Newsletter August 2008 Dear Friend, Could you kindly make a note of the following dates in your diary: Sunday 21st September 2.45 p.m. AGM of the Friends of Ashley St.Mary. 3.00 p.m. Harvest Service. All welcome and refreshments will be served after the service. Saturday October 18th. Working Party at Church 9.30 a.m. Tuesday 9th December. 7.30 p.m. Carol Concert led by the Somborne Singers. Christmas Day. Service at 11.15 a.m. 2008 has been a fairly uneventful year for Ashley St. Mary in that no major work has been necessary on the fabric of the church. Louise Bainbridge the CCT appointed architect has recently surveyed the building and happily she did not discover any significant problems although she has arranged for an electrician to test the safety of the wiring. A new tamper proof donation box has been installed inside the church because there was a possibility that some pilfering had taken place from the old box although no significant amounts of money were taken. The grounds have continued to be maintained by Mr. Baldwin and this year the area set aside for wild flowers seems to have been about the right size and several orchids of different species have been recorded. The cost of maintaining the grounds is proving to be a significant financial burden and although there has been some support from the Churches Conservation Trust our reserves are being depleted. Many closed churchyards are maintained by the local authority so approaches have been made to Test Valley Borough Council to discover if they are willing to take over the care of the closed part of our churchyard. We have not as yet heard whether they are willing to do this work. As usual three services have been held during the year and the Harvest Festival and Christmas Day services were particularly well attended. We would like to thank the Rev. Robert Stapleton for his support as well as the organists who are prepared to wage a ceaseless battle with the harmonium. We have had some sad moments during in year because several Friends have passed away; in particular we should mention Anne McCay who was always closely involved with the church. After the inaugural meeting of the Friends in 1980 Anne was appointed secretary and continued in this role for some years. Anne was a feisty, stalwart lady who new more about life in Ashley than anyone else and continued to help with the church until she was taken ill. On a happier note we were delighted to have our first wedding at Ashley for some years. Our resident organist Evelyn Owen’s daughter Isabel was married to Mikey Brown in June. The bride was beautiful, it was a lovely day, the church was full and it was a really happy day. In the summer we said goodbye to John Vigar from the CCT, John has supported us for many years but the CCT has re-organized its areas and Ashley now comes under the South West Region. We would like to thank John for all his work and support and we look forward to meeting his successor Peter Lankester who has recently been appointed as the new regional manager. We hope with his help to continue to maintain our beautiful little church. Finally a reminder about your annual subscription, it remains at £1 although we would appreciate it if you could agree to pay by Standing Order, the form is enclosed and should be sent to our Hon.Treasurer, Mrs Thelma Blamey, Chalk Vale Farmhouse, Ashley, SO20 6RE. | 
