2 minute read
Batcombe
REP & DISTRIBUTOR: Johnny Gibbs jg@intramar.co.uk 83187
Photo: Rufus Fox
Advertisement
Batcombe church repairs
One of Britain’s characteristics is the frequency, variety, beauty and value to the community at large of more than 13,000 churches. Each could tell a story or two, if only it could speak. Batcombe village church is no exception. It is thought provoking to think that while the size of the village has ebbed and flowed over the past 800 years, as inhabitants and houses have come and gone, yet the church building on the slopes of Batcombe Down, at the head of the Wriggle Valley, has stood and watched over momentous events such as the Black Death, the Reformation, the Civil War, the Glorious Revolution, the two World Wars and world-changing eras such as the Agricultural Revolution and Industrial Revolutions; and it will stand and watch as the Digital and Green Energy Revolutions run their course.
Churchgoer or not, and whatever one’s faith or none, Batcombe Church symbolises the community and belongs to everyone. The picture overleaf shows the scaffolding in place to allow architects and engineers to design a solution ensuring the future of the church building against the damage to the roof timbers caused by death watch beetle and damp – inevitable given the building’s situation and the prevailing wind and weather at the top of the valley.
2021 will see us embarking on the project to make the roof structure sound and ready for the next century or two; we hope that everyone in the community will feel able to help in some practical or other way to help raise the money to fund the repairs. Any advice or practical help from anyone in the Wriggle Valley would be very welcome.
Harvest Festival
Despite the scaffolding and the Covid-19 restrictions, we managed to hold a socially distanced Harvest Festival service in the bountifully decorated church with many people attending, both from the village and other friends from the benefice.
From the donations for the Harvest produce, we raised a worthy £80 for Ezo churches in South Sudan, which are doing vital, life-saving work promoting hand hygiene and distributing soap to local families and communities. Following the service, we enjoyed refreshments in the sunshine in the churchyard.
The Batcombe church lottery prizewinners were:
August 2020
1st No 49 Marion Fudge 2nd No 9 Sholto Isles 3rd No 13 Amy Sellick
September 2020
1st No 17 Harry Straughan 2nd No 37 Issy Graham 3rd No 59 Jamie Macpherson
Thought from the Rise of the Wriggle
'The love of gardening is a seed that once sown never dies.'
