St Giles Church, ImberNewsletter No 51
20 January 2014 |
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Welcome, if you have recently joined the St Giles Church Mailing List. We now have 1,600 readers.
| You can be assured that we do not make your details available to any third parties and they will remain confidential. If you want to change your details or unsubscribe, just go to the bottom of this newsletter and click on the link at any time. |
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| As you may know, the weather over Christmas and the New Year period was appalling. When will the rain stop ?But, it didn’t dampen the spirits of the 300 who attended the Carol Concert.
Over the whole of the days when St Giles was open to visitors some 5,300 people paid a visit. Two quarter peals were rung on the bells on 22nd and 27th December.
Have you heard the bells of St Giles Church ringing ? A subscriber, Alun Ward, kindly recorded the bells ringing on 2nd January 2014. You can listen to them by going to www.imberchurch.org.uk and clicking on the link. Listening on headphones gives a clearer sound. |
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| The Ministry of Defence has now advised us that, subject to operational requirements, there will be access to Imber on the following dates in 2014.
Easter – 18th April to 21st April
Summer – 22nd August to 1st September
Remembrance Service – 8th November (convoy from Warminster)
Christmas and New Year – 20th December to 4th January
Dates when St Giles Church will be open to visitors have not yet been finalised but you will be among the first to know when they are published. |
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| Images of St Giles and Imber |
| A number of subscribers have added images to www.imberchurch.org.uk from their visits. Take a look at them. They are all copyright and download protected. |
| Almost 70 years after the evacuation of Imber, “Dolly’s Imber” provides a snapshot of what it was like to live in the village. Dolly Rebbeck spent ten years of her childhood in what she considered to be an idyllic location and her son-in-law, local speaker and writer Gordon Lewis, has captured something of her memories in this recently published booklet. The cost per booklet is £2. 99 which includes UK postage and can be purchased at: www.gordonlewis.co.uk |
| St Giles and Imber Commemorative Booklet |
| This is to remind you the the Westbury Music & Arts Festival held a church service at Edington on 5th October to commemorate the evacuation of Imber. They have published an ‘Imber 70th Anniversary Commemorative Booklet‘ It contains short histories of the village and St Giles church, and the story of an Imber resident, plus the Order of Service for the 5th October. There are a number of photographs. We have a supply of the booklets which cost £4.00 plus postage. If you cannot wait until the next church opening when the booklets will be on sale then send an SAE size 240mm x 165mm with a 50p stamp (second) or 60p (first) together with a cheque made payable to N Skelton to 4, Chantry Road, Wilton, Salisbury, SP2 0LS. |
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| The February 2014 Salisbury Plain Training Area Newsletter is now available on www.imberchurch.org.uk Go to the home page and then to the newsletter. Past editions of the SPTA newsletter are also available. |
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| Restricted Access to Imber |
| We who look after St Giles Church in Imber are not able to grant access to Imber Village. Apart from the church, churchyard and access roads and path from the road to the church, the rest of Imber village and the buildings used for military training are out-of-bounds to the general public at all times including days when the metalled roads are open to the public. Members of the public entering any of the buildings are liable to injury from unexploded ordnance and/or prosecution under Salisbury Plain Training Area Bylaws.
It follows that we are not in a position to grant permission for access to Imber village and its buildings when the roads are closed to the public. Those wishing to gain access to the village of Imber must contact the Ministry of Defence, however, it should be remembered that the Salisbury Plain Training Area is in constant use and permission to enter it is unlikely to be granted. |
| A local company continues to offer for sale greetings cards featuring a reproduction of a watercolour by Clifford Meade of Church Street, Imber before the evacuation of the village in 1943.The card is A5 size and comes complete with envelope. It is left blank inside for your presonal greeting.
A proportion of the income received from sales is being donated to St Giles Church for upkeep.
If you are interested in purchasing this lovely card to send to friends, relatively, or just to keep for yourself, you can get further details by going to gordonlewis.co.uk
* Please note that we have no commercial link with gordonlewis.co.uk and cannot be held responsible for any disputes you may have with that company resulting from this advertisement |
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| Even though St Giles Church is closed and access to Imber is restricted, we feel we must remind you that when you can reach Imber you must use only the metalled roads from Warminster, Gore Cross (A360), Heytesbury and Bratton and the track leading to the church. An outline map of how to reach Imber is on www.imberchurch.org.uk All other areas are out of bounds to the general public. You can read the latest SPTA Newsletter on www.imberchurch.org.uk for detailed safety information regarding the Salisbury Plain Training Area.
As you are probably aware, the Ministry of Defence always reserves the right to deny access to SPTA at short notice for operational reasons. We always contact mailing list members as soon as we become aware of changes to dates and times when the MoD will allow access or at short notice we post on the web site www.imberchurch.org.uk Such decisions are outside our control so we cannot be held responsible for any nugatory travel or expense as a result of last minute closures.
copyright St Giles Church, Imber 2014 |
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