Hinckley U3A Alternative Newsletter May 21st

Trips – Atherstone Final Part 6

We reach the final destination, the architectural gem of St Mary’s Church where they serve a generous CREAM TEA. I hope you have prepared for this and that we can all share a tea and scones at 3pm Thursday21st May.

At the end of this newsletter is a detailed description of the church, prepared by Yvonne Stone of St Mary’s especially for the Architecture Group who were due to visit in March until the lockdown intervened, The section on Charles Kempe and his stained glass may appeal to a wider audience.

Ten of a Kind Answers

1. Portsmouth 2. Sir Francis Chichester 3. USS Enterprise (red faced question master made a typo – it should have read “first nuclear aircraft carrier”. So apologies. And many thanks to those who also added USS Nautilus)

4. They are the ends of the yards which are the horizontal beams attached to the mast of a sailing ship 5. Dr Crippen 6. Titanic – the names of the 3 dogs confirmed to have survived the disaster 7. Cutty Sark 8. Captain Pugwash 9. JMW Turner 10. Queen Mary

And last week’s champion was Gordon Smith!!!!!!!!

I particularly liked one answer I received for number 7 as “Curry Sark”. How appropriate for the clipper making the fastest runs across the oceans.

Ten of a Kind

1. What links Eleanor of Aquitaine, Joan of Kent, and Cecily Neville? 2. Which of the kings involved in the Wars of the Roses founded King's College, Cambridge? 3. Through which two London boroughs does the iconic Kings Road pass?

4. The song, 'God Save the King' was first published in 1744. Which other European nation uses the same tune for its national anthem? 5. What job did Mervyn King do from 2003 to 2013? 6. Who played the part of King George VI in the film 'The King's Speech'? 7. Who plays their home games at the King Power Stadium? 8. Which station is the biggest interchange on the London Underground and how many underground lines meet there? 9. Who wrote the musical, 'The King and I'? 10. How many times have kings of England been immediately succeeded by their brothers?

Email your answers to jf_whitehead by Friday midnight to earn an accolade.

Short Story Competition

There are two entries this week to make up for Upbeat having a richly deserved week off.

Entry No.13 - The Hoarder (by Roberta George)

A thin frail arm appeared from beneath the blankets and coats the old lady had on the bed to keep herself warm. Should she bother to get up today? It was becoming more and more of an effort each day she thought. Her thirst and need for something to eat forced her out of the bed.

She climbed over the clothes, shoes and books scattered on the bedroom floor and negotiated the stairs with their stacks of newspapers, long since read and discarded. She seemed not to notice the smell of decay of unwashed pots, crockery, cutlery and opened tins and packets of foodstuff. Finding an unopened tin of corned beef, with long translucent fingers the old lady opened it and with a dirty fork put some in her mouth, not really tasting it at all.

What an effort! She needed a rest and a sit down. Trudging to the living room, she gratefully sank onto the only chair unoccupied by rubbish and closed her eyes.

Giving the front door a mighty heave to push through the pile of mail laying on the floor, the police officer said to his partner "Phew, what a mess and awful smell. Neighbours say she got the house in this state after her husband left her over twenty years ago for another woman."

Looking peaceful, the old lady was sitting in a chair quite dead.

Upstairs, in a bedroom, the skeletal remains of her husband were found with a kitchen knife embedded in his ribs.

Helen’s fruit cake

225 gms SR flour & mixed fruit 110gms butter & castor sugar 1tsp mixed spice 5tbs milk 1 egg 3tbs demerara sugar

Method Mix the flour and butter to breadcrumb consistency. Add the mixed spice, sugar & fruit, then add the milk & egg. Mix until it is a dropping consistency. Line a loaf tin or 6” round tin. Spoon in the mix. Sprinkle with the demerara sugar. Bake in the oven 180/160 fan for 1 hour. Cool completely before removing from the tin. Keep in a tin to prevent it drying out.

Short Story Competition

Entry No. 14 - Myrtle Mouse and the Talking Mirror (by Shirls the Girl)

Myrtle Mouse was enjoying herself. She had climbed out of the farmhouse thatched roof in search of a tasty snack. And now she was down on the ground outside in the farmyard for the first time in her young life. It was all so exciting. For here were chickens running free, and scattered all around was a feast of chicken feed. Scrumptious!

But just as she was about to eat a second helping she sensed danger. Her body tensed and she saw Big Tom, the farm cat walking straight towards her. “Go!

Go now! Don’t freeze!” she told herself, and finally her brain engaged and made her run like the wind.

Tom saw the movement and chased after her. She squeezed through into the barn and found a stack of all kinds of rubbish to hide under. “Am I safe here?” she whispered to herself. “Of course you are, little mouse, you are under a magic mirror.” Myrtle looked up in surprise. “Can mirrors talk?”

“Yes indeed. Very few people or animals know the secret that mirrors only talk if you ask them a question. Ask any mirror a question and they will reply.”

“What if Big Tom comes in here?” said Myrtle. “You’ll be quite alright. He will see a large fierce cat reflected in my face and will be scared off.”

“How did you learn to talk?” the inquisitive mouse continued. “All mirrors learn to talk from listening whenever anyone passes by and is talking. And quite a few of us can sing, particularly mirrors in bathrooms where many people like to sing.”

“Why are you here in this dusty old barn?”

“H’mm…. I have to admit that I’m rather an old mirror. I lived in a grand house at first, at the top of a sweeping staircase. Then I was passed to the old farmer’s wife and was put in the bedroom. Last year the new farmer arrived, the room was redecorated and sadly I was put out here and rarely see anyone to talk to”.

“Now Mr Mirror, how do I get home?” asked Myrtle, remembering that her mother would be getting worried by now. “You’ll be fine. Big Tom always goes

for his saucer of milk at four o’clock. It’s four just now so the coast will be clear.”

“Thank you”, said Myrtle “I shall come and see you again tomorrow.” The mirror, of course made no comment as no question had been asked.

Helen’s Going Greek Casserole

An easy recipe just using 1 pot for the casserole. Prep time 30 mins cook for 1 1/2 hours Serves 8 but recipe can easily be cut down or increased.

700gm/1 ½ lb boned shoulder of lamb cubed (the butcher will bone it if you ask him) 3 tbsp olive oil 1 large onion, sliced 1 bulb of garlic broken into cloves and peeled 1 aubergine, cubed 1 tbsp oregano 300ml/1/2 pint lamb stock 2 x 400 gm chopped tomatoes 400 gm can chick peas, drained 50gm/2ox sultanas

For the couscous 700 ml/1 1/4 pints hot vegetable stock 450 gm/1lb couscous For the topping 200gm/8oz Feta, crumbed 2-3 tbsp fresh mint chopped

Method Preheat oven to 190/170 fan/ gas 5 Heat the oil in a casserole dish and brown the lamb until golden (do it in batches) Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and put on a plate Add the onion to the casserole dish and cook until it softens 2-3 mins. Stir in the garlic, oregano, and aubergine and cook for 3-4 minutes. Return the lamb to the casserole dish with the juices, add the bay leaf, lamb stock, chopped tomatoes, chick peas and sultanas and season. Cover and cook in the oven for 1 1/2 hrs or until the lamb is tender About 5 minutes before you serve pour the hot vegetable stock over the couscous so it covers it by about 1cm/1/2 ". Cover and leave for about 5 minutes, then fluff up with a fork and season.

Mix together the crumbed feta with the mint and spoon into a bowl. Serve the lamb casserole with the couscous and pass the feta around to sprinkle on the top. (remove the bay leaf before serving). I just put it all in a slow cooker and cook it on low for 4-5 hours much easier. Any type of tinned bean can be used if you do not want chick peas. As well as the couscous I serve warm olive bread with the dish.

For dessert serve a bowl of exotic fruit, accompanied by Honey Greek yoghurt or Baklava (yum yum)

St Mary’s Parish Church, Atherstone Warwickshire Architectural Details Collated by Yvonne Stone March 2020

(This detailed description is primarily for the Architecture Group who missed out on their March trip to Atherstone. Everyone else can start their CREAM TEA now!)

The chancel is of C12 origins as an independent chapel. The Central tower was built C13/C14 as a west tower; the upper part was rebuilt in 1782. It was taken over in c.1375 by the Friary of St. Augustine and remodelled c.1383, when a nave was added. After the Dissolution, the Chancel was converted into a school for boys and also a separate free school, eventually becoming the grammar school.

The Nave and aisles were built in 1849 by T.H. Wyatt and D. Brandon. The Chapel restored to use as chancel in 1888. The Chancel is coursed squared red sandstone, but regular coursed to north. The tower is of sandstone ashlar. The

Nave and aisles are of Hartshill granite rubble. The plain-tile roofs have coped gable parapets; nave and aisles have gablet kneelers and some fish-scale tiles.

Early Perpendicular style chancel; Gothic Revival style nave and aisles. 3-bay chancel; 7-bay nave. Chancel has moulded plinth, and diagonal and 2 side buttresses of 2 offsets. It has a large C14/C15 five-light window, possibly imported from elsewhere, a segmental arch and hood mould. C19 quatrefoil opening above. Cross finial. Sides have 3-light mullioned windows of stepped trefoiled lancets, much restored and with hood moulds and head stops to north.

The Octagonal tower at each end of nave has cinqfoil light to north and south. The Bell chamber has louvred openings of 2 cinqfoiled lights with blind rose window and a trefoil above to each side. The South side has a clock face; the northeast side has a disused stone clockface. The open parapet of 3 trefoiled lancets to each side has crocketed pinnacles with blind lancets. The Shallow lead roof has moulded finial and weathervane. The South aisle has porch to a second bay. Buttresses flush with front..

The Nave has trefoiled lancet. Angle buttresses of 3 offsets. West door has moulded arch and nook shafts. 5-light window above has geometrical tracery. The C19 north vestry has a parapet, and cross window to east. The North porch has a re-set C12 doorway from the demolished church of Baddesley Ensor, with zig-zag outer and moulded inner orders, hood mould and nook shafts with scalloped capitals. The North aisle is similar to south, apart from the east rose window. The Interior is plastered, with stone dressings. Chancel has C19 boarded wagon roof with moulded braces and purlins. High narrow double-chamfered arch between chancel and crossing. The recess in the crossing wall south of arch has chamfered segmental-appointed arch. Cl9 north and south arches to aisles. Aisles have C14 style arches of 2 chamfered orders throughout, with alternating round and octagonal shafts and responds and moulded capitals.

Arched brace roof has angel corbels and subsidiary trusses with foliage corbels. Aisles have arch dividing off first bay as a transept. Fittings:Perpendicular octagonal font has clustered shafts and trefoil panels with the symbols of the Evangelists and the Instruments of the Passion. Late C19 pulpit and stalls.

Stained glass: chancel east and north-east windows c.1899 by Kempe and Tower. Charles Eamer Kempe was born 1837 at Ovingdean Hall, West Sussex. He had illustrious ancestors; his first cousin was a successful property developer and politician in nearby Brighton, and his grandfather was Lord Mayor of London. The young Kempe was educated at Pembroke College, Oxford. Kempe briefly considered entering holy orders, but a habitual stammer

made it clear that his future did not lie with preaching. He decided to turn his spiritual beliefs to a practical purpose, and decided to study architecture.

He studied under one of the leading church architects of the day, GF Bodley, and there developed his keen sense of medieval design and an abiding interest in stained glass. It is thought that Kempe's interest in stained glass stemmed from his dissatisfaction with glass he ordered from a supplier. He decided that he could do better -and he was right. Kempe travelled around Britain and overseas, sketching medieval window designs. Kempe assisted Bodley on two major church projects in the 1860s; All Saints, Cambridge, and St John's, Liverpool. In 1866 the important stained glass makers Clayton and Bell asked Kempe to design a memorial window for Bishop Hooper in Gloucester Cathedral.

The rest, as they say, is history. In 1866 he started his own business in London. Kempe Studios began by supplying vestments, stained glass, and church furnishings. The studio was a success, and enjoyed continual growth throughout the late Victorian period. You could say that he was fortunate, for Kempe Studios began in a period when church architecture and rebuilding was in vogue; the spiritual Renaissance of the Victorian period led to many medieval churches being rebuilt. So suppliers of materials and architectural knowledge were in great demand, and Kempe's work, particularly with stained glass, found a ready market of buyers.

Kempe decided early on that he needed to use a trademark, and he chose a wheatsheaf, which appears in the Kempe family coat of arms. Finding the wheatsheaf in a set of Kempe windows is a strangely enjoyable pastime for people who like to explore Victorian churches! Kempe was especially active in his native Sussex, where fully 116 churches boast examples of his work. He did not just deal in stained glass, though it is for glass that Kempe is best known.

Aside from the wheatsheaf trademark, one of the characteristic features of a Kempe design is a strong predominance of yellow. Kempe’s figurative work angels holding scrolls are magnificently apparelled and the borders of their cloaks are embellished with pearls, each individually highlighted and may contain a design of peacock feathers, a well-used embellishment in later works. Kempe's work has been described as “.... having a unique charm; its colours shine out from jewels that cluster on the mitres or the crowns his figures wear and from their peacock feathers, while angels playing their instruments are drawn with tender delicacy and scattered above the main windows informally but making a pattern of precision. Above all, the prevailing yellow wash is translucent, for it lets through the rays of the full or the setting sun..."Kempe's designs -particularly those in stained glass -helped define the style of an age,

closely associated with the artwork of the Pre-Raphaelites. When you see a Victorian stained glass window, with its clear, clean colours and romanticized figures, you may not be seeing a Kempe design, but you are almost certainly seeing a design influenced by Kempe.He died in 1907, and his company was taken over by WE Tower. But Tower did not enjoy the same success as Kempe, and the company folded in 1934.

Kempe never married; he was a shy man by nature, though he enjoyed entertaining guests at the house he purchased at Lindfield, West Sussex. He is buried in the churchyard at Ovingdean, the place of his birth. Kempe studios produced over 4,000 stained glass windows He also designed altars, altar frontals, church furnishings and furniture. Memorials in cathedrals at Chester, Gloucester, Hereford, Lichfield, Newcastle upon Tyne, Winchester, and York all contain works by Kempe.

The Ultimate Quiz Answers

This was set in Alternative Newsletter 4 with a bottle of fine wine as the prize. I have now received the 120 answers from a very strict quizmaster who only accepts his exact answers.

The theme, the secret catechism of first letters of answers, was the 12 days of Christmas. Some have proposed that it arose during the period 1558 to 1829, when Parliament finally emancipated Catholics in England, it was a crime to be a Catholic and Catholics were prohibited from any practice of their faith by law. And on this basis “The Twelve Days of Christmas” was written in England to help young Catholics learn the tenets of their faith- a memory aid, when to be caught with anything in writing indicating adherence to the Catholic faith could result in imprisonment or worse.

So in the song Christ is the partridge, 2 Testaments, 3 Theological Virtues, Four Gospels, 5 Pentateuch, 6 days of creation, 7 sacraments, 8 beatitudes, 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit, 10 commandments, 11 faithful apostles, 12 points of doctrine in the Apostles Creed.

On the other hand it is first mentioned in writing in 1780 and in late Victorian times became a Christmas parlour game of singing and memory. There has been some changes of wording over the years until in 1909 the current version became the accepted text. The words “Partridge in a Pear Tree” has also been thought to be a corruption of the French “perdrix” in a “perdrix”.

Whatever the truth, our puzzle started with “Ladies Dancing” and descended down to “A partridge in a pear tree”.

Results 3rd with 115/120 Rosemary Thompson (errors – 11a Scleroid, 27c Hallucinate, 31b Ditchwater, 34b Pumped 40b Euge) 2nd 116/120 Tony Barber (errors – 20c Intervenes, 25b Disjaskit, 36c Governance, 40b Euge) 1st 118/120 John Whitehead (errors – 33c Dunnite, 40b Euge) so I keep the wine!

The clue for the answer “Euge” which no-one found was “well” (4 letters). If anyone wishes to receive the full answer sheet please email jf_whitehead@hotmail.com

For gluttons for punishment, another Ultimate Quiz is in the pipeline.

Keep safe and enjoy the sunshine!