LOOKING BACK – TO 1995!
HOLY TRINITY – PARISH MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 1955
I’ve recently been able to look through a copy of the ‘Parish Magazine’ from February 1955, thanks to Yvette Morton who had come across this copy when someone she knew was ‘decluttering’! As you can see, the cover featured a line drawing of the church, with the initials TWP.
This was later replaced by another line drawing by Alan Tennant, which was done for the Flower Festival in 1994, and later appeared on the front of the Guide to Holy Trinity written by Ken and Dorothy Entwistle, as well as the cover of the Messenger magazine.
The 1955 magazine was commercially printed by Barber’s of Lancaster, and ran to 36 pages, although 10 of those were adverts for businesses in and around Lancaster. The ‘Bolton-le-Sands Parish Magazine’ part in fact only ran to 4 pages, and as it included 4 pages of ‘The Crozier’ – a regular letter from the Bishop of Blackburn – and 14 pages of general ‘Church News’ from around the country, this suggests that it was a fairly generic magazine for many other local parishes.
The Holy Trinity section listed Rev E Shufflebottom as Vicar, and Mr G Blackburn and Mr E Nettleton as Wardens. St Mark’s had its own Wardens, Mr T Whitaker and Mr H Halhead, and Mr S Starkie was listed as Treasurer and Secretary. F J Hubble and F King are listed as Lay Readers, with Mr Hodgson as Organist. The PCC had 7 ex-officio members, and a further 27 elected members – 5 of whom were ladies. I notice that Miss N Hutchinson was listed amongst the other officers as ‘Secretary, Children’s Society’ – a position which Margaret is proudly carrying on nearly 50 years later.
Services at Holy Trinity were listed as follows :
Holy Communion every Sunday at 8.00am (which continued until Covid struck!)
Holy Communion 11.45am on the first Sunday of the month
Morning Prayer at 11.00am and Evening Prayer at 6.30pm.
And, interestingly, a special children’s service on the Second Sunday of the month – but at 3.00pm.
Services at St Mark’s were listed as :
Holy Communion at 9.15am on the first Sunday of the month
Evening Prayer at 6.30pm every Sunday, and 2.30pm on the third Sunday of the month.
There was a short letter from the Vicar, mourning the passing of Mr H Robinson, who had played a key role in the parish, and a couple of articles about parties. The annual Sunday School Party and prize giving had been held on a bitter winter’s day in January, with Mrs R B Jackson giving the prizes and a delightful speech, and the children being entertained for an hour by a ventriloquist and conjuror. St Mark’s had its own Sunday School Party, where the Vicar and his wife presented the prizes, and the children were entertained by a film show. The magazine gave details of forthcoming meetings for the Mothers’ Union and the Young Wives Fellowship, and of the jumble sale to be held on 25th February. A very details account of the fund raising for the SPG (Society for the Propagation of the Gospel) showed that collections at the Children’s Services during 1954 had raised £5 – 1 -6 (five pounds one and sixpence for those who remember pre-decimal days).
Local businesses among the advertisers included :
William Barton of Hatlex Farm, Funeral Director and Certified Embalmer
Riley Plumbing Contractor of Packet Bridge
R. Long Builders of Bolton-le-Sands
Robinson, Taxi Service, of Cross Hill
Stephenson, Joiner, Builder and Funeral Furnishers, of Main Road, Bolton-le-Sands
Sheila King , Ladies’ and Children’s hairdresser, of 64 Main Street, Bolton-le-Sands
A. Glover, General Drapery and Fancy Goods, * West View, Main Road, Bolton-le-Sands
H. Steele, Baker and Confectioner, Rose Café, Bolton-le-Sands
C. Bowker Butcher of Bolton-le-Sands
Perhaps some of these names and events ring a bell with some of our readers. Why not send in those memories as an article for ‘The Messenger’ to me, [email protected]
David Bateman
March 2024
