The Parish Magazine September 2022

The Parish Magazine - September 2022 1 

The 

Parish 

Magazine 

The John King Trophy and Gold Award 

Best Magazine of the Year 2018 

National Parish Magazine Awards 

Best Content 2021, 2016 

Best Overall 2020, 2015 

Best Editor 2019 

Best Print 2018 

Serving the communities of Charvil, Sonning & Sonning Eye since 1869 

September 2022 — Autumn Show Time 

Church of St Andrew 

Serving Sonning, Charvil & Sonning Eye 

the church of st andrew, SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF 

CHARVIL, SONNING and sonning eye SINCE THE 7 th CENTURY

2 The Parish Magazine - September 2022 

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Serving the communities of Charvil, Sonning & Sonning Eye since 1869 




The John King Trophy and Gold Award 

Best Magazine of the Year 2018 

National Parish Magazine Awards 

Best Content 2021, 2016 

Best Overall 2020, 2015 

Best Editor 2019 

Best Print 2018 

information — 1 

Contents September 2022 

THE VICAR'S LETTER, 5 

This ISSUE's FRONT COVER 


Services at 

St Andrew’s 

THE PARISH NOTICEBOARD 

— Confirmation starts, 7 

— From the Register, 7 

— For your prayers, 7 

— Christian Basics, 9 

— Claude's view from the pew, 9 

— STAY, 10 

— The Persecuted Church, 11 

— Reflection: Hosea, 13 

— From the editor's desk, 13 

FEATURES 

— The Queen of Belize, 15-17 

— Your Sonning Show Guide, 19 

— Wreckage in the Thames, 21 

— Tales of a Sonning lad, 22-25 

—around the villages 

— WI rounders champions, 25 

— Volunteers for Family Aid, 25 

— Bowls members wanted, 25 

— Plan a royal visit, 25 

— 1925 cricket photo request, 27 

— Chiltern Heritage festival, 27 

— Pearson Hall talks, 27 

— Painting for Sonning Show, 27 

HOME & GARDEn 

— Adding value to your home, 29 

— Recipes of the month, 31 

— Autumn garden show, 31 

THE ARTS 

— Beauty in the ordinary, 33 

— Poetry Corner, 33 

history, 33 

health 

— Dr Simon Ruffle - Monkeypox, 35 

— Considering elderly care? 37 

PUZZLE PAGE, 39 

children's page, 41 

information 

— Church services, 3 

— From the registers, 7 

— Parish contacts, 42 

— Advertisers' index, 42 

September 2022 — Autumn Show Time 


Parish 

Magazine 

the church of st andrew, SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF 

CHARVIL, SONNING and sonning eye SINCE THE 7 th CENTURY 

STAY summer fun (pages 10-11) 

Picture by Westy 

EDITORIAL DEADLINE 

The editorial deadline for every issue 

of The Parish Magazine is 12 noon on 

the sixth day of the month prior to the 

date of publication. 

The deadline for the October 

issue of The Parish Magazine is: 

Tuesday 6 September at 12 noon 

The Parish Magazine online 

The most recent issues can be viewed at: 

http://www.theparishmagazine.co.uk 

Earlier issues from 1869 onwards are 

stored in a secure online archive. If you 

wish to view these archives contact the 

editor who will authorise access for you: 

editor@theparishmagazine.co.uk 

Sunday 4 September 

— 8.00am Holy Communion 

— 10.30am Family Service 

— 4.00pm Choral Evensong 



— 10.30am Parish Eucharist with 

STAY and Sunday Club 



— 10.30am Family Communion 

— 3.00pm Messy Church in The Ark 



— 10.30am Parish Eucharist with 

STAY and Sunday Club 

— 6.00pm Sunday at Six 

OTHER REGULAR SERVICES 

Morning Prayer is held in church 

every Tuesday at 9.30am. 

Mid-week Communion in The Ark is 

held every Wednesday at 10.00am. Tea 

and coffee follows the service. 

Home Communion at Signature at 

Sonning is held on the first Monday 

of each month at 11.00am. Visitors 

must comply with the care home's 

Covid restrictions so please check with 

Signature at least four days before. 

Could you be a Governor at Could you be a Governor at 

Sonning CE Primary School? Sonning CE Primary School? 

Do you want to make a difference to your local Do community you want while to make developing a difference your to own your personal/leadership 

local community while developing you 

skills? Sonning CE Primary School now has vacancies skills? for Sonning volunteers CE Primary to join School our local now governing has vacancies body. for Our volunteers role to join our lo 

is to: 

is to: 

Set and review the school’s vision and strategic Set direction and review and agree the school’s improvement vision and targets strategic direction and agree improvemen 

• Hold the Headteacher and school leaders to • account Hold the for Headteacher the academic and performance school leaders of the to school account for the academic p 

• Oversee the financial performance of the school • Oversee the financial performance of the school 

If you are a driven professional with expertise in If one you of are the a driven following professional fields we with would expertise love to hear in one from of the you: following fields we w 

• Finance & Accounting • Finance Business & Accounting Marketing 

Business & Marketing 

• HR • HR Risk Assessment or Health & Safety 

Risk Assessment or Healt 

If you are interested and would like more information, If you are please interested contact and Clare would Borsberry-Lewis, like more information, Chair of please contact Clare Bors 

Governors: cborsberrylewis@sonning.wokingham.sch.uk Governors: cborsberrylewis@sonning.wokingham.sch.uk 

Vacancy – Clerk to Governors Vacancy at Sonning – Clerk CE to Primary Governors School at Sonning CE 

Required as soon as possible, approximately 2 Required hours per as week. soon as possible, approximately 2 hours per week. 

Grade 4 SP7-11 (£10.60-£11.47 per hour) depending Grade on 4 SP7-11 level of (£10.60-£11.47 experience. per hour) depending on level of experience. 

Job Purpose: To provide efficient, effective and Job confidential Purpose: administrative To provide efficient, support effective to the governing and confidential body in administrative suppo 

the performance of its statutory obligations. Advising the performance the governing of its body statutory on constitutional obligations. matters, Advising duties the governing body on con 

and powers and work within the broad current and legislative powers framework and within ensuring the the broad continuity current of legislative governing framework ensuring th 

body business. 

body business. 

If you would like more information please contact If you Clare would Borsberry-Lewis, like more information Chair of Governors: please contact Clare Borsberry-Lewis, Chair o 

cborsberrylewis@sonning.wokingham.sch.uk cborsberrylewis@sonning.wokingham.sch.uk


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The vicar's letter 


DEAR FRIENDS, 

The Feast of St Michael and All Angels is observed on 29 September. 

The fact of spiritual warfare is often neglected, I am sure in most 

cases, quite deliberately. Many churches give the impression that the 

Christian religion is a comfortable cruise ship instead of a battleship, 

at battle stations, but we see in the New Testament a tendency to use 

military expressions regularly. Saint Paul, for example, telling the 

Ephesians to put on the whole armour of God in order to stand 

against principalities and powers, rulers of the present darkness of 

this world, and wicked spirits in heavenly places. He tells them to 

stand, that is, to hold their ground. Jesus did not tell us to hold a 

coffee morning until he comes again, but to occupy until he comes. 

If we do this, what can we expect, but opposition and ridicule? A 

church that chooses to gather its flock for a comfortable cruise on 

calm waters, enjoying the view, the companionship and the 

entertainment, bobbing with the tide, will face no opposition. On 

the surface at least, all will seem well, but in my experience, a church 

that seeks to occupy, to hold its ground and to grow the kingdom, can 

expect trouble and hostility ahead. However, rather than avoid the conflict we should embrace it, for 

without it, the chances are we are achieving very little for Christ. 

A CONFUSED AND COMPROMISED MESSAGE 

One of the set readings for this Christian feast quotes Jesus telling of the need to humble ourselves 

as the little child. We are not told that children are an example to follow, as some preachers give out 

with muddle-headed sentimentality, and as some politicians and media have suggested with Greta 

Thunberg. Nowhere did he say that children were examples for us to follow. Rather, he spoke clearly 

about their need to be protected, especially, their need to be protected from the influences that would 

corrupt them, deprive them of their innocence and rob the children of childhood. This warning has 

everything to do with the reality of our spiritual warfare, and of how that warfare applies to the little 

child of whom Jesus speaks. For, to lead children into sin brings about a judgment that is terrifying. 

Only of the traitor Judas are similar words spoken: 'Better for that man had he not been born.' 

One of the main problems with a society that presents a confused and compromised message, and 

that teaches moral license that it calls tolerance, is the harm that it is doing to the children. Right 

now ‘the world’ is not aiming its deception and temptations simply at adults, but at children, and 

constantly at younger and younger ages. The advertisements and entertainment aimed at their young 

minds should anger and shock us. They ought to be allowed those early years of innocence and not be 

presented with such adult sexualised themes, not to mention the extraordinary new vocabulary to be 

found in our schools of transgender/binary/questioning/intersex/genderqueer/neutrois/pansexual/ 

transsexual/transmasculine/cisgender man/genderfluid, etc, etc, etc. If they are to be protected, it is 

necessary that their parents resist the spirit of the times — real spirits of deception, and, the Church, 

and especially its bishops, must teach right from wrong, but God help us in this climate if we dare to 

try. He will need to help us, for the opposition will be powerful indeed. 

I would suggest that many people, including some Christians, are oblivious to the deception because 

we live in an age of deception, an age where lies are preferred over truth. This too is spiritual, and we 

need to be vigilant. When Jesus was obedient even to the death of the cross, the powers of evil were 

crushed. When he rose from the dead he showed that he was triumphant over the powers of darkness 

and had defeated sin and death. As we occupy this ground until he comes, warring for our souls and 

the souls of others, we are joined in the battle by Michael and the Holy Angels. It isn’t going to be easy, 

but then being truly faithful to Christ never has been. 

Warm wishes, Jamie

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the parish noticeboard — 1 

If you 

would like to 

explore what being 

confirmed in the 

Church of England 

means call: 

0118 969 3298 

From the register 


10-18 year old young people will meet on a Monday 

Adults will meet on a Tuesday evening 

If you decide to be confirmed this will take place in 

St Andrew's Church on Sunday 20 November 2022 

Paulus Rusyanto, dreamstime.com 

As we went to press, about 30 people 

had signed up for the Confirmation 

preparation groups, half of which 

were adults. It's not too late to join 

them, simply call the number above. 

The adult group begins meeting on 

Tuesday evenings from 13 September 

and the young people's group (aged 

10-18 years) will meet on Monday 

evenings from 12 September. 

Following the preparation 

sessions, the Bishop of Oxford will 

be leading the Confirmation service 

in St Andrew's Church on Sunday 20 

November. 

Rev Kate is leading the adult 

group and Westy is leading the youth 

group. See page 42 for their contact 

details if you would like a chat about 

what is involved or ring the number 

above to book your place. 

In The Ark 


at 3pm 

Fun, Food, Art & Craft, 

and Family Worship 

for children of all ages 

revkate@sonningparish.org.uk 

Indy Biddulph 

BAPTISMs 

— Sunday 12 June, Olivia Erin Draper 

— Sunday 12 June, Savannah Katerina Benstead-Costis 

— Sunday 10 July, Isabella Rose Costello, Harrison George Costello and 

Harper Mae Costello 

— Sunday 8 August, William James Perre 

weddings 

— Friday 10 June, Sam Joseph King and Kate Anne Hartley 

— Friday 17 June, Christopher Edward Heath and Eleanor Chantelle Bhasin 

— Saturday 2 July, David Mark Townsend and Vivian Vasiliki Praxoulis 

— Saturday 16 July, Rupert George Tuggey and Yasmin Ella Rose Parry 

— Saturday 30 July, James William Stephen Best and Laura Jayne Mellon 

funerals 

— Tuesday 14 June, Janet Mary Hunt, service in church followed by 

cremation at Reading Crematorium 

— Friday 17 June, Christine Anne Emmett, burial in the churchyard 

— Saturday 16 July, Gordon Leslie Sanders interment of ashes in churchyard 

— Monday 18 July, Arthur John Foden, service in church followed by 

cremation at Reading Crematorium 

— Tuesday 19 July, Barbara Mary Masters , service in church followed by 

Cremation at Reading Crematorium 

— Friday 22 July, Josephine Webb, interment of ashes in the churchyard 

— Saturday 30 July, Norah Willetts, memorial service in church and interment 

of ashes in the churchyard 

RENDEZVOUS IN THE ARK 

Tuesday 13 September and Tuesday 27 September 

at 12 noon for lunch and conversation 

To reserve your place call: 

To reserve your place call: 0118 969 3298 

For your September prayers 

— Sonning CofE School and its new headmaster, 

Phil Sherwood 

— Rev Kate and Westy in their mentoring roles 

at Piggott and Blue Coat schools 

— Our new Prime Minister 

— Those beginning Confirmation preparation 

— A peaceful solution to war in Ukraine 

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Christian Basics — Part 7 

By Rev Paul Hardingham 

What does the Holy 

Spirit do? (Part 2) 

Maksim Shmeljov, dreamstime.com 

Somebody once defined a football match as ‘22 people on 

the field desperately in need of rest, watched by 50,000 

people in the stands, desperately in need of exercise'. It 

reminds us that church is not a spectator sport! The Holy 

Spirit equips us to serve God in the Church and daily life 

through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 

BIRTHDAY PRESENT 

These gifts are variously described as spiritual gifts (1 

Corinthians 12:1) or grace gifts (1 Corinthians 1:7), the latter 

word being used in modern Greek for a birthday present! 

They are love gifts from God that we cannot earn or 

deserve, that are open to everybody. 

Note what Paul says, 'Now to each one the manifestation 

of the Spirit is given for the common good' (1 Corinthians 12:7): 

EACH ONE 

To each one: the gifts are available to every Christian. 

Everyone will have a different ‘gift-mix’, with their own 

particular contribution to offer. 

VISIBLE 

The manifestation of the Spirit: the gifts of the Spirit 

enable an invisible God to be real and visible. As we 

exercise the gifts that God has given to us, in our speech 

or service, people will be able to say, ‘God is at work here’! 

OTHERS 

For the common good: the aim of the gifts is to build up 

the body of Christ and extend the kingdom of God. They 

are not intended to meet our own needs or reputation, but 

simply to serve and encourage others. 

UNWRAPPING YOUR PRESENT 

With the gifts given by God, we are able to fulfil his 

purposes in his world. Paul urges us to ‘eagerly desire’ the 

gifts that God has for us (1 Corinthians 12:31). 

How true is this for me? Any present that we are given 

needs unwrapping before we can enjoy it. Are we doing 

this with our spiritual gifts? 

Happy 

days 

around 

the 

camp 

fire 

By Claude Masters 


Claude's 

view 

from 

the 

pew 

With a few empty places in the pews where the regulars 

often sat — they were taking their annual holidays — the 

words of an old song came to mind: ‘These are the times we 

shall dream about and we’ll call them the good old days’. 

This song, and one about a man named Michael Finnigan, 

who climbed a tree and barked his shinigan, were those I 

remember singing around a scout camp fire when I was a lad. 

Although it was during the austere time after the Second 

World War they were happy days. Sometimes it would be a 

large fire at a district rally with hundreds of others but most 

were at the end of a day in a troop camp when we were around 

the fire that had cooked our meals. We sat cross legged on the 

ground with the wood smoke stinging our eyes and holding 

hot cocoa in chipped enamel mugs. The cocoa was invariably 

‘accidentally’ knocked over as little sugar could be spared 

from the meagre rations. 

As well as their personal kit each camper was asked to 

bring their food rations. At a weekend camp one lad turned 

up with a thin slice of butter, not even enough for half a slice 

of bread. A bit embarrassed, he explained how his mother 

had carefully divided his weekend ration from the family's 

allowance. Most mothers were more generous but it was well 

known that lads would go home from camp and tell their 

parents that they had not had enough to eat. 

At one camp salt was accidentally put into a freshly brewed 

dixie of tea and another lad poured all the sugar we had into it 

thinking it would cover the taste of the salt! 

Together with the singing and yelling, a campfire would 

include short enactments called stunts. The longer my 

favourite took to perform the better it was: Two lads are 

dressed as country locals, sat on a log and chewing bits of 

straw. It started with a 

lengthy silence then a cow 

bell rings and they turn 

their heads to watch an 

imaginary cow wander 

slowly by. Another silence 

and one lads says, 'That be 

farmer Gile’s cow'. More 

silence then the other says 

'No it bain’t. Be farmer 

Browns'. Longer silence, 

then the first lad stands up 

and after more silence say’s 

'I be going ‘ome, I bain’t 

come ‘ere to listen to an 

argument!' Happy days! 

jonathan-forage, unsplash.com



St Andrew's Youth 

STAY in School 

Our mentoring continued in the local 

secondary schools until they broke 

up in July when I had the privilege 

of recording Wargrave Piggott's last 

assembly of the academic year. It was 

based on anti-racism. 

The idea came about because 12 

students in year 8 got together to 

raise awareness about kicking racism 

out of football. They sold cupcakes 

with stats on racism attached, ran 

penalty shoot out competitions, had 

a guess the weight of the marble cake 

— which one of the boys made with 

brown and white swirls to represent 

being together despite our different 

skin colours — and I had the honour 

of tying it all together by sharing a 

Christian perspective on racism in the 

assembly. 

My message was clear: God made 

us all equal, God loves each of us 

to death and racism is never to be 

tolerated, anytime, anywhere for any 

reason. 

In the primary school, I was also 

blown away by the amazing year 6 

students at the Sonning leavers service 

as they shared stories and memories, 

and the teachers made an emotional 

collage of photos. I wasn’t crying, I just 

had something in my eye! 

STAY Detached Project 

Before the schools summer break we 

continued to meet young people of the 

parish by walking around Charvil on 

Thursdays after school. We have given 

out over 200 ice pops, served over 300 

glasses of cold lemonade and engaged 

with about 40-50 young people each 

week to make sure they were OK and 

to help with advice for particular 

situations they may be facing. 

STAY on Friday 

Our weekly youth club on Friday 

nights in The Ark continued until 15 

July. We had the usual volleyball, four 

square, baking, nail bar, Xbox room, 

foosball, table tennis, football, kubb, 

skipping, frisbee, board games, tag and 

our final thoughts. All young people in 

secondary school are welcome to join 

us and year 6 students are welcome on 

the 4th Friday of each month. 

To end the term we hired an 

inflatable wrecking ball and joust! The 

youth loved spending their energy 

playing on this amazing equipment. 

We also brought out the classic donut 

wall where everyone has a free donut. 

Watch this space for photos of our 

second upper room, which the youth 

designed and the people of the parish, 

local friends of the church, members 

of the congregation and the office of 

Theresa May have very kindly funded! 

STAY Summer Activities 

As with all school holidays we always 

try to offer a selection of activities for 

the youth to join in with friends and 

this summer was no exception. We 

had eight activities over the summer 

holiday, including: 

— Paddleboarding 

— A cinema trip 

— A visit to Thorpe Park 

— Footgolf 

— A day at the Waterpark! 

The feedback was fantastic, the 

young people loved each activity, the 

parents thanked us for organising such 

fun things for their children to do and 

the activity staff complimented us on 

what lovely young people they all were! 

STAY on Sunday 

At STAY on Sunday we finished our 

series on relationships which during 

the year has covered 'What is our 

relationship with . . .' 

— Family: They are all we’ve got so we 

need to love them. 

— Friends: We need to lay down our 

life for them. 

— Romance: Choose carefully, don’t 

settle for second best. 

— LGBTQ: Love them respectfully and 

don’t judge. 

—Celebrities and media people: 

Don’t let their behaviour shape you 

rather let it inform you. 

— Persecuted church: Who are our 

brothers and sisters in Christ who 

suffer, lets pray for them every day? 

— Toxic relationships: Get out of 

them by telling someone and creating 

distance. 

— Phones: What’s a healthy amount 

of time spent on your phone versus 

being with people, being outdoors and 

having fun doing activities. 

— Bullies: the banter and bullying line 

is so close. Banter is between mates. It 

becomes bullying when it is consistent 

and the person stops finding it funny. 

— Judging others: Don’t do it, its 

God's job. 

— Creativity: We are all creative in 

our own way, because God created us 

that way. 

— Humour: How does our relationship 

with humour affect us and our character? 

— Exams: Do they define us? How do 

we manage the stress of exams? 

— Bible: What do we know about 

the Bible? How can we grow our 

relationship with it? 

We ended the summer term with 

a water balloon game of catch! 

Want to know more? Contact Westy 

youthminister@sonningparish.org.uk


The Persecuted Church by Colin Bailey 


'Doing good' in the persecuted world 

By Colin Bailey 

One of Barnabas Aid's (previously Barnabas Fund) key principles is taken from 

Paul’s letter to the Galatians – ‘as we have opportunity, let us do good to all 

people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers’ (Galatians 6:10). 

Here's a roundup of their work around the world . . . 

PIGS FOR NAGORNO-KARABAKH 

164 Armenian Christians live in Taghavard village in the enclave of Nagorno- 

Karabakh. Azerbaijani forces invaded in 2020 and half the village is controlled by 

Azerbaijani military. Christian families are subject to threats and village buildings 

are set on fire regularly. Barnabas Aid is supporting families by providing pigs for 

the pig-rearing families. 

NIGERIAN WOMEN FOUND 

Two women who were among hundreds of girls abducted by Boko Haram from the 

Nigerian town of Chibok 8 years ago have been found. 

Attacks by suspected Fulani militants on a Christian community in Kaduna state 

have left 32 dead. Village houses were razed and a church was burned down. 

PAKISTAN DEATH SENTENCE 

A Pakistani Christian, Ashfaq Masih, has been sentenced to death for ‘blasphemy’ 

after reportedly describing Jesus Christ as the only true prophet. Ashfaq pleaded 

not guilty and stated that the case against him was false. The accusation follows a 

dispute in which a customer refused to pay for the repair of his motorcycle on the 

grounds of his Muslim faith. ‘Blasphemy’ laws have existed in the region since 1927 

and have since been strengthened. They are often used to make false accusations. 

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has announced that a task force will 

be set up in Pakistan to oversee the implementation of the rights of minorities. PM 

Sharif took office in April after Imran Khan was ousted. 

SRI LANKA FOOD RELIEF 

Sri Lanka is experiencing its worst economic crisis for 70 years. General inflation 

is nearly 60% with food inflation at 80%. Barnabas Aid is helping over 4,500 people 

with food relief in a project to feed 2,000 of the neediest Christian families in 22 

districts of Sri Lanka. 

TUNISIA DROPS ISLAM 

A new draft of Tunisia’s constitution does not name Islam as the country’s state 

religion. The aim of the change is to combat Islamist extremism. 

TURKISH TOMB DESECRATED 

An ancient Christian cemetery in South East Turkey in the province of Mardin, 

with tombs over 1,000 years old, has been desecrated — bones and sacred objects 

have been scattered. 

MILLIONS GOING HUNGRY IN ZIMBABWE 

Barnabas Aid is supporting malnourished families in Zimbabwe with e'Pap, a 

fortified maize-based porridge. UNICEF says 3.5 million children in Zimbabwe are 

chronically hungry with more than 2 million malnourished. Malnutrition explains 

the rise of serious diseases such as pellagra and measles. Even common illnesses can 

become life-threatening. 

REFERENCES 

Barnabas Aid - https://www.barnabasfund.org/gb/news/editorial-especially-the-family-of-believers/ 

Nagorno-Karabakh - https://www.barnabasfund.org/gb/latest-needs/give-sheep-and-piglets-to-help-persecutedarmenian-christians-survive-in/ 

Nigeria - https://www.barnabasfund.org/gb/news/two-nigerian-women-kidnapped-from-chibok-school-found-aftereight-years/ 

Nigeria - https://www.barnabasfund.org/gb/news/more-than-30-killed-in-attacks-on-christian-community-inkaduna-state-ni/ 

Pakistan - https://www.barnabasfund.org/gb/news/pakistani-christian-sentenced-to-death-for-blasphemy/ 

and - https://www.pakistanchristianpost.com/head-line-news-details/7659 

Pakistan - https://www.barnabasfund.org/gb/news/pakistan-sets-up-task-force-to-implement-rights-of-minorities/ 

Sri Lanka - https://www.barnabasfund.org/gb/latest-needs/help-sri-lankan-christians-survive-their-country-sextreme-crisis/ 

Tunisia - https://www.barnabasfund.org/gb/news/new-draft-of-tunisia-constitution-does-not-name-islam-as-statereligion/ 

Turkey - https://www.barnabasfund.org/gb/news/ancient-christian-cemetery-desecrated-in-mardin-turkey/ 

Zimbabwe - https://www.barnabasfund.org/gb/latest-needs/save-christian-children-s-lives-in-zimbabwe-give-e-pap


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On Reflection 

By Elizabeth Spiers 

Jodie Nash, dreamstime.com 

Hosea was one of Israel’s prophets delivering the word 

of God to the Jewish nation. A tough job at any time, it’s 

especially hard to imagine how it must have felt for this 

young, devout man when God told him to ‘take a wife of 

harlotry’ (verse 2). The law of Moses stated that adulterers 

should be stoned to death, yet it seems God wanted to 

have this message lived out in front of the nation through 

Hosea’s life. 

Once again, the nation had lost their love for God, left his ways 

and were worshipping idols, in express disobedience to the 

Ten Commandments. To God, it felt like adultery. He provided 

everything they needed and they turned their backs on him. In 

sheer obedience, Hosea married such a girl, called Gomer. 

She gave him children and stayed with him until the 

lure of her past became too much and she went back to 

her old life. She told herself that the gifts of her many 

lovers was preferable to the stable home and family life 

offered by Hosea. But by chapter 3, Hosea had to buy her 

back from a slave market. He took her home, insisting 

that she would stay a long time, but as with many troubled 

relationships, they slept in separate rooms. 

SPIRITUAL HEALTH CHECK? 

In 4:8 it says that harlotry enslaves the heart. The people 

were seeking advice from wooden idols because ‘the spirit of 

harlotry has caused them to stray’ (4:12). Anything that takes 

us away from our relationship with God is harlotry whether it 

be sports, cars, wine or anything else. Just as Gomer behaved 

as if she wasn’t Hosea’s wife, so the people behaved as if they 

didn’t belong to God. 

And yet God never stopped loving his people. Hurt and 

angry God spent years using the prophets to warn them of 

what would happen if they continued ignoring him. They 

were heading for sale to the highest bidder in the slave 

markets, or worse, if you read the later parts of Hosea. And 

God didn’t want that for them. He loved them, but couldn’t 

let them get away with their behaviour. He longs to have a 

relationship with them again, to restore all that they have 

lost, if they let him. 

Perhaps one of the difficulties is that we tend not to look 

too far ahead. We take the treasures of today over the reward 

of a lifetime spent with God. But God sees our hearts and 

we should be careful not to mistake God’s silence for his 

blessing. Wherever you are, why not stop for a quick spiritual 

health check? Do you need to make adjustments in your walk 

with God? He is utterly forgiving. If we go to him in humility 

and truth, he will gladly reinstate an intimate relationship 

with us, no matter how we may have treated him. 


From the cool 

editor's desk 

editor@theparishmagazine.co.uk 

Why I love The Ark... 

How did you get on during the heat wave? Most people I 

have spoken to seemed to have found themselves sitting 

indoors in the coolest part of the house, either reading 

or watching tv. Coming, as it did, in the only time of the 

year when I have some extra free time between producing 

magazines — the previous combined July and August 

issue meant that I had, in theory, a free month. My plan 

this year was to catch up on the many outside jobs that 

had piled up during the last year because Covid had denied 

me of the energy to do them earlier. 

The heat wave, however, forced me to stay indoors and 

ironically, the coolest place I found was at my desk, the 

very place I had planned to avoid! 

POSITIVES AND NEGATIVES 

Having studied electronic and electrical engineering 

at university I learnt early on in my life that the natural 

order of life always has two sides — a negative and a 

positive. The positive side of sitting at my desk instead 

of working in the garden was that I had time to sit back 

and take a closer look at how I go about producing this 

magazine. Usually I don't have time to think about the 

'how' because I am busy doing it! 

While I have always appreciated that I could 

not produce the magazine each month without our 

contributors who write articles and provide information 

and photographs, and others who look after the financial 

aspects, and our team of proofreaders whose contribution 

is invaluable, there is one facility that we are blessed with 

that is easy to overlook, and yet without it I probably 

would never manage to find all the articles. Yes, I am 

talking about The Ark. 

IT'S NOT UNUSUAL 

You only have to look back through the recent 

issues of this magazine (which you can do online at: 

http://theparishmagazine.co.uk) and read about all the 

different groups that meet there — Sunday Club, STAY, 

Rendezvous, Sunday at Six to name the obvious ones. 

But for me, wearing my editor's hat, the most important 

facility The Ark provides is the opportunity to meet and 

chat to people over a fresh cup of coffee or tea, because its 

the casual comment or remark that usually sparks off an 

idea for a story. 

In this issue there are at least four articles that grew 

out of conversations in The Ark — Penny Feather's 

royal memories (p15); Claude Master's granddaughter's 

underwater studies (p21); Ian Clarke's memories of 

growing up in Sonning (p22) and a parsnip cake recipe 

from Liz Nelson (p31). 

This is not unusual, almost every issue has one or more 

articles that began life in The Ark. It's why I love The Ark! I 

hope that you love it as much as I do.



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PLATINUM JUBILEE MEMORIES 


BELIZE 

Tomas Griger, dreamstime.com 

September evokes royal memories for Penny 

We continue our Jubilee series of royal memories with one from Charvil resident and active Sonning and Sonning Eye 

Society member, Penny Feathers. If you have a royal memory to share please let us know. 

On 21 September 1981 Belize, called British Honduras until 1973, became the last British colony on the American 

mainland to gain its independence. Unlike other British colonies, Belize chose Elizabeth II as their hereditary monarch 

and constitutional head of state, giving her the unique title, Queen of Belize. What the future has in store for this role 

is uncertain. 

Queen Elizabeth therefore has two 

official styles and titles: 

— 'Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace 

of God, of the United Kingdom of Great 

Britain and Northern Ireland and of her 

other realms and territories, Head of the 

Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.' 

— Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace 

of God, Queen of Belize and her other 

realms and territories, Head of the 

Commonwealth. 

In all her official duties relating to 

Belize, Elizabeth II speaks and acts as 

Queen of Belize, and not as Queen of 

the UK. Royal visits during her reign 

have helped build the relationship 

between the Commonwealth nation 

and the Royal Family. 

GOVERNOR-GENERAL 

As a constitutional monarch, The 

Queen is not involved in the day-today 

business of the Government of 

Belize, though she continues to play 

important ceremonial and symbolic 

roles in the life of the nation. The 

Queen of Belize is officially 'the 

guarantor of continuous and stable 

governance and a nonpartisan safeguard 

against the abuse of power.' 

Some of the Queen of Belize's 

powers can only be exercised by her, 

but most, however, are undertaken 

by her representative, the governorgeneral 

of Belize. Since since May 2021 

this has been Dame Froyla Tzalam, 

GCMG (pictured right). 

wikimedia.commons 

Dame Froyla is a Belizean 

Mopan Maya anthropologist and 

community leader. She is the first 

indigenous person of Maya descent 

to serve as governor-general in the 

Commonwealth. 

For Belizeans, their ancestry is 

important, and it can usually be traced 

back to Creoles, Cariba, Mestzos, 

Mayas, Europeans/Scottish, North 

Americans, Chinese, East Indians 

or Lebanese, making it a truly 

multicultural society. 

Belize is only 174 miles by 68 

miles at its widest parts, has 175 

small islands, and borders on Mexico, 

Guatemala, and the Caribbean Sea. 

In 1981 it had a population of about 

147,000, today it is over 400,000. 

Dame Froyla Tzalam, at one of the Platinum 

Jubilee receptions in London earlier this year. 

wikimedia.commoms 

Oleg Kachura, dreamstime.com 

Christianity is the country's main 

religion with Roman Catholicism being 

historically the largest. Other popular 

denominations are Seventh Day 

Adventists, Baptists, Anglicans, and 

Pentecostals. Interestingly, the largest 

group after the Roman Catholics in the 

2010 census was 'the people who said 

they didn't belong to any religion.' 

PENNY? 

So where, you may be thinking, 

does Penny fit into all this? 

Penny was British Pro-Consul 

in Yokohama, Japan where she met 

Bob Feathers who was to become 

her husband. He was an American 

and worked in the US consulate and 

together they lived in nine countries 

including Belize, where Bob served 

for 3 years. On a Wednesday morning 

Penny attended the mid-week 

communion service in St John's 

Cathedral and it was here that she met, 

and became good friends, with Lady 

Erica Wolffsohm whose husband, Sir 

Arthur Norman Wolffsohn was the 

colonial administrator. 

Despite the quality of life for the 

majority of Belizeans — which would 

today be classed as 'poverty' — Penny 

remembers the local people as being 

'wonderfully, sunny natured and always 

smiling'. Most people lived in wooden 

structured houses, and the more 

wealthy would have homes on stilts 

with steps to the front door decorated 

turn to page 17



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PLATINUM JUBILEE MEMORIES — 2 

Penny's royal September memories 


Ramunas Bruzas, dreamstime.com 

St John's Cathedral Belize City 

from page 15 

with colourful flowers growing in old 

food tins. 

When Penny and Bob moved on, 

she kept in touch with Lady Erica by 

letter, one of which, gives a fascinating 

insight into the events surrounding 

the Belize independence celebrations 

in September 1981. 

Lady Erica wrote ... 

I returned to Belize on 15 September for 

independence on 21st. As a descendant 

of one of the very early settlers (18th 

century from Scotland) I felt I should 

come, and I am glad I did. To the 

surprise of many, in view of the unrest 

in March and April – all went off 

peacefully. This, of course, was a relief 

to us all! 

Belizeans, on a whole, are a 

complaisant people, and they enjoyed 

the parades, floats, and singing and 

Belize City today is a popular port of call for cruise ships. 

A typical Belize street in the 1970's 

dancing on the streets. On Sunday 

there was the state service at St John's 

Cathedral attended by a guard of honour 

by the sailors from the frigate 'Ariadne' 

for Prince Michael of Kent, the Queen's 

representative . . . The band of the Gordon 

Highlanders accompanied the hymns and 

psalms, and everyone sang lustily. 

Prince Michael read the second lesson 

(nice deep voice) . . . In the evening 

there was the governor's reception 

at Old Governors House, where the 

royal party was staying for four days, 

followed by the lowering and raising of 

the flags. 

Lady Erica's letter continues to 

describe the following events which 

created a mixture of tears and joy, 

and times of clapping and silence, 

depending on the different views of 

the multiethnic people of Belize. 

Lawrence Weslowski, dreamstime.com 

Bob Feathers 

Waitresses dressed in the national 

costumes of each ethnic group served 

their national dishes and apart from 

isolated minor incidents, all seems to 

have gone smoothly. 

UNCERTAIN FUTURE 

Today, there is uncertainty about 

the future of the role of The Queen of 

Belize, it may be that the royal title will 

soon be confined to history. 

Last year, after Prince William 

and Kate cancelled their Jubilee 

state visit, the country’s minister for 

constitutional and political reform, 

Henry Charles Usher, reportedly told 

Belize’s parliament: 'Perhaps it is time 

for Belize to take the next step in truly 

owning our independence. But it is a 

matter that the people of Belize must 

decide', and Prince Charles, heir to the 

Belize monarchy told Commonwealth 

nations that decisions about whether 

they keep the Queen as head of state or 

become a republic are ‘matters for them 

to decide’. 

We could be witnessing the end 

of the UK's unique connection with 

Belize, but an even more serious 

concern must be that 41 years after the 

tears and joy of independence the UK 

government is warning visitors about 

increasingly violent incidents involving 

tourists, expatriates and Belizeans 

because of gang violence and gun 

crimes. Elizabeth II may go down in 

history as the only Queen of Belize, but 

lets hope that the friendly relationship 

between the UK and Belize that Penny 

remembers will survive.



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feature — 1 

Your Sonning Show & Fête Guide 

Rules for Show Exhibits 

Entries are welcome from residents of Sonning, Charvil, Sonning Eye 

and members of village organisations. There is no charge. Entries 

must not have been exhibited in previous Sonning Shows; they should 

have been completed during the last 12 months (except Section J). Only 

one entry per person, per class. Staging of all Sections starts at 10am 

and must be completed by 12 noon. 

Adult Certificates 

There will be no monetary prizes for adult sections. Certificates will 

normally be awarded for first, second, third and highly commended. 

Section Special Awards — section details are listed below 

A & B: Brutton Cookery Cup for the most points 

B5: Sonning Glebe WI Spoon for the class winner 

B11: Jubilee Cup for the class winner 

C: Hillier Cup for the most points 

C14: Nobby Clarke Onion Cup for the best onions 

C21: Les Moss Tankard for the class winner 

C22a, M65, P75, P82: David Penny Pumpkin Trophy, overall winner 

E2: Catton Cup for the class winner 

F37: Flower Club Trophy for the people’s choice 

G: Sonning Glebe WI Trophy for the best exhibit 

H & O: British Legion Cup for the best exhibit 

I: Bill Gallimore Trophy for the best exhibit 

J: Martha Angel Centenary Cup most interesting exhibit 

L – O: White Hart Cup for the child with most points 

P: £10 for the infant with most points 

E36/M64/P74/P81: Wethered Flower Cup for the overall winner 

ADULT SHOW SECTIONS 

A — Preserves 

Class 1: pot of marmalade; Class 2: pot of jam; Class 3: pot of lemon curd; 

Class 4: jar of chutney 

B — Cookery 

Class 5: Victoria sandwich – 3 egg mixture; Class 6: Carole’s courgette 

cake – see recipe on page 31; Class 7: tea loaf – see recipe on page 31; 

Class 8: 3 chocolate brownies; Class 9: 3 shortbreads; Class 10: Favourite 

cake judged on taste and texture. Please supply recipe, the winner's 

recipe will be a class next year; Class 11: Swiss roll — men only! 

C — Vegetables 

Class 12: 9 runner beans; Class 13: 3 carrots; Class 14: 4 onions; Class 15: 

2 vegetable marrows; Class 16: 4 potatoes; Class 17; a truss of tomatoes; 

Class 18: 6 tomatoes; Class 19: the heaviest marrow; Class 20: the 

longest runner bean; Class 21: Collection of 4 kinds of vegetables (at least 

3 of each); Class 22; any other vegetable (at least 3 to be shown); Class 

22a: heaviest pumpkin 

D — Fruit 

Class 23: 4 dessert apples; Class 24: 4 cooking apples; Class 25: 4 pears; 

Class 26: any other fruit 

E — Flowers 

Class 27: 3 large dahlias - 6” (150mm) diameter or greater; Class 28: 3 

small dahlias - less than 6” (150mm) diameter; Class 29: hanging basket; 

Class 30: 3 roses; Class 31:1 specimen Rose; Class 32: vase of annuals - 

max 10 stems (mixed or 1 variety; Class 33: vase of perennials - max 10 

stems (mixed or 1 variety); Class 34: pot plant - foliage; Class 35: pot plant 

– flowering; Class 36: largest sunflower head (dead or alive) 

F — Flower Arrangements 

Show visitors are always keen to admire beautiful flower arrangements. 

We will be delighted to receive a large number of floral displays. Please have 

a go. Everyone is welcome. Arrangements may be brought completed, or 

arranged at the show, between 10am and noon on the day. 

Class 37: open class (all welcome). Any size from pedestals to table 

centre pieces. To be viewed all around or front facing. Class 38: for 

children aged 5 - 12. A small arrangement in a container of your choice. 


Saturday 10 September 2022 

Sonning CofE School, Ligugé Way RG4 6XF 

The fête will open at 2pm. Entrance to show & fête: adults £1, children free. The school rooms will open for viewing the show 

exhibits after judging has been completed. Children winning prizes are responsible for collecting their prize money from 

the treasurer, not later than 4pm, by showing him their certificates. Exhibitors are requested not to remove their exhibits 

before 4pm. Exhibits not for auction are to be collected by 4.30pm. Exhibits to be sold by auction should be acknowledged 

when registering entries. The auction starts at approximately 4.30pm. The show committee can accept no responsibility for 

the safekeeping or return of exhibits. Profits from the show and fête will go to village amenities. 

G — Photography 

Class 40: Jubilee year colour print. minimum 3.5 x 3.5 inches; Class 41: the 

landscape colour print, maximum 10x8 inches; Class 42: black and white, 

or sepia print – any subject. 

H — Craft 

Class 43: knitted, crochet or woven item; Class 44: item of embroidery, 

tapestry or stitch work; Class 45: soft toy or dressed doll; Class 46 

unfinished projects - any item of craft started but not finished! Class 47: 

article of any other craft. 

I — Art 

Class 48: pen and ink drawing; Class 49: pencil drawing; Class 50: pastel 

drawing; Class 51: oil painting; Class 52: watercolour painting; Class 53: 

acrylics painting; Class 54: any other medium painting. 

J — Times gone by 

Exhibits in Section J will be judged for their interest and rarity. A small card 

giving a short description of any knowledge of your entry should accompany 

them. (The organisers cannot be responsible for loss or damage of items). 

Class 55: A right royal celebration!; Class 56: Childhood favourite; Class 

57: A pay slip; Class 58: An old bottle. 

CHILDREN'S SHOW SECTIONS* (8-12 year olds) 

L — Cookery 

Class 60: 3 fruit scones; Class 61 : a 'sandwich & cake' tea for the Queen, 

on a tray - judged on presentation as well; Class 62: 3 cheese straws 

M — Fun with flowers 

Class 63: a posy of flowers; Class 64: largest sunflower head (dead or 

alive); Class 65: heaviest pumpkin 

N — Photography 

Class 66: my favourite scarecrow, minimum size 90mm x 90mm, 

maximum 250mm x 200mm 

O — Craft, design and technology 

Class 67: handwriting, maximum 15 lines; Class 68: poem about the 

environment; Class 69: portrait of someone famous from UK history; 

Class 70: Jubilee theme craft Item; Class 71: paper mache mask. 

INFANTS’ SHOW SECTIONS* 

P — 6 and 7 years old 

Class 72: a portrait of someone famous from UK history; Class 73: 

Jubilee theme craft item; Class 74: largest sunflower head (dead or 

alive); Class 75: heaviest pumpkin; Class 76: a fairy cake decorated for 

the Queen; Class 77: Jubilee garden on a plate; Class 78: poem about an 

animal 

P — 5 years old and under 

Class 79: hand drawn picture of The Queen; Class 80: potato print picture; 

Class 81: largest sunflower head (dead or alive); Class 82: heaviest pumpkin 

Class 83: a decorated fairy cake; Class 84: Jubilee bunting; Class 85: a 

model from Lego or equivalent 

*The child/infant's age will be required when their exhibit is entered, and this 

will be taken into account by the judges. In addition to the Section Special 

Awards, money prizes, sponsored by Sonning Landscapes, will be awarded 

for the children and infants — First: £3; Second: £2; Third £1. 

Charvil Village Fête 

The new organising committee for the Charvil 

Village Fête has chosen Sunday 4 September, 2-6pm 

for this year's event which will be held on the East 

Park Farm playing fields by Charvil Piggott School. 

Further details are expected to be posted on Facebook



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feature — 2 


Live war wreckage lurking on the Thames 

Estuary and the English Channel seabed 

By Claude Masters 

'U-boat on the starboard skipper' 

cried the hydrographic surveyor 

when she spotted the image of a 

wreck on the seabed in the English 

Channel — the bright colours in the 

picture (right) indicate the depth. 

She was using a Multi Beam Echo 

Sounder (MBES) aboard the survey 

ship EGS Ventus. 

Surveys such as these could be for 

finding cross channel cables, wrecks, 

unexploded bombs or any other 

debris. Dredging operations and 

checking sea and river walls can also 

be mapped using MBES. 

There are dozens and dozens of 

cables crossing the channels and 

river estuaries, not only in the UK 

but worldwide. 

They are carefully mapped but the 

purpose of some has been lost in the 

annals of time. 

Worldwide, there are hundreds of 

survey boats, both large and small, 

owned by companies, employed by 

governments, or agencies, to inspect 

the sea bed for a variety of reasons. 

WHALES AND DOLPHINS 

My 23 year old granddaughter, 

Charlotte, who was one of the 

surveyors that spotted the U-boat, 

has also surveyed the SS Richard 

Montgomery in the Thames Estuary 

on the EGS Watchful. She has 

surveyed the seabed on offshore 

wind farms and mapped pipelines 

across streams and rivers from Perth 

to Cambridge. 

MBES uses the same echo 

sounding system as whales and 

dolphins so they get attracted to 

the survey ship to see what’s going 

on. While the ship's crew like to see 

them, it does mean that time has to 

be spent cleaning out all the chatter 

from the sea creatures before the 

data can be given to the client. 

The pictured boat (above) is the 

Images (top down): An aerial view of the Thames Estuary, Anna Yordanova, dreamstime.com; 

A colour of the seabed showing the depth of U-boat in the English Channel; Charlotte on dry 

land; Wind farms near the Thames Estuary, Nicola Pulham, deamstime.com; SS Richard 

Montgomery, which sank in the Second World War with its live cargo of ammunitiion, 

SS Richard Montgomery, which sailed 

from America to London in the 

Second World War. A large storm 

meant that it could not go up the 

River Thames so it anchored in the 

estuary. The anchor was dragged 

onto a sandbank and the old liberty 

ship broke its back and split in two. 

Its cargo of ammunition was prefused 

and live so it could be loaded 

straight onto bombers. 

The ammunition was not removed 

and the fear is that the masts could 

collapse onto the wreck and trigger 

an explosion. 

The worst case scenario is the 

tidal wave created from the explosion 

would clear the Thames Barrier and 

flood London. Once every 6 months, 

a survey boat with an experienced 

captain is allowed to survey it to 

check for any changes. 

When you realised that 70% 

of the world's surface is covered 

with water — most of it being in 

oceans with, as yet, unexplored sea 

beds, there is plenty of work for 

hydrographic surveyors to do. 

One of the things on Charlotte’s 

bucket list is to visit all the 

continents of the world and somehow 

I think she will do so.


feature — 3 

Tales of a Sonning lad from the 

It started, with coffee after the Wednesday communion in The Ark. I was talking to Bob Peters about how Sonning 

used to be years ago. He asked if I lived in the village and that was his big mistake! I usually can't remember what 

I did yesterday but then various flashbacks came to me and the more we talked, the more I remembered about 

the church, the choir, the village shops, the river and village life. He asked me to write it down . . . 

CHURCH AFFAIRS 

As an 11 year old lad, I joined St Andrew's Church 

choir. There were not many village lads so, in term 

time, we were supplemented with boys from Bluecoat 

School. Joining the choir was quite an ordeal! It was 

rumoured recruits were initiated by being thrown 

into a bush by the path to the church entrance. I don't 

remember being thrown into it — I was lucky! The 

bush is not there now so new recruits are safe from 

this ordeal. 

There was, however, another daunting obstacle — 

the scary choirmaster and organist, who I shall call 

Mr L. Friday night was choir practice. If you missed it 

you were in deep trouble from Mr L when you arrived 

for the service on Sunday. My word he was fierce! 

We would try to sneak into the vestry without being 

seen and escape at the end of the service without 

being caught and hope he would forget about it by the 

following Friday! 

We left our bikes in the old mortuary (now the 

St Sarik Room which is used as the choir vestry). The 

mortuary table, where the bodies of people drowned 

in the river were laid, was still there. This was spooky 

enough. It was also dark! 

One Friday someone found a bust of Cannon 

Pearson in the mortuary and hung it by the neck from 

the rafters. When we arrived with our bikes, there 

it was hanging in the dark! Needless to say we never 

put our bikes there again and the culprit was never 

discovered. 

Another scary tale involved a large yew tree. It was 

said if you closed your eyes and ran round it seven 

times you would see the face of the devil! Enough to 

scare anyone! Sadly, that yew tree is no longer there, 

it was a casualty of the 1987 'Michael Fish, there will 

not be a hurricane' storm. The wood was used to make 

some splendid church furniture. 

HIGH STREET LIFE 

The High Street was a sleepy place, except for the cars 

that cut through to Thames Street. However, it wasn't 

always that way. 

There was once a thriving commercial life with 

Mrs Edward's shop, Bert Huggins' butchers, Adams 

Grocery, which later became the Thrift Shop, the parttime 

Midland Bank and even Mrs Prior's front room 

from where she sold sweets on Sunday after church. 

As a teenager I worked at Mrs Edwards' general 

store on a Saturday morning delivering groceries to 

people in the village, one of which was Robert Beatty, 

a very famous actor in those days. I delivered groceries 

on a bike with a basket on the front — strangely, it 

was the same bike my dad, Bob, had used when he was 

young. It was a bit rickety but it did the job until one 

Saturday a large lorry changed the shape of it outside 

the shop! lt was completely crushed — thankfully I 

was not on it! 

Mrs Edwards was unimpressed as it meant the 

purchase of a new delivery bike, but I was delighted 

because it was a considerably upgraded model that 

was far less squeaky and rickety. The highlight of 

my morning was when I had my break and always 

enjoyed a Lyons individual fruit pie. Yes, they do stilI 

make them! I also nipped into my house in Pound 

Lane for a second 'unofficial' break, which I hope Mrs 

Edwards never found out about! 

Opposite Mrs Edwards' shop was Bert Huggins 

butchers. It was a small, quiet shop yet Bert had 

an assistant whose sole job was to sit in a little 

kiosk taking the customers' money. Surely a case of 

overstaffing! 

At the bottom of the hill was Mrs Edwards' 

competition — Pembroke's grocery shop. Imagine, 

two grocery shops in one village. Pembroke's was 

taken over by the Adams family and later became the 

thrift shop, an antique/curio establishment. 

There was not a parking problem in those days 

and I could glide down the High Street on my new 

delivery bike and come to rest against the shop front 

where a convenient groove under the window was 

where the frame of the front basket fitted. 

The highlight of my delivery boy days was asking 

Mrs Edwards for a pay increase, to my shock and 

delight I received one, which meant that I earned the 

princely sum of 10 shillings — I was quite wealthy! 

In the quieter moments I would go to the shed at 

the back of the shop where the stock was stored and 

unpack some of the boxes. Needless to say it was a 

good hiding place which always had the overriding 

smell of soap powder. I always wondered if Mrs 

Edwards suspected that I was taking rather a long 

time to unpack the boxes. Eventually, I would be 

found and had to get back on the delivery bicycle. 

I was 19 years old when I retired from this job — 

well passed a lad's retirement age! 

VILLAGE SCHOOL DAYS 

My school days seem a very long time ago, over 60 

years in fact. Some memories are very vivid. The 

village school was in Thames Street — it's now a 

private house, although it looks the same, except a 

large leaded window at the front has been replaced. 

I remember clearly the day Christopher (no 

surname to protect the guilty) was being disruptive, as 

usual, and threw a black plimsoll — an item we all 

wore. It missed its intended target but hit the leaded 

window shattering one of the panes. We all went very 

Images (from the top down): 

Ian Clarke today 

Ian Clarke by one of Ben the Boa 

Sonning Lock in the 1960's from 

Sonning High Street in the early 

Magazine archives


'Fifties and Sixties' 

By Ian Clarke 

tman's boats in 1958 

the Hoyle collection 

1900's from the Parish 

quiet and I'm not sure how long it was before Mr C, 

the head teacher, discovered it. He was furious! 

On another occasion, the same miscreant was 

accused of taking money from the blind stocking. He 

was sent to the bottom of the school field, where a 

stream ran, to choose a stick with which he would be 

punished. Times were different then. We watched in 

horror as the dust rose from Christopher's trousers in 

the ray of sunlight which streamed through the large 

leaded window. These punishments were common 

and were designed to help us develop real 'character'! 

A mass 'slippering' occurred when a group were 

caught stuffing grass down the outside toilets. I was 

falsely accused and also got 'the slipper'. It still burns 

to this day. Ah! Those toilets, the scene of much 

misbehaviour and more than a few naughty pranks. 

Lunchtimes saw us walk, crocodile style along 

Thames Street and into Pearson Road to the infant 

school — also now a private house — where we would 

have lunch. The smell of cabbage still hangs heavily in 

the air for me, and whatever was sago and the awful 

synthetic mashed potato we had to endure? 

Village school life then was very different to 

today's education system, with small classes, everyone 

learning the recorder, or not in my case, and desks 

where you could lift the lid and graffiti inside to make 

them your own. Whatever happened to those desks? 

Probably costing a fortune in a trendy antique shop! 

HAPPY RIVER HOURS 

As it is now, the river was an integral part of village 

life. We spent many happy hours breaking today's 

health and safety rules and probably alarming our 

parents — if they found out. 

The front of the White Hart — now the Great 

House — was filled with beautifully varnished 

wooden punts. These were our playground, much to 

the annoyance of Ben the boatman from the White 

Hart boathouse. 

When Ben was not around we played on the punts, 

running across them. When he appeared we were in 

real trouble! He could be a real tyrant, although we 

probably deserved it. 

There was an ice cream kiosk near where the boats 

were kept, and another one by the, then, wooden 

horse bridge. We were well catered for then. 

The mill was a working flour mill and not a theatre 

restaurant. I have vivid memories of my brother being 

terrified of the ventilation cowls on top of the mill. 

It was very busy until 1969 when Huntley & Palmers 

stopped making biscuits in Reading. 

One of the fun activities was watching the 

steamers going under the 1775 built brick bridge. Their 

chimney had to be lowered to get under the bridge 

and we always mischievously hoped that they would 

get the timing wrong and the chimney would strike 

the brick arch. It may have happened but we never 

managed to witness it. 

We weren't always up to mischief and could at 

times be helpful. We loved going to the lock which 

had wooden gates that had to be opened manually by 

pushing on long wooden bars. We would line up along 

the bar to give a big push to open the gates and then 

run round to the other end to let the boats out again. 

Again, disregarding today's health and safety 

rules, we would swim in the river, particularly at 

Stoney Bay, further along the tow path on the White 

Hart side. It was a great place to swim and we thought 

little about pollution, currents and other dangers 

associated with rivers. It was safer than swimming 

by the bridge where a number of serious incidents 

occurred over the years. 

The river was, and is, a very attractive place to 

relax and have fun. Picnics were common and it was a 

great place to while away a sunny afternoon and to see 

how many cygnets were produced by the swans on the 

island situated in the middle of the bridge — and to 

see how many boats failed to navigate cleanly through 

the arch of the bridge without hitting the sides! 

TRAVELLING SALESMEN 

Sonning was a hive of activity in the late 50's and 

60's. There was no Asda, Tesco, or Waitrose, however, 

a number of visiting tradesmen plied their wares 

around the village. We eagerly waited for the Corona 

man, not to be confused with coronavirus! His vehicle 

was laden with fizzy drinks in those unique ceramictopped 

reusable bottles. What happened to them? 

We also had visits from the rag and bone man, 

the fish and chip van, and the Baylis grocery van. I 

vaguely remember the muffin man walking around 

with a tray of muffins on his head, or did I imagine it? 

My brother, Terry, and I were also involved in this 

plethora of activities. In 1966 a coloured newspaper, 

the Evening Post, was launched and we both had paper 

rounds in the village. The bags could be really heavy 

and there was nothing worse than completing your 

round and finding you still had one paper left. Who 

had been missed? We usually found out when we 

collected the money! 

A highlight of the week was when Eddie, the Job's 

milkman, allowed us to help. I can still smell the 

diesel fumes of his van and the smell of sour milk 

as we made our way through the village and up to 

Sonning Eye. The milk was in glass bottles and they 

only held one pint. No plastic then. 

RECREATIONAL TIMES 

Much of our time in the 5o's and 60's was spent 

playing in the St George's Field recreation ground in 

Pound Lane, which was directly opposite the house 

where we lived. At the edge of the road was a wooded 

area called the copse. This really was an adventure 

playground, a dense jungle of trees and bushes with 

slopes and hills. It looks different these days. Then 

the hills seemed much steeper and the trees 

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from page 23 

Ian Clarke remembers 

much bigger, the whole place was much more scary! We 

would build go-karts and race each other down the slopes 

desperately trying to avoid serious injury. 

The copse was also the setting to act out our cowboy 

adventures after tea, having watched The Lone Ranger, 

Hopalong Cassidy or Roy Rogers on TV. I can still hear the 

sound of cap guns and the smell of the gunpowder as we shot 

at the 'baddies'. 

At the top of the field during the conker season many 

hours were spent throwing sticks up the trees to try and 

dislodge a large conker — and trying to avoid the sticks 

falling on our heads. 

Another aspect of the rec was the swings where we would 

play. The 'Witch's Hat' (dangerous) was a favourite, making 

sure our fingers weren't trapped in it was a priority' 

'Cheeselog' was another lethal piece of equipment which 

was a battering ram that could cause real damage to the 

unsuspecting passer by! There were also no soft surfaces on 

which to fall, just very hard tarmac! 

We did have to behave reasonably well, however, and not 

make too much of a nuisance of ourselves as opposite the rec 

lived the local village policeman who would ride round on a 

bike and was not above giving you a clip round the ear! How 

times have changed. 

Another adventure playground existed in the shape of 

Sonning University Farm. The barns, when full of hay bales, 

provided us with hours of fun— until we were caught! We 

would jump from bale to bale chasing each other around the 

barn and would also use them to make secret dens. These 

came in handy to hide in if one of the farm workers came 

along. 

I also remember going to the farm each day with a metal 

milk can to pick up a daily ration of milk. We were entitled to 

this because our grandad used to be a farm hand who worked 

in the dairy. It was full fat milk, no skimmed milk then. The 

farm also provided a nightmare in the shape of a large bull 

kept in a pen near the farm gate. Many a sleepless night was 

had as that bull tore through my dreams! I can still see the 

metal ring in its nose. It makes me shudder to this day. 

As my memories fade I am glad that Bob prompted 

me to commit them to paper. I hope some might 

be of interest to newcomers to Sonning as well as 

those who also remember so long ago. Those days 

are surely never to return! 

Sonning High Street, then and now. A montage used as one of the 

front covers of Gordon Nutbrown's trilogy of books 'A Thames Parish 

Magazine' 1869 - 2015. We have a few spare copies remaining which are 

available free of charge from editor@theparishmagazine.co.uk 


feature — 4 around the villages — 1 

WI rounders champions! 

Sonning Glebe WI (pictured above) just managed to 

beat The Sonning Club in this year's village rounders 

championship which meant that Sonning School PTA, as 

losers, have the honour of organising next year's match! 

The other teams taking part were: Sonning Primary School 

Teachers, Sonning Tennis Club, Sonning Scouts, and St 

Andrew’s Church. Despite it being a hot sunny evening on 

St George’s Field the spectators were well catered for by the 

Sonning Cricket Club bar while The Village Hamper sold 

plenty of ice cream and the PTA provided the BBQ. Nearly 

£100 was raised for Daisy’s Dream by a WI raffle. 

Wanted: volunteers to put 

smiles on children's faces 

If you love to see deprived children smile, then Reading 

Family Aid can help you! They have been putting smiles 

on faces in and around Reading since the 1970's and are 

planning to keep doing so as the demand continues to 

grow. This is why they are looking for someone familiar 

with charity governance to be their governance and 

compliance advisor. They are also looking for a publicity 

team member to help with media activities and press 

coverage. Contact sravanthiyellapragada@readingfamilyaid.org 

for more information. 

Bowls club short of members 

Charvil Short Mat Bowls Club is seeking new members. They 

are a friendly group who play indoors on Tuesday afternoons 

from 2pm and/or Wednesday evenings from 7-9pm indoors 

from September to April at Charvil Village Hall, RG10 9TR. 

More from: 0118 969 4022 or 0777 078 7791. 

Plan a royal visit . . . 

Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and many of the 

other royal residences are open to visitors throughout 

September and October. There are gardens to explore, state 

rooms to tour, and Platinum Jubilee exhibitions to enjoy. 

To see what's available visit: https://www.rct.uk/whatson/ 

where you can browse 50 events, get full information, and 

create some Jubilee memories!


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around the villages — 2 


Can you help Richard write the history of Sonning clubs? 

This 1925 photograph, taken in front of the original pavilion at King George V Playing Field, inspired Richard 

Anderson to delve into the history of the Sonning cricket and football clubs which were formed in 1887 and 1886 

respectively. He is particularly interested in the village characters who have contributed to the history of the clubs. 

The photograph gives the impression of an inter-club village match, possibly to celebrate the opening of the new 

pavilion, complete with thatched roof. If any readers have any information relating to this photograph, perhaps an 

ancestor who features, or to either of the clubs going back over time, particularly pre-1950, and in particular any old 

photographs, they are able to share, please contact Richard at moleanderson1961@gmail.com 

Walks, talks, and 

music at Chiltern 

Heritage Festival 

Just 30 miles from our parish are 660 

square miles of the Chiltern Hills, 

one Britain's 38 areas of outstanding 

natural beauty — which are 

unfortunately known by the not very 

beautiful acronym, AONB. 

For almost 69 years, The Chiltern 

Society's volunteers, members 

and partners have worked to 

preserve and protect their AONB by 

maintaining 2,200 miles of paths and 

bridleways, managing woodlands, 

clearing streams and creating safe 

environments for wildlife. 

From 17 September to 2 October, 

the Society is staging it's 5th 

Chiltern Heritage Festival and has 

arranged a programme of events and 

visits to 'beautiful gardens, historic 

houses, private tours, plus walks, 

talks and music'. 

You will need to book in advance 

for most of the events. To see what is 

happening, when, and how to book, 

go to: https://chilternsociety.org.uk/ 

heritage-festival/ 

Upcoming talks in Pearson Hall 

Graham Horn, 23 September, 7.30pm: An Heir and a Spare - The monarchs we 

never had - the lives of the heirs who did not inherit, and maybe hints at how our 

history might have changed. 

Sarah Somerville, 28 October, 7.30pm: Shaw House one of the best preserved 

Elizabethan Mansions in England. It has welcomed royalty, seen action during the 

Civil war, housed soldiers during WWII and schooled local children. 

Tickets for both talks for Sonnng and Sonning Eye Society members are £4 and can 

obtained from: https://www.sonning.org.uk/ or penny.feathers@btinternet.com 0118 934 3193 

Painting from one show to the next 

Following Sonning Art Club's successful Scarecrow Trail exhibition they are 

now working towards their next one at the Sonning Show when, as well as 

entering several classes in the competitions, the club's main exhibition will be 

in one of the classrooms where some original greetings card will also be on sale. 

A pen and ink drawing by Sue Sheppard and a watercolour of Peonies by Lynda Tolworthy



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HOME AND GARDEN — 1 


How to add more than 8% to the value of your home ... 

By Angela Cox, The Style Counsellor Ltd (0787 656 8917) 

Over the last few months I have been asked by a number 

of people what 'home staging and styling' is? What 

happens when you ask a 'stager' to come into your 

property, and what are the benefits? 

Even at a time when the property market is strong there is 

still that desire, and a need, for a home buyer to completely 

fall in love with it and with the lifestyle it offers. When 

potential buyers view your home, you want them to see 

themselves living there, to feel at home, and not feel they are 

in someone else’s house. 

Too many personal items can be distracting, while 

completely bare rooms can look cold and impersonal. 

Research shows that just as we form an opinion of 

someone within 7 seconds of meeting them, most buyers 

form an opinion of a property within the first 8 seconds of 

entering it, and only 2 seconds if viewing online. It's really 

important, therefore, to create a good first impression by 

presenting your property at its best. This is where home 

staging can provide the solution. 

ADDING 'WOW' 

Staging is a proven technique to market your home 

and success stories show professional staging can increase 

the offer value by up to 8% or more. It adds the 'wow' to 

your home and sets you apart from other properties in the 

neighbourhood by addressing exterior kerb appeal, interior 

layouts, furniture and furnishings, lighting, traffic flow, 

colour schemes and lifestyle appeal. 

Professional home stagers can advise on refurbishments, 

organise new flooring, decoration and window treatments, 

as well as temporary rental furniture and soft furnishings, 

accessories and photography that will make your property 

stand out from the competition. 

Videos and 3D virtual tours are becoming 'the new 

normal' to provide an immersive experience of your home 

and minimise unnecessary footfall so hiring a professional 

photographer to emphasise the key focal points in your 

home, and portray a lifestyle that buyers crave, is being used 

increasingly by agents to showcase their best properties. 

The before and after photographs above show the 

difference in appeal between a cluttered and a staged room. 

A buyer can immediately imagine themselves using the space 

that was previously cluttered and cold. 

KEY STAGING BENEFITS 

— Professionally staged homes are eye-catching, intriguing and 

encourage more buyers to consider your property, before seeing it. 

— It makes your home feel aspirational. It’s important that a buyer 

falls in love with the property they choose to buy. Staging can create 

that emotional connection. Professional colour combinations, smart 

layouts and unusual pieces help develop positive feelings about the 

space and are therefore able to imagine living in it. 

— It shows ways to use extra rooms. An empty room can be 

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HOME AND GARDEN — 2 

Recipes of the month 

Parsnip, apple and lime loaf cake 

By Helen Goh https://www.goodfood.com.au/ 

Churchwarden, Liz Nelson, tells us, 'it’s surprisingly good!' 

Ingredients 

For the loaf cake 

— 180g plain flour 

— ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda 

— ½ tsp baking powder 

— ½ tsp cinnamon 

— ½ tsp ground ginger 

— ¼ tsp salt 

— 2 large eggs 

— 90g soft light brown sugar 

— 90g castor sugar 

— 160ml sunflower oil 

— ½ tsp vanilla essence 

— 180g grated parsnip 

(2 medium parsnips?) 

— 150g peeled and cored apple 

(2 small Granny Smiths), in 1cm dice 

— zest of 2 limes (save the limes for garnish) 

At last, something to do with 

this! - editor 

For the icing: 180g icing sugar and 40ml lime juice 

Method 

Preheat oven to 160°C fan (180°C) and line a small loaf tin 

(about 1kg capacity, 20 cm x 10cm) with baking paper. 

Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, 

cinnamon, ginger and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. 

In a separate large bowl, whisk the eggs and sugars until 

combined, then add the oil. Continue whisking until creamy. 

Add the sifted dry ingredients in three batches, mixing 

lightly with a rubber spatula until almost combined (there 

should still be flour visible), then fold in the vanilla, parsnip, 

apple and lime zest. Mix until just incorporated, then scrape 

the mixture into the prepared loaf tin. 

Bake for about 60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into 

the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and rest 

on a cake rack for 30 minutes before lifting onto a cake plate 

to cool completely. 

While the loaf is baking, prepare the lime icing. Measure 

40ml of juice and whisk into the icing sugar to make a 

smooth icing. When the loaf has cooled completely, drizzle 

over the icing and allow to settle for a few minutes; it won't 

set hard, but will form a glaze. Enjoy! 

Carole's Courgette Cake 

Sonning Show Section B Class 6 

Ingredients 

— 250g courgette, grated 

— 125ml vegetable oil 

— 175g sugar 

— 2 eggs, beaten 

— 150g plain flour 

— 1½ tsp baking powder 


Method 

Heat oven to 180˚C, 350˚F, Gas 4; Cooking time 60-90mins 

Mix together courgette, oil, sugar and eggs. In a separate 

bowl sift flour, baking powder, bicarb, spices and salt. Add 

flour mixture to courgette mixture, combine thoroughly. Stir 

in walnuts and chocolate. Pour into 2lb, lined, loaf tin. Bake 

until skewer comes out clean. Leave in tin for 15 minutes, 

then turn onto wire rack to cool 

Tea Loaf 

Sonning Show Section B Class 7 

Ingredients 

— 200ml cold black tea 

— 225g mixed dried fruit 

— 225g self-raising flour 

In the garden 

Local autumn show for gardeners of all ages 

Twyford and Ruscombe Horticultural Association is busy planning its 

Autumn Show, to be held in Loddon Hall, Twyford, on 10 September. 

Junior members will be taking 

along sunflower heads they have 

been growing to be measured, and 

judging by the success of a recent 

potato growing competition, TRHA 

is convinced it has some budding 

horticulturists in their midst. 

Visitors are welcome at the show 

and refreshments with homemade 

cakes will be available. 

There is also an open invitation to 

join a TRHA coach trip to RHS Wisley 

on Wednesday 14 September. The £22 

per person cost includes entry and 

transport from Twyford. Details can 

be found in the TRHA newsletter, or 

on the website: http://www.trha.org.uk. 

Payment can be made at the TRHA 

store in Loddon Hall Road, Twyford, 

RG10 9JA any Sunday morning. TRHA 

hopes this first post lockdown trip will 

be one of many more in the future. 

If you would like to take advantage 

of all the benefits of TRHA you can 

Make a tea loaf and/or a courgette 

cake and compare your baking 

skills at the Sonning Show . . . 

If parsnips are not your favourite vegetable to use in a 

cake (see left) then here are two other unusual cakes . . . 

and if you bake one or both of these why not enter them 

in the Sonning Show Section B Cookery? (See page 17) 

— 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 

— 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon 

— 1 tsp grated nutmeg 

— 1 tsp salt 

— 75g walnuts, chopped 

— 75g dark chocolate, chopped 

— 100g caster sugar 

— 1 large egg, beaten 

— 2 tbs orange marmalade 

Method 

Place fruit in a small bowl, pour over cold tea, leave to soak 

overnight or until fruit swells. 

Pre-heat oven 180˚C /160˚C fan /Gas 4. Grease a 900g/2lb 

loaf tin. In a larger bowl combine flour, sugar, egg and 

marmalade, add fruit and tea mix, stir thoroughly. Bake for 1 

hour. Leave to rest for 10 minutes, then turn out to cool. 

NB: cooking times and temperatures are for guidance only. 

Ken Cole, dreamstime.com 

apply for membership in the TRHA 

store, or email Jenny Wager at: 

trhamembership@gmail.com



For a helpful professional service 

FIELDSPHARMACY 

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including private consultation area 

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Fax: 0118 932 0372 

Email: fields.pharmacy@gmail.com 

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0118 9573 537 

33 Bedford Road, Reading, RG1 7EX 

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Emergency call out available 

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0785 095 6354 

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57732 AF Jones Parish Magazine Advert.indd 1 19/11/2014 10:43

THE ARTS 

Beauty in the ordinary 

Rev Michael Burgess looks at ‘Dust Motes Dancing in Sunbeams’ by 

Vilhelm Hammershøi. It is found in Ordrupgaard, Copenhagen. 


History 

Was it really . . . ? 

. . . 1,900 YEARS AGO, from 13 September 122 - 128 that 

Hadrian’s Wall was built in northern England. It ran for 80 

miles from coast to coast and marked the northern limit of 

the Roman Empire. The Roman Emperor, Hadrian, wanted to 

separate the Romans from ‘the barbarians'. 

Poetry Corner — Creation Comfort by Steven Rolling 

Tune: Ruth (‘Summer suns are glowing’) 

Saviour, ever-living 

Kind and forgiving 

Merciful and gracious 

He comes unto us 

Offer of salvation 

Unto each nation 

Through sun, rain, wind, whate’er 

Conditions be there 

Pernille Klemp 

Vilhelm Hammershøi was inspired by the simple and 

ordinary. A recluse, he lived in Copenhagen with his wife, 

painting a few pictures a year. He died in 1916 aged 52 

years. Most of his paintings are limited to the world of his 

apartment at different times of the day and night. 

Dust Motes Dancing in Sunbeams (above), was painted in 

1900. It is an empty room, a wall, a window, a floor and a 

door without a handle. All is stillness and peace. All is in 

shadow until the winter sun streams in, lighting up the 

dust and the floor. The miracle of sunlight brings life into 

stillness. An ordinary aspect of creation. 

In all his paintings, Hammershøi seems to be saying: 

accept the simplicity of the present, find beauty there and 

live in that beauty. For him the grass is never greener in 

the next field, it is in the here and now that we find beauty 

and meaning. 

When young, our backcloth embraces the wider world 

full of promise. As we grow older, it shrinks to our town, 

church, and home. In illness our world may be a bedroom 

or hospital ward. In that smaller world life can seem trivial 

and ordinary. But wherever we are, Hammershøi invites 

us to pause, to ponder and to find there beauty and light 

which will bring us ‘daily nearer God.’ 

He shall stay unchanging 

Good things to us bring 

Ups and downs of life’s rhymes 

Through varying time 

No shadow turning 

Praises we Him bring 

Gospel message to share 

With folks everywhere 

. . . 200 YEARS AGO, on 11 September 1822 that the 

Catholic Church admitted that the 16th century astronomer 

Galileo Galilei might have been right about the Earth 

orbiting the Sun. The College of Cardinals reversed the 

Church’s condemnation of his ideas. Galileo had spent the 

last 9 years of his life under house arrest for publishing his 

work on the subject. He died in 1642. 

. . . 100 YEARS AGO, on 13 September 1922 that the highest 

temperature ever recorded in the world was reported to be 

57.7 0C in Al’Aziziyah in Libya. (Unofficial record) 

. . . 90 YEARS AGO, on 23 September 1932 that Saudi Arabia 

was founded when the Kingdoms of Hejaz and Najd were unified. 

. . . 70 YEARS AGO, 6 September 1952 that the Farnborough 

Air Show crash took place. A de Havilland fighter jet broke 

up and fell into the crowd, killing 31 people. Stringent safety 

measures were introduced to ensure it could not happen again. 

. . . 65 YEARS AGO, on 2 September 1957 that the Everly 

Brothers best-known song Wake up Little Susie was released. 

. . . 50 YEARS AGO, on 5 September 1972 that Palestinian 

terrorists invaded the Olympic Village in Munich, West 

Germany during the 1972 Olympic Games and took 11 

members of the Israeli team hostage. All the hostages, and 

five of the eight terrorists, and a German police officer, were 

killed when a rescue attempt failed. 

25 years ago, on 5 September 1997 that Mother Teresa, 

Macedonia born/Albanian India nun and humanitarian died. 

She founded the Missionaries of Charity and was winner of 

the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize. 

25 years ago, on 9 September 1997 that Sinn Fein renounced 

violence and committed itself to resolving the troubles of 

Northern Ireland through peaceful means. This led to the 

Good Friday Agreement in April 1998. 

All His creation too 

Praises Him anew 

Hills, mounts, valleys, and fields 

Each their produce yields 

And in His image see 

Man created be 

In His plan and purpose 

Reaching e’en to us 

Hanalei Valley and the Fields of Taro, Hawaii 

John Sohm, dreamstime.com


Your local 

interior 

designers, 

internationally 

recognised

HEALTH — 1 

Dr Simon Ruffle writes . . . Monkeypox 

For those of us who remember the 1980's a new illness 

swept through the world and became known as the gay 

plague. Discrimination and myth stalled the research and 

treatment of this disease. In September 1983 a building 

owner took his tenant to court because he was researching 

AIDS and treating affected people in ‘their’ building. It 

seems inconceivable that in this short history — author 

clinging on to youth — that discrimination could rage in 

Manhattan. The judge in the case, against public opinion, 

stuck to the law and barred the eviction. 

'This attempt to evict a distinguished researcher and clinician is 

symptomatic of the hysteria that has surrounded the AIDS crisis,' 

said Mr Abrams. 'Our lawsuit is a classic anti-discrimination 

case and is being filed to combat this irrational prejudice.' 1 

Fast forward to 2022. Hot on the back of Coronavirus a 

new disease starts to spread. It is blamed on MSM people 

— men who have sex with men — with haunting reminders 

from the 1980's. Once myth and misinformation is spread by 

sensationalist headlines and poor reporting the cork rarely 

gets back in the bottle. Let us in Sonning, and surrounds, rise 

above this and know what we are seeing. 

CLOSE PERSONAL CONTACT 

Monkeypox is not a new disease. A quick Wiki search will 

show a picture of a case in 1971. Monkeypox is endemic in 

the Democratic Republic of Congo and central and Western 

Africa. It was first found in monkeys in 1958 in Denmark. 

Outbreaks have been known in Africa for years with a low 

mortality rate. 

One of the first Western outbreaks occurred in 2003 in 

the USA. Exotic animal importers in Midwest brought in 

rodents from Ghana infected with the virus. It was passed to 

their owners and a mild infection ensued. 

It is spread by close personal contact with an infected 

person. It passes into the body through the mucous 

membranes. This is why it was believed to be a sexually 

transmitted disease. Foreskin, vaginal, rectal and the mouth 

are examples of membranes that are especially designed 

to introduce pathogens — viruses, bacteria etc — to the 

immune system to deal with it. 

It can also be spread via cut abrasions and weakness in 

skin. Prolonged contact is required. It is known to live in 

bedding but the risk is low. Healthcare workers caring for 

patients are also at risk. Skin to skin transfer has been seen. 

At this time it is not known to spread by an airborne 

method — it is a reliably large virus — but is found in other 

bodily fluids. 

SUPPORTIVE TREATMENT 

Monkeypox in the UK was imported from travellers 

to Nigeria, the first person to person transfer was in a 

healthcare worker. 2 

It is a DNA virus and causes an illness similar to 

chickenpox and smallpox. Distinguishing the disease is 

possible without tests. Smallpox is eradicated apart from 

samples in stasis. Chickenpox rarely causes lymph node 

swelling, Monkeypox does, and the lesions are generally 

painful whereas chickenpox lesions are only sore if 

secondarily infected or in more delicate areas. Treatment 


is supportive and, as I write, only two people have died in 

Europe. Both died from swelling of the brain due to cerebral 

infection or secondary causes. It hasn’t been established 

which. 

Prevention of Monkeypox is the use of barriers such 

as gloves. Condoms can help prevent but are not foolproof 

as the disease is spread by skin contact other than genital. 

Remember anyone can get it. 

There is a vaccine which is a modified smallpox vaccine 

and is in production and available to certain groups and 

those that get exposed by their job. 

Discrimination, bias — conscious or unconscious — and 

stereotyping seriously affected the AIDS pandemic from 

being researched properly. I think the science community has 

grown up and the media in some areas have as well. 

1 NYTimes October 1, 1983,Section 1 Pg 31 

2 'Human-to-Human Transmission of Monkeypox Virus, United 

Kingdom, October 2018'. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 26 (4): 782–785. 

Planning Your 

Traditional Wedding? 

Then you might like to 

discuss the possibility of 

marriage in our ancient and 

beautiful parish church. 

If so, call the vicar, Jamie 

0118 969 3298 

He will be pleased to help! 

In addition to the stunning and historic location in Sonning, 

we will work hard to provide you with a memorable and 

moving occasion. We can provide a choir, organ, peal of 

eight bells, beautiful flowers, over 100 lit candles set in 

ornate Victorian chandeliers and the use of our beautiful 

churchyard as a backdrop for your photographs. 



Monkeypox © Planetfelicity, dreamstime.com 

the church of st andrew SERVING CHARVIL, 

SONNING & sonning eye since the 7 th century

36 The Parish Magazine - September 2022 Please mention The Parish Magazine when responding this advertisement 

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Platinum Jubilee celebrations 

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To find out more, please contact the Client Liaison Manager at a Signature home near you: 

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signature-care-homes.co.uk


HEALTH — 2 the sciences 

Considering elderly care? 

Keeping calm in the storm 

By Philippa Robertson Smith 

Comfort in Care/Shuttlestock 

http://comfortincare.co.uk 

Most people are happy to be able to help an elderly 

parent or other loved one in need, but it’s common to find 

it difficult especially when an elderly parent is reluctant 

to accept help or make changes — which is probably the 

norm rather than the exception! 

Trying to help an elderly parent tends to create lots of 

issues that you haven’t been prepared to address, for 

example, in considering the potential of your new care 

giving role you have to bear in mind the possibility of 

continuing to work, or to manage charity work, or to tend 

to the children and grandchildren, and so on. 

A family member caring for a loved one can be 

a difficult and demanding job and the physical and 

emotional demands involved in caring for somebody else 

can lead to strain, isolation and even mental or physical 

illness. 

As the one who is caring primarily for your loved 

one, you need to recognise your own needs for help and 

support, and you have a right to expect others, such as 

professionals to recognise those rights and direct you 

towards support which is appropriate for your individual 

situation. 

SOME THINGS TO CONSIDER 

— Helping an elderly parent is rewarding but can easily 

become a source of chronic stress. This can be managed 

carefully with preparation, planning and possibly 

assistance from your local council. The assistance is called 

home care or domiciliary care and depending on your 

circumstances, your local council may contribute to the 

cost of home care or you may have to pay for it yourself. 

— Because family caregivers are often busy, they can 

easily neglect their own needs and wellbeing, which can 

jeopardize their own health, and affect their ability to care 

for and connect with their elderly parent. 

— Family caregivers can use a variety of self-care 

strategies to keep the strain manageable. These include 

joining a support group, asking for help, setting 

boundaries, allotting time to tend to one’s own health and 

other needs, and more. 

— Reach out to a third party to assist with day-to-day 

care or even consider a live-in carer. Carers are trained and 

qualified to care for your loved one and this leaves you to 

enjoy a healthy relationship with your elderly parent or 

loved one. 

Zatletic, dreamstime.com 

By Dr Ruth M Bancewicz, church engagement director, The 

Faraday Institute for Science and Religion in Cambridge 

One of the most famous stories about Jesus is the 

calming of the storm (Luke 8:22-25). Of course, anyone 

could say that the wind stopped suddenly of its own 

accord, but the disciples were not fooled. They had seen 

a number of these ‘coincidences’ in Jesus’ ministry, and 

they weren’t about to ignore this one. Jesus had calmed 

the waves with only his words. Wasn’t this an act of 

God? Who else could be in complete control of creation? 

Jesus dealt graciously with the very pressing and practical 

issue of the raging storm before he did a bit of teaching, 

asking his followers, 'Where is your faith?' 

It’s not surprising that they were scared, given the 

circumstances, but clearly Jesus expected better of them. 

He had already been teaching them for some time, and 

clearly knew they were ready to trust him. 

In similar circumstances, Christians often do several 

things in quick succession. We start by panicking and 

being afraid. After a while we might remember what we 

know about God’s character and pray for help, trusting 

that whatever happens he will help us to handle it. Most 

often, we don’t get the storm-calming effect when we ask 

for it, but battling on with faith and God’s help is much 

easier than trying to keep going in a panic. 

KNOWING SCIENCE 

‘Peace’ in this kind of situation is a very active holding 

on to what we know about God. The difference between 

trusting and not trusting can be like night and day in 

terms of stress levels. I have found that it can make the 

difference between unmanageable stress and something 

that stretches me and teaches me something new. 

Knowing some science can help us to trust God. A 

being who created the whole universe, sustaining the 

wonderfully creative processes that produced diverse life 

on earth, must be both extremely powerful and extremely 

wise. The God who can both calm the waves and walk on 

them must be in complete control of the things he made. 

When this knowledge goes hand in hand with experience 

of God’s intimate love for us and care for us in every 

situation that we find ourselves in — I am reassured 

that he’s got things in hand. I will always need help 

from others to pray faithfully in stormy situations, but 

hopefully I’ve seen enough now not to panic for too long. 

Time (and my closest friends) will tell!



One of the country’s foremost 

independent girls’ schools from 3-18 

Leading with confidence, learning with purpose, living with joy 

We would like to invite you to attend 

any of our forthcoming Open Events 

Junior School - 12 October - 13:00 - 15:30 

Senior School - 22 September - 17:00 - 20:00 

Sixth Form - 29 September - 16:30 - 19:30 

To register your place, please visit: 

www.theabbey.co.uk/events 

Abbey Events 125H x 175W.indd 1 29/07/2022 14:41

CROSSWORD 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 

8 

9 10 

11 12 

13 14 15 

17 18 19 

16 

20 21 

22 23 

ACROSS Across 

Down 

1 - Individual article or unit article (4) or unit (4) 

3 - Launch with great with force (of great a rocket) (5,3) force (of a rocket) 2 - Discharge (5,3) (5) 

9 V-shaped line or stripe (7) 

- V-shaped line or stripe (7) 

10 Flour dough used in cooking (5) 

10 - Flour dough used in cooking 5 - Occult (12) 

11 Religious acts (5) 

11 12 - Religious Sully acts (7) (5) 

6 - Driving out (7) 

12 13 - Sully Unbolt (7) (6) 

15 Sharp knife (6) 

13 - Unbolt (6) 

17 Particular languages (7) 

15 - Sharp knife (6) 

14 - Ancestry (7) 

18 Male relation (5) 

17 20 - Particular Wild languages animal (7) (5) 

18 21 - Male Listening relation (5) (7) 

22 Commonplace (8) 

20 - Wild animal (5) 

23 Owl cry (4) 

21 - Listening (7) 

DOWN 

22 - Commonplace (8) 

1 Forever honest (13) 

232 - Discharge Owl cry (4) (5) 

4 Measurement of extent (6) 

5 Occult (12) 

6 Driving out (7) 

7 Boxing class division (13) 

8 Long athletics race (5-7) 

14 Ancestry (7) 

16 Respiratory condition (6) 

19 Coarse twilled cotton fabric (5) 

CODEWORD 

1 - Forever honest (13) 

4 - Measurement of extent (6) 

7 - Boxing class division (13) 

8 - Long athletics race (5-7) 

16 - Respiratory condition (6) 

19 - Coarse twilled cotton fabric (5) 

24 8 11 17 19 25 26 6 2 26 10 26 

17 24 15 11 6 23 13 

24 5 15 15 6 1 14 6 11 25 15 

5 19 26 12 16 2 25 

24 4 26 26 1 5 6 15 24 24 

4 18 14 21 1 6 15 

9 15 17 25 6 24 17 10 17 10 14 17 

1 7 17 24 2 15 24 

5 17 7 14 1 17 1 14 26 6 

14 15 14 25 1 24 19 

10 17 25 16 26 14 5 17 14 22 11 

17 15 6 12 15 3 15 

2 17 19 9 6 15 20 24 25 15 15 2 

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 

B 

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 

X S 

SUDOKU 

Each of the nine blocks has to contain all the 

numbers 1-9 within its squares. Each number 

can only appear once in a row, column or box. 

WORDSEARCH 


PUZZLE PAGE — the answers will be published in the next issue 

PARABLE OF WEEDS 

Ever wonder why there is both good 

and evil allowed in this world? Jesus 

told a parable that touched on this 

subject — it is called the Parable of the 

Weeds. 

It runs like this: Consider the world 

as if it were a field where a Farmer has 

sown good seed. But then an enemy 

came and sowed weeds among the 

wheat. So, when the wheat came up, 

so did the weeds. What to do? Instead 

of destroying the weeds, and thereby 

risking the wheat, the Farmer tells his 

reapers to wait and let both wheat and 

weeds grow together until the harvest. 

At the harvest he will instruct the 

reapers to gather up the wheat, but to 

discard the weeds. So do not despair 

when evil seems to thrive in this world 

– there is a reckoning still to come, and 

justice will be done. 

LET 

SOW 

REAP 

ROOT 

GOOD 

SEED 

FIELD 

GROW 

BARN 

GRAIN 

WEEDS 

ENEMY 

MASTER 

GATHER 

SERVANTS 

SLEEPING 

TOGETHER 

HARVEST 

BUNDLES 

HEAVEN 

KINGDOM 

BURNED 

July/August 

Solutions 

CROSSWORD 

A B D I C A T E A C I D 

C I E Y L E 

M O L A R P O S S E S S 

E A T I R I 

CODEWORD 

D R A W E R A C I 

O R A C Q U A I N T 

O H M Z U F J 

D I N V O K E F L U X 

L N R O E R 

E A G E R J U B I L E E 

M C S N 

A C T U A R Y R E F E R 

O L A D I E 

S O F A M O U N D S V 

P T P C C H I 

B E H E M O T H A E 

R D N Y E L L O W 

SUDOKU 

T I F A W N I N G 

D E E P F R Y A C N 

E I T E 

S C E A T E L I E R 

P R O D D E D R N 

O H A P D O 

T W O S T E P O R I O N 

I R T L A U 

C I T Y A S T O U N D S 

WORDSEARCH SEA SUNDAY 

Here's one for our 

much appreciated 

proofreaders . . . 

pinterest.co.uk


Local Trades and Services 

ACG SERVICES - LOCKSMITH 

Locks changed, fitted, repaired and opened 

Door and window locks fitted, UPVC door lock expert 

Checkatrade member - Which Trusted Trader 

Call Richard Homden: 0149 168 2050 / 0771 040 9216 


CHIROPODY AND PODIATRY 

Linda Frewin MInstChp, HCPC member 

General foot care and treatments 

25 Ashtrees Road, Woodley RG5 4LP 

0118 969 6978 - 0790 022 4999 

CLARK BICKNELL LTD - PLUMBING & HEATING 

Qualified Plumbing and Heating Engineers Gas Safe 

25 years experience - local family run company 

Office: 0118 961 8784 - Paul: 0776 887 4440 

paul@clarkbicknell.co.uk 

COMPUTER FRUSTRATIONS? 

For jargon free help with your computer problems 

PC & laptop repairs, upgrades, installations, virus removal 

Free advice, reasonable rates 

0798 012 9364 help@computerfrustrations.co.uk 

INTERSMART LIMITED 

Electrical Installation and Smart Home Automation 

intersmartuk@gmail.com 

Elliott — 0777 186 6696 

Nick — 0758 429 4986 

HANDYMAN & DECORATING SERVICES 

Reliable and affordable 

Small jobs a speciality! 

Call Andy on 0795 810 0128 

http://www.handyman-reading.co.uk 

JAMES AUTOS 

Car Servicing, Repairs and MOT 

Mole Road, Sindlesham, RG41 5DJ 

0118 977 0831 

http://www.jamesautos.co.uk 

ALL AERIALS 

A local business based in Sonning. TV - FM - DAB aerials etc. 

Sky dishes. Communal premises IRS systems, TV points. 

Free estimates - All work guaranteed 

0118 944 0000 

MC CLEANING 

We are a family business with excellent references 

and we are fully insured 

All cleaning materials provided 

For free quote call: Maria 0779 902 7901 

PROFESSIONAL HOME VISIT SERVICE 

Thames Valley Will Service 

Also Lasting Powers of Attorney and Probate Service 

We are still working during the pandemic period 

0134 464 1885 tvwills@yahoo.co.uk 

THAMES CHIMNEY SWEEPS 

0779 926 8123 0162 882 8130 

enquiries@thameschimneysweeps.co.uk 

http://www.thameschimneysweeps.co.uk 

Member of the Guild of Master Sweeps 

CALLAGHAN CARPETS & FLOORING 

Thirty-six years local experience 

Family run company 

0118 962 8527 0779 223 9474 

callaghancarpets@btinternet.com 

WANT HELP WITH AN ‘ODD JOB’? 

For local odd jobs please call Phil on 

0118 944 0000 

0797 950 3908 

Thames Street, Sonning 

BIG HEART TREE CARE 

Reliable and friendly service for all tree care 

NPTC qualified — Public Liability of £10million 

0118 937 1929 0786 172 4071 

bighearttreecare.co.uk info@bighearttreecare.co.uk 

SMALLWOOD 

Landscaping, garden construction, 

patios, lawns, fencing, decking etc 

0118 969 8989 https://www.smallwoodlandscaping.co.uk/ 

office@smallwoodlandscaping.co.uk 

ALL WASTE CLEARANCE & DISPOSAL 

Waste clearance from office, house, garden, loft 

Licensed waste carriers, no job too small or large 

Contact: John 

0771 021 2056 j.garmston@ntlworld.com 

BERKSHIRE STUMP REMOVALS 

Stump grinding and tree stump removal 

Latest narrow access machinery 

Contact: Mark 

0798 495 7334 http://www.berkshirestumpremoval 

PAINTER and DECORATOR 

Roger McGrath has 25 years experience 

Restoration painting work of any size undertaken 

For a free quotation call 

Roger 0742 332 1179

CHILDREN'S PAGE 

The Parish Magazine - September 2022 41

42 The Parish Magazine - September 2022 Please mention The Parish Magazine when replying to advertisements 

information — 2 

Parish contacts 

Ministry Team 

— The Vicar: Revd Jamie Taylor (Day off Friday) 

The Parish Office, Thames Street, Sonning, RG4 6UR 

vicar@sonningparish.org.uk / 0118 969 3298 

— Associate Vicar: Revd Kate Wakeman-Toogood 

revkate@sonningparish.org.uk / 0746 380 6735 

On duty Tuesday, Friday and Sunday 

— Youth Minister: Chris West (Westy) 

youthminister@sonningparish.org.uk / 0794 622 4106 

— Licensed Lay Minister: Bob Peters 

bob@sonningparish.org.uk / 0118 377 5887 

Children's Ministry 

— Alison Smyly office@sonningparish.org.uk / 0118 969 3298 

Churchwardens 

— Stuart Bowman sdbowman73@aol.com / 0118 978 8414 

— Liz Nelson liz.nelson1@ntlworld.com / 0779 194 4270 

Deputy Churchwardens 

— Simon Darvall sdarvall@businessmoves.com 0793 928 2535 

— Sue Peters mail@susanjpeters.com / 0118 377 5887 

— Molly Woodley (deputy churchwarden emeritus) 

mollywoodley@live.co.uk / 0118 946 3667 

Parish Administrator 

— Hilary Rennie 

office@sonningparish.org.uk / 0118 969 3298 

Parochial Church Council 

— Secretary: Hilary Rennie 0118 969 3298 

— Treasurer: Richard Moore 0118 969 2588 

Director of Music, organist and choirmaster 

— Hannah Towndrow BA (Oxon), LRAM 

music@sonningparish.org.uk 

Sonning Bell Ringers 

— Tower Captain: Pam Elliston 

pam.elliston@talktalk.net / 0118 969 5967 

— Deputy Tower Captain: Rod Needham 

r06needham@gmail.com / 0118 926 7724 

Parish Website: http://www.sonningparish.org.uk 

The Parish Magazine: http://www.theparishmagazine.co.uk 

— Editor: Bob Peters 

editor@theparishmagazine.co.uk / 0118 377 5887 

— Advertising and Distribution: Gordon Nutbrown 

advertising@theparishmagazine.co.uk / 0118 969 3282 

— Treasurer: Pat Livesey 

pat.livesey@yahoo.co.uk / 0118 961 8017 

— The Parish Magazine is produced by St Andrew’s PCC and delivered 

free of charge to every home in Charvil, Sonning and Sonning Eye. 

— The Parish Magazine is printed in the United Kingdom by The Print 

Factory at Sarum Graphics Ltd, Old Sarum, Salisbury SP4 6QX 

— The Parish Magazine is distributed by Abracadabra Leaflet 

Distribution Ltd, Reading RG7 1AW 

— The Parish Magazine template was designed in 2012 by Roger 

Swindale rogerswindale@hotmail.co.uk and David Woodward 

david@designforprint.org 

Advertisers' index 

ABD Construction 6 

Abbey School 38 

Abbeyfield Wey Valley Society 22 

ACG Services Locksmith 40 

Active Domestic Appliances 16 

Active Security 30 

ADD Plumbing 12 

All Aerials 40 

All Waste Clearance 40 

Barn Store Henley 16 

Berkshire Stump Removals 40 

Big Heart Tree Care 40 

Blandy & Blandy Solicitors 14 

Blinds Direct 26 

Blue Moose 8 

Bridge House 43 

Bridges Home Care 26 

Bull Inn 8 

Callaghan Carpets & Flooring 40 

Chimney Sweep, Thames 40 

Chiropody, Linda Frewin 40 

Chris the Plumber 32 

Clark Bicknell 40 

Complete Pest Solutions 24 

Computer Frustrations 40 

CPS Fuels 28 

Cruz Kitchens 28 

Design for Print 28 

EMDR Hypnotherapist 30 

Freebody Boatbuilders 6 

Fields Pharmacy 32 

French Horn 44 

Gardiner’s Homecare 8 

Great House Sonning 24 

Handyman and Decorating Services 40 

Haslams Estate Agents 2 

Hicks Group 16 

Intersmart Electrical Installations 40 

James Autos 40 

Jones & Sheppard Stone Masons 32 

Kingfisher Bathrooms 26 

MC Cleaning 40 

Mill at Sonning 4 

M & L Healthcare Solutions 12 

Mortgage Required 18 

Muck & Mulch 28 

Nutrition & Health Consultant 38 

Odd Jobs 40 

Painter and Decorator 40 

Pearson Hall Sonning 24 

Reading Blue Coat School 26 

Richfield Flooring 14 

Sabella Interiors 34 

SecureHeat 22 

Seniors Helping Seniors 12 

Shiplake College 14 

Signature Care Homes 36 

Sonning Golf Club 32 

Sonning Scouts Marquees 30 

Smallwood Garden Services 40 

Style by Julie 6 

Thames Valley Water Softeners 6 

Thames Valley Wills Service 40 

The 50 Plus Home Repairs 28 

Tomalin Funerals 24 

Walker Funerals 12 

Water Softener Salt 28 

Window Cleaner 16

Please mention The Parish Magazine when responding this advertisement 


BRIDGE HOUSE 

of TWYFORD 

Because you deserve 

the very best 

Welcome to Bridge House Nursing Home 

Established for 35 years, the elegant Georgian Grade II listed Bridge House has extended its facilities to 

include a beautiful, light-filled and airy purpose built nursing home. 

Our philosophy is built upon helping residents maintain their independence and dignity, whilst ensuring 

their needs and expectations are fully met. We believe that being independent means having the freedom 

of choice and flexibility over how the day is spent. Working closely with families and professionals 

is fundamental in delivering and maintaining the required level of health and wellbeing. 

At Bridge House, our comprehensive facilities and care provision is designed to deliver skilled, 

professional and individually planned care in an unobtrusive manner. 

Call 0800 230 0206 

Visit www.bridgehouseoftwyford.co.uk 

INDEPENDENT LIVING • ASSISTED LIVING • NURSING HOME 

190821 - Bridge House Ad Parish Mag v01.indd 1 21/08/2019 18:06

44 The Parish Magazine - September Please mention 2022The Parish Magazine when responding this advertisement 

The French Horn, 

Sonning. Quality. 

A continuing commitment to 

wonderful food and wine. 

0118 969 2204 

www.thefrenchhorn.co.uk

The Parish Magazine September 2022

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