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The Outreach magazine is written by people with associations with either the Church or the village. It is produced three times a year and is delivered free to every house in Oxenhope. The majority of Outreach published in September 2001 is replicated below;
Round the World on a sofa
Previous issues of Outreach;
Easter 2000
September 2000
Christmas 2000
September 2001
September 2002
Christmas 2002
Easter 2003
In February and March this year a largish group of Anglicans and Methodists met together weekly to discuss our understanding of each other or lack of it, in Oxenhope. We decided that a small group from Oxenhope Methodist Church and from St. Mary’s should continue to meet from time to time to take various ideas for working together forward and try to do something about them.
One suggestion has become a reality already and we welcome Val Hogg and Christine Greenwood from Oxenhope Methodist Church to the Outreach editorial group. Another is that we ought to consider holding occasional Methodist services in St. Mary’s and Anglican services in the Methodist Church and inviting both congregations to take part – more about that later. We shall also be advertising each others group activities so that people will feel better able to share in them and so that it doesn’t look as if we’re in competition with each other.
What’s it all about? Well, we believe that the Church can reach out to others more effectively if Christians work together. In the past we have talked about unity but haven’t always shown much enthusiasm for achieving it. It reminds me of a postcard we have on our kitchen wall which shows a rather stodgy looking couple sitting at either end of a sofa on a stage with scripts in their hands so that they can’t really look at each other. The producer backstage says, "You ache with desire. Your very soul is in torment!"
In fact there are official conversations going on between the Methodist Church and the Church of England so perhaps we are helping to stir up the right sort of enthusiasm for a good result.
Bruce Grainger
Roll up your flying carpet, turn off that box in the corner, sit comfortably on your sofa and meet the world! Is this the latest virtual reality experience from Microsoft? No, it’s real person-to-person contact on a small but international scale brought to you by HOST UK.
There are thousands of international students in our colleges and universities who long to meet real live locals in Britain and see our country through the eyes of folk who live here. Rather than stay on campus with colleagues, they would really value the chance to spend a weekend practising English with locals. Rather than spend Christmas alone in a deserted Hall of Residence, they would love to join in family celebrations and find out what’s going on.
Could YOU offer a weekend or Christmas invitation to your
home to one or two students, say once or twice a year? You would be helping them to have an experience which would stand out in their memories and might change their perceptions of this country for ever. Your own life could be enriched by friendship with adults from all over the world and you would be doing your bit to be hospitable to strangers as well as for international relations.
If you have a spare bed or beds and would like more information about volunteering under the HOST scheme, a charity founded by the British Council and the Foreign Office, ring Eric and Marie Songhurst, the local organizers on 0113 260 7270 or email e.m.songhurst@lineone.net There is a website all about HOST at www.hostuk.org
Oxenhope Methodist Church invites anyone who would like to worship with them to attend their Sunday morning service at 10.30 a.m. At the present time there is a Junior Church which welcomes all children from the age of three to join in with singing, stories and activities.
On the 9th. September we welcome back the Rev. Margaret Christopher as our minister in charge. Over the past year Margaret has been minister in other parts of the circuit and during this time we at Oxenhope have had the Rev. Dr. Lewis Burton as our minister. We thank Lewis for his work and leadership over the past year.
We also welcome the arrival of a new Deaconess in our circuit, Joan Patton. She will be working throughout the whole of the Keighley and Worth Valley circuit but will be spending time in the village working with us at Oxenhope Methodist Church in our efforts to reach out to the Community. We hope Joan will be happy working with us and the other Churches over the next few years.
Our Church premises are used twice during the week on Monday and Wednesday as a Day Centre for the Elderly. Here the ladies and gentlemen who attend can enjoy lunch, activities and general fellowship together. (See back page)
There is a well attended Women’s Fellowship held every alternate Thursday at 7.30 p.m. during the winter months with a varied programme of speakers, demonstrations and trips out. The Ladies Pleasant Hour meets on Tuesday afternoons at 2.30 p.m. from September to December and throughout March again with a varied programme of speakers. Be assured of a warm welcome at either of these two meetings
Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of being attached to St. Mary’s Church as a trainee Lay Reader. I found it easy to feel at home—everybody is very friendly and Oxenhope has a lot in common with my home parish of Embsay with Eastby. The villages are similar in size, both have churches dedicated to St. Mary, both have thriving village schools and Embsay even has a steam railway, although it is not as grand as yours. Oxenhope does score extra fot the fish and chip shop— I can highly recommend it!
I suspect that most people in Oxenhope and Embsay enjoy living in a village community after all that’s probably why most of us chose to live where we do. But it is not always easy to be part of a community, often it is quite a challenge.
The members of a Christian group called the Northumbria Community express the difficulty by commiting themselves to following a rule of "Availability and Vulnerability". When we live in a community, we each have to be available to our neighbours in all sorts of ways, and that makes us vulnerable, because we can be changed, inspired and sometimes hurt by the people around us.
Any member of any community, regardless of their faith, faces the challenge of being available and vulnerable. Churches and individual Christians have an added incentive to accept the challenge. Because we worship God who is supremely available to us in Jesus Christ and who chose to be utterly vulnerable, even to the point of dying for us.
I was only in Oxenhope for a very short time, but Bruce Grainger did his best to introduce me to the village. I saw many examples of ordinary people making themselves available and vulnerable, in the village school, in St. Mary’s and at Manorlands. I am very grateful to everyone who welcomed me into your community.
Thank you all very much
Fiona Jenkins
"PSP is coming! St. Mary's new parent and toddler group, called Pre-School Praise or PSP for short, will be starting in the Tower Room of the church at 1.30pm on Friday 5th October and every week in term-time thereafter. It is designed to cater for children aged 0 to 4.5 years and their parents.
All are welcome, regardless of whether or not they have had any previous church connection.
The sessions will offer a mixture of play, chat and refreshments followed by a short time of worship and teaching each week (exact content to be agreed upon by those who come along!) and will finish in good time for parents to be able to collect any older children from school. The cost will be 50p per parent per week.
Anyone interested should just come along on a Friday afternoon, or they can contact Fiona Bolam-Peel on 648182 for further information.
This was the title of the Millennium Award I won in December 2000. The awards were presented to the over 50s - just to prove that we are still capable of making a valuable contribution to any project in spite of our advanced years. My award was funded jointly by the Millennium Commission and Royal & Sun Alliance.
To think globally…
I was sponsored by the environmental charity Earthwatch to visit one particular project in America. Earthwatch is an International Environmental Charity which supports research, education and conservation programmes in 50 countries. My chosen project was to be based at the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute (CHCI) at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, near Seattle, America. The project I was to study was entitled PROJECT WASHOE and is the first successful research programme to demonstrate that an ape could acquire the signs of American Sign Language (ASL).
Apes, of which chimpanzees are one sub-species, have 98% of the human DNA. They are the nearest creatures to human beings, showing many of our characteristics and yet are one of the most threatened of animals- by the human race itself . We need to stop and rethink our activity and treatment of this wonderful animal form - so close to ourselves and yet so different in many ways. If we do not do something NOW the chimpanzee will be extinct in the wild within 10 years - a very unpleasant thought considering this creature is our antecedent.
The scientists at CHCI are dedicated to wild chimpanzee conservation and promoting the well being of captive chimpanzees through education and humane, non invasive research. The findings of the studies carried out at CHCI revealed that chimpanzees are highly intelligent animals. They also investigate how the chimpanzee environment and enrichment programmes contribute to their psychological well being.
Project Washoe began in 1966 with the infant chimpanzee Washoe. She is now 35 and lives at CHCI with 4 other chimps, Tatu, Moja, Loulis and Dar who range in age from 22-28. They all communicate with each other and with their human carers by ASL. This is fascinating to watch and I did learn a few signs.
Before learning how to collect data it was necessary to learn how to identify the chimps - no they do not all look alike. We watched many hours of video tape and eventually I passed my test - a 100% pass rate was essential.
My two weeks at CHCI was a very happy time and I made many new friends. The young graduates and under graduates at Central Washington University who were studying at CHCI as part of their degree courses made us welcome and gave much of their time to help us learn the necessary identification of the chimps and how to collect data. It was very sad to say goodbye to everyone and I hope to keep in touch . To Roger and Debbie, thank you for having the patience to teach us about your wonderful world.
This global experience gave me confidence in people skills, in developing programme material and the best lesson of all, to enjoy any project which brings value and fun from being a successful venture.
And now on to the LOCAL aspect:
I have a daughter who is very environmentally orientated and I must confess that this has rubbed off on me. I chose to initiate a programme for the community but also parallel with my favourite subject of gardening, rethinking the use to which wasre products can be put I.e. community composting
The response to my approach to the Parish Council was what I had hoped for - a very helpful reaction. At that initial meeting 3 people approached me with their offer to give whatever help was needed to get the project moving, and they have proved as good as their word.
Essentially we saw that the project had four elements; the location of compost site , site development i.e. making the compost containers, the collection programme i.e. getting the base waste, and publicity to get support across all aspects. We saw the site as the key to any other activity and our search for a suitable site did take a while until we approached Manorlands. They readily agreed to donate land and we were then on our way. I cannot thank this charity enough for the boost to morale for their generous offer and I hope in time we will be able to donate money to the Manorlands charity for their kindness.
With the site secured the real fun began.
Yes", we had meetings to discuss this and that and my overseas ‘management’ training came in most useful. You quickly learn that to get the best out of people you have to use the skill of persuasion and reasonability rather than that of ‘do it my way’ "Yes", we learnt a lot from looking at other similar projects in surrounding areas. But the real effort was ours…we worked long unpaid hours ,all recorded in the hope of some like for like payment via grants which are available for our kind of project.
We had the idea of using a second hand electric milk float for refuse collection…economical and environmentally satisfactory. We have our eye on just such a vehicle and as our funds grow we will make this acquisition.
We needed material and labour to clear the site and set up a functional operation complete with our office/store shed, greenhouse, compost units and other working material . I have to give a big thank you to Brian Verity of "Skipton Properties" who has been a major supporter amongst others in this aspect of our development and Bernard Armstrong and his crew from "Q Mat" who worked so hard to construct and erect the actual composter units.
Without publicity we would get little exposure and slow support. The Keighley News articles seem to have come thick and fast as news of our project gets round and for me this has been one of the most exciting ,if at times frightening, aspects of the project. What to say and when, how to convey a concept into words, articles and the way to present something in a manner suited to the modern journalist have all been ‘learn as you go’ skills.
From conception to fruition in less than 3 months has meant a lot of hard work from people giving time, ability and labour…all unpaid and all truly voluntary with goodwill thrown in to make the whole thing so much pleasure. Our meetings at the Bay Horse have always been liquid and convivial!
Nature has to take its course and it will take a few months to make compost but when complete, I am sure there will be a ready market of villagers wanting to buy…all you gardeners out there please take note!
And for the future…over the past few weeks we have been leaflet dropping, hopefully through every letter box, also in all the shops and local businesses. If you have not had a leaflet I am sorry for we did try to find every cottage, large or small, main road or quiet byway. Replies are coming in and we hope soon to be able to design a route for kerbside collection. We will then contact everyone who has approached us and away we go.
Do watch out for our little ‘collecting float’…its green and yellow and carries our ‘KWIK’ logo for every one to see . We are working to recycle your household waste and make our village Oxenhope an even better place in which to live…for me and for you .
Thank you to all our supporters.
Pauline Bedford.
Kwik Project, 7 Mill Court, Oxenhope, BD23 9HF
Telephone: 01535 648010
It first began one Sunday
With clergymen in full array,
A shining sun on everyone
Who crowded all around.
Goodwill was glowing
With people knowing -
They couldn’t say "No more delay"
A new church had begun on that glorious day.
Many prayers were spoken
Keepsakes for the future planted,
Words of dedication chanted,
Join us and be born in song____________
The building now completed
All doubts and fears defeated,
The day has come for everyone
To gather all around
Sunshine and gladness
As in we’re going,
Gates flung wide, all step inside,
The welcome is for all. It’s a glorious dayMany prayers are spoken,
Many prayers for favours granted,
Words of dedication chanted,
Join us, and be born in song.
Feel that wonderful feeling,
Hear about the God who loves you,
Hear about his Son who saves you,
Join us, and be born in song
Audrey Drake
These words were written to commemorate the building of Oxenhope New Methodist Church 1989/90
Music to these words was written by Tom Mason
Wild rugged moor-land and high craggy hills,
Long winding streets leading down to the mills.
Work to be done at the dawn of each day,
Tasks to be shared as we go on our way.
Each of us making what life says we can,
Trying to finish the job we began,
Living together,
The wind in the heather,
Are all the same pattern
For God made it all
All life is molded on where it is found,
Birds in the air, or snail on the ground.
People who live in this wild country air,
Tell you the truth, but will try to be fair.
And if a humorous side can be found,
Laughter will win, though his soul’s on the ground,
Never despairing,
His faith will be wearing,
He’s part of the pattern
And God made it all.
Take then a look at the people you know,
Lives filled with purpose as onward they go.
Making the most of each oncoming day,
Whether the hours are for working or play.
Music abounds over valley and hill,
Echoing down every streamlet or rill,
Seasons may change it,
And man rearrange it.
But God holds the pattern
And He keeps it all.
Genesis tells us when things first began,
God made the world to a glorious plan,
Fishes and creatures and winged birds to fly,
Oceans and rivers and heavens on high.
Then he breathed life into man, we are told.
Born to be gentle and honest and bold.
Do not ignore Him
But praise and adore Him
As you kneel before Him
Following the successful grand opening of the Millennium Green by the Bishop of Bradford in September last year, many people asked whether a similar event could be run this year. The Trustees called for volunteers to organise it, and were very grateful for the hard work put in by David Samuels as the lead organiser, assisted by Rosemary Grainger and Jane Hollingsworth.
It was decided to hold the event on 20th July at the start of the school holidays. We were lucky the weather was excellent, and the turnout by the village and visitors was beyond our expectations.
An arena was set up on the lower field near the marquee, to stage the dog displays, belly dancing, dog and duck trials. Stalls were set up around the arena, and in other parts of the Green to enable local organisations, such as Manorlands, the churches, playgroups etc to raise money for their own worthwhile causes.
We were fortunate to have the services of the Yorkshire Building Society Junior Brass Band, Peter Foxons’ Soul Group, and Philippa Roberts, harpist, who provided the musical entertainment.
The top field was allocated to childrens’ activities, such as a climbing wall, bouncy castle from the Telegraph&Argus, roundabout, face painting etc. The climbing wall was a huge success and raised money for Manorlands. It took a great deal of effort to bring the gear from Leeds, erect the tower, and afterwards dismantle and return to Leeds---- grateful thanks to those who took part.
The feedback afterwards was that it was very much a ‘village’ affair, and was a splendid opportunity for the established villagers and newcomers to mix and enjoy themselves.
Raising money for the Trust was not the main aim, but it is able to put aside funds towards another event next year, partly thanks to our local sponsors. With that in mind it is looking for volunteers to form an organising committee for 2002.
The Trustees would like to thank everyone who helped make it such a great success.
The Parish Council was invited to enter Oxenhope in Yorkshire Village of the Year Competition 2001, which is organised by Yorkshire Rural Community Council. The competition was previously for ‘Best Kept Village’, but in 2000 the rules were changed to include aspects of village life, such as involvement in care of the environment, business, young people, the elderly and community life generally. This year there was an added category for Information Technology. We thought Oxenhope would do well in these areas which carry 60% of the marks.
The first task was to collect information about all the organisations, groups, businesses that form the life of the village. The responses from everyone were brilliant, but had to be reduced to no more than 25 pages for the initial written presentation in April. The various projects such as the Village Design Statement, the Millennium Green, the second World War Memorial etc were described, and were accompanied by press cuttings, and copies of posters. A copy of Outreach, the VDS document, and the memorial booklet were also enclosed; also a map of the village was produced, based on the one to be used for the Millennium Green noticeboard. Details of the village website were also included.
We were informed in May that Oxenhope was one of the five villages shortlisted for the South and West Yorkshire category, with final judging to take place in June when the judges would spend two hours in the village.
We looked at the various places the judges might want to see, and realised that the Rose Garden was in need of refurbishment, as most of the roses had died. Parks Dept. had intended to do this in October, but they agreed something had to be done quickly, and a partnership solution evolved. Parks would remove the dead bushes, soil and seed the outer beds, and prepare the three centre beds for planting. Headrow Housing, Yorkshire Water, and the Co-Op very generously agreed at short notice to sponsor the plants, and the Oxenhope Gardening Club did the planting.
With helpful publicity from the Keighley News, the village rallied round tidying up their gardens, the park, and other public areas. Bradford Cleansing dept. provided a special ‘sweep’ prior to the judging. Residents, including parish councillors spent much time getting rid of graffiti that appeared in the park.
On the day, the judges were welcomed at the Methodist Church where refreshments were kindly laid on, and various representatives from the relevant village groups and organisations spoke about their work. Afterwards the judges were taken for a walk around the village, and then for a short drive to see the cemetery and St. Mary’s Church, including the new war memorial.
In July we were delighted to learn that Oxenhope was runner-up in the South and West Yorkshire category, with East Keswick the winner. In September, the village will be represented at the presentation of the awards, when Oxenhope will receive a certificate and small cash prize.
A competition of this kind encourages us to take a pride in our village.
Derek Allen
From a scratch choir, gathered together by Jack Cowgill to help raise funds for the Romanian Orphans at Christmas 1991, the group realised how good it was to get together to sing. A meeting at the Cowgill home the following February saw the formation of the Oxnop Singers, with Jack as M.D.
We met to rehearse in the vestry of Marsh Methodist Chapel, 16 strong, cosily packed in, with the gas fire plopping on cold evenings, and there we stayed until increased numbers (word got around it was fun to sing) meant transferring to the Community Centre, where we still meet every Monday evening at 8.00 p.m.
Joyce Holbrook came to us as accompanist and recently Jean Feather has become our assistant accompanist.
The music we sing leans towards the popular and well loved, but growing confidence and experience has meant we can attempt more complicated and rhythmic pieces. Some of our copies are quite old, many from Hawkinstone Baptist Church given to us by the late Jack Whitaker. They may be marked 1d. or 3d (old money) and cause amusement when compared with the price of a copy today, which may be £5.00 or £6.00
The choir has raised by its concerts and entertainments nearly £5,000 for various charities, and indeed the ‘Wisbone Trust’ will benefit from the October 7th. concert.
Next April the choir, now with 30 singers, are holding a celebratory social evening for its 10th anniversary. .We shall look back no doubt, reminisce a little, remember friends who are no longer with us, have a happy time, but we shall also look forward to music making in the future.
If you enjoy singing—come and join us
B.M.C.
These are the words best used to describe what happens when people meet together on Mondays and Wednesdays, which is when the Day Centres for the Elderly run.
From arriving at 10.30 a.m. until leaving at 2.45 p.m. there is opportunity to enjoy the company of others, refreshments and a cooked two course meal at lunchtime. The Wednesday group has recently been working with Brian Carpenter on Life History Stories and visitors, speakers and entertainers regularly come along to both groups. They recently went on an outing to Addingham Fish Restaurant followed by a ride into the Dales, whilst the Monday group has returned to the Moorcock Inn near Sowerby Bridge and Hollingworth Lake. Outings are always awaited with eagerness, and the Christmas festivities are in the planning pipeline at present.
You will probably be fed up of hearing yet again that we need volunteers to assist in the running of these groups. What does it entail? A desire to be part of the things described above. No hard or arduous work is involved, just support and some practical help, but mainly a smile, listening ear and sense of humour!
Even if you are unable to commit on a weekly basis, I am hoping to compile a list of helpers for say fortnightly or monthly assistance. If you would like to visit the centre and have a chat with me, then please give me a call—I look forward to hearing from you.
Marilyn Howlett (Co-ordinator) on 01535 635610 or Mobile 07778 010992
Oxenhope Outreach is published
by Oxenhope Parish Church
Editorial Team: Bruce Grainger, Christine Greenwood, Valerie Hogg, Vera Redman,
Joyce Samuels.
Assembly and Layout: Ray Belsey. Advertisements: Chris Jones.
Village Diary: Sue Harding (642634) Distribution: Jennifer and Robert Whitaker,
Vera Redman