St Mary's Church, Dymock

Reports

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This year, we celebrated our Harvest Festival on Sunday 24th September. It began with a family orientated Communion Service in church led by one of our Readers, Caroline Dunnett, with one of the retired priests on our Ministry Team, Canon Richard Franklin, presiding at the Communion. After the Service, many people and children moved into the Parish Hall next to the church for a celebratory lunch prepared by some of our ladies. (Return to top)

There was a choice of beef, chicken or vegetarian casserole with home-made bread, followed by locally grown plum pie with a choice of custard, cream or ice cream with wine, bear or soft drinks for all. (Return to top)

Horace Dudfield lived in Dymock all his life and ran a building company. He'd been very active in village organisations and activities, so was a much-loved parishioner when he died in his late 90s earlier this year. (Return to top)

A packed Parish Hall gathered on Friday 15th September to celebrate and enjoy an evening of Horace's exceptional creative writing talents.  Many of his witty and slightly cheeky poems from an overwhelming and vast quantity of work were were selected for presentation, read by various members of the community. Related musicals performances included some of Horace's own poems set to music by our Musical director, Bob May. (Return to top)

A full and tasty menu was provided whilst everyone listened to some recordings of Horace demonstrating his extraordinary knowledge Dymock past and present. This evening, full of affection and memorable community appreciation for a long life well lived and generously devoted to his beloved community and its' members, raised an amazing £630 for the RNIB; a charity that helped Horace cope with failing eye sight during later years. (Return to top)

At our morning Service on Sunday 3rd September, two of our teenagers who leaving to go to University, so we followed our recent habit and presented them with a gift to remember us by. Charlotte Williams was going to Winchester to read Stage Management and was given items from the list she'd been told to bring with her - a toolbox, an 8 metre extending rule and a head-torch. (Return to top)

Francis Dunnett was going to Southampton to read Economics, so he was presented with a toasted sandwich maker in the hope that it might help him to vary the usual student diet of loads of pizza and burgers! (Return to top)

After our 'Do-it-Yourself' Breakfast in July, we were pleased to return to our usual venue, The Beauchamp Arms Pub, for our Breakfast on Saturday 2nd September. Unfortunately, our advertised guest - the recently appointed Bishop of Tewkesbury - had to cancel at 24 hours notice due to a personal family problem, so we were pleased to welcome instead Rev'd Ryc Smith, a retired priest from Ledbury who's been helping-out in our benefice during the vacancy between Rectors. (Return to top)

Ryc told us about his 'journey'. Born near Manchester to Quaker parents, he was brought up with the concept of God, though not an Anglican. His father had worked in the world of cotton but he died when Ryc was quite young, so his mother moved to Dorset and took up farming. As he grew up, Ryc felt called to go to the local church. Leaving school at 16, he had jobs in several industries including accountancy, banking and commodity trading before going into the army (Tank Corps) in his late twenties. However, he fairly quickly moved on to the Horse Guards where he applied for Officer Training. (Return to top)

When felt called to work with people, he left the army and trained for the priesthood. He did a conventional training with a 'martinet' priest who insisted he started 'work' in his cassock at 7:30am and worked through to 9:30pm by attending Morning Prayer before visiting parishioners and diving into parish life in a big way, which he found useful in his later jobs as vicar and hospital chaplain, and was interesting to us who heard his account. (Return to top)