ANSTEY CLARION • Issue 19 • Late-MAY 2010 • Tel: 01530 244069
Churches Together in Anstey Calendar St. Mary’s Parish Church, Bradgate Road Anstey www.ansteyparishchurch.org.uk Friday mornings at 9.30 am Coffee Morning and second hand book sales Sunday 23rd May: 10.30am Pentecost United Service Sunday 13th June: 3.30 - 6pm “Tea at the Ritz” a fund-raising evening at St. Mary’s church rooms Saturday 3rd July: 10:00 AM St. Mary’s Summer Fair with lunches in St. Mary’s church rooms. The Methodist Church, Cropston Road, Anstey www.ansteymethodist.org Saturdays: 10am - 12 noon: Coffee mornings Saturday 22nd May: Sponsored 20 mile walk & bike ride for Orphanage in Romania. Saturday 5th June: Entertainment evening for “Help the Heroes Charity” Sunday 20th June: 10.30am Celebrating 100 years of working for unity United Reformed Church, Bradgate Road, Anstey www.ansteyurc.org.uk First Saturday of each month: 10am - 12 noon Coffee Morning St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church, Beaumont Leys Lane, Leicester www.saintpatrick-leicester.co.uk Leicester Christian Fellowship (Anstey house group) www.info@allnationscentre.co.uk Please contact Mr Steve Saulsbury telephone no. 0116 2218576, for details of meetings & services. Saturday 29th May: All Day • Big Church Day Out - see website for details and booking
Cake Break I just wanted to let you know that our cake break held on Tuesday 27th of April at the MS premises on Latimer Street in Anstey, raised the total sum of £453.50! This money will be used to benefit the MS Leicester branch. We would like to thank everybody who contributed to this fantastic amount by visiting us and enjoying a cup of tea or coffee and a piece of cake. Our grateful thanks also go to everyone who kindly donated cakes on the day.
Jane Tindle
Grants available from Leicester Rural Partnership
Leicester Rural Partnership has announced the availability of £400,000 worth of funding to support businesses in Leicestershire’s market towns and rural areas up to October 2012. The INSPIRE Leicestershire programme will provide much needed support to help deliver the Leicestershire Rural Partnership’s economic priorities. A major element of the programme is the provision of grants direct to individual businesses. In total £400,000 of funding is available across 5 priority grant schemes. These include:
• Shop Front Improvement Grant • Working Over the Shop (WOTS) Grant • Rural Redundant Buildings Grant
• Rural Visitor Grant • Equestrian Development Grant
Full details about this element of the INSPIRE programme, including the funding criteria, eligibility and application process, can be found on the LRP’s Oakleaves website at www.oakleaves.org.uk/inspire For more information about funding available through the Leicestershire Rural Partnership please contact either Fiona Walker (Rural Services Officer) 0116 305 5673, or Tom Fisher (Rural Economy Officer) 0116 305 7034.
Bradgate U3A, (The University of the Third Age)
Baubles and Beads
Our speaker Joe David, a Yeoman Warder at the Tower of London for a number of years, spoke to us about The Crown Jewels of Great Britain.
The treasure of our very early monarchs was secured in Westminster Abbey under the stewardship of The Lord Chamberlain. In the year 1340 it was found that the monks of the Abbey had been selling items in their keeping after the wife of the Lord Chamberlain purchased a large gold plate in Southwark. It was soon realised that this plate was part of the king’s treasure that was in the Abbey. After this small problem, all the treasure was moved and housed in the White Tower in the Tower of London complex. You may ask about the monks who sold the plate, well they where flayed alive and their skins nailed to the church door. A bit gruesome in those far off days. All the possessions accumulated by the monarchy up to the time of the Civil War had been seized by Oliver Cromwell in 1649 and melted down for coinage, but one item that did escape this end however was the anointing spoon, this piece was bought by an individual and given to Charles II after his restoration. King Henry I had originally acquired this spoon. However Charles added four pearls to the spoon handle because he thought it looked a bit plain.
Most of the regalia we see today dates from 1661 when after the Restoration, Charles had many new pieces made at great cost to the crown, most of which was with borrowed money. No wonder he was broke most of the time! The Regalia at this time was housed in the Martin Tower and this was the scene of an attempt to steal the jewels by a Colonel Thomas Blood. He disguised himself as a clergyman, knocked out the keeper of the jewels with a mallet and attempted to make off with the State Crown hidden under his cloak. The keeper’s son captured him later trying to make his escape. After being given an audience with the king, Blood was pardoned and given a pension, how fickle can fate be! In 1885 the regalia was moved to the Wakefield Tower and the public were invited to look at the display, which was housed within a wrought iron cage. Now this was the scene of another attempt to steal part of the treasure. A lady reached through the bars of the cage, grabbed one of the crowns and attempted to make off with it. She was however caught and sentenced to 15 years hard labour for her endeavours. The regalia is now housed in a specially constructed Jewel house in the Waterloo Building having been moved there in 1993 from another part of the same building. At busy times, people may have to queue for up to three hours to view the Crown Jewels.
To give some idea of the amount of material that is contained within the collection, Charles II had 16 great maces of silver gilt and 16 state silver trumpets made, 13 maces and 10 trumpets are on display. To list all the pieces would take up to much space in this short article but Joe David did go through an extensive list including the Exeter Salt that weighs in at 14lb of solid gold and the Plymouth Fountain which is made of 454oz of silver. The collection is still growing even today as our own Queen recently purchased a place setting that was originally in the collection but had been given to a retainer a long time ago. It now sits amongst the rest of the collection where it belongs. If you have not seen this unique collection of our Heritage then next time you go to London make time to go to the tower and be dazzled by the Crown Jewels.
Brian Rowlinson
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.