Winchelsea Village Voice

SINGING WORKSHOP is the next event at Wesley’s Methodist Chapel on Sunday June 15th from 3pm to 7pm. The organist Stephen Page will lead the Workshop beginning with the instruction and practise of the hymns to be used for the service which will start at 6pm. All the hymns and songs will be versions of the Psalms and the Workshop is for people of all abilities with a love of singing. There will be 14 sheets of music given out so you may want to bring your own folder to put them in and there will be a couple of hole punches available for those who bring ring-binders. If you are coming for the whole event please bring your own food, and tea/coffee will be provided. Equally, if you would like to come along just for the service at 6pm you will be very welcome.

ALL UNDER ONE ROOF will take place in the Court Hall on Saturday June 14th at 11am to 1pm and everyone is invited. This is an opportunity to visit Winchelsea Court Hall and meet members of the various societies and organisations of the town. During the visit you will learn what they do, the events planned and how to become involved and kept informed. For the smallest town in England Winchelsea is bustling with its assortment of clubs and societies. Many of the town’s organisations will be represented including: Winchelsea Arts, Conservation Society, Winchelsea Corporation, Bowls Club, Garden Society, Friends of Winchelsea Church, Residents Association, Millennium Artefacts Society, Literary Society, Winchelsea and Area Archaeological Society, Christmas Windows.

WINCHELSEA STATION LEAFLET is now available. This updated map and leaflet has been launched to promote businesses and attractions within walking and cycling distance of Winchelsea railway station. The brochure shows pubs, vineyards, shops and guest houses which are within a range of approximately two miles from the station. The travel guide has been produced by Winchelsea Station Partnership Group which works to promote train travel to and from the station on the Marshlink line. Lead volunteer John Spencer said: ”The leaflet helps to popularise the businesses local to Winchelsea station so that people can walk from the station having travelled by train and enjoy the wineries, pubs and tea rooms. We hope that this leaflet will be of help in boosting tourism in the area.” Winchelsea has direct links from the station to the 1066 Country Walk and is on the National Cycle Route. The station’s welcoming environment includes planters looked after by volunteers from the Winchelsea Station Partnership Group and artwork from pupils at St Thomas’s Primary School.

LIFE AND POETRY of Ted Hughes is the talk given by Marek Urbanowicz at the Literary Society on Friday June 20th. The talk will be held in the Court Hall at 7 for 7.30pm and this is free for members, and non-members pay £5. Marek was introduced to the work of Ted Hughes while doing an English degree in 1973 and had the good fortune to see him read in the same year. This experience had a profound effect on him and since then he has collected numerous works by Hughes. Ted Hughes (1930-1997) was a poet, short story writer, literary critic, farmer, translator and children’s story writer. He is considered to be the best poet of his generation and is widely regarded as one of the twentieth century’s greatest writers. Despite humble beginnings he went to Cambridge University, published numerous collections of poetry and became Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death in 1997. During the course of the talk a number of poems by Hughes will be read to illustrate the breadth of his work. Marek is a published poet, has an MA in Voice Studies and was part of the RADA Elders (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art for older people) for two years in the late 1990s. He has been chairman of Poetry for Pleasure for a number of years which presents weekly programmes on different poets and poetic topics.

EDUCATING RITA by Willy Russell will be performed at the Ellen Terry Barn Theatre, Smallhythe in June on Thursday 19th to Saturday 21st at 7.30pm. It will also be at the Stables Theatre, Hastings in August on Thursday 21st to Saturday 23rd at 7.30pm. The tickets can be purchased online. Rita is described as a feisty hairdresser hungry for knowledge who is thrust into the world of academia. Performers include Zo Bib-Leonard and Winchelsea’s Mike Stoneham.

ISLAND OF SAINTS AND SCHOLARS was the name given to Ireland as a result of Columba’s significant contribution. Saint Columba was born in 521 AD in County Donegal, Ireland and died on June 9th 597 AD on the Scottish island of Iona. His feast day is celebrated on June 9th when he is commemorated for spreading Christianity in Scotland. Eighty-nine years before Columba’s birth Saint Patrick arrived in Ireland in 432 and his missionary work was a key moment in the spread of Christianity. Columba was an Irish abbot, missionary evangelist and poet. He founded a number of monasteries in Ireland as well as the influential abbey in Iona.At the age of 42 Columba with a group of twelve companions came to Scotland from Ireland in 563 AD.Together they established the monastic settlement on Iona known as the holy isle which is recognised as the birthplace of Christianity in Scotland. Since the 14th century there were outbreaks of the black plague in Ireland and while Columba was on Iona he predicted that a further epidemic would spread through Ireland. Columba was known for his miracles of healing and to alleviate the suffering in areas where the plague was rife he blessed some bread and sent it to Ireland by boat.He gave instructions that the bread should be dipped in water and sprinkled over the people and animals infected with the deadly ulcers, and many were healed as a result. It was said that Columba did not go voluntarily to Scotland but was exiled for starting a war between two Irish tribes. The sentence was that he would never see Ireland again. However, in 575 AD Columba was persuaded to return to Ireland to arbitrate a dispute between the high king and the league of bards. In order to remain loyal to his terms of exile in “not seeing Ireland again” Columba travelled the country blindfolded. The High King wanted to ban music and poetry because he saw that the bards had abused their privileges and were a vexation to society. At the convocation dispute, Columba pleaded for reform instead of abolition and because he was highly respected in Ireland this was granted and hostilities between the king and the poets were reconciled. An early Christian Irish poet and saint known as Dallán Forgaill was born around the same time as Columba (c. 530-598 AD) and his birthplace was County Cavan in Northern Ireland. Forgaill was christened ‘Eochaidh’ but later after losing his sight he gained the nickname ‘Dallán’ which translates to ‘little blind one’. Forgaill was present at the synod of Druim Cett, as the convocation was known, where Columba defended the poets. Soon after the death of Columba, Forgaill wrote a panegyric, namely a public speech in praise of Columba his hero. The poem is ‘Amra Coluim Chille’ (Elegy of Saint Columba), which is regarded as one of the most significant poems from the early medieval Gaelic period. Although there is no record that Forgaill visited Iona he did have an association with Columba along with his works and the early Irish church. It is recorded that after Forgaill had finished the poem on Columba he regained his sight. This was for a short time as he died a year after Columba’s death. During the time of his blindness Forgaill wrote the Gaelic poem ‘Rop tum o Baile’ which translates as “Be thou my vision”. In 1905 Irish linguist Mary Byrne translated the poem into English prose and seven years later her colleague Eleanor Hull, a specialist in Old Irish, turned the prose back into verse. Consequently Forgaill’s poem became one of the most popular hymns in England. It begins with “Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart; Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art. Thou my best thought,by day or by night, Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light”. The poem ends with “High King of heaven, my victory won, May I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heavens Son! Heart of my own heart, whatever befall, Still be my vision, O ruler of all.” The tune to the hymn is called ‘Slane’ which is a traditional Irish folk melody that became attached to the hymn in the Irish Church Hymnal in 1919. Slane Hill in Ireland is where St Patrick lit the first fires of Easter as a challenge to the pagan rituals of Ireland’s King Laoghaire.The High King had banned anyone from lighting a fire at Easter until he had lit his own fire at Tara Hill a pagan site. The hymn speaks of discernment and refers to Proverbs 9:10 which says “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”. It also speaks of God as protector, “Be Thou my battle-shield, sword for my fight” which echoes Psalm 34:7 “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them”. The hymn’s “Riches I heed not nor man’s empty praise” reiterates the teachings of Jesus Christ on spiritual treasures.Matthew 6:19-21 states: “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt.For where your treasure is there will your heart be also”. The song “Be thou my vision” is said to be a favourite hymn of King Charles III and a version of it was sung at his coronation service on May 6th 2023 in Westminster Abbey. This same hymn was regularly sung in school assemblies over five decades ago when most schools upheld Christian worship.

WINCHELSEA BEACH Fellowship Lunch will be held on Friday June 27th at 12.30 for 1pm in the Community Hall, Sea Road. Please contact 07927 107678 or [email protected] to book your place. This is a social event run by Church members on the last Friday in the month except for August and December. As the food is donated by the cooks there is no charge for the meal but donations are invited. All proceeds after expenses are given to various local charities.

Cindi Cogswell [email protected]