Tickets are priced at £7, and are available from James Fleurty Tel: 01926 315 003.

The Concert is entitled “The Turning Year”, and will feature not only Christmas music of the period 1725 – 1860, much of it from church composers local to Warwickshire, but also takes a look at other church and secular compositions relating to the changing seasons and country customs. These are supported by Readings and anecdotes from a variety of authors and other sources.

The Concert affords another chance this year to bring out the group’s Mummers play, specially created using material and characters from such existing local scripts as those to be found at Pillerton and Ilmington in Warwickshire, Sulgrave in Northants and Lower Heyford in Oxfordshire.

Immanuel’s Ground is Warwick’s West Gallery costumed Quire, singing music from roughly the period 1725 – 1850. This includes not only the sacred music sung in rural parish churches but also secular part-songs, glees and catches and the popular music of the period. The Quire is accompained by a smallnumber of instructments as would have been found in any village band of the time.

Download the Immanuel’s Ground newsletter covering the concert.

For more information on Immanuel’s Ground, please visit their website at http://www.immanuelsground.com/.

THANK YOU !

First may I thank you all so much for the support you have given for the Out of the Blue Festival last month. It looks at the moment as if we have topped £9,300 towards the Restoration Project as a result of the week weekend, but more importantly, it was great fun to gather together as a wider community for a weekend of great events! Even sitting in a chair getting wet sponges thrown at me did not dampen the warm and positive atmosphere of the Saturday afternoon, with the schools’ performances, the puppets and the many and vaired activities that made up that Family Fun afternoon.

The Friday evening with Adrian Plass had us rolling with laughter and the Saturday evening was a concert with high quality, uplifting music. Sunday’s service drew over 200 people from around the area to enjoy the puppets and the Bishop, and a few stayed afterwards to enjoy a picnic.

All in the all, it was a great success, and people are already asking whether we can do it again !

May I say a personal thank you to all those who participated in any way, especially to the small team of people who helped oragnise it. But most of all to Chris and Avril and the team at the Exhibition Centre who gave us the weekend to use, and who worked so patiently and helpfully with us throughout the weekend. We are extremely grateful to them – and what a great venue it is, right on our doorstep!

Plans with Coventry Diocese
You will also be delighted to know that we have finally been able to submit all the detailed plans to the Church authorities in Coventry for final approval. They meet in July to discuss the plans, and we hope to have a decision from them fairly quickly. Once the formal approval is received, we will have to display it at the church for 28 days, and then the plans will be put out to tender to various heritage-approved contractors. And then … then we will get a contractor on site !!!

I know it has been a long haul, and thank you for your patience, but we are nearly there in terms of getting the work actually started. As there is a year’s worth of building to be done, I am pressing the Church authorities to move swiftly so we can get started, with an aim to have it open for Christmas 2012. I am hoping they take this on board, and that nothing else holds us up.

Church Open Day: August 13th (12-4pm)
The final piece of news is that before the contractors arrive, we will have an open day at the church. Earlier this month, we took years 5/6 from the school into the church room, showing them what was left and then looking inside the ruined church. It occurred to us that hardly anyone in the village will have been able to do this. So we will aim to open the church and church room on Saturday August 13th from 12:00-4:00pm, lay out some of the items that have been salvaged for people to look at, and then offer brief and helmet-ed trips into the building. It might be a good way to raise a little more towards the Restoration Fund, so we may have a small entrance charge, but I hope that won’t put anyone off coming.

On Friday, well known humorous Christian writer and speaker, Adrian Plass will be starting the weekend festival in grand and entertaining style, with “An Evening with Adrian Plass“.

On Saturday, there will be a Family Fun Day from 12-noon, with Archery, Bouncy Castle, Alpacas, Games & Activities, Pony Rides, Arts & Crafts, Wandering Magic, Hog Roast, Ice-Creams and Cakes ! There will also be an Open Stage for School Performances, A Top Gear Challenge and much, much more! From 7pm on Saturday, there will be a Concert for Brass and Voice.

On Sunday there will be a Deanery Festival Service at 10:30am.

For more information about the event, including ticket prices and where to purchase tickets, please see the above for Adrian Plass, and here for Saturday and Sunday.

The Hinckley Search Society have now hit £1600 raised for the church. Congratulations to all members of the society !

Mark Pickles, Hinckley Search Society committee member, hands over £280.00 to Don Simpson.

The Society has more events planned for later on in the year.

Photo courtesy of W Burton

Wayne Burton (commitee member) was pleased, on behalf of the society members and guests, to hand over the proceeds from the event to Don Simpson.

The event raised £230 for the St Nicholas Restoration Fund.

The society has another event planned for 13th March.

Wayne Burton handing over proceeds of the day to Don Simpson.

Photo courtesy of W Burton.

At last we have some more good news.

The DAC, which is the church of England’s body that oversees the care of church buildings, has given their formal approval for the plans we presented to you to go forward. This is the church’s equivalent of planning permission, and they are very happy with the plans so far. We will have to get their continued permission as the interior detail develops, but this is an important step forward.

We are still awaiting the decision form the local planning authority, but as soon as that is granted, we can at last begin to develop the detailed plans for the church. It has taken such a long time, and I think none of us anticipated this process being quite so drawn out, but each stage we reach appears to have its own timescale to it and we have no control over how long that is to be. But we are getting there !

So in the meantime, let me tell you of some fund-raising activities, with the emphasis on fun :

Quiz Night & Fun Food Auction
Radford Semele Bell Ringers invite you to a Quiz Night & Fun Food Auction on Saturday 20th November 2010 (7.00 for 7.30 start), in the Community Hall, Lewis Road, Radford Semele. Tickets £5 per person in advance – bring a team or get a team together on the night. Tickets available from Claire (01926 886408) or Fiona (01926 425442). Come with a plate (or 2!) of food to be auctioned! Drinks & a Raffle!

Christmas cards
We have produced some Christmas Cards to be sold in aid of the restoration project. There are 3 beautiful designs, and they will be sold in packs of 6 cards (2 of each design) at £4 a pack. They will be sold in various places in the village – the Radford Rendezvous coffee mornings, church, post office, RED hair stylists, store and directly from Helen Robertson (01926 339978)

Please consider supporting us by sending out these Christmas cards this year.

Classical Guitar Recital
We are delighted to tell you that Ray Burley, the internationally renowned classical guitarist will be giving a classical guitar recital on Saturday Feb 5th at St Michael’s Bishops Itchington. Tickets will cost £12 (£10 concessions) and are available from Rev Martin Green (01926 613466).

This will be a stunningly good evening, so make sure you come along and bring friends! Tickets are already going, so buy yours early … we have limited numbers.

That’s all for now, but watch out for more events as they come …

With best wishes,
Rev Martin Green

The event raised £160, bringing their total fundraising to date to £1090 !

Congratulations to all who have been involved in the events. The society would like to extend special thanks to Don Simpson for his work in organising the land available for the events. More events are being planned.

Dave Mann handing over proceeds of the days detecting of £160 to Don Simpson.

Photo courtesy of W Burton.

You can find out more information on the concert and how to get hold of tickets here.

It will be a lasting record of the church’s place in the life of the village. The DVD will be available immediately after the reopening of the church.  All proceeds from the sale of the DVD will go to the Restoration Fund.

If you would like to be informed when the DVD is available, please contact James Fleuty (883708) or Alan Jones (334443).

These can be purchased for £10 via Martin’s website www.martingreen.me.uk or by contacting Martin directly on 01926 613466.

Martin’s website also contains lots of information about his music and charitable causes.