Chairman's Newsletter - February 2023

                              February 2023
      

   
At St James’s Cathedral, Townsville, Queensland: Princess Alexandra places a cross, constructed from a part of Coventry Cathedral, into the foundation stone, in 1959. (Illustrated London News original caption)
 

 

THIS STORY BEGAN last year when I came across the above photo that accompanied an article in the London Illustrated News of May 1963.
     The reference to Coventry Cathedral intrigued me, so I wrote to the Dean of Townsville Cathedral to ask him about the connection.   The Dean, Dr Kenneth Lay, put me in touch with Lorraine Kennedy, one of his congregation with a particular interest in the church’s history.   Between us Lorraine and I have put together the story of the link, and for the first time I learned details of this Australian connection.  
     I found an edition of the Coventry Evening Telegraph in 1958 that published this photo of Provost Williams presenting Princess Alexandra with a Coventry Cross of Nails.   The photo caption does not provide any additional information.  
     1958 was quite a significant year in Coventry.   In 1958 Princess Alexandra was in Coventry as the representative of the Queen at the Official Opening of the newly built Retail Market.   In that year Provost Williams first came to Coventry and was installed as Provost of Coventry at a service in Coventry Cathedral Ruins.   A year later Provost Williams launched the Coventry Cathedral International Fellowship sharing the newly-written Coventry Litany of Reconciliation with Christians around the world.   The Community of the Cross of Nails later grew from the International Fellowship network.    
     In 1959 both Bishop Cuthbert Bardsley and Princess Alexandra were in Townsville, Australia on separate occasions.   The Parish Notes of St James’ Cathedral describe their visits:
     “Two important visitors to the Cathedral on succeeding weeks have added interest and distinction to an already distinguished history of the Mother Church of the Diocese.
     The first was the Bishop of Coventry on the 20^th August, touring Australia on behalf of the Church of England Men’s Society.   Before his well-attended meeting of men in the Theatre Royal that night, the Bishop came to the Cathedral to address the women of the Diocese arranged by the Mothers Union.   About 400 women attended this meeting to hear a most inspiring address.   At the request of our Bishop a retiring collection was taken up for Coventry Cathedral at which £41/6/6 was subscribed.

   

 Then the Bishop of Coventry proceeded to the blessing of the Stone to commemorate the completion of the Cathedral, a simple and effective service that welds a link between the Dioceses of Coventry and North Queensland.   It was a very happy occasion.
     The second visitor was the charming Princess Alexandra on Saturday 29^th August.  
The Princess presented a Cross made from nails recovered from the Coventry Cathedral after its destruction by enemy bombs in 1940.   This will be incorporated in the Stone blessed by the Bishop of Coventry.   Gracious, natural and interested, the Princess gave to us all that charm about which much has been said and written so truly about her attractive personality.”

     Last year in October 2022 the St James Cathedral held a series of events to celebrate its 130^th anniversary.   
    I summarise the history in brief.   St James’ Anglican Church became a cathedral in 1878 when the Diocese of North Queensland was created.  It was decided at an early stage to build a new cathedral church and this was to be achieved in phased work that allowed time for fund raising in between the stages.   The main building work took place in 1887-92, and the second phase took place in 1959-60, which was the period during which the visits of Princess Alexandra and Bishop Bardsley took place.  
     On 12^th June 1960 the final foundation stone that incorporates the Coventry Cross of Nails was set in place by the Primate of Australia and this marked the completion of building work.   The consecration of the church as the new cathedral took place on 24^th June 1978.
 

 

 

THIS MONTH'S NEWSLETTER is later in the month than usual as I am currently away from home on holiday in New Zealand.  
     The UK press does not usually include a great deal of foreign news from this part of the world, so you may not appreciate that there is currently a State of Emergency in New Zealand North Island following the worst weather related disaster of flooding in the history of the country.   Multiple landslips mean that the travel disruption will take many years to resolve.  Our own arrangements have not escaped disruption.
 

(L to R) Martin & Jane Williams, Barbara and Paul Oestreicher.

     A visit to North Island was on our schedule so that we could visit personal friends, who included well-known friends of Coventry Cathedral, Paul Oestreicher and Barbara (see photo) at their home in the capital, Wellington.   They both send their greetings to everyone at Coventry.  
     The other New Zealand storm that we have encountered has been the political storm following the resignation of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.   It has made me realise that the UK is not the only place where extremist views receive wide publicity.

In my rush to distribute last month’s newsletter before my flight I managed to transpose numbers and include the wrong date for the visit to Coventry of King Henry VII.   The correct date was 1451 – which was close, but wrong by 100 years! for which I apologise.
 

 

 
SHROVE TUESDAY falls on the 21^st February this year.   I do not know what you like but my preference is for a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkling of sugar on my pancake.  
         But have you ever heard of the Pancake Bell?
In Coventry on Shrove Tuesday there was for many years the tradition of pancake bells that rang out around midday (or a little earlier) at three of the city’s ancient churches - St John’s Church, Holy Trinity Church and St Michael’s Church.
      The early Christians went to confession on Shrove Tuesday and were “shriven” – that is, absolved from their sins.   In the first place the church bell was rung on Shrove Tuesday to call people to confession.   As time went by the sound of the bell became associated with the making of the pancakes that by tradition precede the Lent fast.   It meant that for some people the sound of the bell became the signal to stop working for the day.   In theory, they ceased work in order to make pancakes.   In practice, as the years went by the sound of the Pancake Bell simply heralded a public holiday for the remainder of the day.
     The Pancake Bell tradition was dropped towards the end of the 19^th century.   As far as I can tell, it is not known what brought the Pancake Bell practice to an end at St John’s Church, but it is recorded that at Holy Trinity the bell ringer, Mr Eburne, forgot to ring the Pancake Bell one year.   As nothing was said about his oversight, he never rang it again and his successors did not revive the custom.
      At St Michael’s Church the Pancake Bell tradition came to a sudden end when the bells were removed from the tower at the start of the 1885 restoration.   By the time the bells were made ready to ring years later, the custom of the Pancake Bell had been forgotten.
       While I am writing about bell ringing customs, there was another bell ringing peculiarity at St Michael’s Church, and that was the “Pudding Bell”.   On Sundays during the 19th century a bell was rung shortly after the conclusion of Mattins.   People said that this Pudding Bell was rung to tell the people who had remained at home that the church service had ended, and that the churchgoers could be expected home shortly.   In other words, it was time to get Sunday lunch ready!
     That explanation does seem highly improbable, however, and other explanations of the Pudding Bell have surfaced from time to time.  Some people have said that the Pudding Bell was rung to let St Michael’s worshippers know that there would be an early Evensong at 3.30pm.   Others have said it was simply the continuation of the practice of ringing a Prayer Bell that had originated during one of this country’s past wars.   During World War I, for example, there were prayer bells rung regularly across the country.