The Gray Monk

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June 01, 2004

A busy day in the life of the Abbey

Spring Bank Holiday is a busy day for a large band of Abbey people. Traditionally it is our annual Fête, a chance to share our Abbey with a wide range of people and to make some money to support it, while offering fun and pleasure to as many as wish to join us. This Bank Holiday saw a wonderful turnout - the crowd was well up on last years and may well have set a new record. The queues were forming at the gates a good half hour ahead of the opening and it was crowded all the way through.

The Town Crier announces Fr Paul and listens to our response to his loyal challenge. The stone paving marks the foundation of the Lady Chapel - the only part of the church to be destroyed at the Dissolution.

Fr Paul, our "Abbot", shared the opening with the Town Mayor and even though he modestly described his role in ensuring fair weather as "only in sales - a request has gone to the management" - we were blessed with good weather. The threatened rain held off until after the last guest had gone and the fete tents, booths, and chairs had been packed away.

The Town Crier (who is also the Town Constable!) introduced Fr Paul and the Mayor for the opening ceremony with the traditional Oyez, oyez! and closed with the cry "God save the Queen!" to which the crowd are required to respond - on pain of being placed in the stocks for disrespect as we were reminded by our Constable! After this the Town Band and the numerous side shows and stalls got down to serious business.

It will be a week or so before we know how much money was made during the day; previous events have made substantial contributions to our annual budget, and it is both good fun and good value for a great day out. Given that the Church of England gets no financial support from the government and that churches like the Abbey have to be entirely self supporting, you will readily see that with an annual budget for repairs, wages, and running expenses of over £1 million, the success of days like the Fête are of paramount importance to the Parish and our continued ability to function. Not least, days like this give us the wherewithall to help the needy in our own community as well as supporting some elsewhere. We at the Abbey were fortunate to have the Town Mayor ( a member of the Methodist congregation in town) very happy to open our fête - pity though the congregation in one of the South Gloucestershire Villages who had invited a TV personality. He cried off at the last minute saying he objected to the blatant Christian Propaganda opportunity the fête represented. One wonders why he accepted the invitation in the first place!

These fêtes are the life blood of many small villages and churches and are a major part of the life of every community. The Abbey is blessed by having the ground around it - which is held in trust by a group called "The Abbey Lawn Trust" and managed for the benefit of the Abbey and the community of Tewkesbury, but many have much less to work with. This year the Vicar made the Vicarage Lawns available for the Refreshment tent and an Archery range, and this in itself drew large crowds.

It is a huge effort to bring it all together, but it is worth every aching muscle to see so many enjoy such a glorious day. Long may it continue to be part of village and church life.

Posted by The Gray Monk at June 1, 2004 04:21 PM

Comments

Posted by: Laban Tall at June 1, 2004 10:26 PM

Posted by: The Gray Monk at June 2, 2004 01:45 PM