Come to our craft market on Saturday, February 19, 10am-2pm at St Mark’s, Alma Lane, GU9 0LT, and buy lovely gifts and treats while supporting local businesses and individual crafters. There will be glass, sweets, hand and face creams, knitting, soaps, cards, pottery, candles and many other gifts, made by skilled local craftspeople. Along side this there will be live music and refreshments, plus a chance to see the Kitty Milroy murals.
Come to the craft market at St Mark’s this Saturday
Join us this Saturday, January 15, at St Mark’s between 10am and 2pm, for the first of this year’s monthly craft markets.
There will be pottery, soaps, glass, cards, jewellery, textiles and all manner of gifts for sale, made by local craftspeople. Browse and buy while you listen to live music, then take a look at the Kitty Milroy murals which featured on BBC TV last month. Then stop off for a hot drink, a savoury roll, cakes and biscuits.
Come and support small businesses as you shop and eat.
Remembrance Sunday is on November 14th this year and there will be services at each of the churches in the Parish – 9.30am at St John’s, 10am at St George’s and 11.10am at St Mark’s. There will also be an Act of Remembrance at the War Memorial in Badshot Lea following the St George’s service. Anyone wishing to attend that who has not been at the service is asked to arrive for around 10.50am.
The St Mark’s service will follow the Act of Remembrance at the Hale War Memorial at 10.45am, where there will be a two-minute silence at 11am. This will be attended by Farnham Brass Band, the Scouts and Upper Hale councillor Cllr Pat Evans, and Cllr Evans and the Scouts will then continue on to St Mark’s for a service.
Lesley Crawley will also lead an Act of Remembrance at Weybourne Village Hall at 4pm.
Come and celebrate the Kitty Milroy murals and Kitty herself at St Mark’s on November 7th at a special communion service at 11am, with the Bishop of Dorking and the mural restorers Stephen Rickerby and Lisa Shekede, and a concert and talk at 7pm.
The now-famous murals were restored earlier this year and new lighting has been installed so that they can be seen in their full glory. They are now recognised as being of national importance and a jewel in Surrey’s crown. So, on the day before the anniversary of Kitty’s birth in 1885 and, coincidentally, her death in 1966, we want to invite everyone to St Mark’s for a celebration.
The morning celebration will be a communion service at which the Rt Rev’d Jo Bailey Wells, Bishop of Dorking, will preach, and there will be a chance to hear from Stephen Rickerby and Lisa Shekede who spent 10 weeks painstakingly restoring the murals between April and June this year. In the evening there will be music, talks on the murals and Kitty, along with refreshments and, of course, the chance to see the murals.
Everyone is welcome at both the service and the evening celebration and there will be no charge, but to keep numbers manageable, particularly in the face of Covid, the evening event will be by ticket only. To book your tickets, click here.
The murals were painted between 1911 and 1920 and depict the Annunciation – the meeting between Mary and the Angel Gabriel when Mary is told she will be the mother of Jesus – as well as scenes from the Benedicite, an ancient hymn of praise to God about the wonders of the natural world, and local views. There are figures depicting the natural elements and seasons, and the models for these figures are known to be local people. The whole is a stunning creation by a hugely talented artist and the murals and Kitty herself are finally being given the recognition they deserve.
Come and celebrate this amazingly talented artist and her work.
There were barks, there was a lot of laughter, there may have been a couple of small accidents, and there was a lot of celebration and blessing at our three Pet Services on Sunday, October 3rd.
Thank you to everyone who came and brought their dogs, their pictures of pets and their cuddly toys, or even dressed in leopard print with a unicorn horn. There was a noticeable, but eminently sensible, lack of cats, but people brought photos of pets who really wouldn’t have dealt well with the dogs.
There was barking, wagging and a lot of enjoyment of pet treats and all the dogs, pictures and cuddly toys came forward for a blessing.
This was also a celebration of the blessings that pets can bring to us and an acknowledgement that God is the God of all – scaly, furry, smooth, two-, three-, four-, five-, six-, eight, 10-, many- and, yes, one-legged things. Snails are God’s creatures too!
As the hymn we sang says: “All God’s creatures got a place in the choir Some sing low and some sing higher, Some sing out loud on a telephone wire, Some just clap their hands, or paws, or anything they’ve got now”.
Thanks again to Castle Vets for sponsoring the services.
Fancy a cup of coffee with Kitty? Milroy that is. Join us at St Mark’s on Thursday, October 7, 10.30am-12.30pm, for coffee, cake and art and take part in The Big Draw.
Morning coffee and art will be resuming at St Mark’s, once a month, on the first Thursday of each month and the first one will coincide with The Big Draw Festival. Artist Philip Ryland will be dropping in to give us some guidance. Admission is free and you don’t have to book.
The Big Draw is a charity dedicated to raising the profile of drawing as a tool for wellbeing, thought, creativity, social and cultural engagement and runs The Big Draw Festival, the world’s biggest celebration of drawing.
While you are at St Mark’s spend some time admiring the Kitty Milroy murals in the church, our recently restored and nationally celebrated murals painted 100 years ago by local artist Kitty Milroy.
Come and celebrate the fruits of the earth and share with others at our harvest festivals on Sunday, September 26.
The services are at St John’s, Hale, at 9.30am, St George’s, Badshot Lea, at 10am, and St Mark’s, Upper Hale, at 11am. There will also be an online service here on the website and on Facebook available from 10am.
Please bring non-perishable food to church to share with Farnham Foodbank. Currently the Foodbank is in desperate need of tinned hot dog sausages, tinned stewed steak, tinned minced beef and fruit jam.
Rev’d Lesley Crawley says: “Harvest is a time when we not only celebrate the gifts of God’s earth, but think of others who are struggling to feed themselves and their families. This is a growing reality in Britain today, even though we are one of the most economically developed countries in the world. Obviously we want to give to help alleviate this need, but the church is also there to challenge and ask questions about why this should be the case and what we can do about it.”
We are holding a pet service at each of our three churches on Sunday, October 3.
Bring your dogs, rabbits, rats, mice, gerbils, hamsters, spiders, snakes or whatever other pet you own for a blessing at any of the services – 9.30am at St John’s, Hale, 10am at St George’s, Badshot Lea, and 11am at St Mark’s, Upper Hale. Cats are obviously welcome too but tend to be difficult to herd into anywhere, let alone a church where there are other animals. If you like you can bring a toy pet or photo of your pet and children are welcome to come dressed as animals too.
Castle Vets, which has a branch at 131 Upper Hale Road, just up the road from St Mark’s (and where the Church Cat receives her excellent care), is kindly sponsoring the publicity for the services. You can contact them on 01252 718128 or visit www.castlevetsltd.co.uk/
“We decided to hold the service on October 3rd as it is a day which celebrates St Francis of Assisi who was known for his love of and care for animals and is often depicted with them,” says Rev’d Lesley Crawley. “We want to celebrate the joy of our pets as part of God’s creation, and give thanks for what they give to us. For many people having a pet is an enormous comfort and can help our mental health by reducing stress and anxiety. They can also be great companions especially to people who are on their own.
“We expect the services to be chaotic and great fun, so please come along!”
So bring your pet, and celebrate. You may just find yourself singing ‘All God’s creatures got a place in the choir’!
This Saturday (September 18th) we are holding the third of our monthly craft markets at St Mark’s, Alma Lane, Hale, GU9 0LT, from 10am.
We will be busier than ever this month, with stalls ranging from crochet to dried flowers, jewellery to upcycled garden items, pottery to glass, Brazilian sweets to preserves, ceramics to cards, floral designs to silks, and plenty more besides.
Come and browse, come and support local creatives, come and enjoy tasty rolls and cakes, come and listen to live music, come and see the Kitty Milroy murals! It opens at 10am and runs until 2pm. Everyone is welcome.
Wendy Edwards reports on the parish’s first Holiday-at-Home.
With restrictions eased, the Parish of Badshot Lea and Hale believed that a French Song Cure in a Covid-safe environment was needed!
At St. Mark’s Church on Saturday, 7th August, 70 people braved the English weather, sporting their berets and strings of onions, to revel in a French Holiday-at-Home with company, croissants, coffee, lunch, holiday slideshow and raffle.
‘Fantastique! and ‘Incroyable!’ (incredible) were comments received afterwards. There was also musical entertainment, with many talented performers giving their skills for free, Fleet U3A Ukulele band, Cajun Boogaloo, Wendy Edwards, Olivia Jasper, Roger Sanders and Lesley Shatwell, Mary Klymenko, and the Parish Choir, all performing French songs from several eras, some in French.
A total of £553 was raised for the St. John’s Tower and Youth/Community Hub. Thanks everyone for donations of money, raffle prizes, time, skills, and energy.
One classic World War 1 song was Roses of Picardy by Haydn Wood (1882-1959). Wendy Edwards, organiser, contacted Marjorie Cullerne, Haydn Wood’s great-niece, in Toronto. Marjorie sent Wendy a 100-year-old newspaper extract about Haydn Wood performing his song to cure speech-impaired, shell-shocked soldiers after World War 1.
As we start emerging from a worldwide pandemic, singing Roses of Picardy again as a Song Cure, for our Covid 19 separation, seems most appropriate.
Serving the Villages North of Farnham: Badshot Lea, Hale, Heath End & Weybourne
The Parish of Badshot Lea and Hale 