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10
NEWS
The Reverend Alan Swanborough
The Gazette, Friday, December 4, 2009
CRIBS ARE A HIT IN SHANKLIN CHURCH
IT WAS the fourth year for Shanklin’s Blasius’s Church crib festival last weekend with over 70 cribs on display at this pretty church on the outskirts of Shanklin after you travel through the old village towards Ventnor. “All the people who came thoroughly enjoyed it and appreciated it,” said Rev. Alan Swanborough. “We were particularly surprised to get so many people in after about 2.30pm on Sunday and we had a lot of families visiting.” “One of the features of our crib festival is the crib that one of our parishioners, Ray Dyke, made for our first festival. The following year he added Bethlehem and then last year Andrea Tibbits made shepherds. This year it’s expanded to having angels and scenery at the back too. This expanding crib scene is built into one end of the church, spanning the end of the pew area. The shepherds even have a little fire with a crocheted cooking pot hanging over it.
“A lot of the cribs are plaster, some are fibreglass and others are wooden. One was embroidered,” said the Reverend. The embroidered wall hanging was made by Joyce Barton and Andrea Tibbits using wool and needle felting and was started just after the crib festival last year with over 25 hours of work being put into its completion. It even had straw worked into the floor area and the stars and angels made from shimmery materials in the sky. Parishioners bring in their own cribs and some of them are very old, although all are precious to their owners. “Some of the cribs we will keep right through the Christmas season but families like to take theirs home. Some have to be moved because they are obstructing the pews,” said Rev. Swanborough, but you will still be able to see quite a few of these pretty displays in the run up to
Christmas. St Blasius Parish Church is one of the oldest on the Island and is named for St Blaise who was the young bishop of Sebaste (now in Turkey) in the early fourth century when Christians were being persecuted. He was the patron saint of animals until St Francis of Assisi superseded him. St. Blasius was the manorial chapel founded
THERE’S NOTHING LIKE A DAME WIN a pair of tickets for Cinderella on Saturday December 12 at 2.30pm at Ventnor Winter Gardens
SEND your name, address and telephone number to the IW Gazette, Unit B18, Spithead Business Centre, Newport Road, Sandown, Isle of Wight, PO36 9PH and we will inform you whether you have won the tickets early next week. Ventnor Theatre Group will be performing the much-loved family favourite, Cinderella, as their Christmas pantomime this
year. The popular local theatre group promises to captivate audiences, with a heart-warming version of this classic fairytale. The show features an endearing Cinderella, a lovable Buttons, a handsome prince and many more enchanting characters. Heaps of hilarious comedy and audience participation will be provided by the irrepressible Dame, John Woodford, who this year will be
pairing up with Paul Stevens as Cinders’ outrageous ugly sisters along with a pair of dodgy village idiots and the welcome return of their magnificent pantomime horse. With a superb live band, energetic chorus and dancers, all under the direction of Andrew Woodford, the show promises to be a fabulous festive treat for all the family.
Cinderella is at Ventnor Winter Gardens, Thursday December 10 and Friday December 11 at 7.30pm and Saturday December 12 and Sunday December 13 at 2.30pm. Tickets are priced at £7.50 per adult and £5 for the under 16s. Advance booking is highly recommended. Please contact the Winter Gardens box office on 01983 857581.
in the reign of King Stephen by Geoffrey de Lisle of Shanklin Manor. It is believed that one of the family at Shanklin Manor went on the crusades and that he carved the crusader’s cross in the original doorpost to the chapel (this cross can still be seen in the stone). It is thought that he may have heard of St. Blasius on the crusades.