Forthcoming Meetings.

Tuesday 2nd Nov, 7pm - Nocton Parish Council
Wednesday 3rd Nov, 7.30pm - Nocton Village Hall Management Committee
Thursday 11th Nov, 7.30pm  -  Nocton Social Club AGM

Group Eucharist Tomorrow.

On Sunday there will be our rotating (5th Sunday) group Eucharist Service. This time it is at St Andrews, Potterhanworth and starts at 9.30am. Rev Les Whitfield will preside as the three parishes of Potterhanworth , Branston and Nocton come together in worship.

Halloween Fancy Dress Disco Tonight!!!

Nocton Social Club are putting on a Halloween Fancy Dress disco tonight in the Socal Club/Village Hall. Starts around 7.30pm. Tickets: Adults £3, Children £1.50. Come along and enjoy yourself.

The New War Memorial.

The Archdeaon has contacted us today,querying a report that he has received about us installing the WW2 memorial in the church. This is not the case as we were refused permission to do so. However it has been temporarily in the church stood on an artists easel since the heritage weekend. At that time it was on display along with many other items. It was subsequently left there as we have nowhere to store it and artsNK are not inclined to complete it, not withstanding it costing £3000 to date!

Re-Roofing Scheduled 1st Jul - 30th Nov 2011

David and I, have pencilled in the period from 1st July to 30th Nov 2011 for the structural works to take place. This has been identified as the least interfering period in respect of Bat activity and breeding. This is the key consideration in timing but it gives us plenty of time to get the tile match correct.

While this may or may not involve internal scaffolding it certainly will involve the exterior of the building being scaffolded for much of that time. How this will effect the use of the church over the period is not clear at this time.

Summer Weddings may be an issue and we will need to discuss each and every case carefully.

Roof Tiles on the Church.

Sandtoft Tiles from Hull have been on site at the Church this morning with our architect, David Glew, taking samples of the various types of tiles to look how they can best colour match them. The proposal is for new tiles to furnish the North Chancel and North Nave Side and the Southern aspects to be refitted with the best of the reclaimed tiles. There are a few different sizes and colour variants which will have to be matched to the approval of English Heritage. These will be bespoke tiles for our church.

The original style of tiles can no longer be manufacturered as the firing process would now contravene every health, safety and environment rule going. So it is a best match exercise.

Good News on Funding!!!

With the funding cuts across all areas of public expenditure announced yesterday, I had been a quite worried about the survival of the the 'Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme" which refunds VAT for major Church repair projects. However the Dept of Culture, Media and Sport has today announced that it has decided to retain the scheme and refund at the new 20% rate, however it has narrowed the scope of the eligible works. We will in effect lose around £4,000 (phew!) it could have been £30,000.

We are back on track

Click here for more details

Cancelled Service

Owing to illness, there will be no evening prayer tonight at Nocton.

Funding Cuts

In the current cycle of funding cuts we are no more immune than anyone else. There is a real possibility that the VAT refund scheme which enables listed places of worship to claim back the VAT charged on major repair works, may be scaled back or even abolished. To this end we are starting to have a look at a reduced repair option. The priority will be the chancel roof and its artworks, then the level of renovation of the Nave will very much depend on how the finances look in the new year. A complete abolition of the refund scheme could cost us in excess of £30,000 if the full works go ahead. But we like all, must tighten our belts and make our spending more effective.

Sunday Eucharist at Potterhanworth

Its the 3rd Sunday in the month so Rev Les Whitfield will preside at our service of Holy Communion. Starts at 9.30am, tea and coffee afterwards.

Church Bat Survey

As part of the roof repairs, we had to undertake a 'Protected Species Survey'. This was principally to investigate the types and habits of the bats that use the church. We have just received the final report. The result is that we have identified that the Nave is used as a maternity roost and during the breeding season we can't work on this area. A program of works will now have to be prepared to allow for this 'stop' period on the Nave. There is no similar condition applied to the Chancel. We can only work on the Nave after May 14th.

Big Cats in Nocton !!??

A train driver, driving the Sleaford to Leicester service was just leaving Metheringham and rounding a corner going uphill at Nocton when he saw a large sleek 'Black Cat' in a field along the side of the line. The driver Anthony Rushby said it was the size of a Labrador.

Click here to see the full Echo article

Have you seen one?

Nocton School Quiz TONIGHT!!!

Nocton School Fundraising Quiz

Tonight 8pm in the Londesborough Arms, Metheringham.

Bishop Tim Rocks!!!

If you want to enjoy a fun evening of various types of music with food and wine thrown in, why not go to the event being staged at St Mary Le Wigford, Church, St Marys Street in Lincoln on 20th Nov. Bishop Tim, his Sons and their band will perform, as will Rev Jeff Heskins and his ukulele as George Formby, and contemporary piano music from Tim Williams, organist of St Wulframs, Grantham.
The event is in aid of the 'Beattitude Project', which supports the Nomad Trust, YMCA and Addaction.
Tickets are £12.50 and are available from the Rev Liz Jackson 07799 724908.

Click here to see the Echo article on the event

Its a really good cause.

New Parish Councillor

Following the resignation of Gerry Watchus, Ian Goldsworthy has now been elected, unopposed, to this vacancy.

Ian moved to the village three and a half years ago and lives in The Barn, Halls Yard, with his wife, Janet (who works in the post office) and Old English Sheepdog, Ben!

Ian worked in local government in London for 35 years before retiring to Lincolnshire and now works part-time at RAF Digby.  He is very interested in local issues and ideas which will benefit and improve the village.

Ians contact details will be available in the next Newsletter

Nocton Photographic Competition

You have probably got your flyers through the door today about this years Village Hall Photographic Competition. Get snapping and have a go !!!
Topic  - Village Activities
Must be taken in the last 5 years.
Must not have been entered before.
Photos of children must be accompanied by parental permission.
£1 entry no larger than A4
Submit entries by 20th November to:
Philip Franklin 3 Wellhead Lane or Pete Askew 31 Wellhead Lane

Approval!!

Preliminary approval has been given to our re-roofing plans (subject to some fine details). I have just given Glew & Smith authority to proceed on the tendering processing. As the contract is going to be in excess of £100k, and has a large contribution of public funding, the tendering process has to be independent and above board. We are obliged to use a facility site called mytender.com as are all public bodies. We will hopefully long list to ten then shortlist during November.

Diocesan Planners Meet to Review Our Roof Proposals.

Just finished assembling the roofing tile specifications for the church after a long conversation with our conservation tile roofing consultant - Richard Jordan, its now gone to our architect - David Glew. Looks like the tiles some 10,000 will have to be hand made to a special recipe if they are to be similar to what is already in place. All the drawings and specification are being reviewed by the Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC - our planning authority) tomorrow, if they give us tentative approval we can can put the tendering process into action. Please remember us in your prayers. This is a key time for the process anything amiss now could cause chaos!!

Today is the Festival of St Wilfrid

Today in the Church of England is the festival day of St Wilfrid of Ripon. Born in 709 he was a Bishop and Missionary. He is also the Patron Saint of St Wilfrids Church, Metheringham.

Click here to learn more about him

Prayer for Today

Almighty God

who called our forebears to be the light of the Gospel

by the preaching of your servant Wilfrid

help us, who keep his life and labour in remembance,

to glorify your name, by following the example

of his zeal and perseverance;

through Jesus Christ your son our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God , now and forever.

Amen.

Church Lead Thefts

Lead theft from churches has seen a huge increase and locally All Saints, Branston has suffered more than most. Thankfully they are now replacing the lead with steel. Read the article in todays Echo.

Click here for the full Echo article

Updated What's On

Check out the updated 'What's On' to see whats coming up across the village.

Photos of Vicars 1767-2007

I've just uploaded a folder of photos of all our vicars from 1776-2007. There may never be another!!!

Click here for photos

Sunday Eucharist

Its the 2nd Sunday in the month so Rev Les Whitfield will preside at our service of Holy Communion. Starts at 9.30am, tea and coffee afterwards.

Funding for roof repairs - an update.

To date we have been promised £96,000 from English Heritage, £10,000 from the National Churches Trust and a further £1,000 from the All Churches Trust, we have also raised over £5,000 this year from sponsorship and the concert season within the village. We are probably short of around £20,000 at current estimates, therefore in respect of this I have just submitted a further grant application to the Garfield Weston Foundation based in London. Lets pray we are successful with them as well.

A New Blog!

I decided to start this blog to keep a track of all the different activities that go on, in and around All Saints, as we work in, around and with our local community. We have a strong congregation and the church involves itself in many village activities. I'd love to get involved more with the community and get some kids back to church. Lets hope we are not creating a generation of lost souls.