Newsletter of the Friends of Ashley St. Mary 2007

Newsletter of the Friends of Ashley St.Marv March 2007.
Services and Social Events.
The Harvest Festival and the Christmas Day service both attracted congregations in excess of 40 people and we were delighted to meet new families who have moved to Ashley. The AGM immediately before the Harvest Festival was also well attended. The highlight of the year was the visit from the Bishop of Southampton as part of his tour of the parish of Kings Somborne. The Bishop enjoyed his visit very much and complimented us on looking after the church so well. Another success was in September when we took part in the Heritage Day events and put on a display of old photographs of Ashley; we had quite a few visitors who appeared to be very appreciative of our efforts. The Carol Concert before Christmas was as always very successful and the carols led by the Somborne Singers blended very well with the readings by children from Ashley. This year there was an audience of over 50 people who greatly enjoyed the event as well as the mulled wine and mince pies after the concert. We are sorry to hear that Bill Sutton will no longer be conducting the Singers so our future Carol Concerts might be in doubt.
Church and Grounds.
Our main anxiety last year was the nasty hump in the path between the old and new churchyards which was potentially hazardous to people visiting graves in the new churchyard. After prolonged discussions with the Churches Conservation Trust (CCT) and English Heritage it was agreed that the path could be levelled under archaeological supervision and the work has now been done with considerable improvement in the access to the new churchyard. Our thanks go to Mrs. Ruth Moxon who paid for the work to be done and also to Frank Green of Test Valley Borough Council who supervised the archaeological supervision ‘as part of the service’.
In the church itself only a small amount of work has been needed but we are soon to have a survey of the electrics which might disclose some faults although there is enough money in our account to pay for remedial work. We have been well supported by John Vigar and the CCT who have generously given us a very smart new notice board which will be erected once the necessary permissions have been obtained, the CCT have also erected a fingerpost in Kings Somborne indicating that there are historic churches in Ashley and Little Somborne and we hope this will attract more visitors. We would like to thank Mr. John Chalcraft for allowing this post to be erected on his land.
The Hon Secretaries and the vicar have just attended the Regional Conference of the CCT and it is evident that their budget is very tight and this impacts on our major area of concern which for the coming year is the cost of maintaining the grounds. We receive a small grant from the CCT but this does nor cover the cost and will not be increased. Although Mr. Andrew Baldwin who does the work is very generous with his time it is evident that we are going to have a considerable financial commitment if the grounds are to be kept in their present excellent state so the Committee will be considering this problem at our next meeting.  Another worry is that the number of Friends is slowing decreasing and although the membership fees no longer contribute a great deal to our finances many Friends also are very generous with donations. We feel it is very important to have as many Friends as possible even though the  actual work is inevitably undertaken by a small group of people who live close to the church. On this theme a reminder that annual subscriptions to the Friends (£1) are now due and should be forwarded to our Hon. Treasurer!
             Thelma Blamey,
            Chalkvale Farmhouse,
            Ashley, Hants S020 6RE.