All Saints Church, Nocton, Lincolnshire Online Magazine.

Sunday, 25 November 2012

150th anniversary celebration – 16 December

Plans are well advanced for a very special service at All Saints, when Bishop Christopher will be leading our worship. The focus will be thanksgiving to God for 150 years of our church building, for the recent roof renovation and for those who through the ages have been associated with and served the church, and re-dedication to His service of the building with its new roof and of those who serve the church today. The service will be later than usual at 11 am and will be followed by a lunch in the village hall. Tickets for the lunch are £10 but are strictly limited in number – please book your place early to avoid disappointment. Contact Ann (322739) or Doreen (322323). Tickets are also available from the Post Office.

WI Carol Service

All Saints will welcome the members of the Women's Institute for their carol service at 2.30 pm on 9 December.

Latest Doodle

"Hi All

Here is the November Issue which includes all the details for events over Christmas in Nocton.

Sorry its a little late, the last few weeks have been a little hectic.

Kindest regards

Chris"

Saints and Heroes Evening

What a wonderful evening we enjoyed together on October 31st. It was very well supported by over 25 Nocton and Branston children who all came in a variety of fancy dress. A range of activities, focusing on the qualities of the saints, were ongoing - hunting for saints around the church, apples on a string, creating a mobile and making a candle holder and hot-seating activities. We closed with a very special act of worship and a treat!

Sunday, 28 October 2012

Latest Nocton Doodle now out!

Click here for the latest village newsletter.

Sunday, 7 October 2012

150th anniversary of All Saints – 16 December

All Saints celebrates the 150^th anniversary of its consecration on 16 December. The Bishop of Lincoln has graciously agreed to to lead the celebration service, which is at 11 am (not the usual 9.30). This will be followed by a celebration lunch in the Village Hall. Further details to follow but please mark the date in your diary now.

Celebrate Saints and Heroes!

Harvest Thanksgiving and supper

Around 45 people attended the Harvest Thanksgiving service on Sunday 30 September to give thanks to God for all His gifts. The church looked lovely and a selection of produce was on display. This was later auctioned at the Harvest Supper, Nicholas Bennett acting as auctioneer. Another career beckons, Nicholas! The supper was also well attended and featured local delicacies such as Lincolnshire chine, followed by the usual delicious crumbles and pies, and, of course, Lincolnshire plum bread with cheese. Almost £400 was raised for the church restoration fund. Thanks to all who donated produce or dishes for the supper, decorated the church, did the washing up or helped in any other way!

Sunday, 30 September 2012

Heritage Open Weekend 8 – 9 September

All Saints church saw a steady stream of visitors for the Lincolnshire Heritage Open weekend, an annual event with special openings and events across Lincolnshire. This year's theme was Trade and Travel. Guided tours of the church were conducted by Carol Bennett, who talked herself hoarse explaining the church's history and many points of interest to the visitors. Light lunches were served and featured home-made sandwiches and cakes as well as cups of tea. Some visitors had made a special trip to visit All Saints, others called in when they saw the 'open' signs. All were welcome and expressed amazement at the quality of the interior.

The Saturday coincided with the annual Ride and Stride so we were also visited by a number of intrepid cyclists, including Gill Stokes and Ruth and Jim Eagle, who cycled a magnificent 43 miles. All funds raised by the ride are shared between the Lincolnshire Churches Trust and a church of the cyclist's choice.

Latest Nocton Doodle

Click here for the latest edition!

Wednesday, 25 July 2012

Events coming up in September

Sat 8 Sept - ‘Ride & Stride’

Sponsored bike ride around Lincolnshire's churches. Sponsor Ruth and Jim Eagle, or have a go yourself. Contact Ruth and Jim on 322285 if you would like to sponsor them or Liz Murray on 323357 if you would like to take part yourself. Half the money raised goes to a church of your choice (it doesn't have to be All Saints Nocton, but we'd like it to be!) and the other half to the Lincolnshire Churches Trust.

Sat 8/Sun 9 Sept - ‘Village Heritage Weekend’

Nocton Church will be open for Heritage Open Days from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday 8th September, and from 12 noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday 9th September. Light lunches and refreshments will be on sale for the church repair fund.

Sun 30 Sept - ‘Harvest Thanksgiving and Supper’

Service in Church at 4pm followed by the Harvest Supper at the village Hall. Tickets £10 for adults, £5 for under 12s. A delicious supper and a glass of wine / fruit juice. For tickets please contact Ann 322739, Doreen 322323 or Carol 322930.

Thursday, 19 July 2012

Flower Festival reflections from Carol Bennett

(In case you wondered why there was no 'live' coverage, I've been away)

The best thing about the All Saints Church Flower Festival was that so many people in Nocton and Potterhanworth got involved. Whether it was growing plants and selling them, arranging flowers, doing the Preview catering, baking cakes and refreshments and serving them, stewarding, making a donation towards the flowers or the wine, doing a reading at the Songs of Praise – the age range was from 4 and upwards. The second best thing was that the week-end of 29 June to 1 July was fairly sunny with just a few showers. The worst thing was that while the flowers were being arranged, the heavens opened up, and the south aisle roofs leaked like sieves. Out came the buckets and mops – reminders that although the main roofs have been renewed, the south aisle, vestry and memorial chapel roofs all still leak very badly. As Sheila Redshaw, one of the organisers of the plant stall said, you can keep patching up, but eventually, after 150 years, you just have to do things properly. The south roofs are for a later stage of repairs, but the week-end raised an impressive amount towards the target of £40,000 needed to pay for just the current repairs. Work has stopped on the chancel wall paintings, as they will cost over £20,000 to put right. Our beautiful church is high maintenance!

The theme of ‘our village in 1862’ was just right to celebrate the church’s 150^th anniversary. The flower arrangers had learned that there were no pedestal arrangements at the time of the church’s consecration, so other equipment came into use as flower stands: a milk churn for the farmers; a cradle for the children baptised at the font; logs for the game keeper’s window; Victorian plant stands to represent the cottage gardeners; and tiered stands, using cake stands one on top of the other, on the high altar and in the housewives’ display in the vestry. The miller, wheelwright, village shop, hall gardeners, the Vicar, stonemason and the Royal Ripon Lodge were all represented by the imaginative use of flowers and period objects.

Nocton School did a lovely display on the theme of the Victorian school room. As well as their garden flower arrangements, the children’s own embroidery contrasted with the Victorian sampler made by a village child that hangs on the walls of Nocton School. Like the church, the school was the gift of just one family – the Earl and Countess of Ripon and their son, the Marquis of Ripon. We felt privileged to have with us during the week-end the Earl of Buckinghamshire. He represented the Countess’s family, the Hobarts, whose estate of Nocton and Dunston the Countess of Ripon inherited. Hermione, Aaron and Holly read an extract from Lark Rise to Candleford in the Songs of Praise on Sunday evening, which like the Flower Festival had the theme of our village in Victorian times. Afterwards, Hermione asked the Earl of Buckinghamshire for his autograph!

The Lincoln Minster School Chamber Choir gave a concert on the Saturday evening in which the singing was quite amazing by any standard, especially considering that the performers were mostly aged 16 and under. The whole week-end was a rich mix of history, artistry, music and entertainment. It helped to put Nocton on the map with visitors from near and far. Our thanks go to all who helped to make this such a successful and enjoyable event.

[Photos below are by Richard Free.]