2008 Events

Annual General Meeting 2008

This year's AGM was held at Kington Church, which the Banks family have known and supported for over one hundred years, and it was entirely appropriate that we should be guided round by Lawrence Banks, best known as a distinguished horticulturalist and with his wife Liz, the moving force behind the wonderful Hergest Croft gardens. There was the usual excellent turnout of members and enthusiasts, who much enjoyed his typically erudite and amusing explanations of the fine windows and other unique features of the church.

His tour had been preceded by a private meeting of the committee, followed by a plenary session in the church and reports from the Chairman the Earl of Darnley and Treasurer David Furnival. The Chairman bade farewell to Sir Thomas Dunne KG KCVO who was stepping down as President on his retirement from the Lieutenancy. Sir Thomas entertained the meeting with amusing and personal recollections of his time with HHCT, and promised to sustain his keen interest in our affairs.

After the conclusion of the formal part of the day, we repaired to Hergest Croft for an excellent tea (the lemon drizzle cake was especially memorable) and Lawrence had thoughtfully produced his family archive, which gave a fascinating insight into this most unusual family, and was of great interest, We thank them both for their generous hospitality.

Coffee Morning

It was a very happy, sociable occasion. People enjoyed meeting each other and were very generous in such gloomy times. It appears that the Town Hall is a very traditional venue. It was in fact our 50th birthday this year. 50 years ago Mrs Joyce Blacker started the coffee morning in the Town Hall when she was Mayor, together with Lady Somers of Eastnor, the dowager Lady Cawley from Berrington Hall and Mrs Franklin Ellson of Franklin Barnes (seed and corn merchants in the city). They thought a few tables laid up with cloths and pretty china (from Lady Cawley) and pretty flowers would look the part.

Nothing changes does it? Apparently June Chase has been bringing White Cross school children for 35 years and this year June and her team served coffee to over 250. We were delighted to welcome Bishop Anthony Priddis, who made a short address, and Dean Michael Tavinor.

Once again I could not have managed without Susan Bond and her labels, Sarah and Ali with publicity and raffle and general support also from June Chase, Vernon Thompson and Ann Hyde Smith and the cake ladies, not to mention Norma Boddington and Sue Hunter with the help of two younger gentlemen on the plant stall and the Browns on merchandise.

The result of all this hard work looks to be not far short of three thousand pounds, a considerable achievement and a great boost to Trust funds. Well done everybody.
Jill Gallimore

Church Crawl

The sun shone for our fifth Church Crawl. Thirty two assembled at Kilpeck, where Mr Bailey, church warden, with his long cane (he is an ex-schoolmaster) pointed out all the beasts and other carvings round this small church before a quick look inside and it was time to leave for Abbey Dore. Here Mrs Richardson and her two fellow guides divided us into three groups. Unfortunately, a Welsh-speaking guide with a large party monopolised the nave, so we had to do a circuit round this, looking at some of the stones that had been discovered outside but brought in over the years. Perhaps one day they will be given their own museum. Some groups managed to find time to see outside, but we soon had to leave down the lanes of Clodock, a church the Victorians fortunately forgot. The HHCT had recently given a grant here, which was helping to keep out the damp. THe gallery and its unique four-sided music table was duly inspected as well as the wonderful collection of box-pews.

From here it is a tricky route to find the Templar Church at Garway, where we were guided round by Mr Hughes who lives in Church House. There was music and an audience in the nave but there was plenty to see - someone even found a friendly swastika - and we did get into the Tower Room. Mr Hughes said the hole in the wall was not passing the food through when used as a prison, but as a lookout for processions to see the alter. We managed to see the outside of the nearby dovecote.

Finally, about 28 of us made the final church, St Michael, Dewshall where Mrs Nash and her helpers gave us a splendid tea in the Dewsall Court Barn before Matthew spoke to us in the church, one of the smallest in the county, where the South Wye team had a service earlier in the year and I had read the lesson. There is some fine stained glass in the east window, a very ancient font and as we were told, the south wall slopes in from the top, which is characteristic of Saxon churches.

This is my final tour, as next year, hopefully on the last Saturday in September, the Crawl will be taken by Tim Bridges, who works (part-time) for the Victorian Society. We hopefully have made £350 for the Trust.
John Kinross.

Ride and Stride

Once again we were blessed with good weather for the sponsored ride and stride event on Saturday 13th September. The weather was fine, not too hot for cycling but with a cooling breeze to ease us on our way - a glorious day for riding and striding. Craig, aged 8 got completely covered in mud, taking a bridle way to Tyberton, while Zoe, aged 5 took the dry route. Twenty cyclists visited our church - always great to see them, plus several tourists, who are also pleased to see the church manned.

This year the total sponsorship was £15,947, of which half was returned to the church of the rider's choice. Special mention this year should go to Brian Hawcutt of Ledbury who raised £1871 in sponsorship. He tells us that this is his last year - having raised over £10,000 in the past eight years. Thank you, Brian, for your magnificent feat and for showing us how one rider can get many members of his church congregation to sponsor him to ride on their behalf. Also congratulations to Mrs Dorothy Phipps aged 90, who rides a mobility scooter and collects for the cathedral. She is a wonderful example of 'can do'. Thank you for all you have done to promote the Trust. They have both received a copy of John Leonard's book about Herefordshire Churches as a token of our thanks.

A sample of comments we receive at the end of the event:
"The event is the highlight of our cycling year - the beauty of our churches and countryside is astounding, and it is very easy to choose a route that completely avoids main roads"

The Bike and Stride committee would like to thank all who took part, manned churches, provided drinks and biscuits, and especially to local organisers, without whom the event would not take place.
Robin Peers.

2007 Events

Annual General Meeting 2007

This year's AGM was held at Birley Church, and there was standing room only for Tim Bridges's highly informative and entertaing talk on 'Herefordshire Churches'. It was far from a run of the mill catalouge of buildings, and Tim cleverly highlighted unusual and interesting features, splendidly illustrated with slides. His talk had been preceded by a private meeting of the committee, and then a plenary session for all members, with the presentation of reports by Chairman the Earl of Darnley, Membership Secretary Col John Caiger, and Treasurer David Furnival.

The now established format of meeting, a general interest talk, followed by tea seems more popular than ever, and there was a large attendance.

After the conclusion of the formal part, members walked across the churchyard to Birley Court, home of Charles and Sarah de Rohan, who had generously laid on a fine tea, and we thank them for their warm hospitality.

Summer Party at Haffield

by kind invitation of Mr and Mrs Richard Belloc Lowndes

We were much blessed with the venue for this once every two year event, even if the weather gods have yet to exert themselves on our behalf, but at least it wasn't raining, as it had been last time at Netherwood. We were the guests of Richard and Cinna Belloc-Lowndes at Haffield, near Ledbury, a lovely regency house, surrounded by gorgeous lawns and trees, and gardens on which Cinna and Richard have lavished much time and abiding interest, and not probably at its best on the cold grey evening we were sent.

However, it's just as beautiful inside, and we soon had the furniture squared away, the band installed under the stairs, and the Pimms Bar in the front hall, in time to be ready for the first arrivals. We were delighted to welcome our joint-presidents the Bishop of Hereford the Rt Rev Anthony Priddis and his wife and over 130 members and guests.

Committee members pitched in to keep the Pimms flowing, and girls from the 6th form of Hereford Cathedral School did the rounds with delicious canapes prepared by Dee Mitchell-Innes and team. Noise levels were high and it was generally agreed to have been a splendid party. Big thanks to Cinna and Richard, to Libhin Bromley and husband John, and to Ali Haydn Jones for all the admin, and huge help on the day.

Coffee Morning - 27th September 2007

Lace cloths and sweet peas adorned the Town Hall for a great turnout from our supporters from Herefordshire and neighbouring counties including one from the West Midlands. June Chase and the enthusiastic students from Whitecross High School welcomed everyone with coffee and biscuits. Liz Cross and her team sold out of cakes and produce and Norma Boddington and her helpers did a good sale of plants. Major Vernon Thompson and a jolly band of helpers from South of the River ran an excellent raffle, and everyone appeared to have an enjoyable time. A huge thank you to all supporters and helpers - another successful event.

Church Crawl

The 2007 Church Crawl on 29th September, a fine hot day for a change, started at St Lawrence, Stretton Grandison. Our party was 37 with four from Shropshire Historic Churches Trust, two from Wales and some familiar faces who had been on earlier crawls. Christopher Nicholson talked to us at St Lawrence and explained how the Preedy Reredos had been discovered recently when the old wooden reredos was talken down. We had a 'team' photo outside the porch and then drove down the road to Little Aylton. Here, at this tiny church, there was a large reception and after an interesting talk by Dr Higgins, Warden of nearby Pixley, we were given a drink of local apple juice before trekking over the way to see the large cruck barn restoration. Aylton, in a few years, will look almost how it must have appeared in medieval times (corrugated iron roof excepted).

From Aylton, we went to St Barthlomew, Much Marcle, where Mrs Adams kindly took us round after the wedding and the church bells had finished. The famous monuments were admired and people tried in vain to find all the green men. Lady Blanche Grandison was especially greeted by those from Stretton Grandison, and there are plans to repair and repaint her tomb.

At four o'clock, we left for St Michael, Castle Frome, where the Warden, Mrs Louise Manning, welcomed us and pointed out the (possibly) Roman sundial over the door and then we all admired the ancient font celebrating the baptism of Christ and carved with an angel showing St Matthew clutching his gospel, and eagle for St John, a lion for St Mark and a bull for St Luke. Cameras flashed and then we were on our way to our final rendezvous, Holy Trinity, Bosbury. Here Churchwarden Mrs Ardley talked to us very amusingly about the delights of Bosbury Church, and then the ladies of the church served us with a delightful tea.

The crawl made, at latest count, £380 for HHCT funds and next year's crawl, on the last Saturday in September, will hopefully be starting at Kilpeck and visiting churches in that area.

A special thanks to all Church Wardens and others, who helped to guide us and to Sandra Nicholson for blowing her whistle when needed to keep the party moving!

Ride and Stride

Ride and Stride day on Saturday 8th September was blessed with fine weather, just what riders and striders needed! A cool breeze kept us invigorated and Autumn sunshine shone, but not so as to make us too hot!

Two of our riders managed to get themselves sponsored for over £1,000 each, while others raised more modest sums: walking round five churches in Ross, or riding in France and visiting six churches (our rule about where you ride and stride is very flexible). Another group walked in the Bromyard area, exercising their dogs at the same time. A youth group, the Marden Volunteers, camped overnight at Dinedor and then visited ten churches on their way home. Other riders told us how they had had a wonderful day and of their special joy at seeing the magnificent pulpit in Morton Jeffries Church.

Each year we award a yellow jersey to the rider or walker under 16 years of age from each of our deaneries who raise the most sponsorship. These jerseys are much sought after and are worn with pride on subsequent rides.

For the record:

• We had 176 riders, 45 walkers and 25 helpers sponsored.
• Total sponsorship raised was £21,620
• Six churches who had not previously taken part joined the event.

Ride and Stride Day for 2008 is Saturday 13th September. We do hope you will be able to help us as a rider, a walker or a helper or by sponsoring one.

A few facts and ideas

• Nearly all the counties in England have county trusts similar to ours and all take part in Ride and Stride on the same day.
• This is a fundraising effort for HHCT but also for your churches as half the sponsorship money is returned to the church/chapel of the rider's choice.
• Get the event announced in church, identify a rider/walker from your community to leave their sponsorship form at the back of the church for the congregation to sponsor sat the end of the service ? Ledbury use this method to very good effect and have raised over £1,000 for several years.
• Work out a route that suits your time constraints, and energy levels!
• We endeavour to get all churches manned and offering refreshments.
• If you like to take part, please contact your local organiser. If you don?t know who they are, please contact one of the organising committee through the contact page.

Finally a huge thank you to all who took part in 2007 and to those who tirelessly support the event each year.

Good luck for September 13th Ride and Stride for 2008.