanced; • A new audio-visual system with fixed remote-controlled cameras, video mixing station and large TV screens; • Minster-wide wifi.
Our IT supplier Azera Technology installed the wifi and Wimborne’s own Dacombes is supplying the AV system. More information about the changes in the church will be published in future issues. Hopefully we can all soon have a chance to see it!
As this issue goes to press, the work is almost completed. The Minster is now attractively lit and has a 21st-century electricity supply. The wifi and video system will be used for, among other things, broadcasting services from the Minster as we partially reopen, when many of our parishioners will need to stay in isolation.
Above you can see some old wiring that has been removed: electric cables in old churches were often enclosed in pipes, as a safety measure so that they weren’t chewed by mice or rats. The lighting is designed by a specialist firm, Lux Lucis, to bring out the beauty of the building and be adaptable to specific purposes. After we have had
Above: New uplighting shows off the ceiling beams (North Transept).
Lockdown Diary Barry Gibbs The gradual release from lockdown since last month’s issue has seen some welcome changes in Wimborne’s progress towards returning to normality.
Shops are opening again! We are now seeing clothes shops, jewellers, photo shops and WH Smith adding to the food shops open since the beginning of lockdown. It has been interesting to observe the various ways retail outlets have gone about the distancing inside their premises.
Gullivers has introduced an innovative system, with six people in at a time, customers being given the option of hand sanitising or wearing disposable gloves. You are encouraged to stay no longer than 10 minutes, but books can be perused with this method without having to be quarantined. We particularly liked the instructions set with
the background of a Penguin Book cover! Reopening can be managed with imagination and creativity. Take-away meals from pubs and restaurants have increased with Rimjihm’s Indian and Nepalese restaurant and The Coventry Arms both now offering a varied menu for delivery or takeaway, joining The Olive Branch, Minster Arms, Café in the Square, and others.
Dorset Council has been filming around the county for a promotional film about the reopening of small local businesses. Victoria Sturgess at Black Pug Books was nominated to be part of the project, which will be released on social media: keep an eye out!
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Away from the retail sector another significant opening has happened this month - Wimborne First School’s handsome new building on the Badbury Reach development has now opened its doors to students for the first time, with Reception and Year 1 pupils and children of key workers . It was a welcome sight to see traffic controllers back in position at the beginning and end of the school day. Through lockdown, Allenbourn students have been set lessons online using Google Classroom. While Year 6 and key-worker children are now at school in a set of carefully planned ‘bubbles’, other Years are continuing their GC lessons, including art and PE. In their first week back, Year 6s planted a rainbow of flowering plants in pots, while the vegetables in the new trough continued to flourish (see photo next page top right, from the school’s Facebook page). As many people have abandoned their holidays and are turning their attention to their homes and gardens, local landscape and
the wider gatherings we miss, colleagues meeting up in worker children are now at school in a set of carefully planned „bubbles‟, other whether in churches, open spaces, which works Years are continuing their GC lessons, including art and PE. In their first the Tivoli, fairs or week pubs and well when the weather is back, Year 6s planted a rainbow of flowering plants in pots, while the vegetables in restaurants - may they benevolent but has its the new trough continued todrawbacks flourish (photo from theIt school‟s Facebook return to normalpage). soon. in downpours! is As many people have abandoned their holidays and are turning their attention to their homes and gardens, local landscape and groundwork specialists are seeing a surge in their businesses. One such company reported quoting for 320 separate jobs in 10 days! groundwork specialists Of course one aspect of life we are missing is group are seeing asurge in their activities. The group of 6 rule has triggered many businesses. One such pockets of friends and colleagues meeting up in open company reported quoting spaces, which works well when the weather is for 320 separate benevolent but has its drawbacks in downpours! It is jobs in 10 days! the wider gatherings we miss, whether in churches, Of course one aspect of life the Tivoli, fairs or pubs and restaurants - may they we are missing is group return to normal soon. activities. The group of 6 rule has triggered many Barry Gibbs pockets of friends and
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Salisbury Cathedral Peregrine Falcons Neil Davies
In early May I listened to the Salisbury Cathedral broadcast on BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Morning Worship at 8.10am. This was to celebrate the cathedral’s 800th anniversary. At the end of the broadcast Bishop Nicholas spoke about the cathedral’s website and what one could find on it, such as a special service that they had put together celebrating 800 years, and also a virtual tour of the cathedral. I went on to find the tour, but instead found the Peregrine Falcon live streaming cameras.
For the last six weeks or so I have been dipping in each day to watch the progress of the family of chicks. It started off with four fluffy chicks covered in white down. This gradually changed over the following weeks until we now have full plumage and looking like the adult birds. I am no expert in these birds, but have been absolutely fascinated and I have learnt a lot about them. The female falcon is referred to as the Peregrine and the male as Tercel (sometimes Tiercel). The Peregrine is larger/ heavier than the Tercel by about a 1/3; she could weigh in at 1.3kgs. Wingspan is about 1.2 mtrs and .5 mtr long.
They are the fastest creatures on our planet and speeds reaching 250 mph have been recorded. They generally nest on mountain ledges or cliffs and look upon cathedral towers as mountain ledges! A number of cathedrals are homes to these raptors; Winchester also has live streaming and they have produced five chicks. Corfe Castle now has its first pair in residence since the 1980s. There are four chicks at Salisbury this year, three female and one male. The first egg was laid on Mothering Sunday. They have now all been ringed with two rings. (Sixty percent of youngsters don’t make it past one year of age, not good odds.) There was an online vote for their naming, from thirteen names which all have had a significant part in the history of the cathedral. The names chosen were Honor, Ela, Katherine and Osmund. Honor is named after Pope Honorius III, who gave permission for the cathedral to be built. So a female has his name! Ela is named after Ela Longespee, third Countess of Salisbury, who laid the cathedral’s foundation stone. Katherine named after Lady Katherine Grey, who is buried in the cathedral. Finally, Osmund is named after St. Osmund, the second Bishop of Salisbury or Sarum as it was known. The construction of the new cathedral was started a century after his death, but he was responsible for the building of Old Sarum. Osmund was the first of the chicks to fly and it is assumed that the others have also done so, as trying to spot them is difficult now. The nest, which is a box full of gravel, is provided by the cathedral staff and is on the south side of the tower just where the pointy bit starts! There has been nesting in recent years since 2014, but in 2018 there was a stando between two peregrines, so no nesting happened. An adult (not sure if it was mum or dad) could be seen sitting on the chicks and also feeding them with prey. I won’t go into the gory detail of that, but full PPE will be needed when clearing up all the discarded bits of body and feathers etc...
It has been a fascinating and educational experience and I plan to watch again next year. There are also YouTube videos available. If you have your computer sound on, you can hear the cathedral clock chiming and the wind blowing. I haven’t as yet got round to watching the cathedral virtual tour, having been distracted by these magnificent birds! Perhaps one of
the Minster towers could become a home for falcons. https://www.salisburycathedral.org.uk Nature Conservation Adviser to Salisbury Cathedral and local bird expert Granville Pictor discuss the conservation of peregrine falcons at Salisbury Cathedral, in a recent (June 20th) Youtube video https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=eq_sJLA2uy0
Minster makes Music Appeal As we have explained, like so many other activities the appeal has run up against the implications of coronavirus, which has forced us to put it on hold. We must wait to see how coronavirus gets on and how long these pressures remain, and we will also have to confirm timing with the organ builders. We are therefore not going to be able to move the appeal forward this summer. We may be in a better position to move the appeal forward by the autumn, and will at least know by then what the options are. We will be working to keep the appeal alive so that we can build on and develop that great start. A positive outcome of the present situation is that it gives us time to prepare. Do please let us know if there is any way that you would like to help when we move forward again. We should be delighted to hear from you, and also if
Minster Makes Music
you know anyone who might like to help us. If you have questions or suggestions, do please contact Andrew Curtis, Chair of the Minster Makes Music Appeal Committee, through the Parish Office (parishoffice@wimborneminster.org. uk). You will find more information on the website www.minstermakesmusic.co.uk.
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ryptic. I hope that I have made the clues gettable but interesting an elevant. The answers will appear in next month’s magazine . I thank my test solvers Georgina Norma for their help. All remaining erro Bruce Jensen Quickand Crossword re my responsibility. If you like this feature and would like to see mo This month, for the first time within living memory, the parish magazine is rosswords, kindlya crossword send your feedback to the usual not address. publishing puzzle. This is a 'quick crossword', a cryptic. I hope that I have made the clues gettable but interesting and relevant. - Bruce Jen I thank my test solvers Georgina and Norma for their help. All remaining errors are my responsibility.
ACROSS 1. Charming Dorset market town (8,7) 8. He painted "Dejeuner sur l'Herbe"(5) 9. Cuban dance with a Cuban spelling (5) 10. A party, a dance or a dinner; not for work (6,5) 13. Have a meal (3) 14. Possess (3) 15. Pandemic of 2020 (11) 21. Things from which something originates (7) 23. The wife of Abraham (5) 24. A principal river of Dorset (5) 25. Theatre in the afternoon (7) 26. Long shelf-life milk (Abbr.) (3) 29. Also (3) 31. "I will make you fishers of __." (3) 32. You can't hear without it (3) 33. To the max (9) 34. Unable to do the slightest thing (5) DOWN 1. This London stadium is the largest in England (7) 2. The original Minster was this type of institution (8) 3. The nerve that transmits sight (5) 4. Faster than snail-mail (5) 5. NHS worker (5) 6. Key ingredient in a salad with mozzerella and basil (8) 7. Berkshire town popular pastime (7) 11. This river runs through Salisbury (4)
12. “__, vedi, vici.” (4) 16. Mount with 4 US presidents’ faces (8) 17. Surroundings (8) 18. Christina who wrote the Bleak (8) 19. A type of drama that shows the past (7) 20. The one for Bournemouth is actually at Hurn (7) 22. False (6) 27. Witch’s spell (3) 28. The explosive Trinitrotoluene (Abbr.) (3)
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29. Where the golf ball sits (3) 30. Retire (Abbr.) (3)
Answers will appear in next month’s magazine . If you like this feature and would like to see more crosswords, kindly send your feedback to the usual address.
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07/11/2019 16:40
“In Quires and places where they sing” by Peter Cook
2 Reformation and Renaissance In compiling the prayer book of 1549 the services were formed out of the hourly Latin offices, the Church of England taking a “middle course.” Morning Prayer comes from the three ‘hours’ of Matins, Lauds and Prime and Evening Prayer from Vespers and Compline. Very quickly after the 1549 Prayer Book the task of compiling a musical version was entrusted to John Merbecke, Master of the Choristers at St George’s Chapel, Windsor. His book appeared in 1550 and was notated for priest and people; it became the authentic choral book of the church throughout the country, and is still in use in many churches today. Merbecke adapted the existing plainsong notation to the words of the new English liturgy, thus it was a melody only with no harmony. An anthem was usually sung at the end of the office and the words “In Quires and places where they sing, here followeth
the anthem” placed after the third collect were not added until the revision of 1662 (two years before the Minster organ was installed). Harmonies were added to Merbecke’s service by such composers as Thomas Tallis (of the Chapel Royal) and Robert Stone (who was from Appleton in Devon, educated at Exeter and later sang in the Chapel Royal. He lived to 97 and is buried in Westminster Abbey.) Other organ accompaniments were added by such as Robert Carter, Organist of St Paul’s Knightsbridge and Charles Spencer, Organist of St James, Lower Clapton. Certain collections began to be published after the reformation, especially for use with the new liturgy and with English texts rather than Latin. The first of these was by John Day in 1560, with contributions by Thomas Tallis. Very soon composers began to write special choral settings on the main parts of the office – the responses and the canticles – one of the first being by Thomas
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Thomas Tallis in a Victorian window from St. Alfege, Greewich
Causton, a gentleman of the Chapel Royal. One of Elizabeth’s first actions as queen was the establishment of an English Protestant church, of which she became the supreme governor. The Elizabethan Religious Settlement was to evolve into what we now know as the Church of England. The Queen’s tolerance in such matters is seen in her attitude to the composer William Byrd, a Roman Catholic known as the “English Palestrina”, who became a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in
1572. In around 1575 Byrd and Tallis were granted a Royal patent for printing music. There were many other talented composers such as William Smith (of Durham) (1603-1645) and Orlando Gibbons (15851625) both of whom wrote music which is still sung in the Minster and other churches and cathedrals. The Gentlemen of the Minster Choir sang the Byrd motet Viri Galilaei on Sunday 24th May at our Zoom service and the full choir sang an anthem by Orlando Gibbons on 31st May. Gibbons’ anthem This is the Record of John is often sung at the Minster Advent Service, and Evensong responses by William Smith are also part of the Minster Choir’s repertoire. In Wimborne, a Grammar School, known as Lady Margaret’s School, was established in the 15th century, to the south of the Minster. Teaching took place inside the Minster (Trinity Chapel), and the boy choristers could enter in procession by the South Door. Thus in a sense we can claim to have had a Choir School attached to the Minster. Lady Margaret School was established as Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in 1563. During this period the most important musical positions were those attached to Cathedrals and College Chapels. Printing was in its infancy and so these musicians wrote the
Choristers of the Chapel Royal in 1603
music for their own establishment, maintaining a living tradition of service to God which continues to this day. The parts for the choir were copied out by hand, with a separate book for each part. The cathedral was the centre of public musical life. The great musicians employed therein produced music for divine worship of a high quality, fitting for the worship of God. There was no place for “art for art’s sake” in a cathedral’s music as it was, and still is, a “visual aid to the message” (Ivor Keys). Most of the music was written a cappella (= ‘in the church’), i.e. for unaccompanied voices. Organs were not as elaborate as today and, of course, needed to be pumped by hand. Choral music suffered
under Cromwell’s Commonwealth but revived after the Restoration in 1660. The original Minster organ was built a few years later. Apparently whatever instrument was in the Minster before the Commonwealth was broken up and the metal used for ammunition! We will hear about some of these new developments next time.
Tenor part of music sung before the Civil War at Queen’s College.
Photo credits: https://www.choirschools.org.uk , choristers of Durham Cathedral; https://www.st-alfege.org, St Alfege, Greenwich; Wikipedia; https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/ news/discover-the-secret-history-of-books
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Book Reviews The Crossway
by Guy Stagg (Picador Books, 2018) A wonderful account of a journey taken by Guy Stagg, who in 2013 walked 51,500 km from Canterbury to Jerusalem . When he was 23, Guy had a nervous breakdown. He says, ‘Afterwards, I was frightened of the city, of lunchtime crowds and rush hour trains and the angry anxious streets.’ A year later he decides to follow an earlier pilgrim, Benoit Joseph (later canonised) and of course countless others. The book is full of the most wonderful detail of the people he meets, the landscapes experienced, many hardships and joys. Each evening he relies on the charity of strangers to give him hospitality. The reader is given wonderful accounts of saints, pilgrims, crusaders and revolutionnaries. As he strides through Macedonia we are told of Christian heresies, including the Bogomils, Manichaeans and the Paulicians. The Crossway is an account of an exterior and interior journey to find peace and healing. A journey to read in lockdown and maybe a physical pilgrimage for the adventurous. Patricia Orchard
Note from editors The last book that Alison Francis (see right) recommended ‘The Uncrowned Queen’ has, just to our knowledge, resulted in at least 3 people buying it.
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The Future We Choose Surviving the Climate Crisis
by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac (Bonnier Publishing, 2020) I guess that many of us are realising that the Covid-19 crisis is having an impact on our planet’s environment. It is predicted that global carbon emissions will drop by between 5.5% and 8% due to the shutdowns around the world. Yes, this is good, but we know it will come back up, and the shock it is causing to economics and people’s livelihoods is not desirable. There are better sustainable paths that can be taken to limit the temperature rise this century. This is all spelt out in the book The Future We Choose. It tells us that we have two alternative paths to follow over the next 30 years. We can continue along our present path of burning fossil fuels, sending greenhouse gases into the atmosphere or we can make the changes that will limit the temperature rise and stave off the worst effects of climate change The authors were both instrumental in achieving the UN Paris climate change agreement in December 2015 and all the work leading up to it, Christiana Figueres at the highest level. They paint a vivid picture of the two possible scenarios:
time for us to make changes, not just for our survival but also for a fairer world This review is coming from a member of MEG (Minster Environment Group), so you can expect me to enthuse about this book, but at the risk of being thought of as beating the same old drum, I think that EVERYBODY should read it – and so do others, including Ban Ki Moon! Alison Francis You can also watch Christiana Figueres’ TED talk ‘How we can turn the tide on climate’ at https://www.ted.com/talks/
1. The year is 2050. The world is on fire. The air is suffocating and deadly. Entire countries are under water’ 2. The year is 2050. The world is breathing. The air is fresh. Nature is thriving. Entire populations have a better life.’ The book maps out how we can follow the second path through tree planting on a huge scale, greening our cities, harnessing the power of renewable energy, strengthening communities, making changes to agriculture, reducing the need for travel and changing to electric cars for those who need them. The authors list 10 actions which we can all take to bring this about. I found some of these slightly surprising, but they are designed to make us see what is possible for us as individuals. A strong optimism runs through the book, but also an urgency that now is the
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