Posted in Church, Classified adverts, Environment on Saturday May 24, 2008| 6 Comments »
Graham Johnson writes:
We are looking for a few more public-spirited grass enthusiasts to help with mowing the grass in the church yard.
At the moment, we are struggling to keep the grass under control, and a couple more willing helping hands would really make a difference.
Anybody willing to help out of a regular (but not onerous) basis, please contact Stuart on 336 or Graham on 344.
Any help will guarantee an invitation to the Parwich social event of the year: “The Mower’s Ball”.
Posted in Church, Farming, News, Out & About, Planning, Services on Thursday May 22, 2008| Leave a Comment »
I have spotted three stories with local links in the Ashbounrne News Telegraph this week. The main one being an article on the closure of the Chapel several weeks ago. Also our own Debbie Webster featured in an appeal for volunteers for Ashbourne Arts Festival (to find out more contact the Volunteer Centre). Finally congratulations to Charles Bunting for his success in the Ashbourne Farmers’ Club judging of beef cattle last Friday.
As always let us know about anything I missed.
Five hours later: so far you have pointed out the following
Posted in Church, Out & About on Sunday May 18, 2008| Leave a Comment »
St Bartholomew’s Church, Hognaston is hosting a
Flower Festival
Thursday 22nd to Wednesday 28th May
Open daily 10am -6-30pm
Cream teas available
The church is particularly interesting in relation Parwich because of the parallels with St Peter’s. It has a crude Norman carved tympanum very similar to the one in Parwich and a fine Norman font, but was almost entirely rebuilt by the Victorians. Parwich and Hognaston were both held by the de Ferrers family in the twelfth century, when the churches were built, and both were ceded to the Duchy of Lancaster.
Posted in Church on Friday May 16, 2008| 1 Comment »
The other day I came across a splendid photograph of the blessing of Coffin Well, Tissington, in 1899. It is in a collection held by the Victoria and Albert Museum, and can be seen here .
Posted in Church on Friday May 16, 2008| Leave a Comment »
We had hoped that a new stained glass window on the theme of the Annunciation (Gabriel announcing to Mary that she would bear God’s Son) was going to be installed in St. Peter’s church this coming Wednesday. The window, commissioned by Roger Graham in memory of his aunt and grandmother, both of whom were postmistresses of Parwich, has been designed and made by Meg Lawrence (see her website here) . Unfortunately a small crack has developed in the window, which means that a new small piece of glass must be made to replace the cracked portion. I understand that the delay in installing the window will not be too great – and that the window will certainly be in place when the Bishop of Repton comes to dedicate it on Sunday 6th July at 6 pm (during the Flower Festival).
We chose the Annunciation as the theme of the window because the Archangel Gabriel is the patron saint of postmasters and postmistresses!
Posted in Alsop, Church on Monday May 5, 2008| 1 Comment »
It was like a summer afternoon as we basked in sunshine at Alsop church. There was a worrying moment as raindrops fell & an umbrella was unfurled, but as Sheena said this was enough to drive the rain away. By 4pm it was positively hot. Attendence was very good this afternoon and there were 6 of us from Parwich putting the world to right. I have been forbidden to disclose the conversation. I can however say that “posh” coffee was served & the cakes were delicious. Roll on the next Bank Holiday.
Posted in Alsop, Church on Monday May 5, 2008| Leave a Comment »
Don’t forget that between 11am and 4pm today tea & cakes are being served at Alsop church.
Posted in 2008, Church, News, Posts of Note on Monday May 5, 2008| Leave a Comment »
Parwich Methodist Chapel was closed on Sunday 4th May after 159 years of worship in the chapel building. The Ashbourne Superintendant Minister, the Rev’d Tim Morris, led the final service, emphasising that it was not a ‘wake’ but an opportunity for a new beginning. From now on chapel members will worship in St. Peter’s church. More details of the final service, and photos, can be seen here .
It is expected that the chapel building will be sold by auction, but details of this are not available at present.
Posted in Church, Events, Out & About, Well dressing on Saturday May 3, 2008| Leave a Comment »
At the well dressing service last week we had the good fortune to have the Bishop of Yei, in southern Sudan, the Rt. Rev’d Hilary Adeba, as one of our speakers. Following the sermon given by the Bishop of Repton, the Rt. Rev’d Humphrey Southern, Bishop Hilary gave some deeply moving remarks about how scarce and precious water is in his country, especially given the ravages of war in recent years. He has even been inspired to introduce a ceremony of blessing wells in his own diocese. Photos of the blessing of the wells, including Bishop Hilary, can be seen here .
Posted in 2008, Church, Events, News, Posts of Note on Friday May 2, 2008| Leave a Comment »
Don’t forget this Sunday sees, after 159 years, the final service in Parwich Methodist Chapel
3-30pm Final Service & Chapel Anniversary
Parwich Methodist Chapel
followed by refreshments in the Memorial Hall
Although this is a sad occasion, especially for those who have worshipped here all their lives, also remember and give thanks for all that have worked so hard to build and maintain the Methodist congregation in Parwich, which will continue beyond the closing of the building. The building, though we do not yet know what it will become, will remain as a permanent memorial to the hard work and community spirit of the people of Parwich.
Posted in Alsop, Arts, Church, Events, Out & About, People on Wednesday April 30, 2008| 4 Comments »
This weekend there are lots of local events to choose from & if you plan carefully you can do everything.
Thursday to Wednesday – Tissington Well Dressings – Food is served at The Stables and certainly over the weekend lunches and Teas are also in the Village Hall (I speak from experience when I say that these cakes are good).
Thursday to Monday – 10am-4pm – Bradbourne flower festival & ‘affordable art’ show with refreshments provided. The artists include national & local people. Our own Ruby Hickmott, will be showing some specialist pieces and more of her artwork can be seen at the end of the month in Parwich as part of DART. The flowers in the church I am sure will be impressive, it is rumoured that the men are also having a go. The event is to help raise funds to replace All Saints’ chancel roof. So come along, enjoy a great day out, visit this delightful Saxon church, remember to admire the views towards Parwich & you may pick up an art bargin – the next Damien Hirst!
Sunday – 3.30 – Parwich Methodist Chapel – Everyone is invited to the final service with refreshments being served afterwards. All future services will be held in Parwich Church.
Bank Holiday Monday – Tea & Cakes at Alsop Church – 11am – 4pm. The cakes last month were delicious, looking forward to sampling again.
Posted in Church on Wednesday April 23, 2008| Leave a Comment »
If you are interested in making a kneeler for the Church there is an informal get together tomorrow morning at Helen’s, Dam Farm at 10am.
Posted in Church, Events on Wednesday April 23, 2008| 4 Comments »
Today, 23rd April, is St George’s Day. We are not aware of any particular celebrations taking place in our villages, though next year the Odd Fellows and the Legion may be marking the occasion. However, PARWICH.ORG could not let the day pass without a post.
When checking with the Team if I could have this post, the Vicar responded:
I always find it rather ironic, given the affection in which the English hold St George, that he is thought to have been from what is now Turkey. Of course St. Andrew of Scotland was from Palestine . so perhaps we should all adopt a real British saint, like David! But maybe, on the other hand, St. George’s origins should help us in our attempts to build better Christian-Muslim relations …”
Posted in Church, Events on Saturday April 19, 2008| 1 Comment »
A presentation by the vicar
Tuesday 22nd April at 7.30 pm in the Memorial Hall
Following recent trips to Assam, the Eastern Himalayas and Delhi, as chairman of the Derbyshire Churches’ Partnership with the Church of North India, Christopher Harrison will give a talk, with photographs, on India today. All are welcome to attend.
Reports and pictures of the visits can be seen by going to the ‘Recent News’ section of the Derbyshire Churches North India partnership website.
From July 10th – 16th, over 20 Indian bishops and their wives are coming to Derbyshire before going on to the Lambeth Conference. These are being hosted around the county – would anyone be able to accommodate a bishop and his wife here in Parwich? You can see details of the programme and information for hosts here –
if you are interested, contact Christopher Harrison on 390226.
Unfortunately Rev. Joan Whyman, who was going to talk about her visit to Sri Lanka at the event this Tuesday, is unwell and cannot come.
Posted in Church, Local Links, School on Thursday April 17, 2008| 5 Comments »
Alternative title: Isn’t it amazing what you find when you enter “Parwich” into Google?
Parwich Primary School’s OFSTED page.
This page also contains links to the school’s two most recent OFSTED inspection reports.
Parwich War Memorial.
A memorial page for the eight Parwich soldiers who lost their lives in the First World War.
Memorial Inscriptions from St. Peter’s Churchyard.
140 inscriptions from the Parwich churchyard’s older gravestones have been documented on this page.
Aerial photographs of Parwich.
7 photographs, taken in September 2007. Click on the thumbnails to enlarge. All prints are also available for purchase.
And finally, and with all due apologies…
What Text Do I Type To Make Smileys?
After consulting this guide, you too will be able to pepper your comments with those happy little faces, in a variety of “amusing” expressions.
WARNING: If over the age of 21, please use with caution!
Posted in Church, News on Wednesday April 16, 2008| 8 Comments »
Yet again there are two features on Parwich in the Ashbourne News Telegraph out today. The main one is an article on the closure of Parwich Methodist Chapel, with the final service on the annual Chapel Anniversary, 3-30pm Sunday 4th May, followed by refreshments in the Memorial Hall. The second is a short feature and photo of Parwich Lees Cottage in the property section, on the market with Boxall Brown & Jones.
There is also a feature on All Saints’ Church at Bradbourne, which is hosting an art exhibition along with its flower festival (Thursday 1st May to Monday 5th May), don’t forget you saw this here first.
Do let us know if I missed any other mentions (I did look for the Darts news but could not find it).
Posted in 2008, Church, News, Posts of Note on Wednesday April 16, 2008| 2 Comments »
Work is progressing on a replica of the Tympanum.
This ancient carved stone is now above the west tower door of Parwich Church. Experts have dated the original variously between the seventh and twelfth centuries, though it most likely to have been carved in the early 1100s drawing on earlier Saxon and Celtic imagery. Since being placed in its current position in 1873 it has suffered considerable weathering. The replica is being made by the National Conservation Centre in Liverpool and here are a couple of photographs of the process forwarded to us by Jonathan Marshall:
Posted in Church, News, People on Sunday April 13, 2008| Leave a Comment »
Thursday 24th April
10am at Dam Farm
As you will have read in an earlier blog Ambrose Wilton has left a generous sum of money to the Church and it was agreed that this should be put towards some kneelers in Church. Helen is hosting the initial meeting at her house, Dam Farm (near the Pond) so that we can all find out what we have to do. The kneelers are very straightforward to make, the pattern is printed onto the fabric and it is a very simple cross-stitch design. The stitch size is quite large, so having bad eyes is not a good enough excuse not to get involved.
Did you know that some of the best tapestry sewers are men – so Parwich males don’t be shy come along & join in as well.
Posted in Church, Out & About, Services on Tuesday April 8, 2008| Leave a Comment »
This morning Ben & I went over to Bradbourne to support Flo at the Haven Grange Club Coffee morning in the Church Hall. They raised £103.65. It was a nice little affair, with Flo manning the bric a brac and the cake table.
I asked Flo what the Club was all about. Apparently the Church & Social Services set it up 11 years ago and it is an opportunity for elderly people to get together for coffee & then lunch. A bus comes to Parwich every Tuesday to collect members and returns during the afternoon. It is an ideal opportunity for anyone who is feeling lonely, would like some company and make new friends.
If you are interested or know someone that might benefit from this service, please ring Flo on 390619.
Whilst we were there we wandered over to the Church, but unfortunately it was locked. However over the Bank Holiday Weekend, in aid of the Church roof appeal there will be a flower festival and an affordable arts exhibition with refreshments. We’ll post more details nearer the time, but it will be a great opportunity to see & support the Church and admire those fantastic views of Parwich from the churchyard.
Bradbourne Church Flower Festival And Arts Exhibition
Thursday 1st May – Monday 5th May
10am-4pm
Refreshments available
Posted in Church, Environment on Tuesday April 8, 2008| 6 Comments »
My sources have informed me that illicit dumping of garden rubbish etc has been taking place in St. Peter’s churchyard. The scale of this is probably very small, and I would not be surprised if the items concerned have merged seamlessly with the pile of authentic churchyard rubbish. Nevertheless, I am wondering whether we should display a good-humoured notice warning those concerned that they have been seen and gently saying that we would like them to stop.
Any suggestions for suitable wording?
Posted in 2008, About this site, Church, News, Posts of Note on Monday April 7, 2008| 4 Comments »
PARWICH.ORG notes with amusement – and no small measure of pride – that the Diocesan Office in Derby were well and truly spoofed by last week’s “Ring Tones for Parwich Church” post.
Having contacted the office to seek “fast track approval” for the project, our vicar was surprised to receive a totally genuine reply – complete with an application form for the new system, and a list of meeting dates at which the application could be considered.
“Is the direction in which they want rural churches to go?”, he wondered, as the prospect of “Crazy Frog” calling Parwich parishoners to prayer edged closer to reality.
This morning, a rather embarrassed second e-mail arrived from the same office, admitting their mistake. (“In their defence, they said that they hadn’t thought this kind of system was very typical of Parwich!”)
With the same story having been picked up by the Ashbourne Evening Telegraph, it all goes to show that a little light-hearted blogging can go a long way.
In which case, we appear to have a rather powerful tool at our disposal!
Posted in 2008, Church, News, Posts of Note on Tuesday April 1, 2008| 10 Comments »
Warning: As befits its date of posting, what you are about to read is 100% false. We hope that you enjoyed our (second) momentary lapse into April Foolery. Normal service will now be resumed.
From next Sunday, a new church bell system will be installed in St Peter’s church, replacing our existing set-up.
Taking full advantage of Internet technology, the new system will allow us to download bell patterns from a central database of over 10,000 “ring tones”, thus removing the need for manual intervention.
As Christopher Harrison says, “With such a wide range of ring tones available, including many much loved “tracks” from the “hit parade”, I see this as a great opportunity to bring Parwich church into the 21st century.”
To mark the occasion, we are asking readers of PARWICH.ORG to help select the inaugural ring tone for Sunday morning. Please take a look at the list below (as selected by members of the PCC), and vote for your favourite in the comments box.
The tone which picks up the most votes by the end of today will be “ringing out” over Parwich on Sunday morning, on our new “state of the art” 20,000 Watt sound system.
(To help you make your selections, click on each song name to listen.)
Option 1: You’re Beautiful (James Blunt)
Option 2: When You Believe (Leon Jackson)
Option 3: Shine (Take That)
Option 4: Never Gonna Give You Up (Rick Astley)
Option 5: Axel F (Crazy Frog)
Option 6: Won’t Get Fooled Again (The Who)
Posted in Church on Saturday March 29, 2008| Leave a Comment »
Click on photo to see a larger image
This photo of St Michael & All Angels Church, Alsop-en-le-Dale is hanging inside the Church and was sent to us by The Revd. Christopher Harrison. This Norman Church still retains it’s original Norman nave, doorway and font.
What does the number 1695 on the photo refer to?
Does it refer to when Alsop became an independent parish?
When was this photo taken?
The tower was built in 1882-83 by F J Robinson to imitate the Norman style, so we know the photo pre-dates this.
Do you know who the lady in the photograph is?
Alsop Church today – taken by Mike Radcliffe
Posted in Church on Saturday March 29, 2008| Leave a Comment »
Just had a super morning helping to clear up the Churchyard. There were about 10 of us getting stuck in, the yew has been well pruned & now the cross has been revealed, providing a lovely vista from the path.
Gravestones have been stripped of unwanted ivy, saplings removed, roses pruned and just a good general tidyup. We were blessed with a lovely morning and we had almost 3 hours before the rain started. It was a very sociable event, lots of gossiping (whilst we worked of course) and a welcome hot drink part way through, brought to us by ‘Big Ben’ on crutches!
Thank you to Emily and Little Ben for their help and handing out the delicious cakes. See what you have missed out on by not being there. Have no fear, it is not finished yet, so if anyone has any ideas about how we can progress comments on this blog are welcome.
Thank you to everyone that helped and to Peter Trewhitt for the photos.
To see more photos click here: (more…)
Posted in Church on Friday March 28, 2008| Leave a Comment »
Tomorrow, Saturday we are doing a cleanup of the Churchyard, if the weather is awful then we will be concentrating on other jobs that need doing inside, so there is no excuse not to be there! We have a lovely Church which is always open to the public and this is pretty amazing when so many other churches lock their doors. Spare an hour or two and join us tomorrow, it is for the benefit of not just the Church, but the village as well.
Cleanup – Saturday 29th March – from 10am.
Posted in Church, Events on Thursday March 27, 2008| Leave a Comment »
Parwich Parochial Church Council had a positive meeting last night. Jonathan Marshall stepped down after six years as church warden. His dedicated input has been much appreciated, and it is heartening that he offered to take over as PCC secretary, fitting it in between his travelling the world’s railways. Helen Pitts and Martin Compton were elected unopposed as the new church wardens for St. Peter’s.
The Rev. Tim Morris, Superintendent Minister of the Ashbourne Methodist Circuit, attended the meeting to progress the closer working between the two congregations in Parwich. After the Chapel closes in May the Methodist will meet in the Lady Chapel at St Peter’s on the 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month at 2-30pm, and will join with the current family service there on the 3rd Sunday. The font and organ from the Chapel will be kept in the side chapel. There was discussion about how we could gather material on the history and people’s memories of the Chapel.
A lot of progress has been made on maintaining and repairing the fabric of the Church. Some work has already taken place and a number of projects are nearing fruition. Sunday 6th of July is to see a celebratory service dedicating the new stained glass window, the replica tympanum, and perhaps even the garden of remembrance. The service will also involve the dedication of an altar frontal in the Lady Chapel in memory of Dorothy Foden. However there is still a substantial number of repairs required, and the PCC will be exploring ways of raising money to protect the fabric of our church for the next 140 years.
In two weeks the AGM season continues with that of Alsop PCC on Wednesday 9th April.
Posted in Alsop, Church, Eating Out, Out & About on Monday March 24, 2008| 4 Comments »
Easter Monday, what shall I do today? Well checking the blog site gave me one idea, bearing in mind that I have a partner who is currently on crutches & can’t walk more than 200 metres. So I decided to go and start the process of testing out various eateries (purely I add for the benefit of this website – and at great sacrifice to myself!) For lunch we headed up to Edge Close Farm Tea Rooms, and having looked at their blackboard menu that included Roast Pork & Stuffing, Homemade Soup & other deletable dishes, we both opted for an All Day Traditional English Breakfast. The plate was full – including locally sourced bacon, sausages & oatcakes all washed down with Earl Grey Tea. We declined the homemade cakes & puddings (including the crumble and custard) because dessert was going to be taken at Alsop Church. (As advertised on this site.)
There we were greeted by Christine & her helpers & torn between which cake to choose – they all looked super & the ones we tasted were. The sun was blazing and we sat outside overlooking the valley, where else could be more perfect. It was lovely to see so many people coming and going and just enjoying themselves. If you missed out of this super afternoon I’ve included the details of the tearooms below & you can go to Alsop Church for Tea & Cake on any Bank Holiday Monday.
Edge Close Farm Tearooms (01298 85144), Flagg.
Winter Opening- Sat & Sun – 10am-4pm
Summer Opening (from April 10th)
Thu & Friday 11am-4pm
Sat & Sun – 10am-5pm
I will “force” myself to go out and test some other establishments & if you have any recommendations do email us.
Posted in Church on Monday March 24, 2008| 2 Comments »
Our thanks to Christopher Harrison for sending us this article.
If anyone was awake at 7.00 am on Easter morning and wondered why the church bell was ringing, this was Parwich’s contribution to the ancient tradition of celebrating Easter with a dawn service (well, just after dawn). There is something very primal about lighting the Paschal candle from a fire in the churchyard and following the lit candle into a dark church, while the acclamation ‘Christ, our Light’ is intoned three times.
The snow and wind did not make matters particularly straightforward, however, and in fact the candle had to be lit in the church porch. But the fact that several people did make it to the service in spite of the weather – from as far afield as Brassington and Mappleton – was an indication of our determination not to let anything stand in the way of our celebration of the climax of the Christian year.
Jonathan Marshall’s plainsong rendering of the ‘exultet’ gave us a glimpse of the timelessness of this Easter ritual, and this lifted hearts and minds in their contemplation of the awesome mystery of Christ’s resurrection. After four scripture readings, interspersed with hymns, by candlelight, the lights were turned on at the moment of acclamation ‘Christ is risen, He is risen indeed, Alleluia!’ The first communion of Easter followed shortly afterwards.
All were then treated to breakfast – even including fresh coffee from Jonathan’s state of the art machine. It almost felt disappointing that the snow had begun to melt by the time we went home after the service!
Photo by Peter Trewhitt
Posted in Church on Sunday March 23, 2008| 5 Comments »
It was a lovely service in Church this morning, beautifully led by Andrew. It was super seeing him bounding up the aisle with a sword, he made me feel positively exhausted (all to illustrate that Jesus is alive). There were lots of villagers and visitors to the service & lovely to see so many children there. The Wright children contributed some lovely readings. Afterwards whilst the adults were enjoying coffee & biscuits the children were able to hunt for Easter Eggs. The church looks lovely, everywhere you looked there was an abundance of daffodils all arranged by volunteers yesterday. Thank you.
Posted in Alsop, Church, Services on Friday March 21, 2008| Leave a Comment »
On Easter Monday make your way to Alsop Church, refreshments are on sale from 11am -4pm. To quote Christine, an Alsop resident,
Monday will see us serving steaming mugs of freshly brewed tea and filtered coffee, with plates of luscious cakes for you to choose. We look forward to seeing you all.
Tea & Cakes are served at the Church every Bank Holiday Monday.
Posted in Church on Saturday March 15, 2008| Leave a Comment »
Ambrose Wilton has left a generous sum of money to the Church and it was agreed that this should be put towards some kneelers in Church.
What we now need are some volunteers to make them. It really is very easy, the pattern is printed on the canvas & it is just a case of cross stitch to make them. It is really relaxing doing this, you can even watch TV at the same time. If you are interested in getting involved please ring Christopher at the Vicarage – 390226.
Posted in Church, Events, News on Monday March 3, 2008| Leave a Comment »
With a dwindling congregation and having had problems raising sufficient funds to maintain the building, it has been announced that after 159 years the Parwich Methodist Chapel is to close. The final service will be on the Church Anniversary on Sunday 4th May at 3-30pm.
Methodism will continue in Parwich with future services on the 2nd and 4th Sundays in the month at 2-30pm being held in the Lady Chapel of St. Peter’s Anglican Church.
Posted in Church, Events, Photography on Sunday December 16, 2007| 2 Comments »
The Festival kicked off on Saturday 15th with a Christmas Fair and then a Carol Service today Sunday 16th at 4pm. It will run up to Twelfth Night. St. Peter’s Church will be open daily from 10am to 3-30pm.
Trees were decorated by local groups and the theme of the festival is the Twelve Days of Christmas.
Posted in Church, Photography on Sunday September 30, 2007| 1 Comment »
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