Sunday 14th November 2021 provided the opportunity not just to have our usual Remembrance Sunday service but to hold a SERVICE OF REMEMBRANCE  and mark in a special way the lives lost in our community during the recent Covid pandemic.  We felt very aware that for many, including members of our own church, it had been hard not being able to hold services of thanksgiving and celebration for the lives of people who had passed away.

The church decided to plant a magnolia tree outside church and at our service, a plaque to remember those in this community who passed away during the pandemic was unveiled while we marked a two-minute silence.

Back inside the church everyone was invited to ;light candles and later to share in the sacrament of bread and wine.

Thank you to the Brownies, Guides and Rangers who took part in our service, parading their flags, doing the bible readings and making gifts to hand out to members of the congregation at the end of the service .

Hello everyone, we hope you are all well and safe.

Guides have been busy, as too have the brownies and rangers who are now meeting again on Tuesday evenings. We are still zooming away and have 12 girls who join us online each week. Our summer term has seen us take part in the North East England’s 50th birthday challenge badge.

We chose the following challenges:

North Yorkshire N.E.

• invite a vet to speak to the group – this relates to  james Herriot who lived in Thirsk and the Yorkshire vet, Peter Wright, who has his practice in Thirsk.
• make a pom-pom sheep; did you know that the there are  600,000 sheep in the Yorkshire Dales?
• do 199 of something. (This challenge relates to the number of steps at Whitby Abbey.)

East Yorkshire

• make a windmill  (Skidby has a grade 2 listed windmill)
• make a lobster –  Bridlington is the largest lobster-fishing port in the UKand Europe
• make a bird-feeder – Bempton Cliffs is famous for its sea-birds and puffins breed here

North Yorkshire West

• have a spa night  – Harrogate is a spa town
• make some fat rascal scones –  Taylor’s of Harrogate own  Yorkshire tea and Betty’s Tea room (famous for its fat rascal scones)
• complete a blindfold trail – john  Metcalfe (‘Blind Jack’) was born in Knaresborough  in 1717 and was blind from the age of 6. He built about 180 miles of turnpike roads with stones and rocks to overcome bogs

North Yorkshire South

• make a viking longboat – York and Yorvik
• complete a brewing experiment – relates to Tadcaster breweries
• make some chocolate truffles – York is famous for chocolate and the home of Rowntree and Terry’s of York

West Yorkshire North

• learn some magic – Dynamo the magician is from Bradford
• hold a crisp night – Seabrook crisps founded in 1945 by Charles Brook in Allerton

make some biscuits – Fox’s biscuits founded by the Fox family who lived in a terraced house in Batley Here is the badge we have been working for

We made biscuits for the biscuit challenge too.

We look forward to finishing our summer term with a day at our camp at Wynches, playing games and making a Viking longboat, carrying it to the campfire to burn, like proper Vikings.

We are also looking at converting the side garden on the Birklands side into a community garden with raised beds to plant fruit and veg in, plus a quiet space if you want to read a book or have some quiet time alone. We will let you know how we get on.

We hope to see you all soon and share our lockdown exploits with you while providing some home-made biscuits to go with tea and coffee. Take care until then.

4th Shipley guides

Our  simple, bare, wooden cross has been transformed  as church members and passers-by were invited to add a flower to the cross.

A rota of helpers made it a great day, with lots of little chats with passers-by and some sunshine too!

With the church doors open wide, several people also stopped to admire the peace cranes origami sculpture on display in the vestibule.