Falmouth & Penryn parish news

10:23am Wednesday 14th May 2008

FALMOUTH

MERCHANT NAVY ASSOCIATION: Following a well attended AGM, members voted for a revamping of the articles and decided on a new format of meetings.

The new format changes slightly at meetings in the future: Monthly meetings will continue on the last Friday of each month at Armyn House, but the major change is that we will run as a Merchant Navy Social Club.

Attendance at services and parades will continue as normal, but the new approach will enable members to enjoy more "lamp swinging time!"

Events: World War II Veterans Night to be held on the official government night of June 27, commencing at 7.30pm, David Roberts Chapel, with a service followed by buffet. Merchant Navy Day, September 7, 11am, Kimberley Park followed by traditional "tot" and buffet at Armyn House following the service.

An invitation to all guests who have attended functions in the past is extended to join once again. Families and friends of all members who have crossed the bar in years gone by are specially invited to be present on Veterans Night to hear the Roll called to those members who crossed the bar in the years wince we formed.

Trips to Camborne, etc have been confirmed and a date is awaited for the annual trip to Plymouth, who this year are granting the Freedom of the City to the Merchant Navy.

Any potential members are asked to contact John Bernard, 01326 211009 or 07818846571.

INNER WHEEL CLUB: This month the President, Jean Curnow, gave an interesting account of the Association Conference, which she attended in early April at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool.

During the conference addresses were heard from the President of International Inner Wheel, Kamala Ramakrishnan, Rotarian Alan Jagger, Emma Dawson, the Vice Chairman of Roteract in Great Britain and Ireland and from Association President Audrey Pollard. Audrey in her address hoped that her vast audience of over a 1000 members would leave the conference with a deeper understanding of the size and work of Inner Wheel worldwide, emphasising friendship, service and the promotion of international understanding.

She asked all the clubs who had supported the following motions, which had been debated and carried, to write to the relevant agencies: the NHS Postcode Lottery; the plight of young carers; organ donation; the treatment of dementia sufferers; unused drugs which are not permitted to be sent to the third world.

The association home service report listed a huge variety of fund raising efforts and over one million pounds was donated to GB&I charities. Over £349,000 was raised for overseas charities, together with an enormous range of gifts including 15,630 garments, 8,537 Christmas shoe boxes and over 1,000 layettes.

A cheque for £13,567 was presented to Helen Aikman, the representative for UNICEF and Joanne Trollope accepted a cheque for £23,024 on behalf of the RNIB. Another cheque for £9,020 was presented to Frank Carson, the comedian, on behalf of children with leukaemia. This last amount was the collection from the service, which opened the conference.

President Jean ended her talk by saying that she had thoroughly enjoyed the conference and that attending had helped her to understand the important role Inner Wheel played in the world.

At the business meeting, which followed, Hon Secretary Valerie Reilly read the minutes and dealt with correspondence.

Hon Treasurer June Furlonger was pleased to announce that the coffee morning held at the Penmere Manor Hotel raised £794 and that tickets for the Medical Maelstrom Concert, to be held at the Maritime Museum on Saturday, June 14 were almost all sold. Overseas organiser, Margaret Sanders, reported on the overseas rally held at Perran-ar-worthal, where Clive Hewitt gave an excellent talk about the Fistula Hospital in Addis Ababa.

The tickets, raffles and stalls raised a total of £604 and this amount was sent straight to the hospital.

Winifred Bennett said that the Falmouth Guide Dogs Committee had had a busy session at the King Charles Café and raised £221 for funds. Sheila Brown thanked members who helped during the Rotary Club's Stroke Awareness Day and said that 224 people had taken advantage of the opportunity to have a check up.

President Jean closed the meeting by reminding members that Rosemary Ball is organising a cream tea at her home on June 10 in aid of overseas charities.

Anyone who would like to have more information about Falmouth Inner Wheel Club telephone president Jean Curnow on 01326 573011.

WOMEN'S INSTITUTE: It was a pleasure to listen to Les Merton, poet, story-teller and broadcaster, who was born in Medlyn Moor and whose writings reflect the local dialect. He started writing in 1998 and uses phonetic language which he said helps to get the pronunciation right when reading aloud.

He is particularly fond of one of his books, Spirit of the King, which tells the story of the Cornish chough and how it returned to its native habitat and is thriving.

A number of poems and anecdotes were forthcoming which kept the members amused, including some imaginative pasty recipes such as the mouse pasty, a cure for bed-wetting!

After a number of questions, Heather Thomas thanked him for a fascinating afternoon.

ST MARY'S CHURCH: Sunday, May 4 was the first in the month of May which is the time for remembering Jesus' mother, Mary. This is of special importance to St Mary's church and to St Mary's school. For this reason, at the evening service the rosary was prayed, and also at midday on Wednesday.

During the week, parish groups continued their regular meetings. Junior circuit training was organised in the hall on Tuesday, followed by circuit training for adults.

On Wednesday morning the requiem mass was held for Violet Reeves, who died the previous week. The evening mass was said by Canon Richard Rutt. This was followed by choir practice in the church and the group studying the Catholic faith met in the presbytery. On Friday evening there was a get-together for the 15 young people who were confirmed on the previous Friday, with fun and games to celebrate the event.

On Tuesday, May 6, building work finally began at St Mary's school, to be completed in August. This has created problems for safe access for children and for car parking. A walking bus for children has been organised from Clipper Way, Boslowick and Alan Jefferies from the school travel awareness scheme visited the site. He provided the school with tabards to be worn for visibility and children were informed and drilled about the new access arrangements.

St Mary's school children have been involved in many local activities. Anna Freeman, Elwyn Kiszczuk, Gabrielle Gillow and Cormac Miller took part in the multi-skills festival at Penryn College. Ten children represented their school at Falmouth primary schools year four football tournament at Tregenver fields. They did not lose any of their matches and finished in joint second place on points.

On Saturday morning, parishioners were able to go to the Pentecost family fayre and celebration organised by Churches Together in Falmouth at the Methodist church on the Moor. On Saturday evening after the evening mass at St Mary's church, prayers continued until 9pm in preparation for Pentecost. March 11 was Whit Sunday and at St Edward's, Mawnan Smith, there was coffee, light refreshments and crafts and home made cakes to celebrate the church's successful history, since it was opened in 1964. From June, there can be no Sunday mass at St Edward's church.

At St Mary's church, Sunday mass was a truly international celebration suitable for Pentecost, with representatives from many nations. After the ceremony, baby Kinga was brought by her parents Artur and Joanna Osyka from Poland, for a special blessing in preparation for baptism.

ALL SAINTS' PARISH CHURCH: Pentecost, one of the three great Christian festivals, was celebrated with a family parade mass.

Members of the uniformed organisations, together with family and friends were present. Although less celebrated than hitherto (by reason of bank holiday change), its importance to Christians cannot be overestimated as it represents the birth of the church.

The mass began with the hymn Thou whose almighty word, during the singing of which the sections flags were laid at the altar. The prayer of confession was then led by cub scout Jacob Langford.

Those who fear the standard of reading among young people is in decline would have been heartened by scout Edward Aldiss' reading of the lesson Acts, chapter 2 vv1-21, the description of the first day of Pentecost in Jerusalem which contains many unfamiliar names; but they presented no problems to Edward. Father Stephen Drakeley (priest in charge) read the Gospel according to John, chapter 20 vv 19-23.

Jesus commissions the disciples to go and preach his message. Father Stewart Turner (curate) who was president of the mass, also gave the address. He started by telling the young people of the difficulty he had experienced in finding a simple way of explaining to them the meaning of Pentecost. However, with the aid of a story he accomplished his task admirably. Prayers of intercession were led by a group of cubs and beavers.

Fr Stewart celebrated at the eucharist, Barbara Jenkins and Helen Bancroft were the chalice assistants. Server for the mass was Claire Drakeley. Sidespersons, Geof and Sally Maynard. Organist, Roger King (church organist). The post-communion prayer was again led by Jacob Langford. The mass ended with the return of the flags to the singing of the hymn Lord the light of your love is shining.

Forthcoming event: May 18, Trinity Sunday, low mass at 8am; 10am, sung parish mass; 7.30pm, Nankersey and Mousehole choirs in concert.

MOTHERS' CLUB: Ben Beckwith from County Hall, Truro, talked to the members on waste minimisation.

He certainly is dedicated to his work and gave statistics of how much is thrown away each week, what is done with it and where it all ends up. Some is recycled but most of it goes to landfill that has to be monitored all the time because of dangerous gases.

Even after they had been infilled to make recreation places, some 30 years ago, they still have to be monitored. Ben was most impressed with members' recycling and asked them to encourage others. They even collect plastic bottle tops and send them to Culdrose who have collected for wheelchairs and are now doing it for the blind.

Cornwall's rubbish grows mountain high in the summer season. Cornwall needs the tourists, but not what they leave behind. A big clean up will be put into action for all of Cornwall. There was a small quiz at the end written on a recycled shopping list pad with a pencil made from plastic cups. Janet was the winner with a recycled bag. Ben was thanked by all after many questions were answered. He donated the token given to him to a charity and this will be added to the club's donation to ShelterBox when they come on June 12 at 7.30pm at Bosvale community centre.

Members please do not forget contributions to the coffee morning on June 28 from 10am-noon at Bosvale community centre for the Children's Hospice Precious Lives appeal.

WEST CORNWALL LADIES LUNCHEON: The 36th annual general meeting of the club was held on Thursday, May 8 at the Royal Duchy Hotel.

The chairman, Mrs Denise Carty, welcomed members and then handed the proceedings to the president, Mrs Margaret Sanders, who chaired the meeting. In her opening address, Mrs Sanders said how much she had enjoyed her year as president and paid tribute to the enthusiasm and dedication of the chairman and her committee.

Reports were presented and read by the chairman, the secretary Mrs Pat Senior and the treasurer Mrs Patsy Woodliffe.

Mrs Cathy Kemp summarised her plans for an exciting and interesting range of speakers for the coming year.

Mrs Maureen Bramwell-Hewlett, who was standing down from the committee, was presented with a bouquet of flowers to thank her for her help.

A vote of thanks was given to the committee by Mrs Mairi Wilkinson on behalf of the members.

The next meeting will be on June 12. This will be a social occasion with a musical background. Ladies are invited to wear hats or corsages.

GARDENERS' CLUB: On April 15, 35 members had a conducted tour of Burncoose Gardens guided by the centre manager, who began the visit with a brief history of the gardens. The Williams, a Welsh Quaker family, came over in 1715 and soon became involved in Scorrier and other neighbouring houses and came to own both Caerhays Castle and Werrington Park. Major development began with the succession of J C Williams in 1861 and continued until interrupted by the two world wars, but resumed in the 1950's. In 1992 the gardens combined with a Redruth nursery to form the present centre.

J C Williams sponsored the great plant hunters E H Wilson and George Forrest who also provided plants to Kew and whose names figure on many of the present plant labels.

As the group walked round, the guide commented on such features as the hard paths which were laid to facilitate the passage of a pony and trap. The considerable resources of the owners are illustrated by the existence of a tunnel constructed by out-of-work miners in the 1890s under the main drive to move cattle between pastures without making a mess of the gardens! There was a pump house which was powered by a donkey to raise water from a deep well which supplied water to the whole estate. In the early days the Williams bred daffodils and there was a steam sterilising plant for the bulbs.

In 1977 a freak whirlwind destroyed 30% of the planting and the group was shown the new shelterbelts now grown up. Nowadays 65% of the turnover comes from mail order and Burncoose competes successfully in all the major shows to generate publicity. Between Caerhays and Burncoose 265 varieties of camellia are available.

The guide offered much valuable advice, especially about cuttings and answered many questions with great patience and knowledge. He told them which camellias can withstand full sunlight and advised that when deadheading hydrangeas the flower heads be left on the ground round the plant to increase the level of ammonium-sulphate which maintains the blue colour.

After the tour, members enjoyed tea and biscuits before a number bought plants, taking advantage of a ten per cent concession granted as members of a group visit.

The next visit is to Enys Gardens at 2pm on Tuesday, May 20. Anyone requiring more information can contact chairman John Wescott on 01326 311328 or secretary Rosemary Swain on 01326 311186.

PENRYN

ST GLUVIAS CHURCH: Father John Harris was the celebrant and preacher at the service of Solemn Eucharist with Holy Baptism for the Feast of Pentecost, Whitsunday.

The service was attended by a very large congregation. The first reading Acts chapter 2 v 1-21 was read by Richard Hopper and the second reading Corinthians 1 chapter 12 v 3-13 by Gillian Wright. The Gospel reading John chapter 7 v 37-39 was proclaimed by Fr John who also led the intercessions.

During the service, Fr John baptised Hope Jazmine Gould and welcomed her into the family of the church. Chalice assistants were June Furlonger and John Hodge and the organist was Bob Smith.

Events: Holy Communion is celebrated on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 8am, Wednesday at 9.15am and Friday at 12.15pm. The Tapestry Group meets in church every Wednesday at 2pm.

Services on Sunday, Trinity Sunday 8am Low Mass, 10am Parish Mass, 6pm Said Evensong. Sunday, May 18, 4pm, Celebration of Baptism (a joyful act of worship for everyone, especially those Baptised in recent years, followed by tea and cake), all Welcome. Cornish Evening, Friday, May 23, 7.30pm, at the Vicarage, (Cuisine and Culture of Cornwall), bookings £8 through members of the "Roof Fund" committee.

The monthly coffee morning and mini market raised £296 for church funds.

METHODIST CHURCH: Mr Gordon Dyer conducted Sunday's service with Myra Bennett leading the hymns from Mission Praise and Hymns and Psalms. Mr Dyer's call to worship was taken from verses 31-34 of Psalm 104.

He spoke to the young people about how the holy spirit descended upon the disciples at Pentecost and the gifts they received, speaking in languages, each person hearing God's message in their own language. Mr Dyer talked of some of the miracles people of today have experienced through the holy spirit.

The readings were taken from the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 2, verses 1-21, 1 Corinthians, chapter 12, verses 3b-13 and the Gospel of St John, chapter 20 verses 19-31.

In his sermon on the holy spirit, Mr Dyer told of the many people who were converted in Cornwall in 1838 and how, in 1840-1850, when many chapels were built, the holy spirit's power produced eloquent and powerful preachers like Billy Bray. Billy Bray, incidentally built many of these chapels, and filled them to overflowing with his preaching, changing people's lives for ever. The holy spirit can still fill us to overflowing today if we simply ask.

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