Beltane Remembered

As we approach May 1st, the ancient festival of Beltane, a look back at the customs, and the role fire has played for good and ill in our history.

Beltane Remembered

Fire! On our small island, they came:
Sought out those they were to blame,
Burnt as witches, heretics, an evil day,
And so far strayed from the old way;
But I remember how it was, long before,
Opening in my memory a door;
And let me take you back, far back,
Along an old time’s ancient track:
The fire, burning bright, not in fear,
But to celebrate all so very dear;
The May festivity, the joy, the songs:
Come one, come all, such merry throngs;
With eggs, butter, oatmeal, milk, we make
The caudle ready for the fire to bake;
Some poured out for spirits of place,
That they may bless us with their grace;
And bless the lambs, and bless the seed,
And pass the cup, and drink the mead;
And gather round the fire to dance,
And stories tell, to so entrance;
Gather primrose, rowan, hawthorn,
Our doors and windows to adorn;
The Beltane Queen upon the horse,
Wears a crown adorned with gorse;
Ride from the town to the holy well,
Call for fey folk to make all well;
Until Beltane ends, the day now done,
As we watch the setting of the sun;
Night comes, the embers glowing red,
Beltane blessings, and time for bed.

The Coronation Year 70 Years Ago - April 1953 Part 2

By a curious coincidence of dates, the coronation year 2023 will be 70 years after the coronation date in 1953. I thought it would be of interest to look back during this year of some of the events taking place before, during and after the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

April 1953 - Part 2

16.—Annual meeting of Royal Empire Society, Major-General G. K. Bourne giving a talk on “ Berlin and the Soviet Zone”. Beeches O.B. draw with Guernsey Rangers in Guernsey in Jeremie Cup Competition, the game running to extra time.

18.—Jersey Motor Traders annual dinner. Amateur boxing tournament held at Springfield, St. Helier A.B.A. winning return match against Southampton. HE the Lt.Governor and Lady Grasett guests at Royal Artillery Association dinner ; the Dorset Regiment Association also held their annual dinner.

21.—St. John’s parish decides in favour of refuse collection, this to be at the rate of so much per bin.

22.—The Rev. R. S. Dabbs instituted as Rector of Grouville by the Very Rev. the Dean.

23.—British Legion hold St. George’s Day supper, gold badges being presented to Capt. W. Picot and Major C. P. Rumfitt for services rendered. Beeches OB. defeat Guernsey Northerners in Upton Park Cup game at Springfield, a crowd of over 7,000 attending.

24 —Three-parish bull show, the first of the season, held at Les Puits de Léoville, St. Ouen.

25—Annual dinner of Jersey Chamber of Commerce, the chief executive of B.E.A., Mr. Peter Masefield, being the principal guest.

26—His Excellency the Lt. Governor inspects companies of the Boys’ Brigade in the grounds of Government Office, South Hill, afterwards attending the annual service organized by the Boy Scouts’ Association held in the Howard Davis Park. Final performance given by Gorey Cinema, it being announced that it was no longer economic to run.

28. -Special sitting of States, when a statement on the importation of French eggs was made by the president of the Essential Commodities Committee ; a proposal for the survey of the organization and methods of the Civil Service was rejected ; a petition from the electrical traders of the Island was presented and ordered to be cyclostyled: a long discussion ensued on the Beautés Naturelles Committee's recommendations in regard to four sites, eventually all being approved. Round Tablers’ annual dinner and installation of new president.“ Victoria Regina ” presented at Springfield by Daryl Querée and Donald Rennolds. ‘

29.—American speaker at Rotary luncheon gives details of the working of the Mutual Security Agency. 

30.——States Preliminary discussion on the affairs of the, Jersey Electricity Co. Ltd., the matter being deferred for a full-dress debate ; the president of the Defence Committee replied to questions about the recent police car crash at Beaumont ; Senator Richardson was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Housing Committee. Constable of St. Helier opens bowling green of St. Clement's Bowling Club—Jersey. Dog Club spring show held at Springfield. Jersey defeats Guernsey 2-0 in Muratti.

A Charm to Move The Wheel of Time

I've always loved the movie (and the book), The Amazing Mr Blunden (the book originally called "The Ghosts", in which children from the past, seeking help in the present, take a herbal brew and move to their future, and the children (related to them) of the present day (the movie's present day) take the same and go back 100 years to try and prevent the tragedy that cost the children of the past, and the gardener's boy, their loves.

In once scene, on one night, by the intervention of some supernatural agency that the children do not understand, they are led to the library of the house. There they find a book containing the recipe for a charm – 'A Charm To Move The Wheel of Time'. By brewing the infusion and drinking it, the children will be able to move through time to find the help they need.

I wrote the following poem in 16 August 2004, and it has an interesting history. It was on a much older website of mine (now long defunct) but someone emailed me because they had seen it, connected it with the film, and wondered if mine was based on some literary or folklore original on which the book drew, rather than the other way around!

A Charm to Move The Wheel of Time

There is a charm to bend the line of fate
This must be so, the need be truly great
Trust be given of one life for another
As if for kinship of sister or of brother
Subtle herbs can brew a drink to loose
Bonds of fate, make present time diffuse
So the charm can move the wheel of time
Roll back into decades past, another clime
Through the still point at the very centre
Of the wheel, the path by which we enter
One time from another, and thereby change
The path of history fixed as if arranged
As ghosts from the present in past lands
Take apart and weave such different strands.

Societe Jersiaise Lunchtime Talk: The Introduction of Social Security

A really stimulating talk on the controversy surrounding the introduction of Social Security legislation into Jersey was given by former Deputy Roy Le Hérissier at the Societe Jersaise meeting room this Wednesday.

It was well attended, and the acoustics of the room were good, a microphone provided excellent audio coverage for those of us who are hard of hearing, so it was all clearly heard. A PowerPoint presentation on a large screen supplemented the presentation.

It would be a compulsory contributory insurance scheme - hence the original name of Social Security being "Insular Insurance" which I have to admit being old enough to remember when doing accountancy preparation on client's accounts back in the 1970s. Because of that - as a contributory insurance scheme to cover outgoing costs, and ringfenced - and therefore not a tax on income as such - a cap was placed on the maximum contributions made, which still exists today.

It also was not a full "Welfare State" scheme. It provided old age pensions, sickness benefit, and an offset to doctor's bills (but not a complete offset of all the bill, just a reduction). Parish welfare staid in the hands of the Parishes until the introduction of Income Support, which also wrapped in a number of extra and additional parts of Social Security which had grown - disability support, attendance allowance for severely disabled, rent rebate scheme etc. That also meant that Social Security and Income support was not a "like for like" substitution as its critics said (it also had its own critics).

It also had a different age date for pensions - 65 for men, 60 for women, which has only just ended recently in favour of equal age (65 and over).

Philip Le Feuvre

The people involved in bringing the bill were Philip le Feuvre, a stalwart of the farming community and elected president of the JFU, and who had also been part of the Jersey Progressive Party and served under Deputy Edward Le Quesne in the Occupation years, Deputy Stephen John Venables, the sole member of the Jersey Democratic Movement to be elected to the States at that time, and also from a farming community (in St Ouen), Senator J.J. Le Marquand, a passionate libertarian who opposed the compulsory nature of the law.

Philip Le Feuvre presented the Bill to the States on 15 November 1949. The vote on the preamble was lost 24 to 23 and the Bill was automatically thrown out with it. However this itself was controversial as one Constable was absent and his vote taken by his Chef de Police (Senior Centenier) who attended the States - the law was later changed to prevent this occurrence as this was essentially a vote by someone  who had not faced a public election in the same way as a Constable for being present in the States. Ten of the Constables also voted against it.

The demographics also favoured the country vote over the urban vote - a situation which continued until the recent reforms - the Senatorial platform always was weighted as island wide voting to country, not town . Their removal and the introduction of larger districts has meant better representation for urban areas.

On 22 May 1950 Le Feuvre brought the Insular Insurance Bill back to the States. In spite of opposition from Senator J.J. le Marquand the preamble passed by 28 votes to 17. It passed its third and final reading on 14 July 1950, and came into force on 18 November of that year. 

In spite of a final attempt at a wrecking amendment by Senator le Marquand, the appointed day (the date when the insurance scheme would come into full force) was set to 10 September 1951.

On 31 July 1951, Deputy J J Le Marquand presented a Petition at St Ouen’s Parish Hall calling for the appointed day to be deferred. The organisers were efficient and it gathered momentum, aided by the attitude of the Honorary Police, some of whom broke the law by collecting signatures. Philip Le Feuvre went out to meetings where those presiding did not assist him in getting a fair hearing.

J.J. Le Marquand was a firebrand speaker and organised rallies around the island, especially being noted for mass crowds in the Royal Square, where the mood turned ugly, and some States members had to run to the Police HQ for their own safety after leaving the States. It was the nearest the Island has come in the 20th century to an insurrection. Potatoes, tomatoes and other missiles were thrown at supporters of the new law. 

At one of these rallies a coffin was carried in as a visual aid, calling for the death of the new law (or perhaps to fill with one of its architects), as well as an effigy (perhaps of Venables). JJ was not above any stunts! 

My father, who had recently started work, and who saw part of his pay would be reduced under the law, remembered attending the rallies.

Also in 1951 the Deputy Venables (the other architect of the new law) attended a meeting of 1,500 people protesting against the new Insular Insurance Law in the People’s Park. When a vote was taken he was the only person to raise his hand in favour and ended up having to escape to the Town Hall. Similarly, on the day when the legislation was finally passed there were ugly scenes in the Royal Square, where according to the Daily Graphic potatoes, tomatoes and other missiles were thrown at supporters of the new law.

The debate also raged in the JEP, where Le Feuvre and Venables - the architects of the scheme, and the scheme itself was denounced as being "the hand of Moscow", "socialism by the back door", "a UK style Welfare state which the Island didn't need" and worse. It was ironic as Philip Le Feuvre was a member of the Jersey Progressive party and very much a conservative politician, but who had seen the need for change.

The farmers were resolutely opposed, and after the scheme was passed held a special meeting of the JFU where they unceremoniously and vindictively demanded the elected President's resignation - as a farmer, that was Philip Le Feuvre himself.. He was ostracised by his own farming community. However, the office block in La Motte Street which houses the Social Security Department was named Philip Le Feuvre House.

J J Le Marquand died at the age of 60 in 1975. He never collected his pension.

For further reading, an interview with Topic magazine plus some notes at:

http://tonymusings.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-political-outsider-jj-le-marquand.html

S.J. Venables

Stephen Venables died on 13 January 1988 in Jersey at the age of 78, and was buried in St. Saviour, Jersey. He did collect his pension.

Pictured below is Eric Falla, who as a young man, attended JJ's rallies in the Royal Square, and the speaker of this talk, Roy Le Hérissier.

A New Golden Age of Crime and Detection on Television

There are so many shows in the crime or detective genre at the moment, I find myself spoilt for choice.

Peter James "Grace" has been back recently in an excellent trilogy of stories starring John Simm. Meanwhile, fresh from Endeavour's final season, Roger Allam joins Nancy Carroll (Father Brown) in "Murder in Provence".

Rather like "The Singing Detective" but with two crimes to solve and get a resolution, "Magpie Murders" blends a fictional detective back in the 1950s with a modern mystery to solve. Excellent acting especially from Lesley Manville. Will the second book be adapted? I hope so.

Other recent glories include "Endeavour" bowing out in style, while over the past few years, some other excellent stories have made it to the small screen - "Vigil", "Sherwood" and "Macdonald and Dodds", not to mention the remade (and better in my opinion than Barry Foster's one) "Van de Valk" and daytime show "London Kills". I also enjoyed catching up with Martin Clunes  in both series of "Manhunt" which really has the feel of a real police investigation.

In spare time, I've been catching up with "Shetland", which had characters and a real sense of plance, also "Elementary" which is what "Sherlock" should have been - clever plots and characters and never so twisted and convoluted you lose the will to live. Australian drama "City Homicide" is also very good, strong production values and characters and includes Nadine Garner (from "The Doctor Blake Mysteries"

Of foreign language films - subtitles essential - I think Bruno Cremer's French language "Maigret " has to be definitive. I've seen 3 British versions - Rupert Davies, Michael Gambon and Rowan Atkinson, all good, and Rowan especially good, but this has the feel of France that, I'm sorry to say, none of the others quite has.

Never having seen all of it, I'm also enjoying the odd "George Gently" - Martin  Shaw showing what a good actor he could be, ably abated by Lee Ingleby. 

Coming soon - the "Mallorca Files Season 3" has started filming, "Sister Boniface Mysteries" should be showing soon, and "Father Brown" is greenlit for another season next year. And I think Midsomer may have some more murders to offer us this year.

Is Gandalf a Pagan Christ Figure

C.S. Lewis in the Narnia books has Aslan as a Christ like figure, a "supposal" of what it would be like if Christ was born in an another world of Talking Animals. This is a very clear in that Aslan dies on the stone table, it is broken, he vanishes and then returns to life.

But there is perhaps a more subtle Pagan figure of Christ in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. 

I am sure Tolkien must have been influenced by the strangeness of the resurrection stories.

Although not a Christ figure as such, Gandalf the Grey falls to his death stopping the Balrog from attacking the Fellowship of the Ring.

“Darkness took me, and I strayed out of thought and time”

He returns, but now clothed in white, as Gandalf the White, and when the remnant of the company see him again, in Fangorn forest, they do not recognise him for certain. 

They wonder if they are seeing Saruman the White. It is only after the elve Legolas shoots an arrow in the air, and Gandalf uses his magic to set it on fire – something the old Gandalf could do – that they know for certain it is the same Gandalf, but reborn, like, yet not like, or as Gandalf says “Saruman, as he should have been”.

The Jesus / book of Revelation imagery is even more explicit

He sprang to his feet and leaped to the top of a large rock. There he stood, grown suddenly tall, towering above them. His hood and his grey rags were flung away. His white garments shone (…) His hair was white as snow in the sunshine; and gleaming white was his robe; the eyes under his deep brows were bright, piercing as the rays of the sun; power was in his hand.

That strangeness in not quite recognising a familiar face is, I am sure, something Tolkien unconsciously or consciously imbibed from the Gospel resurrection stories where some act sparks certain recognition – a word (Mary), scars (in the locked upper room) , breaking bread (on the road to Emmaus) or in one case, a miraculous catch of fish again on the sea shore. This "unveiling" is something which is very clearly portrayed when Gandalf returns.

At last Aragorn stirred. ‘Gandalf!’ he said. ‘Beyond all hope you return to us in our need! What veil was over my sight? Gandalf!’ Gimli said nothing, but sank to his knees, shading his eyes.

‘Gandalf,’ the old man repeated, as if recalling from old memory a long disused word. ‘Yes, that was the name. I was Gandalf.’ He stepped down from the rock, and picking up his grey cloak wrapped it about him: it seemed as if the sun had been shining, but now was hid in cloud again. ‘Yes, you may still call me Gandalf,’ he said, and the voice was the voice of their old friend and guide.

Gandalf is not a Christ figure in the same way as Aslan, but this mysterious quality of difference in the "resurrected" Gandalf does, I am sure, reflect something of Tolkien's Catholic Faith.

Tudor History on a Budget

I've just been  watching the Six Wives of Henry VIII, starring Keith Michel, and Elizabeth R (on Elizabeth I) starring Glenda Jackson.

The dialogue is, for the most part, sparkling. 

Of the two, I think Henry VIII fares better. Apart from the rather steriotyped Thomas Cromwell as a conniving "baddie", very much along the lines of "A Man for All Seasons", the characters are fairly well drawn, and the limited location shooting really does not matter much when most is courtly intrigue in studio sets inside.

Elizabeth R suffers from this in its set pieces. Again the characterisation and dialogue is excellent, although I feel Peter Jeffrey is badly miscast as a pious Philip of Spain. Peter Jeffrey has many virtues as an actor, but playing a pious Catholic monarch is not one of them. He was much better cast as Oliver Cromwell in "By the Sword Divided". Glenda Jackson is however superb - and not even the recent films, excellent though they are, have taken the journey from her youth to her old age.

But the routing and destruction of the Armada takes place entirely off stage - we don't even see the interior of any ship. Instead it is relayed by an Admiral to Philip of Spain and by a sailor to Elizabeth in what appears to be a small tent with four other nobles present. 

Relaying information so that it captures the imagination is not a simple art - Foyle's War managed it superbly on occasion - the gas of the First World War, the bombing raids on London, the ships at Dunkirk - but Elizabeth R singly fails to do so - it is information given by just two individuals - Spanish and English - and is just dumped on the viewer with in the case of the English sailor, speech which has the unfortunately tendency to call to mind Blackadder II.  

The Tilbury speech suffers even more - we just have Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth making her rousing speech - a lower camera angle to suggest she is or may be on a horse - alas the horse of the invisible - some off screen cheering of a crowd, and two soldiers, young and old, by a patently fake tent awning, commenting on bits of it. 

And yet at other times, someone has thought about matters well. The imprisonment of Lady Jane Grey and the other nobles caught up in her plot is done via a series of montages, with each just seen through the grill of a jail (in the Tower) and the sound of a lock turning. Simple, but very effective.

These shows were, of course, of their time, and had to make do with a more limited cast and budget than today. Wolf Hall's tournament, or the death of Anne Boleyn, for example, actually has a crowd present. And in the case of Henry VIII, this works well. Elizabeth R is at times very good, but at other times fails to overcome its limitations and looks more like a stage play, where the suspension of disbelief is lost.

The Road

This is part of an Easter sequence of poems which began with "Homeless", continued with "The Garden", and now addresses an experience of awakening.

The Road

Weary, walking on the road,
Hill and valley, rocks and dust
We bear such a heavy load
Hard times indeed to trust

Meeting a stranger on the way
Share the pain, grief, sorrow
As dusk enfolds a waning day
Heavy burden to the morrow

The town is distant but in sight
Dragging footsteps as if lame
Walking in sunset’s fading light
Yet his speech relights our flame

Joy returns to our broken hearts
And breaking bread, he now departs

The Coronation Year 70 Years Ago - April 1953 Part 1

By a curious coincidence of dates, the coronation year 2023 will be 70 years after the coronation date in 1953. I thought it would be of interest to look back during this year of some of the events taking place before, during and after the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

April 1953 - Part 1

1.—Annual meeting of Men of the Trees—Dr. Whang Kyung Koh, MA. PhD, gives lecture to local branch of the United Nations Association.

3.—-Inter-county netball tournament opens at Sun Works sports ground, 186 players representing 20 English counties taking part. .Jersev Football League defeats Leyton 4-0 at Springfield. Services were held at the various churches and at the Odeon a religious film was screened ; the weather was fair. .

4.—Inter-county netball tournament ends, Surrey again taking the championship.

6.—The weather was rough and cold over the week-end, this compelling liberty men from H.M.S. Trafalgar to spend the week-end ashore, while local residents visiting the destroyer were forced to spend from 24 to 36 hours abroard. Several thousand spectators attended the point-to-point meeting held at Val de la. Mare, St. Peter, while splendid racing was seen at the first sand meeting staged by the J.M.C. and L.C.C. at St. Ouen’s Bay; the J.R.A. won their annual match against the N.R.A, at Crabbe; .at Springfield an Island XI lost 2—1 against Woking F.C. ; the Jersey Athletic Club’s road race was won by Ilford A.C.; the Jersey Green Room Club staged two Gilbert and Sullivan. operas at Springfield Theatre, viz.,“Trial by Jury ” and “H.M.S. Pinafore.”

7.—States: The Reformation of the Militia resolution presented by the Deputy of .St. Ouen was rejected by 43—8 ; £5,000 was voted to the King George VI Memorial Fund and £7,013 to the Flood Fund, thus bringing the Island’s contribution to £20,000 ; a statement was made on the importation of eggs from the Continent ; insurance for accident liability at the Airport was increased ; it was announced that no television service to the Island would be possible at the present ; a Bill was adopted making the parish of residence responsible in necessitous cases.

8.—St. John’s parish assembly appoint committee to go into the question of refuse collection. At St. Saviour’s the assembly voted £450 for expenses in connection with the Coronation celebrations.

9.—States : A Bill revising procedure in the acquisition of land by compulsory purchase adopted ; the Bill amending the Public Finances Law was approved by a large majority ; this was the last sitting of the session. Pony Club hunter trials held at Les Ruettes Farm, St. John. Jersey Juniors defeat Guernsey counterparts at Springfield, 5—1.; in Guernsey the schools-boys’ “Star ” Trophy game was drawn. St. John Ambulance Brigade competitions staged at West Park Pavilion.

10.—Probate Division of the Royal Court gives leave to presume death in the case of Mr. L. E. E. Courval, who disappeared when he fell overboard from the auxiliary sloop Manalla in St. Aubin’s Bay on Friday, March 13th. No fewer than 19 persons are charged before the Police Court with having no licence for their wireless set, fines being imposed in all cases. Brig-y-don Bal Masque held at West Park Pavilion. Annual general meeting of Jersey Swimming Club.

13.—An Order of Justice in which the proprietors of the Convent F.C.J. actions the Public Health Committee for the sum of £1,800 cost of repairs and £400 costs by reason of damage caused by drainage work in Val Plaisant came before the Royal Court today, the hearing being adjourned until April 25th. Unusual accident at St. Aubin’s Harbour, a, saloon car toppling over the quayside and crushing a sailing dinghy on the sea bed below. Scottish Society of Jersey Silver Jubilee dance held at West Park Pavilion, pipers of the London Scottish attending.

14.-—St. Helier’s parish assembly discusses road widening schemes, that of Conway Street being rejected and the Tower Road one adopted. Inquest held on the body of 16-year-old Anthony Joseph Corbet, who was found hanging from a beam at the Promenade Café, Havre des Pas, on Saturday; the inquiry was adjourned for a post ,mortem; a verdict of suicide was subsequently recorded. Island billiards championship won by D. P. Dorleans (holder), who defeated AG. L. Borny 750—639.


15.—Mr. C. E. Vibert elected Centenier for St. Brelade’s.

Changing the Narrative: The Real Driving Force behind the Skatepark

While I would not want to upset the sad death of Hugh Raymond, it has to be said that the recent obituary in the JEP was misleading, to say the least when it said that as a Deputy, "he was a driving force in the opening of the skate part at Les Quennevais."

In fact nothing could be further from the truth.

It was Steve Pallett, before his resignation - and after - who was the driving force for opening a skate park at les Quennevais. On February 3rd, 2021, Channel 103 reported that:

"There will be a straight shootout in the States Assembly next week on where to build Jersey's main skatepark. The government will ask that it go at South Hill Gardens, rather than Senator Steve Pallett's choice of Les Quennevais Sports Centre."

"A survey to ask islanders which one they'd prefer was launched last month - with 60% of 2,500 respondents backing South Hill. The Assistant Minister with responsibility for Sport, Deputy Hugh Raymond, says they are supporting South Hill because the survey showed a clear preference for the St Helier site."

"If that is agreed, a planning application should be submitted by the end of this month. The government says attention would then turn to creating smaller, satellite facilities in the east and west - including at Les Quennevais."

"However Senator Pallett has told Channel 103 the two sites 'are not equal', even though the study says they are. He's described the chances of getting planning permission to build Jersey's main skatepark at South Hill Gardens are 'slim to zero'. The former Assistant Minister also questioned the sentiment outlined in the survey for South Hill, given that the feasibility study wasn't published when the survey was live.' They didn't base it on having knowledge of the feasibility report and they certainly didn't have the information I think they needed to make any type of judgement on which site was appropriate. In terms of its (South Hill Gardens') heritage and archaeological value, it has been totally underestimated. I think somebody needs to reassess this and maybe decide that actually Les Quennevais is the right site for this before we end up wasting even more money.'"

Steve Pallett put a proposition for the first site to be at Les Quennevais. Hugh Raymond, as Assistant Minister lodged an amendment to make that South Hill - a clear "spoiler". And he said:

"You will see that I have particularly looked at both sites and know both sites very well, and hopefully I have given you a vision as to why we lodged the amendment for the skatepark to be at South Hill."

Overnight, however, counts of votes were done behind the scenes, so when the house reconvened, rather than face a rather nasty defeat, a face saving withdrawal of the amendment took place, at the request of Hugh Raymond.

The opening of the park was delayed until beyond the end of the previous government's term office, largely because work stopped for months because the poor budgeting by that government - as with their resurfacing of Mont Les Vaux - they ran out of money.

So - "a driving force in the opening of the skate part at Les Quennevais." That was surely Senator Steve Pallett, and while Hugh Raymond pursued implementing the plans - although not seeing them to fruition - it was Steve Pallett who had the vision, and who overturned Hugh Raymond's plans for South Hill as the primary site. 

The Garden

The Garden

Quiet as a grave, and so very still
Memorial garden, with tended love
The rising sun creeps over the hill
And flying so high, the white dove

Bereavement, grief’s own sorrow
Cascading down, in tears like rain
The third day, a day of tomorrow
Unseen behind a veil of pain

The gardener, standing, a stranger
Where has he gone, she asks him
Realisation, recognition, changer
Joy is birdsong, worship, hymn

I have seen the Lord, this was her cry
Joy as she runs beneath sunlit sky

The ecumenical experiment of 1973

These are extracts from "The Pilot" in 1973. Sadly the ecumenical experiment gradually fizzled out over time, although it did leave the legacy of Communicare, although that has been repurposed for other uses. 

Once the services at Communicare were so large they needed to use the main hall, but now even the Chapel is not used by Anglicans or Methodists. A lot depended on the relations between the Anglican and Methodist clergy, and the support of the Bishop of Winchester. The Bishop retired, and his successor was not nearly as visionary. Different Methodist Ministers after Gerry Stoddern showed less interest in the experiment, and it was not until recently that joint open air services began again, but the loss of a significant number of Methodist Ministers, no Anglican Vicar at St Aubin's, which itself is but a shadow of its former self, mean that it is unlikely to thrive again. Yet.. never say never! We live in hope.

Pilot Notes, 1973

By the time these notes reach you a most important experiment will have started — I mean “The Area of Ecumenical Experiment 'at St Brelade”. The Lord Bishop of Winchester [John V Taylor], at a service at St Aubin’s Anglican Church on January 21, will have given the experiment his blessing and from then on this whole project will be officially under way. I believe that this experiment will be of vital importance for all the churches of this Island. It will be a milestone in the history of Church life here and its success or failure will be of the utmost concern for every church.

St Brelade with St Aubin

“A desperate mob of some hundreds, with almost all instruments of destruction, assembled round the house in which he was preaching . . . At their first approach, the principal part of the congregation issued forth, and provided for their own safety . . . The mob, finding that all with whom they might claim brotherhood had escaped, resolved to pull down the house and bury the preacher and his friends in the ruins. Mr Clarke exhorted the friends to trust in God who was able to save, when one of the mob presented a pistol at him through the window opposite to the pulpit .”

Ireland in 1973? No, St Aubin’s in 1782, and the welcome of the local populace to a visiting Methodist preacher from England!

When, some five years later, the great John Wesley (then 84) visited the islands, things were somewhat quieter. He arrived in Jersey on Monday, August 20, 1787, preaching the same evening to a crowded meeting, at 5 the following morning and again the same evening. On the Thursday he rode out to St Mary’s, preaching with the help of an interpreter to the entirely French-speaking congregation there, afterwards commenting in his diary that the farm houses were as good as the best in Lincolnshire, and the people far better behaved !

Friday saw him back in town unable to preach outside because of the wind, but doing so inside to large numbers.

After a quiet Saturday he preached at 5 o’clock on the Sunday morning, afterwards attending the English morning service in the Town Church, commenting afterwards: “. . . but the congregation was nothing near so large as ours at 5 o’clock in the morning". He attended the Methodists’ French service at 3 o’clock then met members of the Society from all over the Island. He preached again on Monday and Tuesday evening, to five or six hundred people, finally leaving the Island on the Thursday.

At the time of this whirlwind tour Methodism was still a society within the Church of England, though the seeds of the later breakaway had probably already been well sown by official intolerance and Methodist impatience, as Wesley himself had often warned.

By Wesley’s death nine years later relations had deteriorated to such an extent that the society developed further its own organization and bit by bit became an independent religious body. The first church in St Aubin was built in 1817. Though Anglicans still prayed formally for unity, it was 130 years before anything official was done to restore it, and Dr Fisher suggested a rapprochement whereby the Free Churches might adopt the ministry of bishops on the lines of that of the Church of England.

It took another 20 years for these ideas to assume a concrete form, only finally to be turned down by the Anglicans last year. However, the impossibility of achieving full communion (sharing all sacramental actions) does not prevent a limited degree of intercommunion, within the limits allowed officially by the two Churches, and full cooperation in all other matters.

And so it happened that, last month, 185 years and five months since John Wesley landed in Jersey to visit what was still then one Church, the first formal steps were taken by Anglican and Methodist Christians in St Brelade’s to heal the breach. The establishment of an official Area of Experiment involving two denominations does not of itself amount to much; all depends on the response of our congregations to the opportunities afforded by the Area, and much too on the extent to which other churches may also later come to share our joint work.

Apart from the further development of our joint Sunday School work, interchange of preachers and the holding of joint services, the first major new developments will probably take the form of meeting in small groups to get to know each other and wait upon God’s will and guidance in prayer and common study of the Bible and other matters of common Christian concern. There is nothing spectacular about this, but nor was there about the moment in May, 1738, when an Anglican clergyman attending a meeting in Aldersgate felt his heart “strangely warmed” — from that flowed John Wesley’s prodigious mission to Britain and the world. May much flow from our common commitment to each other this 1973.

HOLY BAPTISM. December 10,Karen Michelle Le Cornu, Paul Andrew Alexandre, Dionne Jane A’court; 24, Peter Darien Kent, Neil John Every, Lee Peter Wrigglesworth.

HOLY MATRIMONY. December 23, Trevor Ralph Escott to Susan Elizabeth Waite; 30, John Robert Leveridge to Jane Elizabeth Trent.

BURIALS. .December 4, Sydney Alfred Moores, 77; 22, Ann Josephine Bisson, 70; 28, Donald Geoffrey Mauger, 59; 29, Henry Charles Ferbrache, 64.

MICHAEL HALLIWELL
Rector

Let's Go DPO: March Takeaways

the focus of our Let’s Go DPO March 2023 interactive session is to exchange ideas as to the practical data protection training/education methods you have found to be most effective or least effective when engaging with your teams. How do you measure the effectiveness?

For details of this a future events and to sign up - they are free, go to:

https://www.jerseyoic.org/events/let-s-go-dpo-march-session/

 ‘These events are a very interesting way to share knowledge, and I certainly took away some useful pointers to improve our training.’

Some takeaways I gleaned from the session:

Training of new employees on Data Protection should form part of induction training, but if not should be done within 3 months at the outset.

Companies should have a culture whereby reports of breaches are not subject to sever disciplinary action as that may deter employees from coming forward.

(In company providing JFSC regulated services , this can be "piggy-backed" on a culture of SARS [Suspicion Transaction Reports] and mandatory reporting potential SARS to the MLO [Money Laundering Officer])


It is useful to email Data Protection Tips on a weekly basis – either refreshers on Phishing or other matters. Short but memorable.

Screen saver policy (away from desk) should be checked.

In house training with real-life cases is often better than generic training online.

Data Protection Policy needs to cover software which may be external (e.g. on a mobile phone), for example:

• Teams Use
• Whatsapp Use

It should noted that if used outside of the office environment for example, WhatsApp is not password protected, so anyone with access to someone’s mobile can see all messages. Staff should be informed to take care what is shared, and to inform management and the DPO [Data Protection Officer] if someone else has access to their mobile. Mobiles should be secured with PIN / Password etc.

Legacy systems can be used as long as they have a suitable security “wraparound” so they can’t be accessed outside of the office environment (including 2FA remote access)

One company left fake user names / passwords on sticky fixes to see if employees would take that to the DPO when they spotted them.

Phishing training by third parties with fake phishing emails to test employees can be helpful.