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From the Editor
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This month is the 90th Anniversary of
Armistice Day (Remembrance Day) and there is a poem
written after the “Battle of Salerno”; articles
on the “Armed Forces Memorial”; and “George
Butterworth and the Great War”. The 6 November is
“Armed Forces Day of Prayer” with Remembrance
Sunday on 9 November – wear those poppies with
pride.
Colin Carter
“The Inn Crowd” - Havant Light Opera's Christmas
Concert.
Come and join the Inn Crowd. Hear the story of
Christmas told by the Bethlehem inn-keeper and his
wife in this sparkling 2007 musical by Roger Jones.
Our feast of music for Christmas also includes a rare
opportunity to hear the nativity celebration from the
1873 oratorio "The Light of the World" by Sir
Arthur Sullivan, carols by John Rutter and our
traditional community carol singing. Havant Arts
Centre, Thursday 4th, Friday 5th
and Saturday 6th December 2008 at 7.30pm.
Tickets £8 from Box Office 023 9247 2700
www.havantlightopera.co.uk.
Geoff Porter (Musical Director)
The Little Band of Gold” (A Wedding Ring)
In a town in far off Italy
You will hear the story told,
Of a brave young kid in khaki,
And a little band of gold.
They brought him in one morning,
His legs all shot to hell,
And his little back all broken
By a Jerry mortar shell.
As he lay upon the stretcher
His face all racked with pain
He smiled and asked for water
As the M.O. took his name.
I knelt beside him gently
To obey his last command,
And his friends all gathered round him
As he feebly took my hand.
In the inside of my tunic
You will find a picture fold,
And there beside a picture
A little band of gold.
It’s all I have to cherish
It’s all the world to me
And I want you Sir, to place it
In some shrine in Italy.
My mother died last month Sir,
I’ve no one to send it to,
Will you place it in the shrine Sir?
I would do the same for you.
Through tear filled eyes I promised
To obey his last request
And before reveille sounded
He had won eternal rest.
In a shrine in far off Italy
Lies a boy not very old,
And there beside a picture
A LITTLE BAND OF GOLD.
Lt Barclay RM – 41st Royal
Marine Commando
17 September 1943 – after Salerno
Armed Forces Memorial
The memorial containing the 16,000 names of members of
the British Armed Forces who have died on operations
since the end of the Second World War was dedicated in
the presence of Her Majesty the Queen and the Duke of
Edinburgh by the Archbishop of Canterbury on 17th
February 2007. It is a most impressive structure
dominating the National Arboretum at Alrewas in
Staffordshire where there are a large number of
memorials to Service personnel from both World Wars
installed on the site of a former gravel pit which has
been grassed over, trees planted and paths laid.
The names are inscribed on both sides of high semi
circular walls enclosing a paved area containing an
altar and two striking bronze statues. Although the
symbolism of each group is in the eye of the beholder
they depict: In the North sculpture two groups of
civilians who could be grieving parents, or wife or
child or even a sister and sibling. The four
stretcher bearers represent the three Services; one in
a square rigged shirt for the Royal Nay, two are
soldiers and the other an airman in a flying suit.
They are holding aloft their former comrade in arms
in the same way the ancient Greeks held aloft their
fallen comrades on a shield.
The other sculpture shows a man lying on a stretcher.
 The
man holding the fallen warrior has Asiatic features
representing a Ghurka. The nurse leaning over the
body represents the Women’s Services whilst the man on
the right holding a chisel is the sculptor and the man
on the left points to a cleft between the walls on
which is inscribed:
“Through this space a shaft of sunlight falls at
the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh
month to illuminate the wreath on the altar “
Altogether a most poignant and moving tribute to the
many who have died in Kipling’s savage wars of peace.
The National Arboretum may be reached by road from the
A38 North of Birmingham or by train from Lichfield,
Tamworth or Burton.
Peter Thomas
Craft Sale
The Friday Morning Langstone Ladies Circle is holding
a craft sale in St. Nicholas Chapel on Saturday 8
November from 11am. Proceeds are in aid of The
Snowdrop Trust. Please come along and support this
worthy cause.
The General Sikorski Mystery
General Sikorski was the Chief Commander of Poland and
the Prime Minister of the Polish Government in exile
from their homeland following the occupation of Poland
by the German Army in 1939 which caused the start of
World War Two. At that time, Soviet Russia and
Germany were allies and both countries launched
themselves on Poland. The Poles left Poland in their
thousands to come to Great Britain to continue the war
and General Sikorski was their leader. On 4 July 1943
the 62 year old General and his daughter, Sofia
Lesinowska, together with his personal staff, took off
from RAF Gibraltar in a Liberator aircraft of 511
Squadron, flown by Flight Lieutenant Edward “Max”
Prchal who was Czech. Eyewitnesses stated that the
Liberator reached a certain height after take off when
they saw the lights of the plane slowly descending.
It then remained on an even keel until it crashed into
the sea off the eastern end of the runway. Max was
the only survivor of the 19 on board and he was
wearing a fully fastened lifejacket. Strangely, when
the bodies were recovered from the sea, it was found
that no one else was wearing a lifejacket. Was
General Sikorski murdered? Was the aircraft
sabotaged? Was this a highly successful assassination
plot? If so, who was responsible? Controversy and
mystery has surrounded the death of General Sikorski
for over 60 years.
Several names now come into the mystery including
Commander Lionel “Buster” Crabb, the traitors
Kim Philby, Anthony Blunt, Burgess and Maclean, and
even the creator of James Bond, Ian Fleming. I wrote
in “Faith Matters” about the death of Crabb who
was high in years, drink and nicotine when he was
killed in Portsmouth Harbour beneath the Russian
cruiser. I can now put the record right. Cdr Lionel
Kenneth Philip Crabb GM OBE was Britain’s most famous
frogman spy. His brave exploits during the war were
the inspiration for author Ian Fleming’s James Bond.
Around the start of the Second World War, Crabb was
yet to join the Royal Navy and earnt a living selling
paintings to galleries, notably one run by Anthony
Blunt. Crabb was a close friend of Kitty Jarvis, who
during the war was Blunt’s personal assistant in
Military Intelligence at the War Office, and through
her Crabb went to many parties which Blunt, Burgess
and McLean and Ian Fleming regularly attended. We now
jump forward to the war with Crabb a frogman in the
RNVR. He was now active removing limpet mines and
torpedoes from the hulls of British warships in the
waters of Italy, Israel, Egypt, Malta and Gibraltar.
His exploits were the subject of a 1959 film “The
Silent Enemy” starring Laurence Harvey as Crabb
which I have on DVD. Our interest is in Gibraltar
which was Crabb’s first operational assignment in
November 1942. He had done his training at Whale
Island and was now 33 years old. Spain was a
neutral country in name only and the shipping at
anchor in the harbour at Gibraltar was a sitting
target for the excellent Italian frogmen based in the
Spanish ports of La Linea and Algeciras. They were
the most successful frogmen of the war and in the year
prior to Crabb’s arrival, they accounted for the loss
of six million tons of shipping in Gibraltar’s
harbour! These losses reduced dramatically after
Crabb’s arrival. There was mutual respect between the
frogmen, particularly when Crabb gave a burial at sea
for two Italian frogmen, complete with a wreath and an
Italian flag. When Italy capitulated towards the end
of the war, the Italians joined Crabb’s team and the
partnership cleared the harbour of the remaining
limpet mines. Next month we join Crabb as he searches
the wreckage of the fallen Liberator.
Roger Bryant
Riding & Striding Around the Churches
Saturday 13 September was a beautiful day – just right
for an expedition of adventure! It was the day when
the roads seemed to be full of cyclists and walkers
all intent on visiting as many churches as possible.
The money they raised through sponsorship went towards
the repair of historic churches.
St Faith’s was open for the day and there was a rota
of helpers who greeted our visitors and offered them
refreshment. Thank you Diane for the delicious cakes
which you baked, they were very much appreciated. In
all we received thirty riders and walkers throughout
the day from far and wide - from Hayling, Petersfield,
Waterlooville and Steep and from other nearer
parishes.
St Faith’s had three members who raised money this
year.
Michael Powell cycled to Waterlooville, Warblington
and Hayling and all around. Jeremy Toole ran twelve
miles (!) and Sheila Creech walked seven miles,
starting in Havant and after a bus journey, she
explored the Portsmouth churches.
It is very interesting to see how different all the
buildings are and how they respond to the needs of the
community they serve. Sheila was particularly
impressed with St Faith’s Landport which has a new
entrance area. The west end seemed rather like a big
conservatory. It was full of light and served as a
meeting place, she thought. Her favourite church was
the Church of the Holy Spirit. She was stunned by the
huge, cream painted interior which gave a wonderful
atmosphere. St Mary’s Portsea though holds special
memories as there she saw the font where she was
baptised.
All in all, it was a good day for everyone. The three
riders, striders and runners raised nearly three
hundred pounds between them. Half of this money will
be given to St Faith’s and it is quite likely that in
the future we may benefit from a grant from the
Historic Churches Trust for work which is needed
here. Thank you to all of you who have been so
generous with sponsorship. Thank you too to the
‘meeters and greeters’ – to Sara, Marion, Alan,
Ken and Vicki.
Roll on next year – Perhaps more of you would like to
be involved then?
Hilary Deadman
George Butterworth and The Great War
This September Sylvia and I visited the famous
wine-growing region of Alsace situated in eastern
France close to the border with Germany. Our journey
took us from Calais via the A26 and A4 auto routes to
Strasbourg and then to Mittelwihr near Colmar. The
route passes many areas associated with the First
World War including the towns of Arras, Reims and
Verdun. Frequent roadside signs indicated the
presence of World War I battlefields and memorials.
The A26 and A4 follow closely the line of the
notorious Western Front that stretched 450 miles from
the Swiss border to the North Sea. The significance
of this association was particularly poignant since
this year is the 90th Anniversary of
Armistice Day – 11 November 1918 – which marked the
end of the First World War. (1914-18).
There are numerous accounts of the
First World War, or Great War, as it was known.
However, some brief details are essential in order to
convey the full horror of this conflict. At the
outbreak of hostilities – 4 August 1914 – there was
general optimism that the war would be over by
Christmas. It did, in fact, last four years and the
casualties included eight million killed and over
twice as many wounded on all sides. The victims came
not only from Europe and the Commonwealth but also
from India, Africa and the USA. The war was fought on
the ground and underground, on the water and under
water, and in the air. Every form of warfare was
employed from cavalry charges to hand-to-hand trench
warfare, from artillery bombardments to tanks. The
Germans also used poison gas and flame-throwers for
the first time. Conditions in the trenches were
appalling and the troops suffered unimaginable
hardship. In the first year there were 3.5 million
casualties as soldiers on both sides were cut down in
carnage on an unprecedented scale.
Among the first to enlist were a number of British
composers. These included George Butterworth
(1885-1916) and his friend Ralph Vaughan Williams
(1872-1958). It was while studying at Trinity
College, Oxford, that Butterworth first met Vaughan
Williams. As a result Butterworth was encouraged to
pursue his musical ambitions. Following completion of
his studies at Oxford he spent a year teaching before
entering the Royal College of Music. It was at this
time that he, like Vaughan Williams, became interested
in collecting folk songs. Butterworth wrote a fine
collection of pastoral music, the most familiar of
which is The Banks of Green Willow (1913).
However it is as an extremely accomplished songwriter
that he is now remembered. Most notable are two
song-cycles with words taken from A.E. Houseman’s
collection of poems A Shropshire Lad. In the
light of forthcoming events these include particularly
evocative songs such as ‘The lads in their
hundreds’, ‘On the idle hill of summer’ and ‘With rue
my heart is laden’. In August 1914 Butterworth
enlisted as a Lieutenant with the Durham Light
Infantry. Before leaving for France he destroyed all
of his work which, he considered, fell short of
excellence.
In the opening land battles,
particularly those around Ypres in Belgium where
fighting was particularly fierce, the casualties on
both sides were enormous. Opposing armies engaged in
trench warfare became trapped in a lethal stalemate.
The whole thing was seemingly pointless. An
extraordinary thing happened on that first Christmas
British and German troops met in no-mans land to
fraternize. Throughout 1915 and 1916 heavy fighting
continued along the Western Front and Allied forces
incurred casualties on an unprecedented scale
particularly at Verdun and the Somme. At the
beginning of 1916 the Germans, in an attempt to
overcome the stalemate, launched a huge attack at
Verdun. Heavy artillery bombardment destroyed the
French
defences
and the Germans almost broke through. In an
endeavour
to relieve the pressure on the French at Verdun,
British and French troops launched a counter offensive
on the Somme. Despite a preliminary bombardment
lasting seven days, the German
defences were hardly touched and the attack met
unexpectedly fierce resistance. Losses were
catastrophic. On the first day alone 20,000 British
troops were killed and 40,000 injured or captured. A
major battle was fought for every village, copse and
farmhouse gained. It was during this period that
Butterworth, who had already been mentioned in
despatches,
gained the Military Cross for successfully defending a
trench at Pozieres during the 17-19 July 1916.
Several weeks later, on 5 August 1916, Butterworth was
killed leading a raid during the Somme Offensive near
Pozieres. He was 31 years of age. His body was never
found. Consequently his name is listed amongst the
72,000 who have no known grave on the Memorial to the
Missing of the Somme at Thiepval south of Arras.
Trevor Hold, writer and composer, in his book ‘Parry
to Finzi Twenty English Song-Composers’ says of
Butterworth, “There is something ironic about his
death: it is almost as though he were living out the
fate of his (and Houseman’s) Shropshire Lad, with its
numerous references to and images of soldiers going
into battle. This feeling of irony is nowhere more
apparent than in the last two songs of the second
Houseman sequence. In ‘On the idle hill of summer’,
the poet, half-asleep on a hillside ----describes the
distant sounds of marching soldiers. He reflects on
the folly of war, but decides nevertheless to join the
soldiers himself. In ‘With rue my heart is
laden’----a sadder, wiser young man reflects on the
`golden friends` whom he will never see
again:----Butterworth’s death robbed us of potentially
one of the finest British composers of his
generation.” [Hold, Trevor. Parry to Finzi
Twenty English Song-Composers. The Boydell Press,
Woodbridge, 2002 reprint 2005, p.243]. George
Butterworth’s surviving works were written over a
period of five years, between 1909 and 1914. It is
principally as a songwriter that his reputation
rests. Had he lived we can only contemplate what he
may have achieved.
The Battle of the Somme finally ended
with the onset of winter on the 18 November 1916. The
following year the German forces fell back to their
newly prepared
defences,
the Hindenburg Line. Throughout 1917 major battles
took place at Arras, Ypres, Passchendale and Cambrai.
Eventually on the 26 September 1918 a massive Allied
attack broke through the Hindenburg Line and the
following month Germany admitted defeat. On the 11
November 1918 at 11am Germany signed an armistice with
the Allies and the war was finally over.
World War I affected the lives of many people. For
composers, this was to influence their music. George
Butterworth’s close friend Vaughan Williams was no
exception. He served as an ambulance orderly in
northern France during the summer of 1916. On his
return home he resumed composition and channelled his
emotions into his 3rd Symphony ‘A
Pastoral Symphony’ - now regarded as his “war
requiem.” He chose to write not a violent
representation of the horrors of war, as one might
have expected, but meditative music full of
atmosphere. It is as though Vaughan Williams, having
witnessed horrific events, and survived, needed to
write music of great beauty and peace.
Peter Willey
Concerts During November
Saturday 22 at 7pm in St Faith’s Church.
St Cecilia's Day joint concert with Bosmere Junior
School's Chamber Choir.
Sunday 30 at 6pm in St John the Baptist Church
Westbourne.
The Advent Carol Concert is a joint
venture with our choir joining with St John the
Baptist, Westbourne's Church choir.
Much hard work goes in to organising,
arranging and learning over several weeks for these
concerts, and it would be good to feel that the hard
work is appreciated by having well-attended
performances/services.
So, if you possibly can, please join
one or both concerts.
Welsh “Cruise”
Having sold our yacht, without too much sadness in
view of the weather, Rosemary and I decided to do a
land cruise this summer to see some of our own country
instead of Normandy and Brittany. Accordingly we set
off by car for Wales spending our first night on the
delightful River Wye stopping at the ruins of Tintern
Abbey on the way to Simmonds Yat. Elevenses the next
day were spent in the attractive border town of
Monmouth.
Then, pausing for a ride on the Brecon Mountain
Railway, on to The Mumbles, where the wind on the Head
was almost too strong to stand up in. How glad we
were not to be at sea. The following day, with the
Head Gardner aboard, we had to visit the delightful
Aberglaseny Gardens near Carmarthen. Here we learned
the vagaries of Welsh road signs, all of which are in
two languages and having signed you off the main road
leave it to your navigator to find your destination.
We then went on to St David’s which, having a lovely
Cathedral has recently been granted the status of
“City”.
Thanks to the relationship of its owner to a kind
neighbour of ours in Langstone we spent that night in
a luxurious hotel at Wolfe’s Castle which owes its
name to the Vikings.
The next day we went to Fishguard from where high
speed ferries sail to Rosslare and admired the old
harbour occupied by yachts and fishing boats. We had
lunch in Cardigan and then went on up the west coast
calling at Llangranog, with its memorial garden to
Elgar who gained much of his inspiration there, then
the resort of New Quay with two drying harbours before
spending the night at the delightful harbour town of
Aberaeron. Here all the houses are painted in
different colours and our B&B held the prize for
producing the best breakfast in Wales. The next day
we walked round Aberystwyth and found a 16th
Century farmhouse for the night near Dolgellau where
we enjoyed an evening meal and learned that Sospan
Bach meant Little Saucepan. A problem with B&Bs is
that few serve evening meals and one has to go into
the nearest town to dine.
We then headed through the spectacular Pass of
Llanberis, with torrents pouring down the slopes each
side, for the Snowdon Mountain Railway. Because of the
strong winds, driving rain and low cloud base this
only took us half way up but it was nevertheless
spectacular. We spent the next night in a B&B run by
a Dutch couple outside Betts-y-coed. This was
remarkable in having an indoor heated swimming pool.
We dined well in a pub in town busy with Welsh
speaking locals.
The next day we headed east to Wrexham, where I was
based at the end of the War. Then to Chester which is
a spectacular walled City with a fine Cathedral and
the attractive two tier shopping streets known as the
Rows. From there we went to Weaverham to visit one of
Rosemary’s nieces who lives in a well fitted out barge
on the River Weaver with her practical husband and
three well brought up boys. After this our cruise
ended and we headed down south to spend our final
night with our younger son and his family.
Christopher is a Pastor of an Evangelical Free Church
in the Bournville area of Birmingham. Our last
passage was in foul weather down the motorways with
blinding spray thrown up by heavy lorries to the safe
haven of our house in Langstone. All in all it was a
most enjoyable “cruise” despite the weather and
we visited parts of our country which we had not seen
before.
Peter Thomas
Dear St Faith’s Residents,
I cannot believe that autumn is already here, can
anyone tell me where the summer has gone? Though I
cannot grumble because just before writing this
newsletter I had just spent 2 hrs on foot patrol in
Havant Town and the weather was absolutely beautiful.
On a policing matter Havant Industrial Estate has been
victim to thefts of Catalytic converters and Diesel.
Targeted patrols are in place but any information
from members of the public advising us about possible
suspicious person(s) would be greatly accepted.
In Septembers issue I mentioned Distraction Burglaries
in the Leigh Park and Bedhampton area. I am pleased
to advise that a suspect has been identified though
please still be vigilant to bogus door callers. If
anyone would like information regarding home security
then please contact a member of St Faith’s Safer
Neighbourhood Team – see the October edition on page
11.
St Faith’s Neighbourhood team has been working with
Havant Borough Council (HBC) and Havant and
Waterlooville Football Club with the young people of
Denville’s and Warblington to receive football
coaching through the HAWKS. The initiative has been
running at Warblington School since June 2008. The
idea behind it is that the young people in the area
have no immediate access to open space/green areas for
sport/outdoor recreation and to help build community
in the area, this is available to young people to keep
them active/learn new skills/stop playing football in
the street/reducing ASB, etc. The funding from HBC
and NACRO has insured that the coaching will continue
into March 2008. If you are aware/have any children
yourself from the Denville’s and Warblington area that
may be interested in attending football coaching we
would be glad to see you. The coaching is from
1700-1800hrs and at present is focused for youths aged
between 12-16yrs though we are in the process of
organising another session for 8-11yrs, please feel
free pop by.
Regards
PCSO Sarah Woodley 13389 and St Faiths Team
Congratulations
Congratulations to Amy Frost - who is
our first St Faith's Organ Scholar. She has been
accepted as a Pipeline Scholar - a scheme for young
organists that is run by the Portsmouth diocese. Amy
will also be having local private lessons with a tutor
from the St Giles International Organ School that is
based in London. We look forward to hearing of her
progress!
Sylvia Willey
Visit by Representatives of St. Faith’s
Ghanaian Link Parish
On 16th July this year a prayer was
answered with the arrival in Havant of the two
representatives of St. Faith’s IDWAL(Inter-Diocesan West Africa Link) link parish
in Ghana, Janette Wilson and Nana Amonoo Smith,
churchwardens of the Anglican Church of St. John the
Divine, Nsawam. As our previous articles describe (“Faith
Matters” June 2006, January 2008, February 2008, March
2008), our own visits to Nsawam as representatives
of St. Faith’s in 2006 and 2007 were ‘transforming’
experiences during which we were made to feel very
welcome and had a wonderful opportunity to see how our
shared Christian faith is lived out by fellow
Anglicans in a very different culture. To return
their hospitality and develop
the bonds between our churches, the two churchwardens
were invited to visit St. Faith’s in 2007 and funds
for this were raised; but, sadly, their UK visa
applications were refused. God moves in mysterious
ways, however: this year, with the support of our MP,
the applications were successful; furthermore, our
visit to Nsawam last November provided the opportunity
to meet Nana for the first time, to get to know him
and Janette, and to form a firm friendship with them
both; and, when it finally took place this summer,
their visit to Havant exceeded our hopes and theirs.
Despite the historic links with the UK and the
prominence of the Anglican Church in Ghana, the
differences are immense. For example: Ghana is a
tropical country; although it has been spared the
ravages of conflict, hunger and disease experienced by
nearby countries, it’s much poorer than Britain (a
secondary head teacher may typically earn less than
£40 a month); although children learn English as a
second language at school the language of everyday
life is Twi; the food is very different; the extended
family remains very important; signs of the Christian
faith are very evident in Ghanaian life.
Consequently, finding themselves in Havant was as
much of a culture shock for our visitors as our first
trip to Nsawam had been for us. Their visit was
intended to strengthen the link between our churches,
and increase understanding of one another’s cultures
and of the ways in which Anglicans live out their
faith in different cultural settings. With all this
in mind, in consultation with other members of St.
Faith’s we put together a varied itinerary of
activities and visits. Although Janette and Nana
stayed at our house, they also enjoyed the hospitality
of several other members of our church during their
visit. Space doesn’t permit a full account of the
visit but we’d like to share some of the highlights.
On their first afternoon here, we walked around the
centre of Havant, visiting shops and calling in at the
church; and Nana’s awestruck comment has stuck in our
minds, “Truly, God has blessed Europe”. That
evening, we attended a service of welcome at St.
Faith’s, after which there was an opportunity for the
visitors to meet and chat with Fr. David and members
of the PCC and congregation. Janette had been
corresponding with Sandra Haggan for a couple of
years, so they were delighted to meet each other at
last; they had several opportunities to spend time
together during the visit and their friendship has
grown. On the second day, Janette and Nana spent the
morning visiting St. Albans CofE Primary School with
our churchwarden, Graham Frost, who is a
parent-governor. This was of particular interest to
Janette, a teacher herself. Over the following days,
they got to know Graham and his family, and a firm
friendship developed; hence, a link now exists between
churchwardens of our two churches. On the Friday
evening, another highlight was the Men’s and Women’s
groups’ barbecue on Hayling beach. Despite the wet
and chilly weather, this went ahead cheerfully in the
lee of the beach huts in true English fashion and we
were able to equip our African visitors with fleeces
and anoraks for the occasion. Fr. David had invited
David Willetts MP in view of his support for Janette
and Nana’s visa applications, and they were pleased to
have an opportunity to chat with him (though somewhat
bemused that a prominent MP should arrive on a
bicycle).
On the first Saturday, fortunately warm and sunny, we
took the visitors for a tour of the nearby
countryside, taking in a traditional pub lunch, and
culminating in a visit to Petworth House. Nana, a
farmer (chickens, maize, pineapples, bananas), was
impressed by the South Downs landscape and very
interested in the agriculture. On a later occasion,
Colin Hedley took him to meet a farmer friend and they
had a guided tour of the farm. There were several
other opportunities to see the countryside at close
hand during the early morning walks which Nana and
Mike got into the habit of taking at 6.00am each day
(people in Ghana tend to rise early, while it’s cool –
Janette attends Holy Communion at 5.30am each day, and
Nana is often up and working around 4.30am): we walked
all round Havant, including the industrial estates and
the Langstone shoreline; we walked along the shore to
Emsworth and back via Warblington church; we walked to
Hayling oyster beds to watch the birds; we walked up
to Kingley Vale from Stoughton; and we walked through
Stanstead Forest, where we saw deer, rabbits, and a
fox (Nana enquired whether there were any dangerous
animals, as there are in Ghana).
On their first Sunday, Nana and Janette were made to
feel very welcome at morning service. On behalf of
St. John the Divine, they gave an address and
presented St. Faith’s with a handsome chasuble and a
traditional African stole. Afterwards, they had
opportunities to meet members of our congregation and
choir. A few days later, they accepted an invitation
to visit the church tower to watch our bell-ringers
practising - something quite unfamiliar in Ghana. The
second Sunday, they joined us for Fr. David’s farewell
morning service and evensong, and the get-together at
the rectory. They were well-placed to share something
of the congregation’s feelings not only as they had
developed a rapport with David and Susan, but also
because St. John the Divine had been through a similar
experience with the departure of Fr. Felix eighteen
months before.
Other highlights of their visit included a day-trip to
London to ‘see the sights’ (the London Eye,
open-topped bus tour, and river trip), which they
enjoyed immensely. By strange coincidence, we arrived
at St. Paul’s Cathedral just in time to attend Holy
Communion. Photography is strictly prohibited in that
magnificent church, but after the service the
presiding priest invited us to photograph Nana and
Janette with him in front of the main altar, much to
their (and our) delight. Subsequent outings, with us
or other members of St. Faith’s, included: Chichester
Cathedral, where again we happened to arrive just in
time to take Communion; Winchester Cathedral and St.
Cross; Arundel Castle; Singleton Weald & Downland
open-air museum; St. Hubert’s chapel, Idsworth; Bosham;
Emsworth; Portsmouth Cathedral; Portsmouth Historic
Ships; Gunwharf Quays and the Spinnaker Tower; and,
above all, visits to people’s homes.
 Given
the discrepancies in material prosperity between
Britain and Ghana, it seemed important that our
visitors shouldn’t go away with a false impression of
life here. So the itinerary included a couple of
opportunities for them to learn something about the
lives of people in less advantaged circumstances. One
was a visit to St. Clare’s, Warren Park, where Rev.
Mike Honour and one of the churchwardens, plus the
local Baptist Minister, took us on a walking tour of
the parish, including a visit to the Sure Start
Centre, followed by tea at the churchwarden’s house.
The other was a visit to St. Luke's CofE Secondary
School, Portsmouth, serving an area of high
deprivation in the city, where we attended morning
assembly, had a tour of the school, met staff, and
visited classes. Both of these visits were of great
interest to Janette and Nana.
Nana and Janette were overjoyed by the welcome they
received during their visit – they repeatedly told us,
as have their Ghanaian relatives and Fr. Seth in
‘phone conversations. Their visit was a really happy
experience which has done much to strengthen and
deepen the bond between our two churches despite the
differences of language and culture. This is
especially important at a time when the world-wide
Anglican Church is threatened with schism. Before
they left we formed a small IDWAL Group to explore
ways of maintaining and developing our link, the first
meeting of which Nana and Janette attended. It was a
very constructive meeting, and they intend to
establish a corresponding group at St. John the
Divine. Let us continue to pray for each other and to
support one another in our shared faith.
Mike & Ann Fluck
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