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Dear Parishioners

Hurray! The lockdown is being gradually lifted after the last 12 weeks of isolating and social distancing. Thank you! those in our communities who have helped others, to the NHS, the carers and the keyworkers who have continued to work putting themselves at risk to the virus, to our school that has opened for keyworkers’ children from day 1 of the lockdown right through the Easter Holidays, to our businesses that have devised new ways of reaching out to the village, to the volunteers who have delivered shopping and prescriptions and to KingslandLlife Website that has been carrying much vital information and the podcast church services and messy church.

Many of you know the passage from

the wisdom section of the Old

Testament, Ecclesiastes 3 – There is a

time and season for every activity

under heaven…… a time to embrace

and a time to refrain from embracing.

The social distancing measures have

meant that we have been without a hug

or embrace from everyone except

those we share our homes with for the

last 3 months and those who live alone

have only just had the opportunity to

engage with another household and

there have been tears as they have

been able to reach out and embrace

one other household – to give them a

hug. My new grandson who is now

almost 6 months only saw his mum and

dad for 3 of those months and hasn’t

yet cuddled anyone but them. Let us

hope that the measures that have been

put in place to deal with this pandemic

have paid off, and that we all remain

vigilant as we move forward and the

lockdown is lifted in stages.

From June 15th the church doors open

for private prayer and funerals can

once again be held in church (with

suitable protocols in place!). As long as

everything progresses in the direction

we hope, the next services to be

allowed will be weddings and baptisms

and we are hoping that the beginning of

July will bring some form of weekly

worship but time will tell.

We will be welcoming Katie Smith to

begin a new chapter of her life with the

church and community as curate in our

group of parishes from the 5th July.

She was to have been ordained in the

cathedral on that date but that hasn’t

been possible, so she starts without a

big ceremony on that date and the

Bishop hopes to ordain her at the end

of September at Michaelmas if the

Kingsland

News

July 2020

2

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lockdown continues to lift. Many of you

will know Katie as she has lived in

Kingsland for a long time up the top

end of North Road with her husband

Colin. Her children Freya and Callum

have gone through Kingsland School

and have now flown the nest. She has

been training part time at the Church’s

conference centre in Ludlow for the last

5 years and will begin a ministry

alongside myself in this group of

parishes. I hope you will welcome her

in her new role within our Church and

Community and that you will get to

know her as she ministers in our midst.

CONGRATULATIONS, KATIE!

There have been many silver linings

during this time – I have been able to

work alongside my husband and we

have enjoyed preparing the Sunday

Service podcasts together. There has

been little dashing around in cars, a

new found appreciation for the beauty

and care of the land, a time to think

about what is important in life and to

value that, a grappling with technology

to keep in touch with others, the gift of

the generosity of others and the care

shown for neighbours to name but a

few.

The temptation is to slip back into old

ways as soon as we are able, but I

don’t think life will be the same again

and we will journey onwards and not

backwards. There has been much

debate about the Black Lives Matter

campaign and the sins of our fathers

and the statues in our big cities. I

wonder what will be said about our

generation? We fuelled global warming

with our overuse of cars and fossil

fuels, and look what a legacy we left for

our children’s children….

There will be hurdles yet to come as

the financial situation of individuals and

businesses are unpacked and the

impact of that is felt. If you are one of

the lucky ones who have enough,

please remember those who will be

facing financial uncertainty in the

months ahead. The food bank has

been working flat out in the last 3

months, and there are collection points

in Morrisons and the COOP. Please do

leave something for those families who

are struggling and don’t have enough to

eat.

Finally there are a couple of ideas in

the church that have come out of this

lockdown – Porch Produce and Organ

Favourites. Please see the information

further on in the magazine.

As always I am here for any who need

a pastoral conversation. Please ring

me or send me an email and I will set

up a meeting or telephone call.

Thank you once again for all you have

done. Every blessing

Julie

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5

KingslandLife Website News

The KingslandLife website has been very

busy over the last few months and we’re

pleased to welcome lots of new users and

hope you’ll all continue to find the website

useful and interesting. With floods in

February and now Coronavirus we have

doubled our website visitors to around 1700

a month with over 4,500 page views in

May.

We’ve been pleased to help everyone in the

parish (and beyond) keep up to date with

our Coronavirus Help and Information

page. We’ve also helped the church keep

services going via their new weekly online

Sunday service and online Messy Church.

If we can do anything similar for any other

organisations in the parish just let us know!

We are of course lacking events to put up

but hope this will change soon.

Meanwhile if you are interested in the

history of the parish pop over to the

Kingsland Oral History page where you can

listen to older residents talking about what

life was like before, during and after the

Second World War as well as through the

fifties and sixties. There are also articles

being added to the Memories of the Past,

100 Years Ago and other History pages.

Don’t forget we also have a busy Facebook

page called KingsandLife (welcome to all

new followers too!) as well as a Twitter

feed @KingslandLife.

So hope you all keep safe and well and

don’t forget to send us any news, events,

information, requests and the like via

info@kingslandlife.com

Sally Deakin

Steven Rees Traditional Upholsterer

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Mob: 07927845655

Email: sreestradupholsterer.com

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Kingsland Coronation Hall

100 club winners

March

1st S. Rowsell

2nd

C. Davies

3rd

G. Bradley

April

1st A. Brookes

2nd

D. Adams

3rd

J. Gorman

May

1st A. Brookes

2nd

J. Blane

3rd

B. Oliver

Our grateful thanks to all who support the 100 Club. For more information please contact

Alison Tel: 01568 709331 or Lisa at Markham’s Garage (01568 708208)

Life in Lockdown

Hello Friends!

Just be careful, because people are going crazy from being in lockdown. Actually, I've just

been talking about this with the microwave and toaster and both agree that things are getting

bad. I dare not ask the washing machine as he puts a different spin on everything, and can't

ask the fridge as she is acting cold and distant. In the end the iron calmed me down and said

everything will be fine. No situation is too pressing.

Penny Mapp

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Just one of those days (by Rick)

I was not in the best of moods as I left the

office in the early evening. We all have bad

days, but this particular day had been

frustrating in the extreme. Simon, my

partner in our local solicitors' practice, had

called in sick, leaving me to cope with his

workload as well as my own. The senior

clerk had mislaid a crucial set of case

papers. The office computer system had

'gone down'. Then, when the problems were

mostly sorted out, Colonel Williams, an

aged, affluent, but argumentative client of

many years standing, telephoned to say that

he needed to see me urgently.

In typical military style, although he hadn't

seen service for at least half a lifetime, he

barked his orders.

'Trouble in the ranks here, Armstrong,' he

explained, 'Bit of infighting over the family

trust which your father set up years ago.

Need you to come and sort it out right

now’.

Despite my annoyance at his attitude and

lack of manners, (and why couldn't he call

me Clive, like other older clients?), I had

grudgingly agreed to drive the 30 or so

miles to see him, that very evening.

I like driving, and the big comfortable

BMW hummed along, eating up the miles

of dual carriageway as the soft evening

light faded. As I neared my destination and

turned onto winding country lanes, the

weather deteriorated. The wind funnelled

up the wooded valleys and the rain

punished the windscreen and fell like

jewelled beads across the headlight beams.

The trees bent threateningly towards me,

their brown and golden autumn leaves

scooting along the road in the squall. In the

cocooned safety of the car, I was relaxed

and surprisingly happy, listening to the

squish of the tyres dispersing the surface

water and occasional puddles.

Raiding the bag of ‘gob-stopper’ mints in

the door pocket, I crunched my way to a

sugar induced high', and as I turned into the

long, tree-lined, drive towards the old

manor house, I felt refreshed and quite

confident in my ability to deal with

whatever the old Colonel threw at me.

The old half-timbered house leaned solidly

against the strong wind. I parked the car

and made a dash for the dimly lit porch. In

its shelter, I took a moment to get my

breath and to savour the cool dampness of

the evening, before tugging the antiquated

brass bell-pull, which, from previous

experience, produced a carillon of sound -

probably sufficient to awaken even the

Colonel's long deceased ancestors. Despite

the strident clanging noise, no-one came to

open the door. After a couple of minutes, I

tentatively pushed against the smooth oak

boards of the front door. It was ajar. With

complaining hinges, it swung open - and I

was in the dark panelled hallway.

Everything was dim. The single 40 watt

bulb failed miserably in its efforts to

illuminate the heavy furniture, ancestral

portraits and, to the right, the wide

balustraded staircase winding towards the

stygian gloom of the upper regions. I closed

the door behind me. It seemed colder in the

house than outside. The smell caught at my

throat. It was some-where between boiled

cabbage and cat-urine. It was an odour of

age, neglect and sadness. Every one of my

senses told me that something was wrong.

Nervously, I slowly made my way to the

left, where I remembered the sitting room

and study to be. The study door was half

open. I was somehow anticipating what I

was about to see.... The meagre light from

the desk-lamp made long shadows towards

the comers of the room. The Colonel was

not at his desk. Then I saw his huddled

shape on the floor against the old coffer.

9

I turned away and grabbed my mobile

phone to call for help.... but was stopped in

my tracks by a voice from beyond!

'Good to see you, Armstrong! The door bell

startled me and my heart-pills went all over

the place. Devil's own job to find them in

this light. Let's have a snifter before we get

down to business'.

G. D. Lloyd

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10

Locked Down in France

Off to France on the 13th March for a quick

ten day visit - open up the house after the

winter, make sure all is well, and back

home again. Sitting down to a quick

supper, and turning on the television, we

find Mr. Macron telling us we are now in

lockdown and unable to go anywhere until

further notice. Surely they can’t mean us,

we’re British, but slowly it dawns on us

that they do. Well at least we can work on

the house and garden as the weather is as

good as it is at home!

The first outside contact come two days

later, when our very friendly Deputy Mayor

pops by to drop off the paperwork we need

to be able to go anywhere. The French just

love their paperwork, so it must be

meticulously completed and carried

everywhere, and will allow us to go to the

supermarket. We set off together, which is

our first mistake. The security guard

informs us that only one person may shop

at a time, so I collect a second trolley,

which he deems acceptable, and we shop

together. Rules are for the guidance of

wise men etc ..... although I certainly

wouldn't call myself wise! On the way

home we are stopped by the police and

paperwork checked. Merci Monsieur,

allez! It’s the first time in years we have

seen a Gendarme anywhere near our

village, in fact the first since one of the

locals bumped off his wife and stuffed her

body in the freezer. Took six months for

the family to realise she wasn’t there!

May 1st arrives, and our Deputy Mayor

appears again on the doorstep bearing gifts.

Apparently on May 1st it is a tradition in

France to give the plant, Lily of the Valley,

and a present to your friends and

neighbours. We are delighted but also

somewhat mortified that after all these

years of visiting France we did not know of

the tradition. A brief discussion on Brexit

issues, and he is on his way. We reflect

that one of the real bonuses of the

lockdown and social distancing is that we

don’t have to kiss everyone anymore.

Somehow just not something I’ve ever got

used to as a Brit, the women I don’t mind,

it’s all those Frenchmen with five o’clock

shadows.

Things gradually improve in that our local

DIY store opens up for business. Called

Brico Depot, it is actually a British

company, so I always try to spend my hard

earned euros there. We order and pay on

line, and on receiving an email, arrive in the

car park at the stated time. We are directed

to a pile of pallets with a number on, and

must remain in the car. A shop assistant

arrives, puts the purchase on the ground,

and departs. We may then pick it up and

drive off. Long winded, but it works.

VE days arrives. We have a very large

Union Jack bought to wave with pride

when the Tour de France went through our

village. We were looking forward to seeing

Chris Froome win another title, but he fell

off his bike in Belgium, much to our

frustration. There followed a brief

‘domestic’ as to where the flag should be

sited. My wife did not want to upset the

natives by it being too intrusive, whilst I

wanted to remind everyone that it wasn’t

just the Yanks that helped the Resistance

liberate France. In the end we compromise

on a place in the garden, but as almost no

one passes our somewhat isolated farm

house, it really didn’t matter.

The daughter of a local farmer pops in now

and again with a dozen eggs, as the hens

are laying more than they can eat.

Wonderful omelettes become the order of

the day, and also helps with the cost of the

weekly shop. We reckon the food shop is

something in the order of 40% more

expensive in France, and we promise never

to complain about Morrys’ again. As the

11

lockdown begins to ease we walk around

the village and meet up with two elderly

German friends. She always greets us with

the words “England is terrible”, which gets

my hackles up until I realise she is speaking

about the number of Covid deaths being

reported.

Finally the restrictions on travel begin to

lift and we begin to make plans to leave.

These become more rushed as England then

decides that travellers must self isolate for

14 days on arrival, but not before we can

book a ferry crossing and an 11 hour drive

to the Channel. So after 12 weeks away we

arrive home, to find the lawn ready to be

cut for silage, flat batteries in the cars, and

the Church Clock chiming on Central

European time and not BST. Best of all,

West Mercia Police have arranged a Speed

Awareness Course for me - it would appear

that they took umbrage at my 33 mph

through Canon Pyon! Good to know that

things don’t change in dear old Blighty.

Peter of Herefordshire

Kingsland Cubs Scouts

Kingsland Cubs Scouts are still meeting

during these strange times albeit virtually,

with badge work and challenges also being

sent out by email. We have been working

on our communicators and digital citizen

badges. We also joined Northumberland

Scouts (and 95,000 other people) and

‘Camped at home’. Some of the more

energetic Cubs even helped The Scouts

‘Hike To The Moon’.

If you have a child aged between 7.5 and

10.5 who would like to join the Cubs we

would be delighted to meet you.

For more information please email Karen

Jones (Akela)

kingslandcubscouts@googlemail.com

Charlie Dog’s Grooming Parlour Bathing Clipping Nail Cutting Canine Massage Human & Animal Reiki Professional Service Grooming since 1998

Please call

Keli Partridge on: 01568709190 or 07967005102.

7, Boarsfield, Kingsland www.cdgrooming.co.uk

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13

Kingsland Flower Show 2020

This is a notification to let you know that

the Show which was due to be held in the

Coronation Hall on Saturday 8th

August

2020, will not take place.

As you will appreciate, with restrictions in

place relating to social distancing and group

meetings it is not feasible to set-up, prepare

and run the Show without significantly

breaching the guidelines. For this reason,

the Committee has decided to cancel the

Show for 2020. We very much hope that

circumstances will have changed in time for

us to hold the Show in 2021.

In the meantime, for those successful

winners of cups at last year's Show, we

would ask you to return them to either

Caroline Southgate (Stone Mill, The

Wardens - off North Road) or Chelsea at

the Kingsland Village Shop as soon as

possible please.

KFS Committee. June 2020

14

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see some examples of

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15

(The following article was submitted in

good time to meet the deadline for the May

edition (14/4/20!) which was not published,

but contains information about the future of

Luctonians Rugby. Ed)

Luctonians Sports Club

Clearly there’s not a lot to report since last

month as Luctonians Sports Club continues

to be closed for business. We have

identified the end of May as being the time

when we hope to rise Phoenix-like from the

ashes but as hardly any two of the world’s

many eminent epidemiologists can agree

when this pandemic is going to end I

wouldn’t bother to enter this in your diaries.

There has been some good news however.

Following its deliberations The Rugby

Football Union has decreed that we will

continue to play in National Two North

next season having avoided relegation by a

whisker. Caldy were promoted from our

league and Scunthorpe, Preston

Grasshoppers and Otley went down, the

latter two being old and distinguished clubs

who, before the professional era, were well

used to providing England with the

occasional international. The four departing

clubs have been replaced by Bournville,

Blaydon and Harrogate from below and

Hull Ionians who were demoted from

above.

I am fairly certain that had the season been

played out we would indeed have survived.

All the five sides we had yet to play were

like ourselves in the relegation zone and we

would have been playing three of them at

home. Also, we have always traditionally

found some form on the drier grounds of

March and April and have usually played

some winning rugby at the end of the

season. But hold on ! I’m beginning to

talk myself into five wins here and a

comfortable mid table finish. In truth we’ll

never know.

In conclusion, I strongly recommend you

keep this to read again next month because

precious little is going to happen before

then. In the meantime , keep smiling.

Huw Davies.

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Church Restoration Appeal.

I would like personally to thank everyone

who responded to our appeal for donations

towards the huge restoration project we

hope to commence in the spring of 2021.

We have had many contributions, small and

large and are extremely grateful for each

and every one. The total raised was over

£12,000 which will be increased by the Gift

Aid scheme. In a short period of time this

is an impressive response from our

Kingsland community and shows how

much many of you value our remarkable

Church building, again a grateful thank

you. We will hear the result of our work in

September, when the National Heritage

Lottery Fund reveals the results of the latest

funding round, and whether our grant

application for £500,000 has been

successful.

Peter King

Royal British Legion

Although some of the more severe

restrictions on assembly have been lifted,

life is not back to any form of normality.

Your Committee have decided that we will

delay any meetings until September at the

earliest.

Holding a meeting at 2 metre spacing

would be a bit difficult and drinking a beer

or eating fish and chips through a face mask

is even harder.

We have received numerous emails from

London or County. Should any member

wish to scan them, please contact Val Davis

who will forward them to you.

Gordon Browne (Chairman)

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Kingsland Millennium Green Trust

(KMGT)

It is good news that the Green has been

open as usual during these difficult times,

providing plenty of open space for exercise

and dog walking, and for being able to

enjoy the fresh air and excellent weather,

whilst keeping safe with social distancing.

At the time of writing, the children’s play

area is still closed under the Herefordshire

Council guidelines. It will be opened as

soon as possible and the situation is being

monitored closely. When the tape

disappears, please feel free to use it and

also ensure that hands are washed as soon

as you return home.

You will be aware that the Annual General

Meeting and the less formal open meeting,

which was due to be held on 30th May, had

to be postponed. As the lockdown eases it

may be possible to hold it safely and the

matter is due to be considered again at the

end of June. The usual notices will be given

when the meeting can be safely held.

New Treasurer Required

Following the resignation of our current

Honorary Treasurer, after sterling work

over the last few years, KMGT is looking

for a new Honorary Treasurer. The role

involves keeping the books and records of

the registered charity, paying any bills

when invoices are submitted and ensuring

that funds received are accounted for. It is

not an onerous task and will not take up a

huge amount of time. In addition to

keeping the books and records, a short

report needs to be prepared for the meetings

of the Trustees and interested parties (about

5 meetings per year) and ideally the

Treasurer will be available to attend those

meetings. A basic understanding of book-

keeping is required in order that KMGT can

fulfil its obligations to the Charity

Commission.

Expressions of interest should be sent to the

KMGT Chair – Sebastian Bowen on

wlsb@me.com or call his mobile 07831

636537. Alternatively emails can be sent to

kmgtsecretary@outlook.com and they will

be passed on.

It should be noted that the maintenance of

the Green is totally funded by voluntary

contributions received from within the

Community. No funding is received from

either the Parish Council or Herefordshire

Council in respect of ongoing maintenance.

The Trustees are extremely grateful for the

continued support for the Green from the

residents of Kingsland and the surrounding

area.

Andrew Parsons – Hon Sec. Tel 708592

21

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Memories of Kingsland Church Choir

It is known that there was a church choir at

the beginning of the century. A photograph

exists of quite a sizeable choir at the

dedication of the war memorial at the end

of World War 1.

During the 1930’s and 1940’s a men and

boys choir directed by Preb G.H. Jobling

led the singing with Miss Elsie Goodman at

the organ. At one time during this period

the boys’ choir was made up of five pairs of

brothers – David & Tom Craig, Carl &

Cliff Davis. Ken & Lynne Jones, Douglas

& Geoffrey Pratt, Brian & Rodney Thomas,

plus Bob Bodenham, Mike Millard and Bob

Whittall. The men had a wonderful line of

tenors on the back row, Messrs. Wall,

Weaver, Williams, Winders and Crump,

with bass line of Messrs. Burgess, Owen

and Preece.

The big treat of the year was the choir

supper held at the Rectory (now Kingsland

House) provided by Preb and Mrs. Jobling

and cooked by Miss Susan Watkins. The

bell ringers joined in on these occasions.

For probationers there was an initiation

ceremony, tonsils had to be examined

closely with mouths wide open, to make

sure that the larynx remained in good

working order, a large spoonful of mustard

was deposited on the back of the tongue

and the mouth held tightly closed until the

unfortunate victim had swallowed the

medicine.

An important member of the company,

without whom making music would have

been difficult, was Jack Price. Jack was the

organ blower and sat out of sight at the

back of the organ which he pumped

manually to provide the air for the organ to

work.

Jack worked at the local shop performing

all tasks from serving to baking bread or

delivering groceries on the box tricycle and

gave much of his free time to raising money

for various charities and organisations by

arranging whist drives and running draws.

One such organisation to benefit was of

course the church choir. Jack arranged

many choir and bell ringers’ outings to

various seaside resorts. On one trip to Rhyl

the coach from “a local garage” had a

puncture at Church Stretton, on arrival at

Rhyl somewhat behind schedule, the fish

and chips were found to be a little on the

cold side.

Due to ill health Preb Jobling handed over

the running of the choir to Mr. C.T. Jones

who carried out this duty for some thirty

years. Perhaps the highlight for Mr. Jones

was winning the ‘Banner for Church Choirs

at the Herefordshire music festival’, for two

successive years in the 1950’s.

This was during Rev G. Worsley’s time as

Rector of Kingsland, and it was he who

introduced ladies into the choir, as at this

time boy trebles seemed to be in very short

supply.

Mr. Jones handed the baton to our present

choir master and organist Mr. David Noon,

under whose guidance the choir has

continued to be an important body in the

leading of worship in our church. Mr.

Noon has been more ambitious in staging

such works as Stainer’s ‘Crucifixion’;

Maunders ‘Olivet to Calvary’; and

Handel’s Messiah as well as the annual

Advent and Christmas Carol Services. All

of these events should not be missed.

On the social side of being a choir member

under Mr. Noon’s regime there has been an

annual Christmas Dinner, a summer bar-b-

24

que and several trips to the theatre and

other outings.

Very many people have passed through our

church choir some staying for a short time,

others for a life time, 76 years by one

member. I know that every single one will

have felt privileged to have belonged. The

time, effort and dedication by all has been

tremendous. May it long continue!

Cliff Davis

(N.B. Choir practices will resume in the

choir vestry on Thursday evenings at 7.15

just as soon as we are allowed to sing

together again! All welcome! Watch this

space! Ed.)

Terry Jones

Painting and

Decorating

Inside and Outside

Work Undertaken

For a Free Quote call

Terry 01544 267 861

Or 07906918875

25

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Volunteering at St. Michael’s Hospice

Since retiring I have joined the huge

band volunteers at St Michaels Hospice

and go to Bartestree twice monthly,

carrying out two different roles and I

also just started, prior to lockdown,

supporting families in their homes.

Clearly we have not been able to do any

volunteering during lockdown, but we

have been contacted weekly by the

Volunteer Co-ordinator and this week

we had an extremely interesting zoom

meeting with the co-ordinator and Chief

Executive. Mike Keel the Chief

Executive was able to give us lots of

positive news. The Hospice has only

had two cases of Corona Virus, both of

which came from patients who had been

transferred from hospital. The

government was now listening to

hospices much more and including them

in all discussions with Health Trusts.

Any unopened drugs can now be

returned to be re-issued, instead of being

thrown away. He suggested that this will

save the health service huge amounts of

money.

Patients now no longer have to wait for

Care Packages to be set up before they

can be discharged from hospital/hospice.

Historically this has created huge

problems with bed-blocking. Teams of

people within the community, with local

knowledge of people and families are

assisting and keeping an eye on patients.

The District Nurses Hub which was

previously at Belmont, has now been

moved to the Hospice building. This will

hugely help the liaison between the

Hospice at Home team, McMillan team,

who also operate out of the Hospice

building, and the District Nurses team.

Anyone who has had a family member

being cared for by these teams, will

know only too well, wonderful as they

all are, that there seemed to be a total

lack of communication/liaison between

these teams, with regard to visiting, what

was/wasn't being done etc.

The trustees of the Hospice have always

been insistent that good financial

reserves were in place for any such

eventuality as this pandemic, so very

fortuitously they are able to manage to

continue operating, despite no shops

being open to generate funds and no

fundraising activities being able to take

place. Some on-line events have taken

place and funds are still coming in from

bequests, people's wishes being activated

and funeral donations.

Mike Keel felt that it would be some

time before shops were able to re-open

and time would be required for all

Health and Safety and Health and

Hygiene checks to be carried out, prior

to opening. Fundraising events would

not be able to be held for a very

meaningful period. He stressed the huge

importance of volunteers to the Hospice

and hoped that we would all return to

our roles as soon as this was possible.

If anyone reading this is interested in

volunteering in any way, please feel free

to contact me, on 07866418488,

Jean Barbour

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Nature Notes

After one of the warmest and driest

Mays since 1929 with only 9mm of rain

and so far in early June rather mixed

weather, but again only just 10mm

compared with last year’s rainfall of

127mm, the countryside farms and

gardens in our area are desperate for

water.

It was pleasing on Ascension Day to

hear the cuckoo in Kingsland although I

think only one? Did anyone else hear it?

It is not just garden plants that will thank

you for water during the summer.

Watching birds coming for a drink or a

bath can be an entertaining sight.

Blackbirds and robins are regular

visitors for quick dip and wood pigeons

may just sit in the water to cool off.

Summer is a critical time as water can be

scarce for birds and bathing helps birds

keep their feathers in top condition.

Wildlife continues to proliferate – an

increase in sightings of both red kites

and buzzards soaring over the village.

Sand martins have been busy with their

nests on the riverbanks and there was a

moderate hatch of mayfly on our rivers.

In our gardens the call of the wren,

active blue tits busy with one and

possibly two nests, together with robins

and rather adventurous blackbirds

digging up parts of the garden,

particularly where gardeners don’t want

them to !

Keep safe and let us hope summer

wasn’t just May!

Jackdaw

MARTIN

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LANDSCAPING

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Renovations

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Hard Landscaping

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Mob: 07870355734

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Keeping Busy

Some of us who are long-time retired and,

mindful of the current restrictions on our

personal freedom made necessary by the

Covid19 virus, are wondering when, and

where, it will all end. Many are in 'lock-

down' and cannot even leave their homes.

Those who are fit enough and have a

practical bent, enjoy doing some of the odd

jobs in and around the house. Those with

gardens are making the most of good

weather and are planting, pruning and

tidying up in every spare moment. Even

the old garden shed has received a new coat

of paint and its contents put in some sort of

order! Those with hobbies such as

woodwork, needlework, art, music, etc.,

relish the additional time spent on these

pastimes. Apart from this, time is utilised in

keeping everything hygienically clean !

If you have a husband, wife, partner or

children living with you, then the chances

are that you can do all of the above or

more. Even if they are not physically with

you, you can keep in contact by phone,

Skype or other electronic means.

Some of us are solitary and perhaps

disabled, relying on carers or good

neighbours for our supplies, medicines, etc.

and as a reliable back-up if there is a

problem. In many such cases the television

is the only entertainment available, and

even this can prove irksome after a while!

Being on my own for a large part of the

time, although not disabled, (just old!) and

not inclined towards gardening or other

alternative hobbies, I fall back upon

activities for the brain, memory, the mind –

whatever you wish to call it. Sometimes it's

a crossword or Sudoku in the daily paper or

a magazine. … more often it is an unrelated

thought which conjures up a memory of a

thing, place or person, which, in turn

extrapolates into an almost cinematic scene

of the event which took place perhaps fifty

or more, years ago. Then, with effort, you

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can bring to mind the people involved –

sometimes family, sometimes work

colleagues, or even onlookers to the event.

My earliest memory is of nurses looking

after me in hospital when I had diphtheria

(at the age of five). I remember,

particularly, their huge white winged head

coverings and dark blue uniforms.

How far back can you get? What were

your parents like when you first remember

them? Who were your first real friends?

Were there real joys or sadness in your

early days?

Why not jot down what you remember, and

work from there! All you need is a pad and

a pencil - and the best computer you can

ever get! (It's between your ears!)

Rick

Organ Favourites.

Fund-raising towards the running costs of

Kingsland Church has been on hold for so

long now that there is a serious gap in the

finances. One contribution could be made

by holding (as soon as we are allowed to!)

short organ concerts where the pieces

played would be chosen by you (from a

published list of pieces within the

competence of the player and the

capabilities of the organ. ) A contribution

towards the funds, whatever you can afford,

or whatever you think it is worth, would

help to keep the church financially afloat,

and the whole event could be fun.

The current outlook suggests this won’t be

possible until September at the earliest so

watch out for further announcements on

noticeboards and in this magazine..

David Noon

Treasure’s Quiz and ‘lockdown photo

competition.

The Results of the Treasures' Quiz are in,

and the winner is "High, Ham and Hay"

with an amazing 99/100. Well done

Runners up were Bowen/Alexander with

90/100 and "The Life of Riley" with

88/100.

Thank you to all who participated and for

those of you who had a go but didn't send

in your answers. You will find the answers

on the next two pages together with the tie-

breaking Limericks! Thank you most of

all to Chris and Rhian Fear for devising the

Quiz and for running it. We have raised

£12000 from this and donations to the

Treasures Project from individuals in the

community. THANK YOU.

Kingsland Church Office

Shopmobility

We provide mobility

scooters, wheelchairs and

powered wheelchairs on a

daily hire basis for anyone

with permanent or temporary

mobility difficulties wishing to

visit Hereford, Leominster,

Ledbury or Ross.

Please contact:

Hereford 01432 342166

Leominster 01568 616755

Ledbury 01531 636001

Ross 01989 763388

33

‘Treasures’ Quiz with Answers

Round 1: Titles of poorly explained films: 1. Woman hogs plank of wood in cold water. Man dies as result: Titanic

2. Group of small friends spends three films returning jewellery: Lord of the Rings

3. A film about a man who likes running and chocolates: Forrest Gump

4. Two friends get lost but find their way home with the help of alien toys: Toy Story

5. A father thinks he is too old to run the family business so gives it to his son who is less than pleased: The Godfather

6. Child helps a stray get home using a bike and a phone: E.T.

7. Junior forensic anthropologists follow industrial tracks to a deadly prize: Stand by me

8. Man makes animals using stone, they try to eat his grandchildren and the man trying to save them: Jurassic Park

9. Menace, who is partial to make-up, upsets residents of a town and is stopped by a man with a cape: Batman, The dark night

10. Man who digs for his job goes in search of an old item. Journey is made more difficult by group led by man with questionable

facial hair: Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

Round 2 Connect Four

Grumpy Happy Sneeze Bump Mr Men Characters

Trap Camera Limit Test Preceded by word ‘Speed’

Binocular Telescope Microscope Contact All have lenses

Flask Bunsen Burner Beaker Clamp Science Equipment

Round 3 Series & Lists

1. W,W,H,S & M,H, R, J (Monarchs of England from William 11.

2. 6,28,496 8128, 33550336, 8589869056, 137438691328 (First seven perfect numbers)

3. W 74,RR 74,IDIDIDIDID 75, SOS 75, MM 76 F 76, DQ 76 (First 7 ABBA UK singles and Year)

4. H, He, Li, Be, B C, N, (First seven elements in the periodic table)

5. Gargarin/Vostok 1, Shepherd/Freedom 7, Grissom/Liberty Bell 7, Titov/Vostok 2, Glenn/Friendship 7,

Carpenter/Aurora 7, Nikolayev/Sokol (First seven manned space missions)

6. Bolt & Griffith-Joyner, Gay/Blake & Jeter, Powell & Jones, Gatlin & Fraser-Price/Thompson, Coleman & Aron

Carter & Ottey/Gardner, Greene & Stewart/Richardson (Fastest men & women over 100m)

7. A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of Four, The Hound of the Baskervilles The Valley of Fear

(Canon of Sherlock Holmes novels by Conan-Doyle

8. Harrison, Taylor, Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, Harding Roosevelt, Kennedy (US presidents who died in office)

9. Fake, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow Liverpool, Manchester (UK STD codes from 0111 to 0161)

10. Charles, George, Charlotte, Louis Harry, Archie (line of succession to the British Throne)

Round 4 Dingbats

1. Cutting Corners 2. Half baked 3. An Inside Job 4. Two steps forward and one step back

5 A play on Words 6. Fork in Road 7. A dime a dozen 8. Seven seas 9. Breakfast 10. Rain on my parade

Round 5 Connect Four

Season Series Episode Programme Types of TV Programme

Sprinkle Cut Mix Bake Cooking Instructions

Rolling Take two On your mark Action Things a film director would say

Whet Grind Mill Precious Science Equipment

Round 6 What’s missing?

1. Of these three, the greatest. Love (1 Corinthians 13:13)

2. Of these seven, the only one that does not have an adjective for a name. Doc ( names of the 7 dwarves according to

Disney)

3. Of these five, the two cats Lion, Leopard (‘Big Five’ Game)

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4. Of these four the rider of the pale one Death (Revelations 6)

5. Of these five, the only non-human Timmy the Dog (Famous Five)

6. Of these nine the one declassified in 2006 Pluto (Declassified as a planet)

7. Of fifteen the one left unfinished The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Dickens novels)

8. Of these twelve, which is not alive Five Gold Rings (The twelve days of Christmas)

9. Of fifteen, who wears number 11 Left Wing (Rugby Union)

10. Of these none, the one who cannot be killed by a man. King of Nazgul, Witch King of Angmar (Lord of the Rings)

Round 7: Connect 4

Hamlet Village Town City Places where you live

King Lear Othello Coriolanus Cymbeline Shakespeare Tragedies

Macbeth Peacock Feather Break a leg Ghost Light Theatre Superstitions

United Albion Athletic Wanderers Premiership Football Club Names

Round 8: Linkages

1. Santa Claus, Rasputin, Brian Blessed, Hagrid Beards

2. Pride, Hurd (herd) Pack, School Collective names for wildlife

3. Cheese, Ham, Mackerel, Salmon Foods that are smoked

4. Pad, Manor Slang for Home

5. Dragon, leak, (leek) daffodil, rugby Wales

6. Dough, La-la, far, Ray (Winstone) Note names in Tonic Sol-fa

7. Mary (Berry) Ann (Hathaway), Elizabeth, Victoria Queens of England

8. Shot, Hammer, Marathon, Relay Athletics Events

9. Sponge (bob squarepants), Pike, Walker, Jones Dad’s Army

10. Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, Panama, Monte Christo Cigar Brands

Round 9: Anagrams

1. Usain Bolt 2. Theresa May 3. Saddam Hussain 4. Nelson Mandela 5. Margaret Thatcher

6. Leonardo da Vinci 7. Eric Clapton 8. Barak Obama 9. Mel Gibson 10. William Shakespeare

Round 10: Where am I going after ‘lockdown’?

1. London 2. Dubai 3. St. Petersburg 4. Giza or Cairo 5. Sien Reap (or Angkor Wat)

6. New York 7. Amsterdam 8. Rio de Janeiro 9. Paris 10. Siena

From the Alexander-Bowen team: It was during the Covid lockdown That I started to dress as a clown But I just wasn’t funny My make-up was runny And my shorts were suspiciously brown! From “The Life of Riley”:

It was during the Covid lockdown I was offered a job by the Crown To advise the Health Minister Which I found very sinister As my previous job was a clown!

From “The Quizzly Bears! It was during the Covid lockdown I cycled past fields green and brown ‘Long lanes, flower-bedecked Lambs baa’d, chickens pecked Fruit blossom the “jewel in the crown”!

From “High, Ham and Hag”

It was during the Covid lockdown We fantasized travelling around We imagined more faces And more lovely places Than if we had just stayed in town.

From Rhydimoor It was during the Covid lockdown We saw Rev Julie meltdown The church needed cash The quiz helped the stash A smile then reduced Julie’s frown!

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