Gatehangers of Ashendon, unite!

I have sung the praises of John Boughton, of Ashendon before round here. He’s been a churchwarden 55 years, as have members of his family over several generations. John made my pastoral staff, having farmed sheep in these parts a while ago. Therefore I couldn’t refuse the offer of speaking at the annual Ashendon Gate Hangers Dinner. Back in the late fifties the village allotments needed a new gate. John made it, but it took a few years to hang, along the lines of this old story:

There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.
Anybody could have done it,
but Nobody did it.
Somebody got angry about that
because it was Everybody's job.
Everybody thought that Anybody could do it,
but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.
It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody
when Nobody did what Anybody could have done...

Anyway, after much discussion in the pub over a few years, by 1962 the gate was hung. A celebration dinner was organised in the Red Lion. There hadn't been that much by way of village feasts since George VI’s coronation in 1937. That night, John made a gate to present to the person who had done the noble deed.

And every year since, a dinner has been held in the Red Lion, and a presentation made to the man who has done something special for the village, practically speaking, during the year. This tradition is now in its 46th year, and in the eighties the name of the pub was changed to the Gate Hangers — the only one in the country; and now you know where it got its unusual name. I was proud and delighted to turn up and tell a few jokes to the 50-ish people at this year’s dinner.

All very English, you may say. People talk about hi-concept ideas like social capital. This story demonstrates how churchwardens can bring people together in a village and, in the process, get a gate fixed for the allotments...

Carpenter inspires joiners in Ashendon

Ashendon, high on the end of a ridge in historic Bernwode, feels as though it’s on top of the world. You can see for miles. In Saxon times it was a fortress against the Danes. King Ethelred died at the Battle of Ashendon in 872, and in 1016 Adnoth, Bishop of Dorchester was slain by the Danes here. By the time of the Doomsday Book it was a substantial settlement which gave its name to the whole hundred (in Lord of the Rings speak). The village may well be smaller in population terms today. St Mary’s is still at the heart of the village, and a flourishing part of the Bernwode benefice. It was a joy to share in worship with Tina Stirling, the incumbent, who has a real gift for drawing people together and helping them pray and celebrate.
From the outside St Mary’s nestles into the top of the hill and looks quite small. This hides a noble and lofty 13th century interior, complete with Crusader tomb. In the 1920’s a naughty churchwarden excavated the North wall and found this amazing construction behind the plaster — a sacrament chapel, or anchorite’s chamber, perhaps.

John Boughton, churchwarden, has special place in my heart and my prayers for various reasons.

1. John’s the longest serving Churchwarden in Bucks — over 50 years — from a family who have farmed near the Church and provided churchwardens for 500 years.
2. John made my crook, pride of a hundred primary school assemblies, and faithful companion on my travels.
3. John has just made a new Bishop’s Chair in Ashendon Church, to replace one that was stolen a while ago. It fits immaculately into St Mary’s, localised by a Buckinghamshire chained swan panel on the front.

In a society that by and large is going gaga and losing its grip on corporate memory, I am still deeply moved to minister in places with this kind of resonance and continuous tradition of prayer, craftsmanship and service. I don’t suppose our forebears were any better or worse Christians than us — equally confused, compromised, fearful and stumbling. Yet they made it through the Danish wars and the Black Death — perhaps, in God’s mercy, we’ll make through the summer!