The Holme Pierrepont Link

Down the years many Lady Bay people have had an affection for Holme Pierrepont. Going back to the development of Lady Bay, Pierrepont and Gertrude Roads were named after the family at the Hall; Seymour after a former Rector It's 'our' bit of countryside and many have liked to wander or cycle down the lane or, in more recent times, through the Water Sports Centre, as far as the Hall and Church, which make such a delightful sight across the little park Some 'Lady Bay' residents - those on the east side of Adbotton Lane and Carlight Gardens - actually live in Holme Pierrepont Civil Parish and were in it's Ecclesiastical Parish until boundary changes in 1991. And some Lady Bay people have attended St. Edmund's, been married there or had family members buried in the churchyard; and one Lady Bay resident. Angela Hamngton, who is a Church of England 'Reader¹, has been taking most of the services there for several years, as it has had no resident minister since 1968.

Since 1968, the 'benefice' (incumbant minister's post and duties) of St Edmund's Church and Holme Pierrepont ecclesiastical parish has been linked with the benefice of Radclife-on-Trent But this changed when, on 1 January of this year, the Church Commissioners agreed to the request of Holme Pierrepont Parochial Church Council to unite the benefice instead with that of Lady Bay; in view of our better road links, our common interest in Skylarks, Adbolton Hall and Greenacres, our more similar ways of worship, our personal contacts, and no least those sentimental links referred to above So that I am now incumbent minister of The United Benefice of Lady Bay with Holme Pierrepont and Adbolton'. As Holme Pierrepont has always had a 'Rector' rather than a Vicar', I am now entitled to call myself 'Rector* - what you call me is your business! I will take two services a month down the lane, but Angela will continue to take most services there and be the pastoral mainstay.

The practical effects for most people are minor but could be significant for some Lady Bay people. For me, it will mean extra duties but not extra pay! For those intending marriage, churchgoers or not, they now have the same legal right to a wedding at St Edmund's as they have at All Hallows' For those arranging a C of E funeral (whether in church or at a crematorium) of a relative who lived just over the parish border, for example at Greenacres, in the absence of a request for another minister the Funeral Director will now contact me rather than the Vicar of Radcliffe. I will also be available to anyone on either side of the Holme Pierrepont parish border who feels I may be of help in any respect, from personal crisis to passport application (£4 charge to non church-goers for the latter, none for the former!)

St Edmund's complements the more modem All Hallows' It dates mainly from 1666 and uses only the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. For those who are not worshipping any­where, but who value the old liturgy, a tranquil rural setting and a friendly little congregation, bear St. Edmund's in mind. Services are 11.00 am and 6 30 pm every Sunday.