ALL SAINTS' CfflSSHILL VILLAGE NEWSLETTER NO. £9
March 1970
IT IS being said that there is a crisis of law and order in Britain at th*~
moment, but this seems rather an exaggeration. If we compare the
situation today with the lawlessness, say, a hundred years ago cr with
the amount of crime in America and in other countries we shan't be so
alarmed. Nonetheless there has been a significant increase recently in
crime, especially violent crime in this country, and this is bound to
^•ive us some concern.
Some people say that the major way of tackling the problem is tc
increase the'powers of the law. This may help, but I don't believe it
would get to the heart of the problem. The criminologlst, Mr Edward
Glover, has"observed that 'each community produces the criminals it
deserves'. If this is true, it suggests that the roots of any sustained
increase in the nation's crime are to be found in the state of health
of British society as a whole.
DECLINE IN RELIGION
For Christians the steady decline in English religion during this
century is very much a contributory factor in the decline in the
general health of society, but this is not to deny that societies can
produce morals of varying qualities without religion. What Christians
do believe is that though their gospel is not primarily a moral one it
does offer to men the supreme means of living agreeably together as
sons of their heavenly Father.
AUTHORITY :
A conspicuous feature of the present day is a questioning, and further,
a general discounting of the role of authority^ and this is not
confined to the young. Now I don't believe that authority is the most
important thing in human societies and systems, but it has a vital role
to play and this needs to be recognised both by those under authority
and those in authority. Let's not attack the basic idea of authority
just because we quite properly object to the excesses of authoritarianisir..
When authority itself is so much at a discount there is a special
need for all of us who are in any position of authority - parents,
clergy, teachers, employers, police, local-government officers - to show
that we are making responsible, unselfish, humane and yet not timid use
of our position. " ;
T H E TEACHERS . . . . . . . This is what makes the action of those teachers who have recently 1
been s triking peculiarly unfortunate. They are in a special position
of authority because, whether they like it or not, they help to shape
the moral background and general character of society. And yet they're
showing that although they aren't on the line of absolute poverty, they
are prepared to jeopardise children's education in order to force an
increase in their own personal income. Teachers teach as much by
example as anything else, and what example are they showing their
chilzfcren except 'Grab as much as you can* and »The end justifies the
means'? I don't deny that the lower paid teachers deserve an increase,
but I suggest the nurses' methods were a better way,
STRIKES
Not that striking work is necessarily wrong - it is a valuable human
liberty, bat no one can make you strike against, your will unless you
lack courage. A union may give orders for a strike but it's incumbent
on the individual person to decide in his own conscience whether a
particular strike is morally justified or not. No one can escape the
moral consequences of his Own action on the pretext^ of following the
crowd. In the present national rush for increased wages teachers have3
like others, to decide whether their position requires them to lift
• their noses from the trough of self-gratification and take a higher view.
J.S.N.
HOLY WEEK AKu EASTER
Maundy Thursday 7.30 pms Eucharist of the Last Supper
Good Friday 12 noon: at Coleshill (about 1 hour)
2 pm . at Winchmore Hill (about 1 hour)
EASTER DAY 9 am : at Coleshill
10.30 ams at y/inchmare Hill
I want to arrange extra services for the earlier part of Holy Week, but
there seems little point in my doing this if you, the people, don't
observe the latter part of the week. Do come on Maundy Thursday and
especially on Good Friday. It is the Christian's duty to observe our
Lord's passion as well as his resurrection. "Could you not watch with
me one hour?"
The rector has asked that there be no evensong on Sundays at Coleshill
till 5, April. Instead villagers are invited to go to evensong at St.
Mary's, where theye will be well-known preachers.
' J.S.N.
Obedience today seems to be a lost virtue - Jean Danielou
GOOD PROGRESS
It is a pleasure to report that Mr Edwards of Glebe House is improved
in health although he is still kept indoors, and that Mr Waite of
Jewpond is now about again after an attack of pleurisy. Mr George
Bracklcy of Hillside, Barrack Hill, is also making progress.
MR POWELL-PRIGE ELECTED CHURCHWARDEN
The annual church meeting of All Saints' elected Hr David Powell-Price
of Coleshill Lodge as churchwarden in succession to the late Mr Cyril
Saunders whose loss is still deeply felt by the church and village. The
meeting also asked for suggestions about the form Hr Saunders' memorial
should take so that the subject can be fully discussed at the next church
meeting.
FEBRUARY BABIES
Many congratulations to Mr and Mrs Shirley of Chapel Field on the
birth of their son in Amersham hospital on 22 February. At the time of
going to press the baby's name has not been definitely decided. we are
also pleased to report that Fr. and Mrs Griffiths of St. Michael's,
Amersham had a son born to them in February. They have called him Adam.
February seems to be a good month fcr boys after the birth of three in
Coleshill last year.
MR WINGROVE
Mr Wingrove of 5 Manor Way has not been at all well recently and we
miss seeing him about the village. Kind neighbours have rallied round
to help him and his wife who can get about only with difficulty. We
hope he will soon be a lot better.
THE NEW MORALITY
Sex education, coping with a husband's hobbies, preparation for old
age, and looking after elderly relatives were among the topics which
provoked very lively discussions when the Mothers' Union met at The
Parsonage in February. The theme was 'Some Problems of Family Life' and
members were asked to give their own answers to some of today's vexing
questions. What emerged was what a lively, liberal-minded branch we have,
but one still old-fashioned enough to believe that the ginger-bread of
marriage is worth any amount of today's fashionable gilt. The next
meeting is at Winchmore Hill when Mrs Newberry-Fox will be the speaker.
VILLAGE HALL ^GjA.
The Village Hall A.G.M. will be on Tuesday, 21 April, at 8.15 in the .
Village Hall.
THE CHURCH FETE
We are grateful to Mr and Mrs Raymond Pusey for again allowing the
church fete to take place at Little Bowers. Mr Norman Shelley, the B.B.C.
actor has provisionally agreed to open the fete. Everyone who remembers
the old Children's Hour will immediately recognise ais'%oice as that of
Pooh Bear and Conan Doyle's Dr. Watson, but he has playeoV.in a great number
of B.B.C. productions. Mr Shelley is a regular worshipper \Tt St Michael's,
Amersham.
FAREWELL AND WELCOME
We were sorry to say goodbye to Mrs Gardiner (formerly Mrs Courage)
of Stock Place, on her moving to the Cotswolds after her marriage. We
wish her every happiness with her husband in her new home. It is a
pleasure to welcome to Stock Place -Mr & Mrs Vince who, we hope, will
quickly make friends in Coleshill. ,
TWO COLESHILL F.MLI5S UNITED : '
The wedding at All Saints' on Saturday, 7 February, united two Coleshill
families, the Whites of Lourdes, Barrack Hill, and the Boltons of
Coldharbour Farm. Jacqueline White married Mrs Bolton's brother, Larry
Davies. The wedding reception was held at The Crown, Old Amersham. We
wish the newly married couple every blessing and much happiness in their
home at Great Missenden.
IN HOSPITAL
The children's ward at Amersham hospital received lan Jamieoon soon
after it discharged Giles Nightingale - lan unfortunately had to have his
appendix removed, but he is now getting on nicely. How fortunate we are ia
having in Amersham an enlightened hospital which not only allows parents
to visit children at any time of the day but actually provides beds for
mothers of children under five. Amersham was one of the hospitals to pion3or
this practice, which makes all the difference to parents and above all to
the children.
SCHOOL WHIST DRIVE
The annual school whist drive will be held this year on Wednesday.
11 March at 7.30 pm. Mr. Ray Pusey will be the M.C. iir Barker, the
headmaster, hopes that everyone will try to support the event by playing,
by buying tickets, or by giving a prize or a contribution towards the
refreshments. The proceeds will go towards school funds.
W. I.
There will be a Group Meeting of the ¥.1. at Little Chalfont on 17 March
tfhen Captain Batson will speak on police work. This will be in addition
to the normal monthly meeting on 12 March when Miss Taylor will speak about
'Great Aunt Martha".
BRIDGE DRIVE
A Bridge Drive in aid of the Village Hall will be held on Friday
3 April at 8 p.m. in the Village Hall. Players aro asked to make up
parties for the occasion. The price of admission will be 7/6 each person
and tickets will be obtainable from any member of the Committee or from
the village shops. The same pair will play together all the evening but
will meet another pair at the end of each rubber,
TEE RECTOR
The Rector has been suffering from a hemorrhage of the vocal chords
sinc.a January and he has been ordered not to use his voice at all. He
is to see his doctor a^ain at the beginning of March when we hope there
will be good news to report.
£>NNUAL PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
The annual general meeting of the Parish Council will take place on
Monday 16 March at 8.30 pm in the Parish Room. The business will inctode
a discussion of the Amersham Bypass proposals, which should be of
interest to everyone in Coleshill as the most favoured proposal suggests
that the new road should go on the Coleshill side of Amersham.
~ ;-LL IN THE DEEDS - i GLIMPSE OF COLESHILL IN THE 19th CENTURY
You don't have to live in Coleshill for very long to realise that its •
society is changing rapidly. As the families who have lived heiQfor
generations die out or move away the old village cottages are bought up,
enlarged and improved by people of means from elsewhere. The small
community of craftsmen and agricultural workers, closely knit by inter- .
marriage, has largely disappeared, and Coleshill, like any village within
forty miles of London, is now the home of many commuters and retired
professional people. In case one should think this is a purely twentieth
century development, the result of the motor-car and the spread of
urbanisation, it is interesting to follow the history of one Coleshill
house throughout the nineteenth century and see the germ of this
development in the reign of Queen Victoria. "The village is not what
it was " no doubt was the lament when the folk from Winchmore Hill came
over to Coleshill in a dry season to get their watec
The ABlack Hpr_sej_ of Coleshill
l/heatsheaf Cottage, one of the few houses in Coleshill with a mid-
Victorian facade, stands on the crest of the hill overlooking the
Common and facing the Parsonage. But behind its imposing front there lies
what was originally a much humble.r building, older than both the present
church and Parsonage. This was an eighteenth-century public-house known
as the "Black Horse1'1. In 1799 this building changed hands, but at that
time beer was no longer sold on the premises. At some earlier date
business had declined or the landlord had drunk away the profits, for its
occupant, Henry Simmonds, went bankrupt and the property was assigned to his
creditors, a London grocer and a High ivycombe draper. They sold the house
to William Toms of Amersham, and in 1799 it was bought for £135 by Edward
Ivory, a potter of Coleshill.
The Ivory Family
In 1803 Edward Ivory married a girl called Mary Briant, and four children,
Daniel, George, Martha and Charlotte, lived to survive their father who lied
in 1819. The potter made two of his friends, John Page the blacksmith, xnd
Charles George the village shopkeeper, his executors, and instructed the i
to sell his business, the pot-kiln, kiln-yard, and cart-house which he hid
built near his house, for the highest price they could get. The rest of
the property was to go to his wife, provided she did not marry again.
Ivory had converted the old 'Black Horse' into two cottages. His family
lived in one and an Alexander Ivakef ield in the other. Neither cottage c in
have had more than two bedrooms so the Ivory family, like most of the
villagers, lived in cramped conditions. But outside there was a garden,
orchard, stable, warehouse and pigstye, and also a piece of land across
the road (probably where the Parsonage now stands). Furthermore, Ivory had
been assigned two plots on 'Coleshill Green' by the Amersham Enclosure Act
of 1817. One of these bordered on 'the eighth public watering place' set
out by the Act.
To be continued...
March
11 (ived)
12 (Thurs)
16 (Mon)
17 (Tues)
19 (Thurs)
22 (Sun)
26 (Maundy
Thursday)
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
School ivhist Drive at 7.30 pm
/v.I. 'Great Aunt Martha'
Mobile Library
Annual Parish Council Meeting
Iv.I. Group Meeting at Little Chalfont
M.U. at winchmore Hill .
Passion (Palm) Sunday - Holy Vveek begins.
H.C. 7.30 pm.
Mobile Library
27 (Good
Friday) Services at Coleshill at 12j at Winchmore Hill at 2 pm.
29 EASTER DAY
April
3 (Fri) Village Hall Bridge -Drive, 8 pm.
21 (Tues) Village Hall Annual General Meeting, 8.1'$ pm.
Real self-conquest is the conquest of ourselves not by ourselves but
"by the Holy Spirit - Thomas Merton
• AujjJBAIHTS'. CHURCH, GQLEJ5HILL
?riest-in-Gharge: The Revd.J.S.Nightingale, The Parsor ,ge (tel, 4229)
Pro-Churchwarden & Secretary: N .N .Nicholls, Orchard H use (tel. 6734)
Pro-Treasurer: R.G-.Stubbings, Springfield, Tower Roa/, (tel. 4738)
Every Sunday: 9.00a.m. HOLY COMl'JNION ,
10.15a.m. Sunday S ,hool
6.00p.m. Evensong
Every Tuesday: 10.00a.m. HOLY C01.JKJNION
Every Wednesday: 7.30p.m. HOLY COfWUNION
Every Friday: . 12.00 noon HOLY COMMUNION
Morning and Evening Prayer each day at 8.00a.m. and 6.0C ,ni,
Jj\jr othwr services, please seethe weekly notices in -the church por'a.
ST_._ANDREW'S MISSION CHURCH. WINCHMORE HITL
HOLY COMMUNION on the 2nd Sunday of each month at 10.30 a.m.
ST. MARY'S PARISH CHURCH. AMERSHAM
Rector: The Revd. A.Campbell,M.A.(Cantab) ,Beaumont, Hervines Road, Amersh - ,
am ((tel 7135) or St.Mary's Parish Office, Church Street (Tel 4712) •-
Sunday Services-- 8000 a.m. HOLY COMMUNION
10.00 a.m. Children's Service
11.00 a.m. 1st, 3rd & 5th Sundays:
HOLY COMMUNION (New Service)
2nd & 4-th Sundays: Mattins
6.00 p.m. Sung Evensong
Every Wednesday: 10.00 a.m. HOLY COMMUNION
Published by All Saints' Church Committee.
