Bredwardine and Brobury, Herefordshire

St Andrew's is one of the eight Border Link Parish churches under the Rector, Rev'd Roger James who lives at The Rectory, Cusop, Hay-on-Wye, Hereford HR3 5RF (01497 820634). The schedule of services for St Andrew's and the other churches is published monthly in the "Link" magazine, and at each church. The Churchwarden for St Andrew's is Mrs Gwynneth Mackenzie, Pool Cottage, Brobury, Herefordshire HR3 6DX (01981 500606).

St Andrew's has recently been part of a pilot Church Tourism project which is resulting in the preparation of a village leaflet to put Bredwardine with Brobury and St Andrew's more on the map.

Brobury's Church In 1851 the parish of Brobury, on the opposite bank of the River Wye, was united with Bredwardine, and St Andrew's became the church for the combined parishes. This left the church of St Mary Magdalen, Brobury, abandoned. In 1873, the former nave was pulled down and a western wall built to the c1300 chancel. More recently the building was extended and converted into a private dwelling. Brobury's ancient bell was moved to St Andrew's but not installed until 2007 when the bell tower was restored. It now rings out as the tolling bell.

Last after Trinity 21 (Green) Holy Communion, Sunday, October 26, 2008 8.00am

In an effort to raise money for the maintenance and upkeep of St Andrew’s Church, Bredwardine, we have applied for and received a Small Lotteries Licence from the Herefordshire Council to run a monthly draw. Initially, the draw will be restricted to 100 people.

The rules of the 100 Club are simple. Each member participates by purchasing an annual ticket at the cost of £20 per ticket for a one year commitment. Members can purchase more than one numbered ticket, but this will be limited to a maximum of ten tickets per year.

There will be twelve monthly draws, each with three prize winners. The monthly takings will be divided in half, with 50% going to help with projects at St Andrew’s Church; the other 50% being distributed as prize money.

The best way of explaining how the 100 Club will work is through example. If we receive £2,000 per year, each month we will pay out a total of £75 in cash prizes for the months January to November, totalling £825. During December we will pay out £175 in prize money, totalling £1,000 outgoings for the year. St Andrew’s Church will retain a profit of £1,000.

For those of you who have a calculator, these odds are pretty good and you are helping your local church, St Andrew’s. Each member can say that St Andrew’s really is their own historical building.

If 100 tickets are not sold by January 8th, 2009, the date of the first draw, then your total Subscription Fee will be returned to you.

To purchase draw tickets, please ring Sarah (01981 500 155), Graham (01981 500 635) or Ange (01981 500 696). Good luck and thank you for your support!

No, not lyrics from a famous old song, but the first of hopefully, many initiatives by the newly formed "Friends of St Andrew's" whose purpose is to raise funds for St Andrew's Church. We are collecting scrap metal monthly. Anything from ancient combines (farmers!), rusty car exhausts (some of us!) to the contents of the deepest corners of our sheds and gardens (all of us!). We have a 2 tonne trailer and can pick up large items or quantities. small items can be dumped at Graham's at 'The Glebe'. The high scrap prices for quantity at the moment make this a worthy effort. Any metal: steel, iron , aluminium, copper, brass including plumbing, scrap, batteries, etc. All profits to St Andrew's Church. Ring Graham on 01981 500 635.

St Andrew's Church Fete

We were so lucky with the weather! It tipped down with rain at 5.30 am in Bredwardine on Saturday morning, August 2nd, but as luck would have it, by the time that Charlotte Sellar opened the annual St Andrew's Fete, the sun was smiling on us again. Emily presented Charlotte with a lovely bouquet of posies.

A Big Thank you to EVERYONE for your support! Unofficial estimate of the funds raised were approximately £1,470. All proceeds are in aid of St. Andrew’s Church!

St Andrew's Harvest Festival Our Harvest Festival Service was held on Sunday October 5th, starting at 3pm. Tony Charles and Rana Davies-James took the service. Tea and cakes were served after the service in St Andrew's Church, Bredwardine.

September Evensong The Evensong Group produced, in anticipation of Trinity 17, a praised anthem performance of Stainer's 'God So Loved The World'. This service is now receiving acclaim beyond the parish. All welcome. Thanks to all music participants for this time and dedication!

August Evensong The Anthem Group provided the icing on the cake with their anthem! The August Evensong service included favourites 'All Hail The Power of Jesu's Many Crowns', ending with 'How great Thou Art'. What a turnout! Although I did not take an official count, I believe there were 50 people who attended the service!

Work Day at St Andrew's Church Saturday, July 12th was another success! The sun shone and it was a good day. Thank you to everyone who took part in the recent working day. The Churchyard is looking much tidier. We have made a good start but there is still a lot to do in both Churchyards. Regular effort is needed. So we hope to have another working day in October. Watch this spot. Special thanks to Jack and Emily for baking the delicious Banana Cake for our "elevenses". It was yummy!! Thank you Gwynneth for keeping us organised!

July Evensong A full house had its spines tingled by Cherry, Jean and Vicky's anthem, 'Pie Jesu' for last month's Evensong. Leader Mick took to the organ to accompany them. Ange led the hymns and the main service. Visitors to the area were thrilled to find tradition in a lovely old country church.

June Evensong welcomed Pat with some of the Monday Choir ladies who joined the St Andrew's Singers for Franck's 'Panis Angelicus'. Approximately 60 people attend the service; an new attendance record by far!

May Evensong welcomed many from beyond the parish who enjoyed an enthusiastically sun service, the high point being Elgar's setting of 'Ave Verum'.

Victorian Fair & Picnic at Brobury House was held on June 8, 2008
For more details, click here

Lent Hunger Lunch Thank you to everyone who turned out on the day to support our lunch. The soup and bread were tasty as promised! A total of £160 was raised in aid of Action Aid!

St Andrew's Church gets a "Spring Clean" Thank you to everyone who pitched in! What a difference a few hours made! With the willing help of twelve volunteers, the Old Churchyard has been tidied almost beyond recognition! There is still work to be done in the New Churchyard and in the Church itself, but we have made a very good start. Despite a gloomy weather forecast the sun shone and we all enjoyed working together in the open air. Our gratefulthanks to all who gave their time and energy. Here's to the next time!!

Mothers' Day Evensong went well. The anthem group gave us 'A Gaelic Blessing' with Bach's setting of 'O Thou Who dost Accord Us', an unusual but stirring hymn inclusion. Derek played us through, with Vicky Miller exiting the congregation to applause!

2008 January and February Evensongs go from strength to strength. The last two evensong services were acclaimed as the best ever. Sung throughout as usual, with an anthem group ever growing. Wesley's 'Lead me, Lord' was intensely moving. The psalms are sung, with pointing sheets that enable even the basic novice to participate. Four organists play 'musical chairs', taking their monthly turn for the service. Congregation numbers 40+ and growing. Come along and participate in this happy event.

Anto and Andrew Morley have left Brobury
In recognition of their long association with the villages and church, a 'Get Together' with wine and nibbles was held courtesy of Pru and Keith at Brobury House on Friday 7th December 2007 between 7pm and 9pm. Thanks also to Gwynneth and others who helped make it a most enjoyable gathering - though it is clear that we will miss Anto and Andrew greatly.

The Church Christmas Fair took place in the church on Saturday November 24th 2007, and raised much-needed funds for St Andrew's. Thank you to everyone who contributed to and helped at the Christmas Fair. There were so many really good items to buy, which enabled us to raise at £750. The Christmas Tree Sales generated another £415, putting our total taking for the event at £1,165. One very-satifised customer told me that not one needle fell from her tree despite being exposed to the central heating. What a testimonial!

Bells Restoration
In 2007 the bells of St Andrew's had been silent for nearly 10 years. Over the centuries, the oak frames supporting them suffered attack by boring beetles and wood-rotting fungi and while parts had been replaced, in some cases by steel, eventually the structure was no longer considered safe. The Parochial Church Council raised funds sufficient to: refurbish the tower, remove the bells, replace the bell frame, have the bells tuned, replace the tenor bell, rehang the bells, and to reorganise the tower to provide a ringing room on the first floor, with a sound-proofed ceiling.

Double Celebration! On Sunday 7th October 2007, the Harvest Festival was combined with the Re-dedication of the Church Bells at St Andrew’s Church, Bredwardine with Brobury. The Bishop of Hereford, the Right Reverend Anthony Priddis, officiated at the Service. The church was completely full with a few in the congregation required to sit at the base of the Font.

After leading a procession into the Tower, the Bishop gave thanks for all the craftsmanship and skill that had restored and renewed the bells and tower, and to all those who had contributed to the work and who would ring the bells. The bells then rang out to celebrate the end of ten years of dedicated fund raising and effort to make the 900 year old Church watertight and structurally sound. It has been a long journey for the small communities of Bredwardine and Brobury, raising over £140,000 for a number of projects including new roofing, porch repairs, re-pointing and repairs to the ancient stonework, and window repairs.

The project involved not only the skilled contractors but teams of volunteers from the community who heroically balanced on ladders and scaffolding to help undertake the work, all the while supported by friends and family who brought sustenance for the workers. Truly a team effort!

The bells were removed from the tower in February 2007 with Paul from Hayward Mills supervising the village "team", and they were finally replaced in June 2007. See the photos below:

Rehanging the re-cast bells, June 2007 along with the historic Brobury Bell, which was made in 1385.

In June, the Bells were blessed! The major event of the month for our villages was the sound of church bells ringing out from St. Andrew’s. Enthusiastic bell ringers helped to check the final fitting and adjustment of the bells and ropes. It was a moving moment and drew a group of awestruck villagers to the church to marvel at the event! In June, the bells were rung again. This time to bless a wedding.