Time For The Future
LATEST UPDATE ON THE SPIRE APPEAL
It’s down! The Rose Window and East Gable scaffolding has been taken down and in its stead we can see the painstaking work that has gone on behind the scenes to repair and restore that part of the
sanctuary. The ingress of water, which showed so blatantly for
several years and could never be successfully eradicated, has now finally been dealt with. The job is done! The final site meeting with the contractors and the architect has been held, the contractors have departed, and in many ways we are sad to see them go. They have virtually become friends over the last 13 months. So skilled, so willing, so understanding, so in empathy with our needs, so friendly, they have
become a real part of our lives, and they leave us with a church spire beautifully
restored and fit for purpose for many many years to come, and an East Gable repaired and ready to withstand the elements for decades beyond our thinking. What an
experience it has been, what a privilege to be living and working in the church during this period, what an opportunity we have had in getting to know some experienced, talented, and excellent craftsmen. It has been a truly spiritual experience .
In the spring, and at the right time, we will arrange decoration of the East Gable wall and return that area to a newly-painted state.
Alongside that work, our friendly plumbers have been working extremely hard to ensure we have been warm and cosy over the Christmas period, and they have
installed our new boilers, pipework, radiators, etc. to completely alter the way our sanctuary heating functions, and the foyer area, as well as making ready the heating for the Upper Room. The Children’s Church are desperate to move there, and it is hoped that very soon they will be moving up the stairs to what will be virtually a
purpose-built area for all their activities and resources.
Grants achieved, yes, but we are a long way short of having gathered in the total funding necessary for all that has been going on in 2010/11. So we say huge thanks for the various fundraising initiatives that have happened recently, and are delighted that the Christmas Tree Festival has generated £4,500 for the Spire Appeal, with
further sums coming from Christmas at Acresfield to add into the mix. Well done to everyone who contributed in any way towards these two major events.
Watch out for more information about the Canapés and Cup Cakes Evening on 1st March 2012, and make sure you don’t miss tickets for the event on 24th March when
‘GIJive’ take the lead to give us a night of Dancing of all kinds at Mottram Village Hall.. Tickets for both will be available by the end of January.
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We look forward to your support of these events in whatever way you are able—and please spread the word to your friends and neighbours! Thank you.
TIME FOR THE FUTURE - OCTOBER 2011 UPDATE
We have a front entrance once again! The metal sheeting, the
scaffolding, and part of the contractor’s working gantry have now been demolished, and our church is revealed once more as the
beautiful building that it is. How marvellous the stonework looks, what a truly wonderful job the craftsmen have made of the spire, and how proud we are of the building, and how truly thankful that we have been able to use a company with such talented craftsmen to undertake such painstaking and intricate work over the last ten months.
In addition, the clock has been carefully renovated and cleaned and is now back in situ ready to start its work once again.
On October 2nd, our Harvest Festival Sunday, we are arranging to commence our Service at 10.50a.m. so that at 11.00a.m. we can restart the clock movement and from that moment on the clock will be heard across the village of Alderley Edge as it strikes out the time. Do try to come along—we will start our Service outside the church door, and once the clock has chimed the hour we will move inside and
continue with the celebration of Harvest Festival.
After the Service there is opportunity to share in a Church Lunch, and the proceeds will be donated to the Spire Appeal. (Minimum donation of £6 –please gift aid if you are able - is requested for the meal.
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The work on the Rose Window is ongoing and will be for some while yet, so the scaffolding in the sanctuary, the large hall, and on the exterior chimney will remain in place for several weeks to come. Alongwith a considerable shortfall on the spire
project, plus fundung required for the East Gable project, we certainly have a
mountain to climb financially. Please pray for all who are involved with these two projects and please try to support the events that will be arranged to help towards the financial costs we have to bear.
As we go to press, the Bridge Drive will have been held and we hear that this will have been a successful event with 11 tables booked in and raising over £300 + Gift Aid. Well done, everyone!
The Clock Returns!
The clock has returned home, and has been refitted into the spire. Once the surrounding work has been completed it is hoped that it will not be long before this part of our church's history, as well as that of the Village itself, will once again be heard across the area.
SEPTEMBER 2011 UPDATE
We wrote recently that we were almost at the point when the sheeting and scaffolding would be removed, and the replenished clock faces and the tower would be revealed in all their refurbished and restored splendour. Well, we are not quite at that point yet, although much of the spire has been
uncovered, the clock faces are back in position, and we are waiting patiently whilst the last of the work is carefully and wonderfully completed. We anticipate it will very shortly be totally exposed once again, and on October 2nd, our Harvest Festival Sunday, we are arranging to commence our Service at 10.50a.m. so that at 11.00a.m. we can restart the clock movement and once again the clock will be heard across the village of Alderley Edge as it strikes out the time.
But glance towards the back of the church building, or come inside the sanctuary and see the considerable scaffolding which is encasing the East Gable. Remedial work is being carried out on the chancel wall surrounding the beautiful rose window, where water ingress over the years through some hitherto unresolved problem has caused significant damage. Costing approximately£150,000, English Heritage have approved this new project, but what with the shortfall on the Spire work also, we have
considerable funds to raise still, and the fundraising has to continue in strength for some long while yet.
So what is in the pipeline? Make sure you note these dates, and support them if you are able:
September 26th 1.30p.m. in the church Hall Bridge Drive. A table of 4 can be reserved for £26, and Denis Langton, 01625 583720, has all the details.
December 2nd-4th CHRISTMAS TREE FESTIVAL
2012
March 24th At Mottram Village Hall, ‘GIJive’ take the lead to give us a night of Dancing of all kinds. Details and tickets will be available in due course but for dance-lovers this is a must! Reserve the date now!
March 1st 7.30p.m. in the Church—Thursday Group’s effort for the Spire
Appeal, when Leah, of Leah’s Pantry, Rainow will provide a special evening
demonstrating Cup Cake decorating. A yummy evening, and more information on the Canapés and Cup Cakes event in due course.
Harvest Festival and Clock Restarting
Our Harvest Festival for 2011 will begin at the doors of the church as we celebrate the relaunch of the clock at 11am on 2nd October.
After the service, a Harvest Lunch with donated proceeds going towards the 'Time for the Future' Spire Appeal will be served in the School room.
Come and join us and bring the Harvest home!!
EVENTS FOR THE SPIRE APPEAL
WEDNESDAY, 6th JULY The Ryleys School are giving us an opportunity to raise funds for the Spire Appeal, when they bring to our church a visiting Choir. Based on our usual Lunchtime Concert format, there will be light lunches available from 12 noon, followed by the Concert at 1.00p.m. This is an exciting addition to our Concert programme and we are greatly appreciative of the offer made by The Ryleys for the Spire Appeal to benefit from such an event. Details will be available as soon as possible, but put the date in your diary now.
EVENTS UPDATE
EVENTS:
The sponsor money from those hardy souls who took part in the ByPass Walk (some of whom did the 6 mile sroll of there and back so to speak!), has been coming in and we know there is still yet more to be collected. However, to date £771 has been handed over and we much appreciate such a wonderful result towards the spire appeal.
On Wednesday, 8th December, representatives from the Church will go to an event being organised by Alderley Edge and Bollin Valley Rotary Club when they will hand out to several charities donations from the total monies gathered in from the actual event itself. We feel privileged to be considered as one of the organisations to benefit from the Walk, and are pleased to have been invited to be part of the Rotary event.
The Church Autumn Fair was another very successful event in the calendar, and it was good to see plenty of people browsing the well stocked stalls and making an early start on their Christmas shopping. The proceeds were split between the Spire Appeal and Church Funds. Watch out for information regarding future fundraising events in the new year.
A LOOK BACK AT THE CHRISTMAS TREE FESTIVAL 26th - 28th November 2010
WELL! The Christmas Tree Festival is over, and what a weekend it proved to be. Enormous thanks to all who helped in any way with this event; every single area of support was very much appreciated, and without those who worked tirelessly to bring it together, through the many pairs of hands who gave hours of time in many different ways, to those who came along and filled in a slot on the rota, each and every one deserves a big round of applause. But for you all, it would not have happened, nor been so successful.
Let’s look at the Festival for a minute:
1.We had 56 trees from organisations and small businesses within and around the village, each of which were decorated in innovative and delightful ways, and which together produced the most stunning effect possible.
2.We are so fortunate to have someone like Sue with the eye to position the trees in the best possible way to create the most fantastic result. People who came in were overawed by what they saw, and many said they had not seen a Festival as beautiful. Praise indeed to everyone’s imagination and creativity.
3.The refreshments, the stalls, the baking and making, plus the army of helpers who looked after and ran the Large Hall together created an atmosphere where you just wanted to go, sit awhile, restore the energy, and take time out.
4.The other stall holders, the Alderley Art Group who gave enormous support, those on door duties, and every person who gave time to assist in many and different ways—well done, and thank you.
5.What about the small group of men who fetched and carried some heavy loads, especially whilst setting up the Festival? They were fantastic. Others sorting out the electrics, the lights, the sound—the list is endless, but everyone’s contribution was vital and much, much appreciated.
6.We were so lucky to have Alan Garner to open our Festival on Friday Lunchtime. His reading from the Stone Book Quartet was a focus on our spire and the clock, the ladders (still climbed to this day week on week to ensure the clock has been wound up), and the amazing space up there only seen by a few people over the years since it was built. He was inspiring and touched many who heard him, but Alan was himself inspired and quite spiritually touched by what he witnessed as he was about to go home. In an amazing co-incidence, as he was present with us, the clock itself was being removed from the spire and taken away for restoration. Alan was able to catch sight of, in fact touch, the surrounds of the clock as they were being loaded into the van, and for him it was a most moving experience. God does work in a mysterious way!
7. Three very different Concerts enhanced our Festival—Stephanie Tepper (flautist), accompanied by Russell Lomas on the piano, gave us a wonderful Lunchtime Concert on Friday. Beautiful music, talented musicians, joy to observe and hear—what a delightful start to our music programme for the weekend. Friday evening saw us turn our thoughts to Advent, and the United Christian Singers gave the prophecy to the birth in words, music, and dramatic reading—a very gentle, yet challenging view for us to keep our mind on the start of Advent and our preparations for the Christmas season approaching. But—Saturday night! Pemberton Old Wigan Band had everyone filled with fun. laughter and happy feelings as they took us through their programme of spectacular music. A real buzz filled the sanctuary as the Concert came to an end, and people were left talking excitedly about what a tremendous evening we had experienced.
8. Our music input continued on Sunday afternoon, first of all by being able to listen to some delightful hand bell ringing from Sutton St.James Handbell ringers, then with the Big Sing in aid of Christian Aid, and we say a big thank you to the Church Music Group for taking us through the carols and Christmas songs, with an especial well done to Mark who compered the event, and to Caroline and Nina whose voices filled the air as they led us in the mixture of religious and secular. £125.06p was collected in the buckets at the end of the afternoon.
9. Wrapping round the Big Sing were two very different Services—our own Café Church in the morning, which Ben led without daring to ask for the chairs to be moved even an inch!, and a very fitting Churches Together Service—a Festival of Light— to end the whole Festival weekend.
10. Many people came into our church from Friday Lunchtime through to Sunday teatime, we trust they they each found a warm welcome, a feeling of spiritual warmth, and caught a flavour of the fun and fellowship we experienced as we moved through the weekend ourselves. Many more people have heard about our spire, have seen the work going on, and for a brief time have been part of our church family. Our prayer is that through this Festival they might have experienced something which will make them want to discover more—we trust so.
For us, we are pleased that, as well as providing an opportunity for people to come inside our church and be part of this wonderful event, the Tree Team will be in a position to hand over just under £4000 to the Spire Appeal. Thank you everyone!
OPUS 5 CONCERT
A packed Church on Saturday, 2nd April, enjoyed a wonderful evening of music and song from this talented group. Sarah, Fiona, Rod and John entertained the audience with a variety of songs, including excerpts from opera and musicals, whilst Wendy amazed everyone with her outstanding performance, not only as an accompanist, but as a solo pianist also.
An excellent Concert which has enabled the Time for the Future Spire Fund to receive a marvellous boost of funds, which will help along the large sums the Church has to raise to support the substantial repairs to the Church Spire. Huge thanks to all who supported the evening, to those who sponsored the event, and especially to Opus 5 for giving such pleasure to so many.
JUNE UPDATE
It has been very exciting, and also moving, to see the top levels of scaffolding being dismantled and the upper levels of the spire exposed.
The clock faces are due to be put back in place very soon, and work has started on internal modifications to the tower, which will make access to the clock and bell easier and safer.
As the spire becomes more visible, we can see where some of the masonry has been replaced with new sandstone, cut and fashioned to faithfully reproduce the original.
A number of the original stones, which could not be re-used, are now available to us in return for a donation towards the Spire Appeal
This is your opportunity to perhaps add an ornamental feature to your garden with a direct connection to our Church and village heritage! [Contact Jean Walker (01625 584410) for further details.]
Considerable interest was shown during the recent plant sale which raised a total of £346 towards the Spire Appeal. Many thanks to all who helped on the day, and to the many keen gardeners, who bought bedding plants and ornamental stone.
Saturday, 11th June is the start date of ‘Fellowship Fortnight’, a hospitality and fundraising event being arranged by the Church Stewards in aid of the Spire Appeal. Can you offer a coffee morning at your house, or lunch, tea, or dinner? Would you like to go out for coffee, lunch, tea, or dinner? Forms are available, from the Church Office and via the Notices, giving all the instructions you need to have in order to register your interest. The closing date for Offers has been set as May 29th, but contact either Eric Wallwork, or one of the other church stewards, or the church office (01625 586713) if you would like to register. Do get involved it should be a great time of friendship and fellowship, meeting up with friends you know well and with others you will get to know!
Lunchtime Concert by students from the Conservatoire of Music, Tours and The Ryleys School on Wednesday 6th July at 1.00 pm.
The Spire Project is nearing completion, but we do still need your support!
