Church Register of Burials 1912 - 1992 (reproduced from a register in the church - no records exist before 1912)

SURNAME	CHRISTIAN NAME(S)	AGE	DATE	REGISTRAR'S ENTRY NO.
ADAMS	Mary Rachel	75	18/04/35	99
ANDREWS	Thomas A. C.	67	19/10/62	133
ANDREWS	Elsie Lavinia	72	25/02/63	253
ANDREWS	Doris Maisie	49	29/11/69	148
BEVAN	Sarah Jane	73	10/02/25	87
BEVAN	Charles	80	19/12/30	145
BEVAN	Dorothy	32	23/06/31	189
BEVAN	William	79	01/12/31	89
BEVAN	Louisa	87	03/02/33	461
BEARD	John Thomas	75	11/06/36	COR.
BEVAN	Dorothy Lillian	3 months	18/11/37	60
BEVAN	Sidney	70	24/02/46	414
BEVAN	Kathleen May	29	06/02/46	404
BENNETT	Valerie Ann	21 days	18/03/46	273
BEVAN	Michael	30 minutes	03/05/48	113
BEARD	Alfred Thomas	57	01/09/50	COR.
BEVAN	Harold	62	28/01/52	COR.
BEVAN	Harry	58	11/03/55	COR.
BEVAN	Edith Blanche	66	08/02/56	_
BEVAN	Richard	82	21/08/56	83
BEARD	Mary Ann	90	29/08/57	246
BENNETT	Keith	12 months	25/12/58	130
BARRETT	Horace Albert	85	16/04/68	29
BRAIN	Hannah Elizabeth	77	27/06/69	67
BRAIN	Bertie Ernest	76	24/08/73
BEARD	Eliza Sarah May	80	08/11/74
BARRETT	Louisa	105	31/08/79	241
CHILDS	Sidney Douglas	7 months	11/01/26	185
CRICHTON	Still born child of Dr. and Mrs.	0	06/10/28	6
COOPER	Violet May	25	04/05/31	355
CHIVERS	Alexander Vleters	58	13/07/42	441
CHILDS	Matilda	80	06/04/53	326
CHILDS	Sidney	80	05/06/53	372
CARPENTER	Emma Jane	84	30/06/54	159
CARTER	Harold John	55	29/10/56	COR.
CHIVERS	Mary Sophia	85	08/06/69	88
DUBERLEY	Joyce Edith	29	18/05/48	309
DUGGAN	Edith Hannah	56	11/05/55	465
DAVIES	Lilian May	79	07/08/60	34
EVANS	Mary Ann	88	26/07/59	275
FLETCHER	Samuel E.	47	25/12/15	War Grave
FLUCK	Frances Mary	17 months	09/03/25	168
FLETCHER	Jean	81	09/07/26	303
FLUCK	Albert Kenneth	18 months	09/01/28	452
FRANKLIN	Archibald Ernest	52	11/09/37	39
FLUCK	Matilda Jane	54	08/01/43	101
FREEMAN	William Arthur	48	03/09/46	60
FOX	Gladys	32	12/02/47	498
FREEMAN	Henry Thomas	55	09/08/47	COR.
FLETCHER	Jessie Lydia	77	16/11/52	204
FLETCHER	John Isaac	81	31/01/53	257
FEAR	Herbert	74	22/02/54	63
FLUCK	Albert	71	18/02/57	133
FLEWELLING	Eliza Catherine	84	19/07/58	374
FLEWELLING	Edmund John	87	25/10/64	162
FLUCK	Jane Elizabeth	3	08/11/68	166
FLEWELLING	Ada	69	12/04/77
FLEWELLING	Kathleen	77	11/05/92	238
FLEWELLING	George
GWILLIAM	Sarah Jane	82	07/05/55	171
GUNTER	James	66	09/01/56	336
GUTHRIE	Rosalie Esther	72	22/11/58	88
GEORGE	Arthur G. E.	50	06/06/61	280
GUTHRIE	Edward John	78	08/02/64	_
GUNTER	Emily Agnes	70	05/09/64	337
HUSSEY	Joan	9 months	20/03/26	290
HUSSEY	Eva	67	18/05/27	496
HYETT	Kenneth John Samuel	3 days	10/01/28	453
HARDING	Elizabeth	73	25/04/30	5
HYETT	Stillborn child of Samuel and Ivy	0	17/03/33	38
HARDING	Stillborn child of Frederick and Ellen	0	13/10/35	38
HARMAN	Osborne John	3 years	20/03/36	257
HARPER	Joseph Thomas Ayland	22	25/08/36	COR.
HARDING	John	82	03/07/37	26
HARPER	Ethel Flora	57	25/07/39	239
HARDING	Alice	84	14/11/39	275
HUSSEY	Thomas Henry	88	06/02/42	500
HARMAN	John	72	20/12/47	70
HARMAN	Sophia Mary	83	02/04/49	259
HUSSEY	Oliver	72	22/02/51	246
HALE	Joseph Thomas	72	29/01/53	COR.
HARMAN	William Leonard	88	14/06/54	101
HARMAN	Flora	84	27/10/59	337
HARPER	Morgan John	84	04/03/64	14
HATTON	Ada	73	24/03/64	CREM: 7022
HUSSEY	Clara Elizabeth	77	29/03/65	279
HARMAN	W. Alfred John	68	23/02/66	478
HARDING	Albert John	79	29/06/66	74
HARRIS	G. R.	ashes interred in grave of above.
HALE	Eva Annie	88	16/09/71	44
HARMAN	Florence	79	07/05/78	COR.
HUSSEY	William John	93
HARMAN	Ellen Louisa	82	02/01/81	279
JONES	Annie	37	20/06/24	308
JONES	George Rudge	57	24/12/33	49
JONES	Albert Raymond (ashes)	55	15/12/62	4/876264
JONES	Florence Edith May	78	28/04/66	35
JONES	Henry Benjamin	83	31/12/68	197
JONES	Marion Louisa	89	06/07/99	1521 (cremation)
KNIGHT	Richard	84	14/10/25	233
KNIGHT	Charlotte Elizabeth	67	17/01/30	160
KNIGHT	Jean Mary	2 years	22/01/31	197
KNIGHT	William George	26	04/06/31	184
KEAR	Mostyn Donald	6 months	24/10/32	COR.
KNIGHT	Gladys Winnie	72	15/05/71	166
KEAR	George	78	16/07/72
KNIGHT	Robert George	70	12/09/73
LATHAM	Mrs.	82	01/02/42	417
LEWIS	Edith Matilda	65	21/04/71	182
LEWIS	William Leonard	69	29/05/74
LATHAM	Marguerite Annie (ashes)	87	29/08/76
MADLEY	Isaac	73	18/01/26	261
MARTIN	Mavis Keziah	27	17/07/27	397
MAPP	Mary Ann	54	29/09/29	126
MADLEY	James Lloyd	49	21/10/31	346
MADLEY	Margaret Louisa	49	06/07/33	385
MAYO	Frederick William	75	23/07/42	58
MASON	Joseph Thomas	77	14/08/43	159
MARTIN	James Churchill	70	27/07/45	355
MARTIN	Gretta Annie	43	08/09/45	180
MASON	Priscilla	76	09/08/48	60
MEREDITH	Doris Ena Minnie	43	31/10/55	285
MARTIN	Stanley	69	14/03/59	204
MORRIS	Douglas L.	61	08/09/67	349
MAYO	Frances Elizabeth	69	16/05/68	45
MORRIS	Frederick Joseph	65	26/09/73	20
MORRIS	May Ethel	66	24/12/75
MARTIN	Margaret Ann	88	24/12/78
MORRIS	Marjorie E.	69	04/01/79
NEAL	Bartley	85	24/04/52	53
NEAL	Rhoda Eliza	85	19/03/53	425
PHELPS	Joseph Herbert	59	18/05/29	326
PHELPS	Augusta Alice	59	08/05/33	9
POWELL	Charles	70	10/11/42	83
PHELPS	Ivy Beatrice	47	21/02/47	16
PRICE	Ester (ashes)	53	04/06/47	650
PHELPS	Edward Arthur	10 months	22/08/50	66
PRICE	Arthur William	47	19/05/51	329
PRICE	Mary Jane	88	21/02/56	377
POWELL	Elizabeth Kate	85	26/07/56	336
PRICE	Gwendoline A. M.	59	24/04/65	293
PHELPS	Leonard Joseph	70	15/10/66	130
PHELPS	Annie Emily	82	18/07/67	314
POWELL	Doris May	69	29/12/67	430
POWELL	Leslie Conrad	70	11/01/69	208
PHELPS	Arthur	87	02/06/69	44
PRICE	Thomas Henry (ashes)	79	11/03/70	13752
POWELL	Sydney Ewart	75	30/01/72	142
POWELL	William Frank	73	03/12/73	669
POWELL	Kathleen Florrie	78	09/06/81	309
POWELL	Esther	92	25/06/86	270
ROBBINS	Richard	84	25/03/31	147
ROBBINS	Elizabeth Ann	85	05/10/33	56
ROBERTS	William Henry	59	30/05/50	18
ROBERTS	Elizabeth Louisa	62	26/12/54	140
RAY	Alfred Stephen	75	?/10/62	134
SNOOKS	Baden Henry	70	18/11/70	8
TAYLOR	Thomas A. C.	54	17/12/12	315
TAYLOR	Emma	70	11/01/32	COR.
TAYLOR	Stillborn child of Thomas A and Kate	0	26/04/35	3
TAYLOR	Frank	1 day	19/03/38	99
TURNER	Sarah Jane	89	16/10/57	281
WATKINS	Margaret Annie	54	30/07/24	470
WILLIAMS	Alice	76	05/09/27	48
WHITE	Ernest Edward	30	20/07/33	11
WALFORD	Ellen Mary	61	01/06/35	182
WILLIAMS	Margaret	23 hours	05/04/39	214
WALFORD	Dolors	45	22/05/41	COR.
WADLEY	John	70	28/08/41	456
WILLIAMS	Lena Evelyn	40	03/02/49	144
WHITTINGTON	Frederick John	68	16/01/53	COR.
WADLEY	Laura	80	27/01/55	203
WEBB	Margaret	65	18/06/55	203
WALFORD	Winifred	57	29/01/56	475
WILLIAMS	Giles	73	18/09/56	13
WALFORD	Thomas Richard	86	21/09/57	236
WHITTINGTON	Polly	77	22/01/61	158
WOODHOUSE	Arthur John	74	26/11/63	419
WOODHOUSE	Winifred E.	85	27/12/67	214
WILLIAMS	Ethel Louise	87	20/01/70	184
WOODHOUSE	A. R. Maxwell (ashes)	47	28/01/68	11031
WEBB	James	79	28/08/71	33
WALFORD	Grace Kathleen	86	20/09/72

Thoughts on Remembrance Sunday

This weekend we observe Remembrance Sunday in the centenary year of the outbreak of the First World War. In the burial ground at the rear of our church there is a war grave, housing the remains of Private Samuel Fletcher, who died in 1915, and was buried on Christmas Day that year (I have found details from contemporary records online that state he died 21st December rather that November).

 Sam was born in Pontypridd and had been living in Ystradgynlais near Swansea when he was called up at the advanced age of 46 or 47 to serve in the Royal Army Medical Corps (he was apparently a stalwart of the local St. Johns Ambulance Brigade). He was sent to Aldershot for training, and was on the verge of departing for the war in France when he suffered a fatal asthma attack. One wonders if this was brought on by the anxiety of his situation, and also what the authorities were thinking to call someone up who probably had a pre-existing medical condition. It seems a terrible waste of life, that left his wife with six children, the younger of whom would have been dependent, but then one is reminded that there was so many lives unnecessarily sacrificed in that war.

We may wonder why Sam was interred in Lydbrook. This was at the request of his widowed mother, who lived in Lydbrook (though was not well enough to attend the funeral, at which the Rev. Mostyn Jones officiated). Obviously the family had lived in Lydbrook for many years, with a number of Sam's children being born here, and must have worshipped at our church. Sam had worked in the tin plate works in Ystradgynlais prior to being called up, so we may surmise that he worked in the tin plate works at Lydbrook while living here.

This Sunday as we make our act of remembrance we will remember Sam, one of so many men who lost their lives due to the conflict with Germany, one of so many who have lost their lives in wars since then. We remember in the hope that we will learn peace one day.

Pentecost

When the day of Pentecost came they were all together in one place...All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them Acts 2, verses 1 and 4.

I am always inspired by this passage of Scripture - God intervenes through his Holy Spirit on a massive scale. As I prepared to preach what really spoke to me was the sheer life-giving energy of the Spirit (I was reading an extract from a forthcoming book by Brian McLaren, We Make the Road by Walking). So I brought this into my sermon, how the signs of the Spirit ; water, dove, wind or breath and even fire all have connections with bringing life.

What also struck me is that the Spirit breaks all the rules. Church growth of over 2000% overnight is crazy, as happened that Pentecost Sunday. Today church growth is a topic people write about and teach about and some of that works, but even so how it happens and why it happens defies the rules, and surprises even the experts. There is usually prayer involved, and committed, long term prayer at that. But it all boils down to the fact that it comes from God, and that true growth involves lives changing, not just bodies shifting from one church's pews to another.

Our small Forest churches struggle to hold on in the face of declining attendances and ageing congregations. I believe what we do here has value and worth, and is part of God's kingdom coming to the earth. I also believe that unless we are open to the Holy Spirit, we may be hanging on to the wrong things in our urge to be good servants of our Saviour. Maybe church traditions and church buildings are less important than loving our neighbours and sharing the love of Christ with them.

Listening to the Shepherd's voice

 Last Sunday our Bible passage was John 10: 1 - 10. This is part of a longer passage during which Jesus describes himself as the Good Shepherd. The context of the whole, however, harks back to Jesus' healing of the man born blind, and how this man gained sight and also spiritual understanding, while his questioners, despite having physical sight were blind to who Jesus really was.

The passage talks about two major topics, firstly that those who do not enter by the gate (that is, Jesus) are thieves and robbers, and this would have served as a warning to the early church of fake apostles, who travelled round seeking personal gain from church communities, as well as reminding us that the only way to faith is through Jesus.

Secondly the passage talks about how the sheep recognise the shepherd's voice. Anyone who knows a shepherd will know that, at least for some sheep, this still holds true. So if we are the sheep of the Good Shepherd, how do we hear his voice? We hear him speak through Scripture, in various ways in our worship and also in creation in a variety of ways. Hopefully this week we are all trying hard to hear the Shepherd's voice.

Easter Reflections

 Christ is risen!

I am shortly heading off for a holiday in the Holy Land, but before I go I am trying to gather together my reflections on this Easter season. I enjoyed planning a Maundy Thursday communion service, and there is something very special about sharing communion around a table, a connection back to Christ and his disciples. Going up to Ruardean Hill Baptist church to join in their Good Friday service was also very special (due to other commitments I had to miss what I gather was a very good service of Meditation for Good Friday at our church). Then on Easter Day we had the joy of welcoming Beth our former minister back and those who were able shared a lunch with her afterwards. 

However, there were also moments of sadness. Derek, who was supposed to be leading our service, was not able to be with us due to his wife being taken ill shortly beforehand and our much loved secretary, John, was also not able to attend, due to his and his wife's continued ill health. We missed these special people very much, and it was so sad they could not share in our pleasure at seeing Beth again, and also share the joy that Easter brings.

Due to Derek's absence I was preaching, and my message was that we need to remember how shocking the resurrection actually was. And, when confronted with this risen Lord, what should our reaction be? Like the women who visited the tomb that first Easter (Matt 28: 1 - 10) we should worship, witness and follow.

 The weather over this Easter week has been very disappointing, however spring is certainly here in the Wye Valley. I was in Tintern on Monday and saw this beautiful cherry blossom there. The previous week in Monmouth I saw all the copper beeches coming into leaf and took the snapshot below. This sensation of new life is all around us, and fills my heart with hope and joy, and in awe at the wonderful works of the Creator of this beautiful world.

Walking through the mist

Today as I was out dog walking in the mist (it was mistier than this, and not frosty) I was thinking about how difficult it is to describe what my 'vision' is. Partly this is because I struggle to define myself as a 'leader', so I do not expect to need to have a vision except in terms of my personal walk with God. It also speaks of my awareness that, in my capacity as a leader, I can have all the plans in the world (and sometimes I do, too) but whether they come to fruition depends on whether they accord with God's will and whether the church feels they are feasible. Maybe also I worry that having a 'vision' is a bit too close to having a 'ministry' - it seems to be more about you defining what you are going to do than listening to what God tells you to do and doing it.
As my walk continued, my route took me over an open field, and I followed a faint but unmistakable track across the field, and suddenly I knew this was what I felt vision should be like. It was so misty I could not see the end of the track, but I could get to my destination by sticking to it. So as far as I am concerned, vision is seeing where God is going and following. You do not know what is coming up beyond the next few steps, but you know it will take you home. And I remembered a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King: 'Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.' Maybe vision is seeing that track in the grass, and realising God made it, then following behind.