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December 2023 December 2023

FUNERAL TRIBUTES If you need this service please email in confidence popinplace@gmail.com and
we will help. Thank you to Gareth Lynam who is running this project for us.

In St Paul’s Cathedral in London there is an inscription on the Pop In Place Workshop Christmas gift ideas
monument to the great architect Sir Christopher Wren,
which reads “If you wish to see his memorial look around A variety of bird boxes and planters are for sale call in on Friday morning to see
you”. This epitaph could be applied just as readily to Mike them
Menzies albeit in the rather more humble precincts of the We are a small group meeting on Friday mornings and do some wood work,
Parish of Affpuddle with Turnerspuddle. A ‘doer’ and a making bird boxes, bug hotels and planters etc we also do a lot of talking and
‘giver’ by nature, Mike’s works are all around us, and so many and varied are drinking coffee. We have completed and refurbished the table tennis table and
they that it is difficult to know where to start, but here we go: that is available for people to play a game.
Mike was a boiler engineer by profession and his work took him far and wide If you are interested in coming along and doing any of the above or your own
across the world. It was in this capacity that Mike spent many hours battling small project, call in and see us you will be very welcome.
with the church’s somewhat ageing, cranky and temperamental heating
system, a task that would have tested the patience of a saint, not least when
on a freezing cold Sunday morning in January the heating conked out within Pop In Place Performers - Robin Hood do you have your
30 minutes of the start of a church service. The call would therefore go out, tickets?
“send for Mike” and true to form Mike would be there with his tool bag ready
to coax the beast back into life. In so doing Mike not only saved the We are in the final rehearsals now of this great little PANTO Robin Hood and the
congregation from catching pneumonia but also saved the church from Sherwood Performers and it will be showing on 25 26 27 January 2024
th
th
th
catching a hefty bill into the bargain. It should also be noted that Mike not only
carried out emergency repairs but also all of the routine maintenance required Tickets are available from November from the Pop In Place or telephone
to enable the system to carry on. Alison on 01929 472023
Inside the church in addition to the all too frequent task of balancing
precariously on a ladder changing dud light bulbs, Mike took on the annual
task of setting up, decorating and illuminating a very large Christmas tree in Pop In Place Move Well Classes
the nave, ably assisted by his children Emma and Andrew. He would then of The new classes start up again in January more details to follow.
course be there to take it all down again at the end of Christmas. As with any
very ancient building the maintenance tasks associated with the church Enquiries about the classes can be emailed to me
structure are endless. Particularly persistent at lucy.cruickshank7@hotmail.co.uk or telephone enquiries can be made via Lyn
enemies are the weeds and brambles that will Simmonds on 01929 471528
spring from any available crevice in the stonework Have you checked out our Pop In Place website popinplace.org
at any opportunity. Many of these weeds are high
up the tower and so to avoid the enormous For More information call Alison Bennett 01929 472023
expense of cladding the tower in scaffolding Mike
would put his abseiling skills to use suspending
himself from the top of the tower and, dangling
there, carry out some high-altitude weeding.

Mike worked hard at the endless task of keeping When you respond to advertisers, do please tell them you saw their
the churchyard looking at its best. A regular
attender at every churchyard tidy-up, and many advert in this magazine - it helps them monitor the effectiveness of
times in between them, Mike could often be seen their advert and helps us generate more advertising revenue!!
unblocking drains, cutting back ivy and other

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