BATCOMBE
REP & DISTRIBUTOR: Johnny Gibbs jg@intramar.co.uk 83187
Photo: J Gibbs
View of the Wriggle Valley from Great Head, with autumn mists
Batcombe Church We plan to have the traditional Christmas Eve Children’s Carol service at Batcombe church at 3.00pm on Thursday 24 December, with mulled wine and mince pies. There will be some changes this year to ensure we are Covid-secure; final arrangements are yet to be confirmed but people will almost certainly have to book. Although no sung carols inside are possible, we will probably sing one in the candlelit churchyard at the end of the service. We hope that the traditional readings might be interspersed with music from our usual orchestra but, at the time of writing, this is still to be planned. Unfortunately, Covid restrictions mean 6
that we will not be allowed a Christmas Day service at Batcombe this year. Despite the scaffolding and the restrictions, we managed to hold a socially distanced service on 25 October. It was well attended with several friends from the Wriggle Valley and elsewhere. The Rev. Jonathan Herbert from the Friary officiated. At the Remembrance service held on 8 November in the churchyard in Yetminster, Andrew Graham read out the names of the fallen from Batcombe and the other parishes – Hilfield, Ryme Intrinseca and Yetminster. A solemn and physically distanced service but, under the gentle light of the Autumn sun, it was also a very moving one.
