Visit of Niue Return Services Association to St Andrew’s

During World War I, men from the New Zealand army were stationed at Grey Towers in Hornchurch where their hospital was based.

Among them were 150 men from the Pacific Island of Niue who fought in France, with the allies, in the Battle of the Somme. Four of them died in Hornchurch of illness during June 1916 and their graves are in St Andrew’s Churchyard.

As part of the 100th Anniversary of the Battle of the Somme commemorations, a party from the Niue Return Services Association came to St Andrew’s for a special service of Remembrance and to visit the graves of their fellow countrymen.

A quarter peal was rung prior to the service and a commemorative plaque, shown below, is to be installed inside St Andrew’s Church.

Hornchurch, Essex
St Andrew (18–0–0 in E♭)
Saturday, 17 September 2016

1. John W Stephenson
2. Ros C Skipper
3. Rebecca A Woolward
4. Gavin S Carpenter
5. Clive J Stephenson (C)
6. Anthony F Ammerlaan

Prior to a service commemorating the 100 years since soldiers from The Niue Islands fought alongside British troops on the Western Front in World War I.

Four such soldiers have graves in St Andrew’s churchyard, having died at a convalescent hospital based in Hornchurch at that time.

Click to enlarge

Bell Ringers Success in Striking Competition

On 9^th July 2016, St Andrew’s bell ringers took part in The Essex Association striking competition finals at Mistley (near Harwich).

There were 11 teams taking part from all over Essex and each team had to ring 240 changes of any method.

This means concentrating hard for about 8 or 9 minutes whilst the judges listen for any irregularities (faults) in the ringing, for example, when 2 bell ‘clash’ together.

Each team is then given a total number of faults and the team with the least faults wins.

Our team performed well, registering 51 faults out of a possible 240 and finished 7^th out of the 11 teams taking part.

The team was a mixture of youth and experience and included 2 young ringers from South Ockendon:

L–R: Clare Merivale, Jonathan Mills, Gavin Carpenter, Paul Bloomfield, Chris Pain and Clive Stephenson

Bell Ringing for The Queen’s 90th Bithday

On Saturday 11^th June, a largely Essex band successfully completed a peal of Plain Bob Royal as part of The Queen’s 90^th birthday celebrations.

All 10 bells were rung to Plain Bob Royal and the bells were ringing for 3 hours and 12 minutes.

The peal also marked the 95^th birthday of The Duke of Edinburgh.

Full details are as follows:

Essex Association

Hornchurch, Essex
St Andrew

Saturday, 11 June 2016 in 3 hr 12 min (18–0–0 in E♭)

5040 Plain Bob Royal

Composed by Daniel Brady

1. Paul J Bloomfield
2. M Louise Booth
3. Jillian Laken
4. Colin Friend
5. Colin G Wright
6. David E Rothera
7. Owen C R Webster
8. William J Stungo
9. Matthew E Rayner
10. Clive J Stephenson (C)

Rung as part of H M The Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations.

Also to mark the 95th birthday of The Duke of Edinburgh.

First of Royal – 4.

L-R Paul Bloomfield, Clive Stephenson, Louise Booth, Matthew Rayner, Jillian Laken, Will Stungo, Colin Friend, Owen Webster, Colin Wright, David Rothera