Beer Hackett

BEER HACKETT REP: John Parker johnwincanton@gmail.com DISTRIBUTOR: Susan Ferdinand

Our annual parochial church meeting on 2 October marked the official end of Mrs. Veronica Crane’s 24-year service as our PCC treasurer. Following the meeting, Rev. Tony Gilbert presented Veronica with a hardback copy of ‘England’s Thousand Best Churches’ by Simon Jenkins, from our PCC in recognition and with grateful thanks for her long and loyal service. We are delighted to welcome our new treasurer Mrs Mengxi Gibson and thankful to her for taking on this role in our PCC.

In mid-October Mr. Nick Swann, an amateur video maker from Warminster, visited to make a video of St. Michael’s Church and grounds. Nick’s aim is to make records of old English churches in which he is interested, especially in Dorset. He had already made an excellent video of St. Peter’s in Chetnole (see the November issue) and we are similarly impressed with his results for us. Do have a look on Youtube https:// youtube/FJBu-ECA8dg.

Our Service of Remembrance on 8 November was cancelled and we were able to join the service at St. Mary Magdalene, Thornford instead. St. Michael’s was decorated with poppies and open as usual on Sundays (and Wednesdays) for private prayer.

Photo: John Parker

With sadness we realise it will be impossible to hold our traditional carol service in the usual way, with all the warmth and anticipation we usually share in a well-attended service. We are making plans to hold a socially distanced event outside on Wednesday 16 December at 6.00pm, which we hope will enable us to come together and enjoy looking ahead to Christmas. Please keep an eye on the website www. threevalleysteam.org and local posters for up to date information on our carol service and Christmas services. Thank you.

John Bingham

Friends of St. Michael’s

These are strange and difficult times and most of us will have been affected in some way by the Coronavirus epidemic. Sadly, the epidemic has caused Friends of St. Michael’s to significantly curtail its planned activities for 2020 and we have had to cancel the village party and jazz concert planned for June; suspend our village lottery (although we anticipate this recommencing in 2021); and defer our first AGM, which was initially scheduled for May 2020, then re-scheduled for September 2020, and is now planned for February 2021, probably via Zoom.

However, we’re still here. A big thank you to our membership for your continuing support, which is greatly appreciated.

Our website https://www. friendsofstmichaelschurchbeerhackett. org will continue to operate as a village resource and we plan to create a Message Board page for useful posts concerning Beer Hackett and surrounding areas. If you would like to make a post, please contact Olive Davison firemoon2015@ hotmail.com or John Trench john. trench2@btinternet.com

I started Rebel Book Club with a friend in 2015 when we realised we both suffered from what the Japanese call ‘Tsundoku’ – the growing pile of unread books on your bedside table. We both loved reading – especially nonfiction books about the world – but often found we didn’t get past chapter 3. We looked for a book club to join but couldn’t find one that felt like a good fit for us. So, we started our own – Rebel Book Club. The idea was simple, every month we would encourage and support each other to read one non-fiction book before meeting in an unusual place and enjoying a book-inspired cocktail. We would look at what lessons we could learn from the book and apply in our lives.

We’ve kept this routine up for 67 months in a row, and now have 1000s of members all over the world. We cover topics like nature, finance, gender, race, music icons, creativity and technology. I even now work on it as a full-time small business. Since the pandemic, I’ve been hosting online meetups with hundreds of members and authors, all from Beer Hackett. There is a library box of ‘rebel books’ in the Beer Hackett Church unlocked porch, available for those interested in something different to read.

If you – or someone you know – is curious by nature and likes to learn about new things then come and join us at rebelbook.club

What’s in a name? A series on the origin of Wriggle Valley Village Names. Number 3. Beer Hackett

The dictionary of British Place Names lists a ‘Bera’ dating from 1176 and a ‘Berehaket’ from 1362. The first part of the name is probably a derivative of the West Saxon ‘beara’ or Old English ‘bearu’, one of many in the South West called Beer(e) or Bear(e), meaning ‘grove or ‘wood’. Haket is probably a manorial affix, taken from a 12th century owner of that name.

The parish church of St Michael was rebuilt in 1882 (except for the tower) and seats 100 people, an expansive plan perhaps, anticipating perfect attendance or packed congregations for weddings and funerals, as the population of the entire parish, including Knighton, was about 85 persons around that time.

The parish registers date from 1549. They were transcribed by Edward Alexander Fry in 1896 and his small volume clearly has enduring appeal, as at least three further editions of his work have been published since, one as recently as 2017.

EA Fry bestseller? Original 1896 editionbottomright