We pray for all those who were in any way affected by the tragic events
in the USA on 11th September, and for those who are helping the survivors
and those who grieve to come to terms with what has happened. We also
pray for statesmen throughout the world, that they may be guided to do what
is right.
The bulk of this letter had been prepared before those events, and I decided that the best way I can honour those who died is not to let the terrorist's actions succeed in disrupting life any more than is necessary, so I am publishing this newsletter as originally intended. |
The latest newsletter is here
At this time of year the harvest is traditionally gathered - and hence the Harvest Festival at which we give thanks for God's gifts.
Produce was brought to the Harvest Festival service, and distributed to the
needy of the parish. Today few people would wish to be classed as 'needy'
and so for many years the distribution has been to the "elderly and those
in need". But in our parish we now ask that non-perishable items be
brought, these are taken to the county town of Guildford to a charity that
helps those who are setting up home themselves - typically moving when out
of a care regime.
Our village Harvest Festival service is always well attended, and in addition
to the Sunday service the children from the local schools come during the
week and hold their own Harvest Festival in the church.
In my last newsletter I spoke of the effects of foot and mouth disease. Fortunately the disease never got to Surrey, but we were still affected by all the precautions. Now that it is over in all but a few isolated places, things are getting back to normal in the country. Foot paths are open, and animals are once again grazing in the fields. My family have just come back from a week's holiday in Derbyshire - it was so pleasing to the able to walk across the fields, including through a herd of cows, from the cottage where we were staying to the pub in a neighbouring village.
Bagshot is not a farming area, there is a small farm on the Bagshot Park estate, but that is all. A further farm which was once on the parish boundary is now a golf course. Bagshot's traditional horticulture was market gardening and flowers. There are still many garden centres and nurseries in the locality.
Last year England suffered badly from flooding due to what seemed like
never-ending rain. The rain did eventually stop, and the summer has
been really quite pleasant. Recently (the end of September) we have
had a fair bit of heavy rain - and from the surface water that has resulted
I get the feeling that the underlying ground did not dry out much during
the summer and so flooding will again be a risk this winter for those living
in low lying areas. Fortunately Bagshot is not in a flood risk
area.
On a personal note, since the last newsletter I
have completed my four years as Churchwarden - which gives me a little more
time to do other things! As discussed
elsewhere the four year term is
a very satisfactory arrangement as it means that new Wardens can feel confident
that that are not taking on an unlimited commitment.
I was given a digital camera for my birthday and I have been using it to good effect populating my Millennium Disc project. I've walked miles and miles round the village (I am sure the exercise is good for me) and I think I have now just about met my objective of having archive pictures of every street in the village, and every area of the parish. I think I will have to use it to replace some of the older pictures in the web tour.
I had a very nice e-mail from a young lady who lives in London and, based on what she had seen on the site, decided to pay our area a visit and explore the local heaths. She has suggested that I expand the pictorial tour to include these areas - and I am able to report that I have done just that!
The last 'update' newsletter was at Easter, revisions to the web site since then are:
God bless.
Neil
The latest newsletter is here
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