The Parish Magazine
December '24
BERWICK ST JAMES
A very Happy Christmas to you all.
Our sympathies to everyone who has recently suffered a bereavement. We are thinking of you. Get well soon to all who are unwell, and many thanks to those who help out, especially in an emergency.
CHURCH NEWS
Christmas beckons and that mean a busy time for the church.
On Sunday 1st December there is a Holy Communion service at 9.30a.m. On Sunday 15th December at 6.00pm we have the annual Candlelit Carol Service with 7 lessons. This year the Bishop of Ramsbury, Dr Andrew Rumsey, is taking the Carol Service and we look forward to welcoming him on his first visit to Berwick.
For new residents, the service is a highlight of Christmas and we look forward to seeing a full church once again. Mulled wine, soft drinks and mince pies will be served after the service.
On Christmas Day itself, there is a short Family Service at 11.00a.m followed immediately by Holy Communion for those who wish to stay. Everyone is most welcome.
As the end of the year approaches, I would like to thank everyone who has helped with the church in 2024. There is a long cast of helpers with Martin Gairdner playing the organ, Keith Lovett helping with the hedges, Ailsa Bush providing coffee after the Matins services, Lizzie Barnes organising the flower rota, Sarah Humphreys organising the church locking/unlocking rota, Kate Glyn-Owen sorting the reader rota and to James Douse and Stephen Bush giving invaluable advice and support. To them and to everyone on the locking/unlocking rota, the cleaning rota, the flower rota or the reading rotas, I send my sincere thanks. It is greatly appreciated and thank you so much.
CAROL SINGING
We have had an excellent response, for which many thanks, to the proposed house-to-house Carol Singing. It is planned for Wednesday 18th December (if it is pouring with rain on the Wednesday, we will try the Thursday 19th as a “reserve date”).
Meet at the Reading Room at 5.45pm for a 6.00pm start.
PLANT PRODUCE and FLOWER Table supporting C.R.UK
Dear villagers and neighbouring villages. I would just like to say a big thank you for your continued support. The plants from our friends were amazing I loved the amazing Jade plants and have now learned how to propagate from them … it’s a long process and I appreciate your skill and patience. One of the most unusual plants this season have been Banana trees very locally grown.. I haven’t had the best season even my famous chilli plants have suffered but the upside of that is that I will try ot overwinter for an early start next season.
I wish you and yours a peaceful Christmas and a very happy New Year.
Yours Aye Christine X
TEA and CAKE and CHAT in the READING ROOM
The December chats are on 3rd and 17th December 2.30 – 4pm, lovely to see everyone. It is a great time to have a chat and relax away from the rush of the Christmas preparations.
There is no charge, cakes are welcome too!
OLD FORGE FARM SHOP
Sam and everyone at the Old Forge Farm Shop wishes everyone a very Happy Christmas.
The shop will be open on Monday 23rd December closing for the Christmas holiday at 4pm.
We will re-open, refreshed and ready for the New Year, on 2nd January at 9am.
LOCAL HISTORY – ROAD NUMBERS.
I do like a bit of obscure history! Having done an article on Berwick’s pavements, I wonder if you might be interested in why our roads have the numbers A36 and so on. We have a numbering system to classify and identify all our roads, with a single letter and a number of up to four digits. Originally intended to make the allocation of Government funding easier, the numbers were soon added to maps, and signs, to help with navigation. In 1909 the Road Board was set up to administer Vehicle Excise Duty (first introduced in 1888). As motor vehicles became more popular it was necessary to allocate this tax and to work out which were the main routes and where to spend the duty raised. A definite list of major roads was published on 1st April 1923. The scheme divided Great Britain into 9 zones, 6 radiating from London, and 3 from Edinburgh. The English zones start with 1 being the East and based on The Great North Road, then clockwise with Zone 2 being (roughly) Kent, Zone 3 (us) from London down to Land’s End, Zone 4 the West Midlands and most of Wales, and so on. Generally the main single digit road (the traditional main road) was the boundary of the zone starting clockwise. So zone 3 starts at the A3, and finishes just before the A4 (going clockwise). Other A roads were numbered from the main road going clockwise – A31, A32, round to us at A36 and onwards. Radial and cross linking roads follow the same principle. The A303 was numbered in 1933. Along with other three digit A roads, its number is taken from the local A road where it starts, so generally (but not always) numbering followed the general principle. There are, of course, anomalies and odd roads! B roads are numbered distributor roads with lower traffic densities than A roads. They follow the same numbering system but generally have 3 or 4 digits. C and unclassified roads are generally numbered but for the use of the local authorities and often don’t appear on road signs.
Researched and written by Nicky Street (with thanks to National Highways, sabre-roads.org, Wikipedia and so on). What about our road? The B3083 – the numbers don’t quite fit! An interesting story, and another article.