The Christian Way

60p

NOVEMBER 2017The Magazine of the Anglican, Methodist,United Reformed, Baptist, Hawkeridge &Roman Catholic Churches of Westbury

859669Link is run by volunteers

and is funded almostentirely by donations fromthose using our services

Westbury andDistrict

Link SchemeIf we can help you,

please give us a ring

Crosspoint and its partner Westbury Counselling Service runcounselling sessions on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons.Our web page is www.crosspoint-westbury.co.uk

Our email address is info@crosspoint-westbury.co.uk

Our phone number is 01373 827364

We open Mondays and Wednesdays 2.30pm – 5pm and Thursdays and Saturdays10am – 12.30pm

Communication from Rev. Rhona Floate

Understanding Christianity

How well do we understand our faith? How many of us, who are regularworshippers, would feel confident in explaining some of the key conceptsof the faith to a friend or a child? Concepts such as God – Creation – Fall –People of God – Incarnation – Gospel – Salvation – Kingdom of God.Could you tell them the overarching story of the Bible simply? Could youexplain to someone how to make sense of Biblical texts, how to delvebeneath their surface and understand why they were written, what theirsignificance was then and how they relate to life today?

This is just one of the many tasks that we ask of the teachers in ourschools. It is especially challenging at primary level where the responsibilityof teaching Religious Education falls to every class teacher, not just thosewho have specialised in the subject. It is especially important that at thisstage, as with every other subject, good foundations are laid so thatchildren can develop their skills of enquiry, discovery and gain confidenceand understanding. It is as essential for their development as otherelements of the curriculum.

As I have spent time in conversation with Head Teachers and other staff inour local schools, I have been impressed with their commitment to thetask. It is not easy, and they need our support and encouragement. Thereis a good framework already in place: clergy from across the churchesregularly lead worship in schools, welcome schools into church buildingsfor services, and occasionally contribute to lessons. The Open the BookTeam present Bible stories in local schools once or twice a term. Churchmembers serve on Governing Bodies, or work in schools in paid andvoluntary roles.

Nationally, the Church of England has developed a new resource to helpteachers present the diversity and coherency of the faith as shared acrossthe churches. Called ‘Understanding Christianity’, it was developed inresponse to Ofsted reports which found that pupils’ understanding of theChristian faith is often unsystematic and confused. It may leave them with acollection of information about the faith but little understanding abouttheir religious significance, or how to enquire about it and reflect on it forthemselves. ‘Understanding Christianity’ is designed to equip teachers to

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help children make sense of the texts of the Bible, understand theirimpact and how they are relevant to life today. It is an ongoingprogramme so children can revisit the different aspects over a period ofyears in ways that match their general development.

Having listened to Head Teachers and had a taster of ‘UnderstandingChristianity’ in order to be better able to support our schools, I keepcoming back to this: It is the task of every Christian to be able to explainour faith to those around us and go on developing our abilities andconfidence to do so. It is a task that is too important to leave to teachersand the 5% of school time that can be spent on it during a person’sformative years. It is a life long journey of exploration that we all need tobe part of and able to share with others, wherever we encounter them,and whatever their age.As individuals and as churches, we need to support our schools in prayerand practical ways. We also need to tend to our own ability to go deeperinto our faith in ways that enable us to speak about our Christianity withconfidence and understanding.

Revd Rhona FloatePriest in Charge, White Horse Team Ministry

Advent Carol ServiceThe annual Advent candlelit Carol Service will be held at St.Mary's Church, Old Dilton, on Sunday 26th November at 4pm.

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REGISTER

Let us welcome into the family of God,following the recent baptisms of:

whose funerals took place recently

We extend love and sympathy to the familiesand friends of:

Freddie Stewart V.Henry Oliver V.Mason Robert Christopher H.Rupert Samuel John V.Brooke Scarlett A.Alfie John S.Blake David Hudson G.

Charles Y.Terence W.Christopher P.Claire H.Arthur M.Rodney C.

We offer congratulations on the marriage of:

Paul A. & Melanie W.

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NEWS FROM THE UNITEDREFORMED CHURCH

Coffee

The Westbury Link Scheme will be holding a coffee morning atthe Methodist Church on Thursday 2nd November from 10 am.

The URC November coffee morning will be held in the hall onSaturday 4th at 10.30 am.

Maggie and I recently attended the URC Women's Conference atBrunel Manor, Torquay. This was an opportunity to celebrate theCentenary of the ordination of the first woman (Constance Coltman)into a mainstream Christian denomination. URC women ministerscurrent and retired were invited to attend the communion serviceand lunch on the final day. It was a challenging and informative fewdays as well as an enjoyable time to renew friendships with othersin the South West Synod. Our recent Harvest Service was much enjoyed and well attended,with our friends from Frome URC joining us. We had a bring andshare lunch in the hall after the service. By the time you read this, we will have enjoyed a lunch at a localhostelry with family and friends. Food seems to figure a lot in ouractivities!

Priscilla

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NEWS FROM THE METHODIST CHURCH

Our Harvest Festival on September 24th saw the church beautifullydecorated for the morning service, where gifts of food wereaccepted for the Food Bank and monetary donations for theVoucher Scheme. After the service, we gathered for a HarvestLunch which was much enjoyed. Many thanks to everyone whoprepared food and helped with serving.The Westbury Festival brought a host of visitors to our doors fortwo very successful events. A talk on the ‘Great Western Railwayand Westbury’ by Colin, railway historian and author, attracted afull audience and was followed the next week by an equallypopular evening entitled ‘Spend a night with the Old Bill’, presentedby our own Rev. Ward Jones, also a local historian.Many of us took part in an evening of Westbury’s Favourite Hymnsat All Saints' Church organised by ‘Westbury Area ChurchesTogether’ during the festival, and would agree that it was a grandevening of top class singing by everyone! Who would haveguessed Westbury’s very favourite hymn? We love it too andincluded it in our own Songs of Praise in October - “Shine, Jesus,Shine”! A great prayer for our nation.Shoe box time is truly upon us now and it’s ‘all hands to the pump’to make sure they are ready to be delivered to the depot inSalisbury on the first leg of their journey. As usual, we are happy toaccept and deliver your individual boxes with ours. This year theChristmas Box Appeal, is asking for £3 per box to help withtransport costs. For dates of collection please call Sandra.

Our Annual Church Lunch is at the Railway Inn, Station Road onSaturday 4th November, and we look forward to an enjoyable timeof good food and fellowship together.

Jacky5

NEWS FROM WEST END BAPTIST CHURCH

Like many others, we were very sad to hear of the death of ArthurMays, as many of us have stories to tell of his kindness over theyears. Some years' ago, the ministers of the time, backed by someother influential folk, officially sent a request for Arthur to beincluded in the New Year’s Honours List. Because of the range ofreasons given for the inclusion, we expected him to be included, butas it never happened (and I understand that there had beenprevious attempts) we felt that probably Arthur, being Arthur, hadturned it down as he had felt that he was not worthy of the honour.

We were also sad to hear that because of the pressure of herstudies, Esther feels unable to continue with the ARK afterChristmas and so it will have to close. We do appreciate herreasons for doing this, and therefore thank her and her team forrunning the group for the past five years or so.

I have heard some very positive feedback for the activities that theChurch were involved with during the Westbury Festival. Also overour Harvest weekend, Vera & Ron hosted an afternoon tea at theirhome which raised a further £68 for the BMS harvest appeal. At thepoint of writing, we are looking forward to our Tea Party towards theend of October (21st at 4pm); as well as the special discussion at theChurches Together Meeting on youth work (19th at 8.15pm)

For November, we have our bimonthly church meeting on Thursday16th, followed by Light Lunches on Saturday 18th. Messy Church willbe looking at the story of Joseph (Jesus’ dad); and on the lastSunday in the month we have our 192nd Church Anniversarycelebration when our guest preacher will be the Rev’d RhonaFloate. As this day also includes our annual gift day, we shall betaking up an offering towards our Development Fund for ourongoing Building project in the lead-up to our 200th Anniversary inNovember 2025.

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There will be no Thursday Fellowship during November as the ladieswill be attending the Patronal Festival on the previous afternoon at AllSaints' [1st].

See the Sunday Worship pages for further details regarding thepreachers for the month.

Please visit our Church Website [http://www.westendbaptist.org.uk/]for further details.

Graham Warmington

November is the month of remembrance. When I was a boy,poppies were not particularly in fashion and as I grew up in thesixties and seventies, poppies were often seen as an encourage-ment to all things militaristic and against the backdrop of theVietnam war, young people in particular did not think it a good thingto wear a poppy. Some people wore white poppies as a sign of anti-war protest. Time changes our concept and today it's seen as a sluron the memory of the casualties of conflicts not to wear a poppy.Within the Christian faith something of this conflict between the twoapproaches to war remains. Military officers were commended fortheir faith and spirituality by Jesus, while at the same time, heblesses the peacemakers and calls on people to accept a foreignmilitary presence and to cooperate with the occupying forces muchthe same as the prophet Jeremiah had done before him. MahatmaGandhi, a Hindu by faith, perhaps provides the best response to thisdilemma when he says that he would die for his faith but not kill forit.

Len Clift

Stormore

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White Horse Benefice

We continue to pray for the person whom God is calling to be ournext Team Vicar. We are delighted to welcome The Reverend Melanie Otto who is joining us as Assistant Curate to continue hertraining. Here is Melanie's introduction:

Hello! My name is Melanie Otto and I am very excited to be joiningyou as Curate. I was ordained Deacon in Salisbury Cathedral inJune 2016 and served the first part of my training in the BradfordDeanery. That has now ended and I am transferring across to theWhite Horse Team to complete my curacy.

Coming with me will be my husband Andrew, who is a ScienceLecturer at Wiltshire College. We have three sons: our youngestTimothy has just started University, Samuel, our middle son is anactor and James, our eldest, is a composer and is married to Katy,who is also an actor.

I did my training part time at Sarum College whilst working full timeas a Pastoral Officer at St Augustine's Catholic College inTrowbridge. I loved studying theology and learning about what itmeans to be a Christian in the 21st century, and the challenge weall face of making our faith relevant to those around us. Thesechallenges are something which I hope we can explore furthertogether.

In my spare time I like reading, walking, going to the cinema andspending time with my family and friends. I also like gardening andplaying my guitar, although I am still very much learning anddeveloping my skills!

Please pray for us over the coming months as I initially commutefrom Bradford, and then as we settle into life in Westbury. We arelooking forward to getting to know you and being part of your familyas we all journey on together with God in this beautiful part ofWiltshire.

God bless, Melanie

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St Bernadette's Church

It is with great regret that we had to say goodbye to our ParishPriest Canon Liam O'Driscoll in October. He has ministered to us forover 27years and seemed irrevocably embedded into our lives. Hehas generously devoted his time to us in Westbury and St John'sin Trowbridge, with patience and kindness. We celebrated hisDiamond Jubilee as a priest in July with a big party at St Augustine'sHall, so I think he was hoping to slip away quietly - but in Westburywe presented him with a small gift of golf balls and a home madecake in anticipation of all that extra leisure time he might enjoy.However, knowing the Canon, it is unlikely he will relax at all. He isto take up the position of Parish Priest in Bradford on Avon and willno doubt put all his energies into that role. We wish him all the bestand will keep him in our prayers.Here in Westbury, we welcome Father Tom Finnegan. Fr Tom isquite a live wire and has lots of new ideas to bring us forward in ourchurch community. He will keep us on our toes! We have at last gained access to car parking space behind thechurch, thanks to co-operation from the Westbury Nursing Homeand are working on improving the surrounding grounds. We wouldlike to thank our friends from the Methodist Church for theirtolerance and understanding during a difficult time for us - when ourcar park was abruptly closed owing to the sale and redevelopmentof the adjacent surgery.At St Bernadette's we do not usually celebrate Harvest Time in sucha colourful way as other churches in the area, but this year couldhardly ignore it as one of our parishioners shared his bumper cropof apples with us by depositing a crate or two in the church. We alsohosted a quiz evening with a ploughman's supper which is always apopular autumn event. Now we will prepare for our Grand ChristmasBazaar in Trowbridge on 9th December. The Westbury team isresponsible for the gift stall and so is busy collecting,and makingsuitable items for sale. I expect most of you are similarly occupied atthis time of the year.

Marysia

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Send a Cow : The New Area Project

On Saturday 23 September, members of the Area Churchesmet for the launch of the new project, Send a Cow. Thisincluded people from both Westbury Methodist and WestburyURC Churches. Over supper we heard from Ann, the ChurchDevelopment Officer from the charity. Ann firstly reminded us ofthe history of Send a Cow which was started in 1988 by a BristolDairy farmer in collaboration with a visiting Bishop from Uganda.Initially, planeloads of pregnant cows were flown from thiscountry to the families in Uganda that needed them. Thesedays, livestock (including cows, rabbits, goats and bees), issourced more locally to where they are needed. Over the years,the charity has evolved to work with smallholder farmers acrossseven African countries, providing support, tools and monetaryadvice so that families are given the confidence, knowledgeand skills to improve their lives.

When working on such a vast scale, there are many individualprojects and it is one of these, The Kakrao Project that the areais supporting. Kakrao is a village in Western Kenya where mostpeople make a very basic living from agriculture and live in direpoverty. One of the crops, tobacco is particularly poorly paid,and the continual cropping causes soil erosion. HIV has a highprevalence so many families have taken in orphans and havedependent relatives to support. Many families consist of widows,who are ill themselves, and their children. One of these isCaren, widowed and responsible for three grandchildren.

The project has just started this September and will be runningfor three years. Currently, the new team is undergoing theirtraining and getting familiar with the setting as well as the needsin this region. The farmers have not yet been chosen for theproject; that should happen later next month - please do prayfor this community as they hope that Send a Cow will come totransform their lives. Pray too that these people will not expect ahand out, but a hand up, and that they will be prepared to workhard to change their circumstances.

Maggie

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WORSHIP NOTESThrough the week

TUESDAYMorning Prayer - 9.30am at AllSaints' ChurchTown Prayers - 2.30pm at theMethodist Church.

WEDNESDAYMorning Prayer - 8.45am atHoly Trinity Church, DiltonMarshFirst Steps to Worship -9.30am at All Saints' Church(term time only)Holy Communion - 10.30amat All Saints' Church

Town PrayersAt 2.30pm each Tuesday, a smallgroup of people from the Churchesmeets for 15 minutes to praytogether.They would welcome other people tojoin them for this time of being stillwith God in one of the churches.This month they will be at theMethodist Church.

7th Nov Lynne Weekley14th Nov Rev David Hart21st Nov Rev Ward Jones28th Nov Jacky Williams

November readings -All Saints' Church

& Holy Saviour

Sunday 5th 1 John 3: 1-3 Matthew 5: 1-12Sunday 12th 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-end Matthew 25: 1-13Sunday 19th 1 Thessalonians 5: 1-11 Matthew 25: 14-30Sunday 26th Ephesians 1: 15-end Matthew 25: 31-end

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DISCUSSION GROUPS

The winning numbers for NOVEMBER

£25 - 95 £10 - 22

Congratulations!

100 CLUB

Exploring the Bible

Meetings at Crosspoint are on Mondays at 7.30 pm.

The Fully Alive Group

The Fully Alive Group meets every two weeks at Crosspoint,Market Place, Westbury from 2.30 - 4.00 pm to read and discussvarious topics to further our understanding of the Christian faith.The Group is currently reading Living Faithfully by John Pritchardand all are welcome to join us. For further information contactAgnes. The dates of the meetings in November are as below:

Friday, 3 NovemberFriday, 17 November

Please help to raise much needed funds for the parish.£15 subscription is now due and may be taken to the ParishOffice or given to Brian. New members are welcome.

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All Saints' Church 8 am Holy Communion each week5th 9.30 am Team Service

6 pm Evensong (MC)12th 9.30 am Holy Communion followed by Westbury Civic Act ofRemembrance at 10.50am in theHigh Street

6 pm Rev. H. Wilson (MC)19th9.30 am Parish Communion

6 pm Evensong (MC)26th10 am All-Age Communion

4 pm Advent Carol Service at Old Dilton

United Reformed Church

5th 11 am Rev. D. CoppardHoly Communion

12th 10.30 am Mrs. J. Tanner at Methodist Church

19th 11 am Rev. R. Whittard26th 11 am Mrs. I. Smears

WORSHIP around the churches in NOVEMBER

Methodist Church5th 10.30 am Rev. H. Morgan

6 pm Evensong 12th10.30 am Mrs. J. Tanner

6 pm Rev. H. Wilson19th10.30 am Rev. D. Coppard

Holy Communion6 pm Evensong

26th 10.30 am Rev. M. Teed6 pm Rev. D. Coppard

Please note that fromNovember 5th, the eveningservice will normally be atthe Methodist Church

Holy Saviour Church5th 9.30 am Team Service at

All Saints'12th10.50am Holy Communion19th11am Holy Communion26th11am Holy Communion

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West End Baptist Church

5th 10.30 am Rev. I. McManusHoly Communion

12th 10.30 am Rev. I. McManus4pm Messy Church

19th 10.30 am Mr. A. RidoutHoly Communion

26th 10.30 am Rev. R. FloateChurch Anniversary

Hawkeridge CongregationalChapel5th 6 pm Mr. J. Parsons 12th 6 pm Mr. D. Breese19th 6 pm Mrs. L. Breese26th 6 pm Rev. A. Steele

Stormore Church, Dilton Marsh

5th 10.30 am Rev. L. Clift

12th 10 am Remembrance Service at Memorial Hall

19th 10.30 am Rev. L. CliftHoly Communion

26th 10.30 am Rev. L. Clift

Midweek Group at 7pm on 9th & 23rd

St Bernadette's Church

5th 9 am Mass

12th 9 am Mass

19th 9 am Mass

26th 9 am Mass

Westbury CE Junior School

12th 10 am Cafe Church

Westbury Churches Together

12th Messy Church'Joseph - Jesus' dad at 4pmat West End Baptist Church

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Mothers' UnionWe were pleased to welcome to our October meeting Christinawho has been working in Hebron, Palestine, on a World Council ofChurches project with The Ecumenical Accompaniment Pro-gramme in Palestine and Israel.Hebron is a large, multi-cultural, multi-faith city. At various timesThe Tomb of the Patriarchs has been a church, a synagogue andis currently a mosque. The city is meant to be Palestinian but iscontrolled by the Israeli military and all Israeli young people have togo into the military.

In Palestine the obstacles to receiving an education are numer-ous. Children witness violence from an early age and many sufferfrom emotional and psychological distress. Schools are frequentlyattacked. Children and teachers have to go through checkpointscontrolled by Israeli soldiers to get to school. Sometimes they arelet through, but if refused have to return home.

“Ecumenical Accompaniers” (EAs) such as Christina just stand inthe street by the checkpoints but never intervene in any situation.They are providing protection presence and accompaniment to3,500 students and 300 teachers and helping people to gainaccess to their land, jobs and medical facilities. They are also ableto monitor and document human rights abuses through eyewitnessaccounts.

We have sent a thank you card and testimonial to Joanne for herwork in organising the Virtual Baby Project for Matravers students.

We would like the shoe boxes in All Saints' by November 26th for ablessing before they are sent on their way.

A few members were able to attend part of the Council meeting atWest Lavington where Laura, our new Community DevelopmentCo ordinator, was introduced. We also learned that Mothers' Unionhas joined forces with The Children`s Society.

Hilary

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01 November Patronal Festival All Saints' Church 2.30pm22 November Corporate

CommunionAll Saints' Church 10.30am

05 December Gender BasedViolence Service

Salisbury Cathedral 12 noon

12 December Deanery CarolService

St. Michael's ChurchMere

12 noon

13 December Carol Service All Saints' Church 2.30pm27 December Corporate

CommunionAll Saints' Church 10.30am

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Y A S "Young All Saints" isthe collective name for thechildren and young peoples'groups at the Parish Church. These comprise:Sunday School at the ParishHall on Sundays at 9.30am.For details contact Jacky.Term time only.

First Steps to Worship is a group for pre-school children andcarers at All Saints' Church on Wednesday mornings, in term timeat 9.30am. Contact Sharon.

HAPPYBIRTHDAY!

to

Town DiaryRegular EventsMon. 7.30 pm Maranatha Group Praise Evening at the Methodist

Church (first Monday of the month) 7.45 pm White Horse Community Choir at West End Baptist

Church (weekly)Tues. 9.30 am Morning Prayer at All Saints' Church

2.30 pm Town Prayers (for venue see page 14)Weds. 9.30 am First Steps to Worship at All Saints' Church (term time only)

10.30 am Holy Communion at All Saints' ChurchThurs. 9.30 am The Ark (WEBC weekly)

11 am Mass at St Bernadette's Church2.30 pm Thursday Fellowship (WEBC monthly)

Sun. 9.30 am Sunday Schools at Parish Hall (term time only)4 pm Messy Church (WEBC 2nd Sunday of each month)7.15 pm Silent Prayer at All Saints' Church, Chapel of the Holy Name

Hetty

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What's on in NOVEMBERWeds. 1st 10am Monthly market at Westbury Leigh

Community Hall, Holy Saviour2.30pm MU Patronal Festival at AS

Thurs. 2nd 10am Westbury Link Scheme Coffee Morning at Methodist Church

Fri. 3rd 2.30 - 4pm Fully Alive at CrosspointSat. 4th 10.30am URC Coffee Morning in Hall

10-12noon Coffee Morning at Holy Trinity, DMMon. 6th 7.30pm Exploring the Bible (Crosspoint)Mon 13th 7.30pm Exploring the Bible (Crosspoint)Tues 14th 8pm 'Pints of View' at The Prince of Wales, DMWeds. 15th 8pm 'Pints of View' at The Hollies, W. LeighFri. 17th 2.30 - 4pm Fully Alive at CrosspointMon. 20th 7.30pm Exploring the Bible (Crosspoint)Weds. 22nd 10.30am MU Corporate Communion (AS)Sun. 26th 4pm Advent Carol Service at Old DiltonMon. 27th 7.30pm Exploring the Bible (Crosspoint)

CHRISTMAS TREE FESTIVALAll Saints' Church will be holding their 11thChristmas Tree Festival from 30th November to3rd December. Volunteers to help steward theevent are desperately needed. Please contactSharon if you are able to help. Opening timesare:

Thurs 30th Nov 6pm-9pm

Fri 1st Dec 10am-8.30/9pm

Sat 2nd Dec 10am-8.30/9pm

Sun 3rd Dec 11am-4pm

We also need helpers to set up during the few days prior to the eventand to take down and clean up on Tues 5th. Please speak to John,David or Brian with your offers of help for setting up/taking down andcleaning. This is an important community and fund raising event in thechurch calendar; please do get involved.

Sharon 19

Westbury Leigh CE Primary School's Harvest ServiceOn Thursday 12th October, Year 3 children of Westbury Leigh C ofE Primary School went to Holy Saviour Church to celebrateHarvest. The theme for this year was ‘Colour’. The children weregiving their thanks to God for the colourful world he has createdand this was shown through songs, art work, prayers and drama.Songs included ‘Who put the colours in the rainbow’, ‘Plant a littleseed’ and ‘Harvest Rock 'n' Roll’. A firm favourite by children andadults alike was the song ‘Harvest Rock 'n' Roll’ and the childreneven performed this to the rest of the school! Prayers were sharedwhich gave their thanks for the world in which we live and thecolours surrounding us. The children led the service by represent-ing each colour of the rainbow as well as highlighting theimportance of Harvest time. Donations were made, collected andlater donated to the Warminster food bank. The children enjoyedshowing some of these donations during the festival. Many thanksto the Church for accommodating the children of Westbury LeighPrimary and to the parents for their support. Finally, we must notforget the fantastic year 6 head boy and girl who opened andclosed the Harvest Festival.

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THANK YOU

I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who helpedwith the teas/coffees at a Little Lunch Music, and to everyonewho made cake! We made £320 over the ten lunch times, sowell done.

Anne

Jack and the Beanstalk

There will be a trip to see Jack and the Beanstalk at FromeMemorial Theatre on Saturday 30th December at 7pm. The cost,including coach will be £14. If you are interested in attending,please would you add your name to the list at All Saints' or ringJohn before 16th November.

Plants for sale

Primulas 40pBowls of hyacinths £4.75Bowls of daffodils £4.99Bowls of crocus £4.99

Troughs containing primulas, crocus & mini daffodils19" long £7.7524" long £9.75

Please contact John if you would like to purchase any of theitems listed above.

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WESTBURY & DISTRICTTHE COURTS GARDEN, HOLT

We met on 10th October in lovely autumn weather and Paul, head gardenerof The Courts, Holt since 2010, was welcomed. He explained that the sitewas originally a textile mill. Sir George Hastings laid out the gardenbetween 1902-5 and to professional eyes, it is laid out in an amateur wayi.e. the structure is not laid out as formally or accurately as would havebeen done by a professional, but that is part of its charm. Major Goff’sfamily were there from 1921-90 when his daughter Moyra died. Theproperty had been handed over to the National Trust in 1943, but Moyrainfluenced what work was carried out until her death. The gardenscomprise 7½ acres of which 3 acres are the formal gardens and the restarboretum so that it is difficult to realise that it is in the centre of a village.There is topiary everywhere, some now rather old and rather odd shapeshave been formed, but there is a new problem with box blight which isaffecting gardens throughout the country. Paul explained that they areexperimenting with different plants to replace the box whilst it is beingtreated although it may be some time before they know if the treatment iseffective. Since Paul’s tenure, the orchard has been renovated with thetrees pruned and paths mown through the area to encourage visitors towander there. The sunken terrace has also changed and where trees havedied, other vistas have opened up. It was also discovered that theVenetian gates did not come from Venice but were made much closer tohome. Also, the dye pool was not there when the mill was working. Paulwent on to explain how planting has changed particularly around the pillarlawn where it was discovered the pillars were not as strong as they looked.There are two beehives and the nursery now grows plants for sale. Othergroups are encouraged to come and sculpture exhibitions take place. HoltDramatic Society have used the garden and the”Handlebards”, a group ofactors who go around by bicycle, have performed there. Children fromHolt school also visit the forest school garden regularly. Paul went on toexplain that during winter whilst the garden is closed, they carry out repairwork and this year a new bridge is being installed to replace the board walkby the dye pool. Flooding is another hazard of winter and can causedamage that is not apparent for several months. This is a garden wellworth visiting at any time of the year as there is always something differentto see. Following Paul’s instructive and entertaining talk, he answeredquestions from members during refreshments.

Next month we look forward to hearing about Bob Hope and you arewelcome to join us.

Julie

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Deadline for DECEMBER 'Christian Way' material to reach the Editor is Monday 13th November please

'The Christian Way' is published by Westbury Anglican,Methodist, Roman Catholic, Baptist and United Reformed

Churches

Editor: Isabel Osborne

Printed by Stationery Plus01373 - 865100

sales@stationeryplus.co.uk

For booking Baptisms, Weddings, Banns and any other questionsrelating to Church activities. Bookings for the Parish Hall. Also for

receiving material for this magazine.OPENING HOURS:

Monday 1.30 pm - 4 pmFriday 1.30 pm - 4 pm

(Except public holidays)

Phone 01373 859450 e-mail : office@ whtministry.org.ukEntrance off Churchyard

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We are very grateful to our advertisers for their support and wouldencourage our readers to support them, but we are unable toendorse any product or service advertised and suggest that youmake your own enquiries and judgement as to their suitability foryour purpose.

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Do you enjoy singing?

WESTBURY CHORALwelcomes new membersWe meet every Wednesday

September-April7.30-9.30pm

at Westbury Methodist Church

Tel. 01225 345408 for more details.

email: info@westburychoral.org.ukwebsite:www.westburychoral.org.uk

DILTON MARSH MEMORIALHALL

Available for parties, receptions,presentations, dancing and regular

booking by local societies.

Main Hall, Stage and Kitchenavailable, also Small Hall at the rear

Information and booking 01373-824281 or e-mail to

diltonmemorialhall@gmail.com

WESTBURY LEIGHCOMMUNITY HALL

The ideal venue forwedding receptions - dinnersdances - business functionschildren's parties - etc - etc

Reasonable hire charges

Further information & bookings call

07780 854 839

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