Saturday 23 December at 6pm.    
Join us for a festive evening with your favourite carols, followed by mince pies and mulled wine in Victory Hall.  We look forward to seeing you.

We welcome our new minister Rev. Stephen Turner, and his wife Katy, in the New Year.   The Diocese has appointed him initially for a 3 year term, but he and we sincerely hope that this will be extended.   We are hoping that Rev. Stephen and Katy will be able to attend our Christmas Carol service   (see details below), but this depends on their actual move into the Vicarage which we understand is scheduled at the same time.
Meanwhile, the PCC and all the parish extend our heartfelt thanks to Rev. John Carvosso who will be retiring after our Carol service.   John has been a loyal friend to all of us for many years, and without his support and love we’d have been lost.    Our thanks also go to Rev. Phil Daniels who has also supported us with several services since the pandemic;  hopefully we’ll see him at some of our events in the future.
If you’ve visited St. Giles recently you may have noticed the bookshelf (kindly lent by Claire Cunneen) and all the novels which have been donated to create the ‘St. Giles Book Swap’.   The idea is for anyone to borrow a book, and leave one in its place… so we have a nice little really local library for those who love to read.   When the weather is warmer, please do feel free to help yourself to a coffee or tea (instructions on how to turn on the hot water Instantia boiler are pinned to the servery door- just please ensure you turn it off when finished).     If you have unwanted novels, they’d be very welcome too.   There are plans for additional permanent shelving in the spring.
If you have any comments or suggestions about how St. Giles can help you, please do let us know – email our Churchwarden Helen Packer    helenpacker656@gmail.com
or  secretary/treasurer Pat Grimwood-Taylor   pat@grimwood-taylor.com
 
St. Giles Services-

​Further services will be organized in the New Year, once Rev. Stephen is in post.   His licensing service is on 4 January 2023, 7.30pm at St. Michaels, and all are welcome.  
Service dates and times for St. Giles are posted at the lychgate, and on our website –
www.stmichaelstorrington.org.uk/little-torrington-church

​Our restoration project is nearing completion (a few minor works have been delayed by Covid19) after 5 years of work.  We now have proper facilities in St. Giles for the first time – a lovely ‘servery’ where we can make teas/coffees, with refrigerator etc., and an accessible toilet which are both screened by our organ which has been relocated to the rear of the nave following removal of some pews.   The organ has benefited enormously from the move, both acoustically and also by not being against a cold east wall, which had caused the rear panel to rot and which was replaced.    We have added additional underpew heating and storage heaters to help protect the fabric of the building (the last one still to be installed once our electricians can return to work).

As part of the whole project, we also replaced the lead valley gutter in the roof and all the rainwater goods.  Internally we also installed superb new LED lighting, for which we won a Diocesan award, and refurbished the corona which currently hangs in the Chancel, but which is being moved to the new Lady Chapel created in the east aisle where the organ was originally positioned.  

It is sad that the current dreadful pandemic has forced us along with most churches to close, and that we have not yet been able to enjoy our ‘new’ church, but we all look forward to that and hopefully in the near future.

We are indebted to our many grant funders and donors who enabled this work to take place.  Hopefully in spring/summer 2021 we can have a special celebratory service at St. Giles to welcome and thank everyone.

Happy New Year to all in our parish… we hope you enjoyed a peaceful, family Christmas and that 2020 is happy and healthy for you and all those dear to you.

St. Giles celebrated Christmas with 3 special services in December.   Firstly our ‘Decorate the Tree’ service saw young and old enjoy putting decorations on our tree and filling the manger.  I am sorry I missed it (I was in Australia), but all reports are that it was very well received so we’ll be doing it again this year.    Our traditional Christmas Christingle and Carols service followed by the refreshments in the Victory Hall was well attended as always, and thank you to everyone who supplied mince pies, sausage rolls etc., and of course the mulled wine.   On Christmas Day our stalwart congregation gathered again for the early morning service before joining friends and families for their Christmas lunches.   We give thanks for those who continue to support St. Giles… remember, the church is not just here for weddings and funerals… and as the old saying goes, ‘Use it or lose it’.

So, to the renovation project- many will have seen the building work that has been ongoing and which is now almost complete.   We have a wonderful servery and wc (just needing the final water connection and floor covering before being fully operational) and the organ has been moved to its new position in the Nave.  It is being refurbished ‘in situ’ with work due to finish early February  (during this time, the church is being kept locked for security/safety reasons as there have been literally hundreds of parts laid out).  Thanks to FOSG for their invaluable contribution to the cost of the refurbishment.

Whilst some were not in favour of moving the organ, it turns out that this was vital to ‘stop the rot’ which became evident when it was moved from the south aisle.   We found the organ sitting on a metal sheet which was wet, resulting in the floor underneath being partially rotten, as is the bottom of the backboard (which has to be renewed).  We were literally millimetres away from having rot in the organ frame/casement, which would have been irreparable.  Fortunately we can repair the floor quite easily, and hopefully will also uncover the oldest monument believed to be underneath.  

Moving the organ has also revealed the partially hidden monument on the south aisle east wall, which we believe might be historically very important.  We need to research this further and will keep you posted.
Outside, you will see a new lamp post by the kissing gate and, after the new storage cupboards are built, we will be repairing the tower clock (hopefully in March).  

We hope that in the next issue we will be able to bring you news of a special service to celebrate the end of these works and to thank all those parishioners who have helped us along the way.   Just for the record here, may I list the funding we have received from grants (works to which they have contributed in brackets):

Grantscape/Deepmoor     £27,400   (heating, lighting, wc, drains and floor ramp -  2 grants)
Devon Historic Churches Trust    £6,000   (guttering/downpipes,  re-ordering, servery, wc -  2 grants)
Garfield Weston Foundation    £5,000   (re-ordering, servery, wc, etc.)
Cooper Legacy   £3,000  (roofing works)
National Churches Trust   £2,500   (guttering/downpipes)
All Churches Trust   £2,000  (roofing works)
The Beatrice Laing Trust    £2,000   (re-ordering, servery, wc)
St Andrew’s Conservation Trust   £1,000   (windows)
ON Organ Fund    £300   (organ refurbishment)
And last, but not least,  FOSG    £ 9,800  (windows repair, vestry floor/ceiling, organ refurbishment, tower clock repair, outside light)
 
Full accounts for expenditures, grants, major donations and PCC financial contributions will be available at our Annual meeting, being held Tuesday 24 March, 7.30pm in St. Giles.
​
Our next fundraising event… THE BIG BREAKFAST !    Enjoy the full English breakfast  (vegetarians welcome) on Saturday 21 March,  from 9.30am  at Victory Hall.    Tickets £ 6.50  available from Shirley James  (ph. 01805 625776), and at February & March coffee mornings.
 
Pat Grimwood-Taylor.   

Firstly thanks to all those who helped and supported at our wonderful Harvest Thanksgiving service and supper on 5 October (especially Shirley James for her co-ordinating and organising).   Over 80 came to St. Giles for our service, beautifully ‘conducted’ by Rev. Peter;  the decorations were superb, with fruit, flowers and hay bale to remind us of our local farming community.

Victory Hall was again filled to overflowing with people and food- a super evening to enjoy each other’s company and brilliant cooking. 
 
Meanwhile our restoration project is again underway… internal building will have started by the time you receive your ‘Litport Echo’, and we hope that the accessible toilet and servery will be completed by Christmas.   The external drains work & digging starts later in November, and it will depend on how that proceeds (and whether we have any ‘finds’ which may delay digging) as to whether all the connections can be made to toilet/sinks etc. so that everything can be used by Christmas.   Please take note of the signs inside St. Giles,  and in particular, to the HEALTH  &  SAFETY signage outside.   We will have to restrict access to the churchyard to the lych gate entrance ONLY.

During building, St. Giles will be open as usual every day, including for services (times are listed in this issue).
Although building is starting, we are still fundraising to cover costs of renovating the organ and building storage cupboards plus the professional fees (and the Diocese has insisted we have a professional archaeologist to supervise digging, which has added an estimated £975 to the budget costs).  To date we have raised almost £32,000  (inc. monies donated for pews, £940).  The total works budget is £ 42,250  so we have a little way to go…      Do you use Easyfundraising?   Can you help with ideas for an event or host a coffee morning perhaps?    If you’d like to help, please contact the churchwardens, Martin Mcvinnie or John Watkins.
Lastly, and most importantly, we welcome everyone to 3 special services for Christmas at St Giles –

• Sun  8 December,  6pm   ‘Decorate the Tree & Christingle Service’    join in decorating our christmas tree (decorations provided for everyone to put on the tree),  filling the manger with toy animals,  and enjoy a festive service with favourite carols;
• Sun 22 December,  6.30pm   Christmas Carol Service with Refreshments following in Victory Hall;
• Weds 25 December,  8am   Christmas Day Holy Communion Service

 
We look forward to seeing you at St. Giles!
The PCC.

Some of you may have noticed that we’ve started work… the pews at the back of the church have been removed (thanks to Torrington Men’s Sheds) , and we expect to start the internal building works to install the toilet and servery in the next couple of months.    The external drains will also be dug soon, at which time we shall cordon off the kissing gate entrance opposite Chestnut Tree Cottage for safety reasons, as digging will extend to that boundary.  All these works will not interrupt our normal weekly services (please see the rota) or the Harvest Thanksgiving Service on Saturday Oct 5.  We hope to see you all there!   But remember -  PLEASE TAKE CARE WHEN ENTERING THE CHURCH YARD AND THE CHURCH.

We sincerely thank Coastal Recycling (Deepmoor) for their grant of £10,000 and Devon Historic Churches Trust for £3,000.   We have also received £300 from ON Organ Fund towards the servicing and relocation of our organ.  Fundraising continues- would you like to help us?  We have pews for sale, or perhaps you would like to buy a piece of equipment?   £85 will buy the sink or the tap for the servery,  £170 will cover the cost of the non-slip floor in the toilet.  If you are interested in funding these items, please contact Pat  on 01805 625598 or email  pat@grimwood-taylor.com

               Another busy couple of months in April and May.   We started our afternoon teas (3rd Wednesday of every month, 2.30-4.30pm) with several villagers joining us for tea & cakes….
Our Jumble sale, which we might now have as an annual spring event, raised over £250!  Not bad for just 4 hours.   Huge thanks to Helen & Clare, Denise & Roy, John & Joyce, Shirley & Leigh, Sonia & Martin and of course to everyone who donated all their ‘jumble’.   Thanks also to St. Michael’s for the loan of the tabletops on which we could display everything.

For your diary, our next event is the Beetle Drive, 7.30pm Friday  14 June at Little Torrington Village Hall.   Tickets are just £6 for wine/cider & cheese/crackers,  from Shirley, Sonia and Ann   (see the poster in this issue).   Come and join in a fun night out.

We’ll have an update on the building project in our next issue, but meanwhile can we please ask that all dogwalkers take care in our churchyard to collect their dogs’ deposits please!    It’s becoming a Health & Safety issue, and we ask you to remember that young and old visit and that dogs should be kept on the lead when in the churchyard.
​
Lastly, our notice of services for June & July are in this issue….   All are welcome to join us, and our church  and garden are always open for visitors seeking a quiet corner.
Pat Grimwood-Taylor, Little Torrington PCC.

A huge thank you to all who supported us at the Big Breakfast earlier this month.   We raised a superb £443.40  profit for St. Giles,  including a marvellous  £136.40 on the raffle/guess cake weight table  (thank you to our new churchwarden John Watkins and Joyce).

Special thanks to those who cooked, catered and cleaned afterwards…. A great team effort!

​We look forward to our upcoming events… don’t miss the afternoon teas on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at St. Giles,  and of course the Jumble Sale on Saturday 18 May  (you can bring jumble along to the afternoon teas).

For details of our forthcoming events, see our St Giles - Welcome page.

The PCC’s  plans for an accessible toilet, small servery (sink, refrigerator), hearing loop etc., were submitted to the Exeter Diocese in January and we should have formal approval quite soon.  The plans also include relocating our pipe organ (installed in the south aisle in front of the beautiful East window in 1887) to the rear of the nave;  this might sound unusual, but in fact the organ will sound better!  And we’ll get back the original chapel in the south aisle;  a lovely space for private meditation or for small exhibitions etc.   We’ll also be removing some more pews, the aim being to create some more social space in which we can hold small ‘hobby’ groups, or music events, or afternoon teas,  or whatever we and you can think of……

If all goes as we hope, and of course subject to getting the funds we require, building works might start in summer and be completed in November.

We are currently applying for grants, and we have some funds available too.    If you would like to help us, here are 4 easy ways-

1.  Use Easyfundraising when you shop online and nominate us as your charity (follow the link here);
2. Sponsor part of the ‘build’…  we have a priced list of fittings we’ll need, so you could nominate one or make a donation (gift-aid will add 25% to it); 
3. Buy a pew!   Great for your hall or kitchen  (email pat@grimwood-taylor.com for details);
4. Come to an event at St. Giles….  Our first is the ‘Big Breakfast’ on Saturday 6 April. Other events (afternoon teas, ‘Building a Bug House’ etc.) will be publicised shortly.

​If you’d like any more information, please do contact us or have a look at the full plans in St. Giles.   Thank you!

The beautiful font is now a real focal point, and the 19th century Churchwardens’ Chest is alongside it.    You’ll find a table with tea/coffee making items (please bring your own milk) and a jigsaw puzzle… why?   Our church is here for everyone at any time, not just for worship.  If you wish some quiet space or to join with a few friends, please come in.

We have also enjoyed 2 social events- our BBQ & indoor games on  August Bank Holiday Saturday and the Harvest Thanksgiving Service & Supper on 22 September.   Thank you to all who helped Shirley, Sonia and Barbara with the preparations for both functions, especially with catering, which as always is SO good.   From the BBQ profit we have donated £100 to North Devon Hospice, and raised £238 for St. Giles.  About 50  attended the lovely Thanksgiving service  (thank you Peter for orchestrating it all)  and 79 dined in Victory Hall on the delicious supper following.

The collection at the Harvest Thanksgiving raised £136 which will be split equally between St. Giles and the Farmers in Crisis charity.

Moving on, our architect is now drawing plans for an accessible toilet and servery at the rear of the nave, to be screened by the organ which we plan to move from its current position.    Not only will this allow us to create a side chapel and reveal the beautiful stained glass window in the east end of the south aisle, but the Diocesan organ consultant has advised that the organ will sound even better if not set against a wall.   The pews at the back of the nave and south aisle will be removed, but we will have storage for stackable chairs so as to maintain seating numbers for larger services and functions.   There will also be a display cabinet so that the lovely urn made for St. Giles by Harry Juniper can at last be on show.   If you have any queries about these plans, please do contact either Martin Mcvinnie or John Watkins.

It will take a few months to obtain the necessary Diocesan Faculty permission and quotations (hopefully Jan/Feb 2019), and then we’ll be applying for grants.    If you have a fundraising idea, please do let us know.  We hope that building work may take place in summer/autumn next year.

Our next PCC meeting is scheduled for early November;  if there is anything you wish us to discuss, please email or speak with any PCC member  (Churchwardens Martin Mcvinnie & John Watkins, Sonia Mcvinnie, Pat Grimwood-Taylor, Shirley James, Liz Wiseman, Barbara Terry or Rev. Peter Bevan.)

Ancient Monument discovered under St. Giles floor this week -   whilst digging to lay electric cables, under the supervision of James Grimwood-Taylor (who is seen in 1 photo with his hand feeling the underside surface of the slate slab monument).    James’ ongoing research will be revealed shortly, but we believe the monument dates from the 17th century and was placed with other slates in the floor when tiles were laid by the Victorians.

There’s a lot to report this issue, most importantly our new lighting and permanent heating is now being installed!

St. Giles will have 5 ‘state of the art’ programmable storage heaters plus permanent underpew heating to the main bank of pews in the nave and part of the south aisle.   The storage heaters will raise the ambient temperature of St. Giles, thus drying out internal walls and helping to protect the building fabric.  They are located in the base of the tower, in the vestry, the Chancel, the nave and in the south aisle so they are well spaced throughout the building.   The underpew heaters, although having individual switches, will also be centrally switched so we can ensure that they are only turned on when we need them.  When we do use them (probably from mid October to mid March, but obviously depending on weather), we will be stacking the kneelers at the end of the pews- please do not move them to the hooks as they are a potential fire hazard and must not be left there.  We can hang them on their hooks during the warmer months.

​Our sincere thanks to Grantscape/Coastal Recycling for their wonderful grant of £17,400 which will cover about 80% of the costs.   Our electricians, Keith Hopper Ltd., will be working in St. Giles throughout July and August, so please take care when entering the church.
http://www.coastaluk.co.uk/2018/10/17/bringing-light-warmth-back-st-giles/

We are also temporarily removing pews near the Font and 2 unused pews at the front of the nave in order to make some more usable social space.  The pews are being securely stored off-site whilst we plan for the servery and accessible toilet.    We hope to finalise these plans soon, so more on that in the next issue.

​Further news about the bees ….. we know that they have lived behind the organ for many decades, probably first entering when the organ electrics were installed and an airbrick put in the south aisle’s eastern wall under the stained glass window.  We have taken expert advice, and are awaiting another inspection and report, however there may be a potential fire hazard due to the extent of the honeycomb & beeswax behind the organ and the proximity of old electric cabling.   We know that they have been causing problems recently for our organist also.  Obviously we have to take all precautions for everyone’s safety so this is a priority matter that we are dealing with.
​
Lastly, regrettably we are unable to hold the Monday August Bank Holiday Fete this year.   However we are holding a BBQ & Beer night with indoor sports and fun games for all the family…. See the advert in this issue and come along on Saturday 25 August, from 5.30pm at Victory Hall.

​Little Torrington Churchwardens:

• Martin McVinnie: martinmcvinnie@gmail.com Tel: 01805 601900
• John Watkins: johnandjoyce.watkins@gmail.com Tel: 01805 623253​

​Would you like to help our Restoration project? 
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