This wonderful service in which so many partook and so enjoyed, and held just last Sunday, January 28th in the Parish Church of St John the Baptist in Shedfield, was not only to celebrate the Inauguration of the Benefice of Shedfield and Wickham, but also the Wykeham Group Ministry of Swanmore, Shedfield and Wickham.
Shirley, who we all know so well and love, received from the Archdeacon, the keys for both our St Nicholas Church here in Wickham and those of St John the Baptist in Shedfield as a symbol of her induction as Rector of Wickham and Vicar of Shedfield.
In the photo, Shirley is holding the rather large and ancient key which belongs to St Nicholas. There was a ripple of laughter when the Archdeacon held up the 2 keys and comparing sizes, gave a mark of 1 to Shedfield and a mark of 5 to Wickham.
Elizabeth, who already plays such an important roll here within Wickham, along with all the other Clergy in our now new Group Ministry, were presented with their Bishops Licence by the Archdeacon.
The coming together of the choirs from all 3 Churches, Clergy from within the Deanery, retired Clergy, dignitaries and parishioners from Swanmore, Shedfield and Wickham. This simply made the service one to be remembered - a coming together of music, warmth and love.
This was then followed by a very tempting selection of refreshments, a time to mix and chat.
May we all grow together, strong in spirit and love.
Di Hemingway-Rice
When we heard about the special service to inaugurate the united Benefice of Shedfield and Wickham, install of Shirley as Vicar of Shedfield and Rector of Wickham, and Peter Kelly as Vicar of Swanmore, we realised this was our perfect opportunity to try and ring a peal. For bellringers, a peal is a significant achievement and consists of at least 5000 changes (no repetition – the occasional hesitation might be allowed though).
We thought Lincolnshire Surprise Major would be a good method, but whilst watching the South Africa v Pakistan Test series soon after we had decided on Lincolnshire, I wondered if there was a method named Johannesburg. It just so happened that there was and, what’s more, it is very similar to Lincolnshire. Method decided. In the band, we had three of our own ringers, the tower captains of Swanmore and Bishop’s Waltham for the Deanery connection, two district ringing masters, and a ringer from Purbrook.
In 2 hrs and 39 minutes, we rang 5056 changes of Johannesburg Surprise Major with the band as follows:
1. Betty J Daysh
2. Lee Pinnington
3. David M Goss
4. Richard A Case
5. Charlotte K Colliss
6. Andrew F Case
7. Benjamin J Carey (Conductor)
8. Stephen N Hough
Composed by D F Morrison
Richard Case
