April/May 2005

Farewell to Revd Janet Russell and facing the future of our Church

It is au revoir to Janet. She played more roles than most people realised. She was responsible for two parishes, a part of the Wallingford Team Ministry, and with many other irons in the fire, was for much of her time here an almost full time mother. All were amazed at the way she juggled and coped and found the energy and still have a smile, be a bundle of fun, and with a vivid imagination and much flair her ministry was always fresh.

By example she demonstrated by both action and being ready to listen to all, that faith was something that can be enjoyable. We will all miss the big smile under an enormous helmet cycling round the village.

Now, while we are going through the process of appointing a new Team Vicar, we are assured that, despite declining clergy numbers, the post will be filled again this time. The process for appointment is a rather lengthy one. It is because we will do our utmost to find the right person for the position. Our hope is that someone will be in post by Christmas.

Services will continue to be held as usual with either David Rice, the Team Rector, or a galaxy of visiting ministers officiating. Our own ministry team will continue with the Worship For All Ages service every second Sunday of the month. This is a shorter service without Communion for all members of the family. For children too young to pay attention there are toys in the tower room, so nobody need worry about them making a noise.

The Churchwardens are responsible for taking enquiries or requests concerning Baptism, Confirmation, Weddings, Funerals, home visits, either clergy or lay, whether just sick visits or home Communions etc. Contact may, of course, be made direct with the Team Rector.

By reputation we are a friendly congregation and look forward to seeing you in church on Sunday mornings.

Arthur Procter

Brightwell Free Church New Honorary Pastor

Brightwell Free Church, founded in 1885 as Sotwell Mission Room by Miss Augusta Fairthorne, a resident of the village, has been without a Pastor for some time and is now pleased to announce that Neville Burt has taken up that position, in an honorary capacity, with immediate effect.

Neville was born in the north east and still speaks with a slight Geordie accent. He is a founder member and an Elder of Ridgeway Community Church in Wallingford and will continue in that capacity. Ridgeway is releasing Neville part time to help and encourage the Brightwell folk as they seek to serve and reach out with the gospel message to the Brightwell-cum- Sotwell community.

Neville is also employed as Technical Director by HR Wallingford in Crowmarsh, where he has worked for 40 years, being due to retire in 2006. He has a wife, Jennie, who works as Intermediate Care Manager at Wallingford Hospital, three grown up children and three grandchildren. When Neville and Jennie married in 1969 they bought their first house in High Road Cottages, Brightwell. As the family grew they moved to a larger house in Cholsey, where they still live.

There will be a welcome service at The Free Church on Saturday 21 May 2005 at 7pm followed by refreshments. Speakers will include Bernard Thompson, pastor of Ridgeway and Ray Parker, Treasurer of Brightwell Free Church. All are welcome.

Neville has a vision for this area in which each town and village has a vibrant community of born-again believers, living out the gospel in their lives through the power of the Holy Spirit and so being a testimony to the Lord Jesus. He sees Brightwell as being a part of that and says: "If I can in some way help to bring the vision to reality then I will be happy".

For further information contact:

Ray and Liz Parker Tel 01491 201399

Neville Burt Tel 01491 651815 or email theburts@supanet.com

Ray Parker

Summer Visitors in the Bird World

With the arrival of spring each year we look forward to seeing the birds that will return to us from far away Africa. The first to arrive is the swallow. This is a blue coloured bird with a long forked tail. It will suddenly cross your garden like a blue arrow, on its way to either a cowshed in Long Wittenham or to a broken down barn in the north of Scotland, or, of course, anywhere in between, especially if it had successfully reared young there last year.

Next to arrive is the dark coloured swift with its long sickle shaped wings, which will keep it high in the sky for most of the time. This is a mysterious bird that deserves a story all of its own.

Almost at the same time the small, blue and white house martins will return to their last year’s nests. To carry out any repairs, or to rebuild, they have to settle on the ground to collect mud from the edges of ponds or streams. This they dislike, as their short feathered legs can easily become wet or dirty. This mud dries remarkably hard and can remain so for several years. Feathers are picked up, or caught in the air, to line the nest with. Two to four pure white eggs are laid. They have to be white to be seen by the parent birds in the dark interior of the nest and where, of course, there is no need for camouflage colouring. On hatching, the egg shells split exactly in half and are dropped by the parent birds on to the ground beneath. From this you can know the number of young in the nest.

The two parent birds are now very busy all day, flying with open beaks over the surrounding countryside to collect balls of insects. On their return they spit them into the gaping beaks of the young ones, who appear to be always hungry.

After about three weeks or so it is time for the young martins to leave the nest. This they are very reluctant to do, as the warm, dark interior of their home seems much better than the unknown bright light of the outside world. To combat this, the parent birds fly up with beakfuls of food, but refuse to pass it over. Finally, in desperation, or hunger, the young martins will launch themselves into the unknown.

You can recognise a young martin’s early flight, as it flies somewhat slower than its accompanying parents, though its wingbeats are noticeably quicker. In early autumn, just before migrating to Africa, you may see the martins, young and old, repeatedly swooping up to the nest sites, the young martins following the patch of white feathers on their parents’ backs. This is to imprint on the young ones memories just where the small nest is, up under the dark eaves, and this information will be retained for when, or if, they return next spring.

If this procedure had occurred in spring, before egg laying, it would have meant that a cock house sparrow had got into their nest for a possible take-over. Martins are terrified of house sparrows and will not enter the nest, if they think one is in there.

In autumn the young martins will stay for a week or two after their parents have left. They will come back to roost in late evenings, but they too will join other martins coming through from further north, and in swirling circles will drift slowly south. This is in direct contrast to their quicker and more direct flight of their spring return.

Their migration route takes them across France and Spain, then down the western side of Africa to where, we think, they spend our winter just south of the equator. They do not nest there, but just enjoy the warmth and sunshine of the southern summer before returning, hopefully, to their nest sites here in spring.

Their deserted mud nests make excellent winter roosting quarters for blue tits and jenny wrens. To my knowledge there are three small colonies of house martins in this village - Mackney Lane, The Croft and Sotwell Street.

So look out for these welcome visitors in late April. It just wouldn’t be summer without them.

Ron Wood