St. Margaret’s Day Service in Alderton, 21 July, 2024
The main theme of our St. Margaret’s Day service in St. Margaret’s Church, Alderton changes each year to include differen taspects of our community. This year, as the country’s economy is not as strong as we would like, we thought it was time that we looked at our business men and women. This included folk who had started a business and run it for many years and others who were employed by much larger concerns but were responsible for keeping the heart of the business alive and thriving, holding heavy responsibilities. This theme produced 5 wonderful speakers, each speaking for not more than 4 minutes.
We wanted to thank these hard-working people for their contribution to our society and for their contribution to our country’s life. Each individual came from an entirely different discipline, Daryl looking after eyes, Mike making a tiny key piece of most machines, Nick distributing vast quantities of food, Katie trying to make sure there was very little food waste and David dealing with IT, communication and the‘mechanical mind’. We wondered just how the mix was going to work, but of all the services that we have produced so far for St. Margaret’s, this was the most revealing. By the end of the short talks, it became apparent just how much we needed each other, no matter how we made our living. It was humbling to hear these speakers and at the same time encouraging to hear just how much we all belong. We all have something to contribute.
The only regret that we have is that there were so few of the villagers at the service to hear these stories. As usual we had
produced bubbly, wine and nibbles for everyone and people stayed after the service for some time in an atmosphere of
warmth, understanding and friendship.

Cream Teas at Pear Cottage 13th July 

A very successful and busy afternoon, hosted by Richard and Lulu Pelly, £500 was raised to go towards the Church Toilet and Servery project.Sale for the Knight

Sale for the Knight 27th July
We haven’t had a sale for the knight for quite a while so it was just lovely to see so many of our loyal friends and customers
come to the one we held on 27 July. It’s so lovely to see so many villagers and people from outside the village. Every piece of cake and biscuit was sold, together with some jams and preserves and nice bits and bobs from the sales table. We took over £350, which was amazing. Thank you to everyone who came along and to Brian, as always, for helping with loading and unloading the cars, and also to Sarah, who helped too. Thanks also to Jane Trehane for her delicious biscuits and piesand to Val who brought us some of her wonderful carrot cake; every one of them had been sold by the time she left the church and the muffins she brought us followed suit quite rapidly. It’s a great team effort and a chance to sit and have a quick cup of coffee and a chat. We really appreciate everybody coming along.

Plant Sale  April 20th 2024

So may people came to our Plant Sale and bought some bargains, Soup, Sandwiches and cakes were available .  Almost £900 was made and this will be split between Servery Project and The Knigh Funds

Dawn Service  Easter Sunday 2024.

Another great success, every year our numbers increase.  36 people attended this magical service , and stayed for breakfast .

Update on the Knight  December 2023
As you know, we now have our faculty, which allows us to
proceed with the building of the new tomb chest for our wooden
effigy of Sir William de Combmartyn. The existing choir stall
on the north wall of the chancel at St. Margaret’s Church will
be removed and stored as it is being reused as panelling behind
the new chest. The old wood of the choir stall will still be dark
but the chest will be light in colour for the time being as it is
being made from new English oak. It will darken in years to
come. Here is the design presentation drawn by Hugh
Harrison’s architect, Peter Furguson. This will give you some
idea of the finished work.
Hugh Harrison’s specialist carpenters are coming up to remove
the choir stall before Christmas and the wood will be stored
safely until it is needed. The masons, who are replacing the
existing wooden floor under the choir stall with repurposed cathedral grade stone kindly donated by Neill Taylor and Cuttle Mill
Reclamation, will be doing so as soon as they are able to find a window in their current work schedule.
Cuttle Mill Reclamation have asked if they can produce an article about the project with special concentration on the stone floor
that is being donated. We have agreed as their offer of the aggregates and repurposed stone is incredibly generous.
Thank you all for your support over the years. Every single donation has gone towards this final outcome. We are all excited to see
the knight in his final resting place. It will still be some time before this happens but at some point next year, we will be in touch to
announce a celebration! Linda and Margaret

Ride and Stride 9th September 2023.

Our Alderton cyclist Steve Hempenstall completed the trail covering all 17 churches, supported some of the way by Alderton’s other intrepid explorer, Luly Pelly.  It was a scorching hot day so this was a tremendous feat.  £240 was raised.  St Margaret’s Church was open to welcome other weary cyclists and to ofer refreshments

47th Alderton Art Festival September 2023

Another successful weekend and the weather was kind to us once again.  Although final figures are still to be announced the total funds raised is expected to be around £7000 with over 50 paintings being sold which is a huge success for our Artists.

Service for St Filbert and Harvest Festival 20th August 2023
20 August is the Feast Day of St. Filbert or Philibert, as he is known in France. We know him in England because he shares his name with the hazel nut. It was the English who changed his name to Filbert as his Feast Day falls at the beginning of the Kentish hazelnut harvest. However, as the calendar has been changed over the centuries, this really no longer applies and the hazelnut harvest begins about 10 days later at the beginning of September.
This year we chose to hold our Harvest Festival on Saint Filbert’s Feast Day as the date we had originally set, 26 September, became unworkable and there were no other dates in September or October that were available.
Unfortunately, most of the village was away on holiday but friends and thefew villagers who were at home came along, making the Harvest service and Harvest supper a really lovely event. As always, Cannon Richard had
found beautiful readings and references to the wholeness of nature and theold favourite hymns were sung. The produce which had been donated was sold off to the congregation – thanks to Martyn for being the auctioneer –
some proceeds from the event will be sent to a local charity.  Supper followed the service and an evening meal consisting of a range of delicious hot and cold meat and vegetable dishes were offered, followed by some
yummy desserts. Everyone sat in the afternoon sun (one shower fell between courses) and talked and laughed. It was a gentle, lovely Harvest supper.

We were questioned about the date as the grain harvest had not been gathered in and as we have had so much rain, it looks as if that harvest will not be so safely gathered. Global warming is changing the traditional harvest and the increase in vegetarianism and other food-related questioning might require us to rethink ‘harvest’. Hazel nuts provide a good source of secondary protein and there are other fruits and berries that we now collect that would not have been available to us before. Perhaps our early Harvest Festival was not so out of place as was first thought.
Saint Philibert lived between 608 and 684. He was abbot and monastic founder of Jumieges Abbey in Normandy and later, after a period of trouble, founded Noirmoutier on the Island of Her under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Poitiers. Here he instigated land reclamation for agriculture, salt extraction, irrigation, communication routes and monastic buildings. He was not martyred; he died and his reliquary were moved to Tournus and remained there until it was broken into in 1998 and his skull and two bones were stolen. He obviously still has something to say.

St Margaret’s Day Service, 20 July 2023
34 people attended the St. Margaret’s Day service in St. Margaret’s Church, Alderton on Thursday 20 July at 6.00 p m. Although St. Margaret was, in the medieval mind, the Patron Saint of childbirth, the theme of this service was based on our relationship with the living creatures with whom we share the planet and the ‘health’ this relationship gives us.
Cannon Richard Stainer took the service and David Wortley read from Genesis, the story of the Creation. This was followed by music and contributions from 5 brave villagers.
Although the Creation story says that God created everything for the benefit of human kind, the feeling that emerged from the deeply personal stories was one of mutual benefit and certainly one that we have to think about now in this time of climate change
and global awareness.
The stories began with music in the form of the Saint-Saens vivid musical description of a cockerel and hens from his ‘Carnival of the Animals’. Carol Weston who spoke about her chickens then followed this delightful piece of music. What emerged was a lovely humorous picture of a relationship between Carol, the protector and feeder, and several individual feathery characters who were determined to live life and hide eggs in their own way. The relationship obviously offered a range of feelings on Carol’s part from frustration, through laughter, and love, all accompanied by eggs!
Lulu followed, disadvantaged by husband Richard, farmer and hunter, who was going to
speak about his relationship with the animals both in his care and those he hunted. However,
he backed out at the last minute and went fishing. Lulu spoke about her relationship with the
dogs that she inherited when she married Richard. They were his dogs and although she
looked after them, she didn’t really bond with them. However, after a close bereavement
during the pandemic she chose to walk the local equivalent of the 500-mile Camino de
Santiago Pilgrimage over a period of weeks, taking the dogs with her. This decision became
a major turning point for her and now one of them, a fully-grown black Labrador, insists on
sitting on her lap. Love!
Daryl followed with delightful stories of featherless chickens rescued by her and Bob when
their two boys were young, leading to a menagerie of disadvantaged animals and the
production of a very accomplished young vet and his brother who is keeping up the
collecting tradition.
Jacqui and wonderful Havoc, her beautiful and incredibly loving Lurcher, followed. Havoc,
who is very much a villager, checks on everyone and has an eternal smile on her lovely face;
her only sin is to polish off the occasional pot of cat food that has been carelessly left out.
Jacqui spoke very movingly about her close friendship with this wonderful dog who has
been by her side through recent, very close bereavement, and is always there for her.
Lastly there were no words but music, offered by Sarah who, with Jo, has moved recently
into The Round House. Sarah played Saint-Saens’ ‘The Swan’ on her cello. This beautiful
piece of music transfixed everyone. A piece of artistry inspired by, in this case, a bird, took everyone to a place that sometimes words won’t go. What a gift the relationship between us all has given.

The social event that followed, with bubbles and nibbles, as advertised, was electric. Lots of people stayed on after the service, and Sarah played again for us. Linda and I finally locked up the church at about 10.30 p m! A wonderful service, full of warmth, love and laughter. Half of the collection has been sent to the Milton Keynes branch of the RSPCA.

Fathers’ Day Service and Breakfast 18th June 2023

What an amazing turn out we had this year.  40 adults and 8 children enjoyed a cooked breakfast in the churchyard after a short reading from Richard.  The heavens opened and the rain was torrential but thanks to the tents that had been erected by volunteers everyone stayed dry.  Thanks to everyone that helped and contributed,.

Coronation Celebration 7th June 2023

What a brilliant event.  around 60 people attended for a 3 course meal.  Donations were asked for and a very generous amount was received for the Church Funds.  An army of chefs and cooks catered by providing home cooked soups, main courses, salads and deserts.  Every household was given a blue Delphinium plant

29th April 2023 . Plant and Pizza Sale

Another successful event to raise funds for the Church.  Thanks to all that contributed plants, food and their time.

East Sunday 9th April 2023

6.30 am start for our early Easter Service around the fire pit.  There was such a good turn out for this meaningful service, starting outside with the birds singing and the dawn breaking, around the fir pit with roaring flames.  Richard led the congregation into church following the Easter Candle.  Once inside hymns were sung and the service continued.  Followed by Coffee, tea and croissants, sauasages and bacon.

Almost Mothering Sunday.

37 people were welcomed into Church for afternoon tea after a short service from Richard.  The ;adies were given a posy of flowers as they left.

Fathers Day Breakfast  19th July 2022

Breakfast was celebrated in style in the Churchyard, we were delighted to welcome so many of our friends form outside the village, Richard gave a short talk and then a full English Breakfast was served. It was a warm and friendly event and everyone appeared too enjoy themselves

Save the Date

Saturday 24th September  we are hoping to have a Harvest Meal in the churchyard following a Harvest Festival Service, an opportunity to say thank you for the harvest bounty.  Likely to be around 4pm, more details to follow

Knight Fund Sale on 14th May

A successful morning, well attended, brilliant sunshine, we made in excess of £300.  Thanks go especially to Val for the delicious carrot cakes and to Anna and Jane for donations to the stall

Alderton’s Easter Sunday Dawn service
When we proposed a service for dawn on Easter Sunday (just after 6.00 a m), rather than having our service before Easter or after Easter, the reaction from most people was, ‘it’s too early -nobody will come!’. How wrong they were and how glad we were that we ignored the doubters and went on with the idea; it was one of the most magical  services we have had for a long time and we counted 34 in the congregation– some villagers and some from
elsewhere in the benefice.  The service began outside in the churchyard with the sun beginning to rise and the birds in full voice. A fire was lit before dawn and from this a Paschal candle was lit. The light was then carried into church and placed inour striking, new, purpose-built candle holder. Cannon Stainer had prepared a very beautiful service that included reference to the universe and to our immediate environment as well as to us as individuals. Part of this service took place in the churchyard and Communion was conducted in church.
Breakfast of bread rolls filled with a choice of hot sausage or bacon (vegan sausages available) and warm croissants with butter and jam followed, all washed down with tea and coffee or juice.
Our collection for this service went to the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal and, with the addition of Gift Aid, came to £162.50.
Thank you to everyone who made the effort to attend this lovely event. It made a wonderful beginning to the Easter Day celebrations

Saturday 24th April – Plant and Pizza sale (fund raiser for St Margaret’s)

We were blessed with nice weather for our plant sale and it was wonderful to see so many of our friends come and join us – some from the village but others from further afield.
Everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves and nobody seemed to be in a hurry to leave. We sold a huge number of plants and preserves and every single cake and biscuit were sold. Doris sold cups of her delicious soup of the day and Anna came with her pizza oven at noon and served a large number of pizzas. We made just under £600, which is
an amazing result. Huge thanks go to Pam, Doris, Anna and Doreen for manning the stalls,to all those behind the scenes – Val Kleine who provided her wonderful carrot cakes, Jane Trehane, who always comes and supports us
and brought cakes and preserves and various other people who arrived with donations for the plant stall. Pam had an amazing array of plants – she had worked very hard to get them all ready for the day. Thanks also go to the team who erected and dismantled the marquees and who set the tables up and put them away again – Brian, Don, Graham and Martyn. Apologies if anybody has been left off the list!

APCM (Annual Parochial Meeting will be held on 15th March at 5pm within St Margaret’s Church. Everybody welcome

27th March 2022 Mothering Sunday.   10 am.   A short informal service to mark Mothering Sunday .  This Service will be led by Helen Halson who lives in Blisworth.  There will be a posy of flowers for the ladies who attend and the usual scrumptious refreshments after the Service.  We do hope you can join us, this is nice and early so hopefully will leave you plenty of time to enjoy any plans for a special lunch that you may have.

30th January 2022

There was a Service to celebrate Candlemas on 30th January.  It was so well attended with approx 50 people,  we are thankful to the Bell Ringers and to David Wortley for reading and to Doris Knight for preparing and reading the  most poignant and relevant intercessions.   Cake and refreshments were served after everyone gathered round the font with a lit candle and said a prayer.

January 2022  For an update on our Church Improvments and the installation of water pipes – see the tab Church Life, then scroll down to Our Church Building Improvements

It was wonderful to see our Church spring back to life after COVID restrictions, there are some of the events and services that have taken place since August 2021

December 2021

19th December.  The church had been beautifully decorated with a tree, nativity display, candles and foliage prior to the s dden increase in Omicron cases, but it was decided, in the circumstances, to hold our carol service outside; it was at 3.30pm so still light.  The service was brief and to the point, with four well-loved and well-known carols and we were delighted that 34 people turned up to join us so thank you to all those who braved the chilly afternoon.  We were lucky that it was so still and dry.  Mulled wine, mince pies, shortbread and Anzac biscuits were served afterwards and people could come into the church to have a look at the decorations.  Our next service will be a benefice service to mark Candlemas, the festival of light on 30 January at 10.00 a m

November 2021

Archdeacon Richard Ormston paid a visit to the church on 5 November and met with our Church Wardens, Margaret and Linda.  He also visited the other churches in the benefice.

    12th November, it was with great pleasure that we prepared and decorated the Church for the first wedding in many years.   It was such a joyous occasion.  Many congratulations to our local couple Jayne and Gwynn Wallace.

    14th November,  A short but very poignant service was held to commemorate Remembrance Sunday with the laying of a wreath, prayers, hymns and readings

October 2021

31st October.  There was a benefice service on 31 October to mark All Souls’ Day and a list of departed loved ones was read out by Doris and candles were lit in their memory.  This was well attended.  Jayne and Gwynn got married in the church on 12 November and there was a short service of remembrance on 14 November, which was attended by 19 people.  It is hoped that we can have a carol service in church on 19 December.

September 2021

Alderton Annual Art Festival was  very successful after  a lot of very hard work a substantial amount of money was raised for the Church

The following weekend was the Ride and Stride weekend.  The Hempenstall family and Lulu Pelly took part and raised £110 – half of this goes to the Northamptonshire Historic Churches Trust and half to our church.  We welcomed  about 15 visitors to the church, who were taking part in the ride and stride, and were able to offer them refreshments .  At the same time, as we had to be on hand to welcome visitors to our church, we held a stall for the knight which raised £126.50.

19th September   Harvest Festival , led by Lulu; we had 48 people in church, including a good number of children.  The children were willing to participate in the service by reading, distributing wild flower seeds, taking the collection and singing a modern harvest hymn which they all knew.  The church had been decorated the day before and looked absolutely beautiful.  We sold off some of the produce which had been brought along, and this raised £104.30 for the Northamptonshire Wildlife Trust.  The rest of the offerings were taken down to The Homestead where Charlie and Anita hosted a housewarming party/harvest supper with a promises auction.  Some 60 people attended this and the funds from the auctuon –  went to the Knight project and half to the Church.

August 2021

29th August  There was a benefice service in church on 29 August; Rev’d David Painter took the service, due to Richard’s absence because of illness – it was very well attended and everybody commented on how much they had enjoyed the morning.  We served refreshments after the service outside.

Update on the Knight
As you know, we now have our faculty, which allows us to
proceed with the building of the new tomb chest for our wooden
effigy of Sir William de Combmartyn. The existing choir stall
on the north wall of the chancel at St. Margaret’s Church will
be removed and stored as it is being reused as panelling behind
the new chest. The old wood of the choir stall will still be dark
but the chest will be light in colour for the time being as it is
being made from new English oak. It will darken in years to
come. Here is the design presentation drawn by Hugh
Harrison’s architect, Peter Furguson. This will give you some idea of the finished work.
Hugh Harrison’s specialist carpenters are coming up to removethe choir stall before Christmas and the wood will be stored safely until it is needed. The masons, who are replacing the existing wooden floor under the choir stall with repurposed cathedral grade stone kindly donated by Neill Taylor and Cuttle Mill
Reclamation, will be doing so as soon as they are able to find a window in their current work schedule.
Cuttle Mill Reclamation have asked if they can produce an article about the project with special concentration on the stone floor that is being donated. We have agreed as their offer of the aggregates and repurposed stone is incredibly generous.
Thank you all for your support over the years. Every single donation has gone towards this final outcome. We are all excited to see the knight in his final resting place. It will still be some time before this happens but at some point next year, we will be in touch to announce a celebration! Linda and Margaret

Thanks to the continuing support received by you all at our Knight Sales we are almost there regarding funds to ensure that Our Knight is installed safely and securely.

The next Knight Sale will be on the 11th February in the Church form 10- 12 .  The usual delicious home made produce along with Ornaments and Jewellery will be for sale.    Tea and Coffee provided free of charge.

We have recently been in contact with the 23rd Great Grandson of Sir William, he lives in Canada and is descended from Sir William’s daughter , Joan, the wife of Nicholas Audley, and he has very kindly contributed to our fund

20 December was the date chosen for the Alderton Christmas service, the day before our traditional tree dressing. The village children had not been able to take part in any of their normal school plays that usually happen at this time of year, so we decided that we would make a little more of our service, and add a procession to church. This would happen outside, and be less of a risk to anyone’s health, than having a play inside the church. The organisation required for such a short and small part of the service was huge, and it took ages to work out how to keep everyone safe outside, and then get the congregation into church, having gelled all the hands and tracked and traced, spaced and seated everybody. But the excitement and magic created by this simple addition to what is one of the loveliest of services helped to create a beautiful experience, and a wonderful start to Christmas.

For days before 20 December, we prepared – the church was cleaned and disinfected with the help of Julie, the fantastic nativity scene that we are lucky enough to have was put on display by Daryl and Bob, who were major contributors to its existence. The Christmas tree went up thanks to help from Linda, who doubled up with track and trace and hand gel and all the special carol sheets needed for outside carol singing. The greenery in the church was thanks to Doreen, who used her skill as a florist. Richard brought a borrowed candelabra from Milton and Peter brought Christingles and candles for everyone in the service to light at the appropriate time. We had five readers, telling the wonderful story of hope – something we all need at the moment, perhaps more than any Christmas in the generations since the Second World War. The procession gathered at The Old Barn and an angel led it along the road and into church; she laid the star she was carrying against the font, a symbol of hope and rebirth. It was truly a beautiful service. Prior to the service, the congregation had gathered outside to sing two carols, and after the service, another two carols were sung outside. We then had a suitably distanced visit from Father Christmas who issued presents to the children and wished everybody a Merry Christmas.

In light of the Government guidance around non-essential contact, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York have issued advice that public worship is suspended until further notice. All other events and activities are also suspended until further notice.

I am delighted to announce that following interview and with the agreement of Bishop Donald, the Patrons and the parish representatives the Reverend Canon Richard Stainer currently Vicar in the parishes of Higham Ferrers w Chelveston has been offered, and has accepted the invitation to become the Rector of Blisworth, Alderton, Grafton Regis, Milton Malsor and Stoke Bruerne w Shutlanger (The Grand Union Benefice).

A date for Richard’s Institution and Induction will be announced in due course.

Bishop Donald and Archdeacon Richard are very grateful to all who helped with the preparation of the profile, all the arrangements for the interview and for the continuing and encouraging ministry of the Benefice in the service of Christ during the vacancy.  Please pray for Richard as he prepares to move to Blisworth with his wife Monique.

The Venerable Richard Ormston

Archdeacon of Northampton

It is with regret that we have to announce that our rector, Andrea Watkins, will also be leaving us shortly for pastures new. Andrea joined the benefice in September 2011 and we had hoped that she would be with us for a few more years, but it seems the bishop had other ideas! Andrea has been a wonderful rector. She has introduced us to many different types of service, worship activities and classes and has been keen to bring church out into the community. She has overseen a period of growth in the benefice, improvements to our church buildings and has encouraged many people to pursue various ministries through her ability to recognise and nurture spiritual gifts in others. She will be missed. Andrea will be taking up her new post in the Spencer Benefice sometime after Easter. We wish her and Peter all the best.

It is with mixed feelings that we announce that our curate, Sue Cooper, will be leaving us sometime in March to take up her first post as rector of the Astwick Vale Benefice. Whilst we are thrilled that she has found a suitable position in the area she wanted to be, we will miss her terribly. It has been a delight and a privilege to have her with us these past few years. She and Nick will be moving to Aynho and we wish them both well.

This year for the first time, our Harvest Festival included a lay-led service followed by lunch. Unfortunately the marquee left up for the event was damaged in the gales, but Richard & Lulu kindly stepped in and offered to host us in their home. Richard barbecued some lovely meats provided from his shoots and the PCC provided salads and puddings. As always the money raised from the sale of produce, as well as donations for the lunch this year too, went to Send a Cow, who are celebrating their 30th anniversary this year. The sum of £138.00 was raised and sent to their harvest appeal. A huge thank you to everyone who came along to this lovely occasion and contributed and especially to Richard and Lulu for their generosity and hospitality.

A fabulous Art Festival this year, which raised in excess of £6000.00 for church funds. Our thanks go to Charlie Reece and the organising committee, as well as to all of the exhibitors, stall holders, villagers and friends who contributed in so many ways and not least to all of our visitors who helped to make this our most successful Festival ever.

This year our Lent Appeal was in aid of the Northampton Hope Centre’s new Food Club initiative. There has been a rise in the number of people using food banks around the country, but a scheme from the Northampton Hope Centre offers a new way of tackling food poverty. The Hope Food Club aims to support people on a very low income, by allowing them to register as members and then buy food at very low cost. A total of £79.01 was raised for this very worthwhile cause.