Previous Newsletters

We had a very successful Harvest Festival this year. Reverting to the traditional evening time seems to suit people better. With an attendance of about 34, the church felt pretty full. It was, as ever, beautifully decorated. The days when the gifts of produce went to Romsey Hospital have long gone, but we send tinned and dried food to the“Scratch”project, to help feed homeless people in Southampton.

We have noted a problem with rising damp in the South West corner of the church. It seems that we shall have to install a French Drain around that part of the outside of the church to let water better drain away. This will probably be done next spring, but will be further expense to our already over–stretched budget.

Although only October, now is the time to let you know of the Christmas Service of“Carols by Candlelight". It will be held at 6pm on Christmas Eve. We tend to get pretty full, so please arrive a little early– unless you want to sit at the front! We usually tend to sing the“usual suspects”but if anyone has a particular carol they would like included, please let me know.

John Glasspool PCC Secretary and Churchwarden

Did you know there is a Care Group in the village? If you need a lift to your appointment with the doctor, dentist or hospital they are here to help.

New this year! They will also take you to your Flu Jab appointment at the Crossfield Hall.

Jane Finnimore: 368349
Mary Lees 368718

THE FRIENDS OF MICHELMERSH PARISH CHURCH

More than 80 people came to a wonderful Harvest Supper in Michelmersh Barns at the end of September and I believe that everyone, including the children and babes in arms, enjoyed themselves. Jane Finnimore's raffle stall raised £156 and ticket sales totalled over £420.The Rector acted as MC and was more than ably assisted by John Hunt who, in his usual ebullient way, took an active role in promoting goodwill. But the team led by Peta Hunt, who prepared and served the supper, were the real heroes. When one remembers that on that evening Peta had a member of her family in hospital and that her husband had an arm in a sling after a small operation we realise what an additional burden this responsibility was and we record our gratitude to her for taking this on.

On 20th November Jane Finnimore is going to talk in the barns at 7.30 pm about her search for Shangri – la. If you want to know where that might be you had better come and find out. If the past is anything to go by her pictures will be excellent.

Then on 24th December at approximately 8 pm Christmas Carols in The Barns with the Michelmersh Silver Band with Mince Pies & hot Punch (Donations for these would be welcome)

In the last 12 months The Friends have contributed in excess of £11,400 towards the upkeep of this beautiful old building and its work. Please support The Friends by becoming a member. Seek out Tom Robley on 368446 who will tell you about the subscription.

John Chambers. Chairman 368771

This charity has been in existence for many years now; ever since Timsbury Recreation Hut was sold. The capital was invested and a charity set up, for the benefit of the inhabitants of the parish of Timsbury (and Timsbury only, I'm afraid), with an aim of aiding recreation. It is up to the trustees to interpret how that is defined.

We are a small charity. Our income fluctuates according to the stock market, but is around £200 a year at the moment.

There are four trustees, two appointed by the Parish Council and those two then co–opt a further two. We usually meet once a year, but could meet more often if required. Currently the trustees are me, Catherine Baker, Clarissa Smith and Mark Watkinson.

Unfortunately, the sudden death of a previous secretary meant that all of the archive of minutes was lost. However, over the years the charity has helped with various projects, such as putting the slide on the Recreation Ground, carrying our modifications to it later when safety rules changed, grants to a children's group, the WI, and occasionally to individuals. As you can see from above, our income is not large, so we do not always make payments each year.

If you are an organisation, or person, that you feel could qualify, and you have a specific need, then please get in touch with me. We usually meet in February.

Dr John Glasspool–Secretary
01794 368017 email churchwarden1@btinternet.com

Last year 1.3 million shoeboxes were collected in the UK and sent to 13 different countries, we hope that we will be able to send as many again this year. Many of our local schools are participating again this year, so please take part and enjoy the experience of packing a special gift to send to a child this year. Full details are in the leaflets available at Michelmersh and Timsbury churches, and at Choice Plants, Timsbury. On Saturday 8 November there will be a coffee morning at Awbridge Village Hall 10 00 am – 12 noon to collect completed shoeboxes and donated items for the boxes. We are not holding a deanery service this year but boxes can also be brought to the United Benefice Service at Awbridge church on 30 November, at 9 30 am, and benefices in the deanery, have been invited to take their collected boxes to the Romsey Abbey Rooms on that same Sunday from 12 00 – 2 30 pm to be loaded into a waiting van, a soup lunch will also be available. For further information please contact Mary Savage 01794 367908 or savage@choiceplants.freeserve.co.uk, if you are interested in helping as a volunteer at the warehouse please contact Margaret Griffin email: margaret.griffin55@hotmail.co.uk.

Newcomers to the village can find the Village Directory very useful – but only if they receive one soon after they arrive! It is often only near neighbours who know when someone new arrives in the village. When this happens you can help by informing either: –

Alternately why not ask for a copy of the Directory so that you can deliver it yourself – A good way of making the first contact.

Dear Friends,

In a recent Radio Four Debate concerned with the ethics of the financial system, I was astonished to hear one of the contributors, a Christian theologian, state that“Money is the root of all evil.”Astonished because, he of all people, should have known that the phrase is a gross misrepresentation of the words of Scripture. The actual words of St. Paul, to be found in 1 Timothy 6.10, are:“the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.”It frankly does the Christian Faith no favours when one of its own theologians misquotes the careful teaching of St. Paul in this manner.

In order to avoid falling into this trap myself, I will put the sentence into its complete context, starting from 1 Timothy 6.6: Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."

When it comes to the affairs of high finance, I am a babe in the woods, but after nearly forty years of working with people, trying to share their joys and strengthen them in their sorrows, I think I can claim some knowledge of the human heart! It seems to me, from that experience, that St. Paul's words are as relevant today as they were when they were first written.“Godliness with contentment is great gain.”If, in recent years, those words had been the heading on every high street bank memo and every application form for yet another loan and on every agreement signed for a hire purchase deal, we might be in a different position today. Instead, people have been positively encouraged by the financial institutions to place themselves ever deeper into debt and the question has never been put,“Do you need this item, or do you simply hanker after it?"

When it comes to money itself, it is interesting to note St. Paul's words – he speaks of the love of money. Money itself is entirely neutral – a useful convenience to avoid the need to exchange goods. It is when people fall in love with money and pursue it for its own sake that trouble comes. The way the whole sentence is phrased suggests that, in St. Paul's view, money has become for these people an idol, their god. But how, ultimately, does this god deliver them? Some consider that money brings joy; that the celebrity lifestyle is to be emulated; that money will make this possible – failing to look beyond the surface to the horrendous personal lives of many celebrities.

Real joy comes from following Jesus. Indeed, the old Sunday School teaching manuals defined joy as: Jesus first, Others next, Yourself last. This brings us straight back to those opening words of St. Paul:“Godliness with contentment is great gain.”My personal prayer in this time of financial crisis, is that as a result of cutting back on personal spending many people will discover the truth of the statement.

Yours in the riches of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Bruce Kington, Rector.

Having an event at the end of October is not a good time to either report on it or advertise it! But we hope that the Forest Forge production of Stamping, Shouting and Singing Home draws a good audience, who I am sure will enjoy themselves. I do believe that some people think that, as this is a village hall production it is not 'real'. In fact the Forest Forge Theatre Company is a professional touring company, and you could go to the Nuffield Theatre (29th Oct to 1st Nov) and pay £18 to see the same performance that you would have cost you £7:50 (including a cup of tea and biscuit!) at the Jubilee Hall – hope you didn't miss the opportunity.

In my last report I completely forgot the very successful Village Barbeque, which this year was organised by the Hall Committee for hall funds, and what a big boost to funds it turned out to be, over £650 was raised. A really big 'Thank You' to all those who brought their umbrellas, gazebos, wellington boots etc. along to Roger and Jill Wilson's garden on a typical 2008 summer evening. Yes it rained, and did we notice, well – yes, but it would take more than that to drown the enjoyment everyone showed. Jane masterminded the raffle – every prize was a mystery in a very wet plastic bag! if you won one I hope it was just what you wanted!

To the future, there is a panel elsewhere in this issue with dates of all the forthcoming events; two more visits by Forest Forge, the Christmas Band Concert and the Viewfinders fund–raising evening. Although the hall is well used there is still spare capacity. If you know of anyone who is looking for a venue, either regularly or occasionally, please let them know about the Jubilee Hall. Ring Sarah Medley 368492 to have a look round or make a booking.

Kath Davis

Thank you on behalf of NCH (National Children's Homes) – Action for Children, to all those who contributed to the door to door collection in September. A total of £565.62 was given. Should your gift not have been collected and you wish to donate please contact Gordon Clewer on 01794 368092.

On Monday 8th September after a rather sunless summer we were treated to a visit to The Gardens and Villas of the Lakes in Northern Italy. Mr Thornton shared with us a lovely selection of summer photos taken over the last 10 years on his holidays to Italy.

With the mountains as a backdrop you can imagine the scenic photography was simply stunning. Many of the gardens had special features like the floating sundial in the Sigurta gardens of Lake Garda, the white peacocks of Isola Bella, Lake Como or the Kashmir cypress on Isola Madre also on Lake Como or the Olive Grove overlooked by the Prime Minister's Villa Taranto on Lake Maggiore. But most of them retained formal features such as neatly clipped intricate box hedges filled to the brim with begonias and marigolds that could be viewed from the terraces of the villas.

Near to Lake Garda are the public gardens created by Carlo Sigurta. He dug out the land to create huge lakes and ponds now filled with water lilies and on the top of one of the man made hills was a floating sundial surrounded by a profusion of beautiful yellow cana lilies.

Off the misty waters of Stresa on Lake Maggiore are 3 islands named after the Borromeo family who have owned them since the 12th century. Isola Bella's villa was started in the 17th century and was not completed until 1959. White peacocks and neat box hedges containing begonias, pink oleanders and red cana lilies and terraces complete the scenes at this garden whilst at the Swiss end of the Lake Isola Madre's garden is planted with eucalyptus trees and bougainvillea. A whirlwind hit the gardens in 2006 so the largest Kashmir cypress tree in Europe now has to be held up by ropes. Isola Superiore just in Switzerland had a banana garden and lovely statues of nymph like ladies. The Italians it seems like their formal planting though cypress trees, hibiscus, bougainvillea and oleanders together with Cana lilies, the Lotus flower and blue water lilies were also favourite photographic delights provided by Mr. Thornton.

Villa Serbelloni (Bellagio) on Lake Como had the most stunning scenery. It is owned by the Rockefeller foundation. There were lots of Cyprus trees tall and thin and then cones of clipped yews and an olive grove. Oleanders flowered beside the lake and as the garden was explored an explosion of colour burst out in a rockery planted with annuals. Also on Lake Como, Villa Carlota (Tremezzo) had a splendid citrus fruit framed arched walkway. There were some marvellous palm trees and a garden devoted entirely to cacti. The gardens of Villa Taranto on Lake Maggiore boast 20,000 varieties of plants and were designed by a Scotsman, Neil McEacharn, in 1931. The plant beds surrounding a three tiered oblong fountain were large blocks of colour and were like a piece of modern artwork. Yet another beautiful fountain in the gardens was surrounded by a bed of lotus flowers. The soil here was acid rich and ideal for the rhododendrons. The Villa itself is owned by the Prime Minister, and is therefore not open to the public.

Mr Thornton very kindly agreed to judge our competition of a 'Jug of Flowers from your own garden'. The 12 entries certainly brightened up the Jubilee Hall for our meeting and Mr. Thornton was impressed with all the collections of flowers on display. The winner was Sue Pritchett Brown who received a bottle of white wine for her jug which included fuchsias and salvia, 2nd was Grace White who had a beautiful collection of flowers in pinks and blues, 3rd was Wendy Thorpe for her jug of sweet peas and a Highly Commended went to Sue Holden 's charming jug of pink roses and foliage. Wendy Thorpe & PPB

"Let's Talk Orchids”was the title for Sue Robinson's talk to the Horticultural Society in October. 30 members and visitors enjoyed just that,“talking orchids". Sue had brought a wonderful display of orchids to illustrate her talk, they appeared in all sizes and colours – and yes, the members made short work of buying many of these at the end of the evening!

Orchids grow all over the world, with the exception of Antarctica and the middle of the deserts. They do their utmost to survive, even thriving on neglect. She demonstrated this by showing a plant which had been retrieved from the compost heap as it had developed a flower spike! Sue was delighted by a sample brought by a member, who had more or less given it up as a lost cause. Congratulations were in order it had a keiki, or baby!

There were obviously many orchid growers in the audience and many questions were raised, including dealing with lack of flowering (abandon it and see what happens), bud drop (either too much or too little water), splitting large plants and mealy bug infestation. Kath Davis

We now look forward to our next meeting,“A Victorian Christmas”on Monday 10th November. Visitors are welcome particularly as plans for their own festive season are no doubt being made!

Planning Matters
I saw in the news recently that as a result of the economic downturn one district council expected their income from planning applications to reduce. If I thought that this might translate into fewer planning applications for the Parish Council to consider, I was soon disillusioned. In August, the applications continued to arrive and the Parish Council Planning Committee met on two occasions to deal with these.

There was no objection to plans for the removal of a silver birch tree at the Old School House, Michelmersh; the erection of a single storey pavilion, summer house and swimming pool at Herons Mead; a retrospective application for a roof light at Oak Lodge, Rudd Lane and a new application for a single dwelling at Sunny Bank, New Road.

A further outline application for a replacement and an additional new dwelling at Blundells, Rudd Lane received an objection from the Council. The view was that the replacement dwelling was large in relation to the agricultural needs and that shoe&horning an additional house into the gap between the replacement dwelling and the neighbouring property was an over development of the site.

Decisions made by Test Valley Borough Council on planning applications included: a refusal to allow the change of use of land to garden at The Heritage, Rudd Lane; permission for the demolition of outbuildings and replacement with a new single storey extension at Church House, Manor Lane, Timsbury; a Certificate of Lawful Existing Use was granted for use of a holiday cottage as a dwelling at Cranford Farm and permission was given to demolish an extension and build a replacement at Church Corner House, Haccups Lane.

Tilebourne
Following approval by TVBC for the new access route into the Tile Works site, questions remained on whether a new stretch of bridleway had been taken and, if there were no vehicular rights over this new section what the consequences of this might be. The response to these issues from the Rights of Way Office at Hampshire County Council indicated that they were unable to tell if any new length of bridleway had been taken for the new access as the plans lacked sufficient detail and even if a new section had been taken, it was unlikely that any objection would be raised by the County Council. This did not seem to the Parish Council to be in line with HCC's duty to protect existing bridleways and the Parish Council has now written to Andrew Smith the Chief Executive at HCC and our own Councillor Michael Woodhall about the matter.

Sports Club Licence Agreement
Two Parish Councillors met with the Sports Club to talk over various matters. The Parish Council was told that the Club would welcome a longer term agreement for the use of the ground and buildings than they currently have. As a result, the Parish Council have agreed to look at this and have appointed two members of the Council ,with representatives from the club, to develop proposals to extend the Sports Club security of tenure for submission to the full Parish Council for consideration. The Parish Council also felt that they could support a transfer of responsibility for the buildings to the Club.

Grants to Village Organisations
The invitation in the last newsletter to village organisations to apply to the Parish Council for a grant got a nil response. There is still time so if your club would benefit from a grant please contact the Clerk for a copy of the guidelines.

Parish Council Meetings
The Council will meet on 26 November and then on 28 January 2009. Meetings are normally held in the Jubilee Hall and start at 7.30 p.m. Parishioners are invited to attend any meeting and may speak to the Council in the“Open Period”at the start of the meeting. Agendas for the meetings are posted on the Parish notice boards (at the Jubilee Hall and at the top of New Road) and on the village web site, www.michelmershandtimsbury.org .

Peter Buist
Parish Clerk
peterbuist@aol.com
01794 368061

On the morning of the 4th October, I and 25 other swimmers gathered at High Wycombe to attempt to complete a swim of one mile, every hour, for 24 hours.

The aim was to raise as much money as possible for research into treatment and a cure for Duchenne's disease, a particularly aggressive form of Muscular Dystrophy. This condition affects mostly boys, confining them to a wheelchair by their teens and claiming their lives in many cases before they reach adulthood. I knew little of the condition before I accepted the challenge, I now know families living with the disease, all of them desperate to find a cure. In the UK around 1,000 children are diagnosed with Duchenne's Muscular Dystrophy each year.

I found myself leading off the first wave of 12 swimmers and at 9.00am I entered the water. My biggest concerns were that the water might be too warm & most public swimming pools are maintained a few degrees above the optimal temperature for serious swimming.

My first mile was completed in just under 24 minutes. I was careful to eat a small snack and drink a litre and a half of mixed energy drink and water, a pattern that I followed for most of the 24 hours. After the 6th mile, swimmers started to complain of difficulty breathing and the first dropped out. As the day wore on, more succumbed to the chlorine, fumes and fatigue. I suffered too, at one point using an inhaler. I started to spend as much time as I could between swims at the open emergency exit doors to breathe fresh air. At this stage I was making a steady 25 minutes per mile and feeding and hydration were working well. Then, after 15 miles, as Saturday melted into Sunday, I found it increasingly difficult to eat anything. In the small hours my pace slowed and my times increased to 27 minutes then 29 minutes per mile. Thankfully, at around 5 a.m., my appetite returned and my speed increased. I completed my 24th mile in just over 24 minutes.

In all, only 6 of the 26 swimmers were able to complete the challenge, but it was the chemicals in the pool rather than fatigue that defeated them. In the days following the swim I suffered a“chemical peel", a bit like sunburn across my face, but otherwise recovered fairly quickly.

During the swim I drank more than 30 litres of fluid, ate around 15 sandwiches, a variety of cereal bars, several bananas and half a bucketful of Maltesers, yet still managed to lose over 3 kilos! I am enormously grateful also for all of the support that I have received and am very pleased to have raised more than £700 for Action Duchenne. Further information about this event can be found on&line at www.2swim4life.com

Rory Fitzgerald

As we edge inexorably into autumn and winter, the band's thoughts turn away from summer gigs in wind, rain and wellies, towards the winter contesting season, Remembrance Day and inevitably, Christmas too. We will, of course, be in St Mary's Church for the Remembrance Sunday service, having performed in the Memorial Park in Romsey earlier in the day. Rehearsal time at the moment is split between a programme for our 'ROMSEY REMEMBERS' concert in aid of the Poppy Appeal on 11th November, and preparing the test piece 'Laudate Dominum' for the South West Brass Band Federation Contest later in November. Our Training Band continues to flourish under the leadership of Jan Boler and will again be competing in the Wessex Brass Band Contest Youth Section in early December.

In the midst of all this we also have a very busy Christmas schedule to arrange. Sadly ticket sales for the annual Christmas Concert in the Jubilee Hall last year were very disappointing in marked contrast to previous years' capacity audiences. Please support this traditional village get&together this year, all proceeds are split between the band and the Jubilee Hall and it is always a relaxed and enjoyable evening for band and audience alike. If you cannot come to the Jubilee Hall there is no escape & you can still join us for our 'It's Christmas!' concert in the Plaza theatre! Christmas Eve will find us braving whatever the weather throws at us to come carolling around the village before we join everyone in the Barns for a VERY welcome glass of mulled wine and a mince pie and a good traditional Michelmersh carol singing session. Can you imagine Christmas without it? We certainly cannot and hope that despite the credit crunch you will dig deep to show your appreciation when the hat comes around as we look to our Christmas income to help us survive the year ahead. It is unfortunately a VERY costly business keeping both main and training bands going and we are very grateful for your continued support. We wish you all a peaceful and happy Christmas and New Year.

Claire Topp
Secretary, MSB

Saturday 18th October saw the triumphant return of the Bear and Ragged Staff Grand Pumpkin and Halloween Show which was enjoyed by one of the largest crowds seen at our annual show that has been running from 1968.The newly introduced Children's Halloween Fancy Dress completion proved very popular with 19 entrants. The carved and decorated pumpkins class also saw a large number of entries, many of a particularly high standard remarked the judge.

Phil Hutchins the Club Chairman, was very pleased with the evening and thanked everyone who turned out on a lovely clear night in support of this village event. The club this year was able to present a cheque for £250 to The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance Service.

The winners of each class were,
1. INTER CLUB CONTEST THE BEAR 664 LBS
2. HEAVIEST PUMPKIN MEMBERS JEREMY BARBER 282 LBS
3. HEAVIEST PUMPKIN OPEN RICHARD FREEMANTLE 277 LBS
4. HEAVIEST MARROW OPEN JEREMY BARBER 23 LBS
5. CHAMPION NOVELTY HOPGARDEN DAY NUSERY (flying saucer)
6. NOVELTY OVER 14YEARS BETHANY GEE (pencil case)
7. NOVELTY UNDER 14 YEARS BRYONY & SOPHIA LEGG (harry the hedgehog)
8 HEAVIEST PUMPKIN OPEN UNDER 14 YEARS SOPHIA LEGG 48LBS
9. NOVICE PUMPKIN GROWER OPEN J DAWSON 58 LBS
10. BEST JUDGED GARDEN PRODUCE RAY STONE (potatoes)
11. PRETTIEST PUMPKIN SUE BOWDITCH
12. UGLIEST PUMPKIN JEREMY BARBER
13. BEST LOOKING MATCHED PAIR OF PUMPKINS PAUL BURDEN
14. HEAVIEST AUSTRALIAN BLUE PUMPKIN CYRIL NIAS 15LBS
15. BEST CARVED HALLOWEEN PUMPKIN OVER 14 YEARS BARBARA HUTCHINS
16. BEST CARVED HALLOWEEN PUMPKIN UNDER 14 YEARS SALLY
17. BEST HALLOWEEN FANCY DRESS UNDER 14 YEARS BEN VAUGHAN (the wolf)

The Editor would like to express his appreciation & thanks to Jane Finnimore for Distribution. Every effort is made to ensure that diary details are correct when compiled but confirmation should be obtained from event organisers.

Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Editor

If any reader has knowledge of stories, anecdotes or the history of our village, the Editor of this newsletter would most appreciate hearing of them for possible future articles.

Please contact me on either 01794 368577 or mike.koscian@btinternet.com Mike