delabole Slate June 2022

Chairman’s Report...Delabole Slate AGM
I am sure none of us envisaged at our last AGM that we were about to face such an awful situation with the onset of the
Covid virus and of all the problems that it would cause us personally and the disruptions that would affect our daily lives.
During these past two years or so our Slate team has bitten the bullet and done extremely well to produce several
newsletters despite the odds. I would like to thank our editorial team for all they did, monitoring the situation and looking
at and making the best decisions possible in such a volatile time. Marie and the Slate delivery team also did sterling
work and Jonathan Holt was very helpful with the printing. For various reasons some of us could only watch as the
months unfolded.
Also, during lockdown our treasurer Barbara Tyson left the village and The Slate. We are very grateful to Alan Shore
for so ably taking on this role. With Bob Chapman able to collect the ads and the loyalty of our advertisers, The Slate
has survived. Thanks also to Chris Hore for continuing to put the newsletter on the village website.
I was one of the founder members of The Slate and have thoroughly enjoyed working with so many great team members
and villagers over the years. Huge changes have taken place during this time from the days of the manual typewriter,
cutting and pasting by hand, the unreliable Gestetner to our modern professionally produced newsletter of today.
I have decided that it is now time for me to stand down as your chairman and also as a committee member. It has been
a wonderful experience. I wouldn’t change anything and it’s been a privilege to work alongside of you all
I am sure The Delabole Slate will grow from strength to strength, with such a great team of volunteers.
Best wishes
Tricia Molloy.
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The Team -
We were so sorry to hear of Tricia’s relinquishing of the Chairmanship of The Slate but no one can say that she has not
contributed, over and above, in the many roles that she has undertaken for the newsletter. The committee can't see The Delabole
Slate being where it is today without her enthusiasm and hard work - and how fabulous to hear that it's been a wonderful
experience!
Tricia, your zeal for promoting Delabole, your desire for the best for the village and your work on fostering a feeling of community
is unparalleled. THANK YOU!
Angela Cooper (Rector)
It has been another turbulent 12 months for our Queen. I suspect that few of us will forget the sight of her sitting
masked, isolated and oh so alone at the funeral service for HRH Prince Philip at the height of the Covid pandemic.
She has coped with this most personal of bereavements, family divisions and press intrusion and now at 96 she is
clearly increasingly frail; after 70 years of unstinting service to the nation and the Commonwealth she is having to leave
attendance at key events to other members of the Royal Family.
What has been the source of her remarkable strength over 70 years? In her forward for a book celebrating her 90 th
birthday, her Majesty wrote,
‘In my first Christmas Broadcast in 1952, I asked the people of the Commonwealth and Empire to pray for me as I
prepared to dedicate myself to their service at my Coronation. I have been - and remain - very grateful to you for your
prayers and to God for His steadfast love. I have indeed seen his faithfulness.’
And in her Christmas Broadcast in 2002 she summed-up the source of her strength like this…
‘I know just how much I rely on my faith to guide me through the good times and the bad. Each day is a new beginning.
I know that the only way to live my life is to try to do what is right, to take the long view, to give of my best in all that the
day brings, and to put my trust in God… I draw strength from the message of hope in the Christian gospel.’
As we gather to celebrate this Platinum Jubilee in many different ways, let’s also pause to give thanks for her Majesty
and reflect on how we might draw strength to face tough times.
Enjoy the celebrations. God bless her Majesty!
Angela Cooper (Rector)