Sponsor-a-Slate
In 1855 St. Tudno’s Church was re-roofed and restored thanks to
the generosity of one benefactor, Mr. William Henry Reece. Time
and the exposed position of the church took their toll and the
church once again needed to be re-roofed. This provided an
exciting opportunity
for anyone to be a benefactor by sponsoring a slate as part of the
Sponsor-a-Slate
scheme, which was launched at the Friends' Fair on 5 September
2009.
Each sponsored slate has a permanent label with the sponsor's name
engraved
on it and the labels have been fixed under the slates, and so
protected from the weather, but whenever a future generation repairs
the roof the names will be clear to see. All sponsors were
invited
to enter their names, and any messages, on the application form and
these were bound into four Books of Sponsors, which
have become
part of the parish archive and are thus a more accessible record of
contributors.
In June 2010 the appeal passed the half-way point, when the Bishop of
Bangor, the Rt Revd Andrew John, sponsored the 500th slate. In
September 2010 the three quarters point was reached when Mr Guto Bebb,
MP for Aberconwy, sponsored the 750th slate. In April the appeal
reached its target when Archbishop Barry of
Wales sponsored the 1000th slate.
The
re-roofing work
began at the end of February 2012 and the restoration was completed in
early June 2012.
Many thanks to everyone who supported
Sponsor-a-Slate, which raised more than £15,000.
On Sunday 1 July 2012 there was a special Service of Thanksgiving and
Rededication to celebrate completion of the renovation. Please
see the St.
Tudno's page for 2012 for more information. There are more
details of the scheme on the Sponsor-a-Slate archive page.
Friends in action
2015
Carols by Candlelight
The Friends prepared the church
for the three services, beginning with the annual challenge of
assembling the Christmas trees on Saturday 19 December and continuing
with setting out the path lights before the services on Sunday 20
December. Friends then took part in the services and clearded up
after the last service. There are more photographs on the St.
Tudno's and Holy Trinity Events pages for 2015
Autumn
Working Party
The Friends
of St. Tudno's
were busy during the autumn Working Party on Saturday 17 October.
The church was cleaned,
litter cleared from the churchyard and cut grass raked as part of the
wildlife conservation policy. We were delighted that some of our
Friends from further afield were able to take part in the day. There
are more photographs on the St.
Tudno's and Holy Trinity Events pages for 2015.
School visit
On 14 October the Friends welcomed
a class from Ysgol San Sior to St. Tudno's. The children
were given a short talk on St. Tudno and his church and were then
divided into groups to explore the church and churchyard.
Open Churches Day
The Friends manned
St. Tudno's for the Diocesan Open Churches Day on Saturday 1 August,
which had the theme "Saints and Sinners" and there is more information
on the St.
Tudno's page for 2015. A new banner to advertise the Friends was
hung
outside the churchyard for its first use.
Concert by Cantamus Chamber Choir
There was good
attendance for this concert on Saturday 25 July and the concert
included some recorder music in addition to the choral pieces and there
are some photographs on the St.
Tudno's page for 2015.
The home made cakes served by the Friends in the interval were much
appreciated.
Great Orme Walk
This took place on
the evening of Tuesday 21 July, which was rather cold and windy and
inclined to be damp. The walk from the Summit to Happy Valley was
led by Assistant Country Park Warden Chris Woodall (right in the
photo), who gave a fascinating account of management of the Country
Park.
Great Orme Exploration Society (GOES)
visit
Members of GOES
visited the churchyard on the evening of Thursday 17 July.
Inscriptions on tombstones were examined and the evening finished with
cakes and hot drinks. Thanks to Nick Challinor of GOES for the
photo.
Friends' outing
About 30 people took part in the
outing to Blaenau Ffestiniog on 16 June and had a fascinating day
learning about the history of the town and visiting churches, chapels
and the Old Mill. The day ended with Compline in the parish
church, St. David's, followed by tea and cakes.
Display on St. Tudno's
As part of Holy
Trinity's 150th anniversary celebrations on 30 - 31 May, the
Friends put on a display on St. Tudno's Church past and present.
Spring working party
This was on Saturday 16 May and the benches were set out, the
churchyard tidied and cut grass raked away and the church was
cleaned.
Friends' Fair
This was held at Holy Trinity Church on Saturday 9
May.
Easter Vigil
Friends prepared for and took part in the
Easter Vigil service at 5.30 am on Sunday 5 April and cooked breakfast
afterwards.
2014
Carols by Candlelight
The Friends prepared for Carols
by Candlelight on Sunday 20 December by decorating the church on the
Saturday and setting out the candles. On the Sunday morning we
set up the path lights then had lunch together before the
services.
Autumn working party.
In addition to the regular jobs, cut grass was raked up and piled
in a corner of the churchyard. This was in accordance with the
new policy to magange the churchyard for wildlife: removing grass
cuttings encourages wild flowers to grow.
Friends' AGM
This began with a Eucharist
service at St. Tudno's at 2.00 pm, at which the preacher was Archdeacon
Paul of Bangor, shown below with the Rector. The AGM was held in
the Queen's Hotel in
Llandudno and was followed by Afternoon Tea and the annual slide
show.
Church open day
This took place in September but
the planned churchyard tours were not held, due to bad weather.
However, refreshments and a "mini-fair" raised some funds for the
Friends.
Wedding Day
Saturday 9 August was a very
special day when two Friends of St. Tudno's, Sara and Mark, married at
St. Tudno's by Special Licence from the Archbishop of Canterbury (the
church is not licenced for weddings, so special permission had to be be
sought from the Archbishop).
Great Orme Walk
This was a history walk on 30
July with
local historian Tom Parry. In the photograph Tom is showing the group
the ancient Cromlech.
Friends' outing
As a change from local trips,
this year's outing on 10 June was to Lichfield, where we visited the
cathedral,
St. Chad's Well (below) and Samuel Johnson's birthplace.
Spring Working Party
This
took place on Saturday 17 May and the chuch and churchyard were
prepared for the summer season of services, including setting out the
benches used at the open air services.
Friends
of St. Tudno's Church Fair
This was on Satursay 10 May
and was held in Holy Trinity church hall. The Friends are
currently raising money for replacement of the screen doors and window
coverings.
Easter
The Easter Vigil
service was held at St. Tudno's at 5.30 am on Easter day. The
service included lighting of the new Paschal candle from a new fire,
renewal of Baptismal vows and the first Eucharist of Easter. The
service was followed by a cooked breakfast, provided by the
Friends.
2013
Carols by Candlelight
The Friends prepared the church
for the services of Carols by Candlelight on Sunday 22 December,
setting out the crib scene, Christmas trees and candles in the church
and path lights outside. Friends also took part in the
services. There are more photographs on the St.
Tudno's and Holy Trinity Events pages for 2013.
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Preparation for Carols by Candlelight.
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Classical
Guitar and Poetry Evening
On Friday 9 August we were
delighted to welcome classical
guitarist Jonathan Richards and poet Deborah Barker for a concert at
St. Tudno’s organised by the Friends. Jonathan played four sets,
including sarabandes
and
blues, and Deborah recited two sets of her poems. The Friends
served refreshments in the churchyard during the interval and with the
wonderful acoustics and
atmosphere of the ancient church, this was a very enjoyable
evening. There is a photograph on the St. Tudno's page for
2013.
Friends' outing
The outing, on Saturday 13
September was to some of the little churches of the Conwy Valley at:
Llangelynnin, Caerhun, Llanbedr-y-Cennin and Llanrhychwyn. At
each church we were met by the wardens, who told us about the history
of their churches.
Great Orme Walk
This year's walk, on the evening
of Monday 24 June was a wildflower walk, led by local expert Wendy
McCarthy, who showed us some of the many uncommon and rare species on
the Great Orme.
Spring working party
A small but hardworking group
met in rainy weather on Saturday 11 May to set out the benches, tidy
the churchyard and clean the church.
Spring Fair
The Spring
Fair was held at Holy Trinity Church on Saturday 6 April. The day
was bright but very cold and the refreshments team, in particular were
kept busy. The Friends are currently raising money to replace the
outer screen doors at the church.
Easter
At 6.30 am on Sunday 31 March the
Easter Liturgy was held at St. Tudno's
and included lighting of the new
Pascal Candle from a new fire, renewal of Baptismal Vows and the first
Eucharist of
Easter. Friends took part in many aspects of the service and the
service was followed by a cooked breakfast, provided by the Friends.
2012
Carols by Candlelight
The services were held on Sunday
23 December, and were attended by about 120 people at 3.00 pm,
including the Holy
Trinity Choir, and about 60 at 5.00 pm. These photographs
show the church between the services and the second service. The
Friends prepared the church, lit the paths and took part inthe
services. There are some more photographs on the St.
Tudno's and Holy Trinity Events pages for 2012.
Autumn
Working Party
There was a good turnout of
Friends for the working party on Saturday 13 October and some of them
are shown below. It was a lovely day and we were able to clean
the church,
tidy the sheds and churchyard, put away the benches and check
the tombstones. There is another photo on the St. Tudno's page
for 2012.
Harvest Festival
Members of Friends decorated St
Tudno's for the Harvest Festival on Sunday 30 October and served
refreshments after the service. A collection of tins and packets
of food was made for Conwy Food Share. Those given before the
service were used as part of the decoration, with some themed displays,
but the other gifts were presented at the altar during the
service. There are some more photographs on the St.
Tudno's and Holy Trinity Events pages for 2012.
The harvest of the sea.
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Fruits and sugars.
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The sower.
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Friends' AGM
The Friends' AGM began with a
Eucharist service at St. Tudno's at 11.00 am, at which the celebrant
and preacher was our Patron, Bishop Andew of Bangor. The service
was follwed by lunch and the business meeting at the Queen's Hotel in
Llandudno and the day ended with a slideshow of Friends' events and
events at St. Tudno's and on the Great Orme during the past year.
The photograph shows the Rector and Bishop Andrew (right).
Church open day
On Saturday 15 September the
Friends
"manned" the church for an open day. This included refreshments,
stalls, a slideshow of old pictures of St. Tudno's and tours of the
church and churchyard. There are more more photographs on
the St.
Tudno's and Holy Trinity Events pages for 2012.
Great Orme Walk
The annual guided walk on the
Great Orme was held on 4 August when, despite heavy showers, local
historian Tom Parry led us around the "Gunsite".
Friends' Outing
On 14 July we visited three churches on the Lleyn Peninsular: St.
Beuno's, Clynnog Fawr; St. Beuno's, Pistyll; and St. Gwynhoedl's,
Llangwnnadl.
In Pistyll Church.
Service of Thanksgiving and
Rededication
Friends took part in the Service
of Thanksgiving and Rededication on 1 July, to celebrate restoration of
the church. The Friends provided: the priest (the Rector), the
preacher (The Very Revd Alun Hawkins, Dean Emeritus of Bangor and
Patron Emeritus of the Friends), organist, crucifer and readers.
During the service the Books of Sponsors were presented by two of the
Friends, while another rang the bell. The Friends also provided
refreshments after the service. There are more
photographs on the St. Tudno's
2012 and Sponsor-a-Slate
archive pages.
Working parties
Working parties were held on 25
May (first photograph) to set out the benches for
the open air services and on 23 June (second photograph) to return
everything which had been in storage during the recent restoration
work.
Spring
Fair
The Friends' Fair was held at Holy Trinity on
Saturday 14 April, in aid of the current restoration work at St.
Tudno's. After the usual fun of assembling the parish gazebo,
some of the stalls were set up outside and entertainment was provided
by Beulah Brass. Unfortunately, gusty winds prevented the soft
toy bungee jump from taking place. There are more photographs on
the St.
Tudno's and Holy Trinity Events pages for 2012.
Preparation for Restoration
The Friends turned out on
Saturday 18 February to clear the church in preparation for the
re-roofing work. As this will include internal work, everything
movable had to be removed from the church.
2011
Carols by Candlelight
The Friends were busy preparing
for the services and started by cleaning the church and setting out the
candles on Saturday 17 December. The Christmas tree was decorated
on the Sunday, before the 3.00 pm service, and the new Nativity set
placed before the altar. The set has been made by Friends
specially for St. Tudno's, with beautiful knitted figures and an
illuminated stable. Squally weather meant that the path lights
could not be set out, so before and after the 5.00 pm service Friends
with torches stood at strategic places on the paths. During the
services, Friends did the readings and the organist was also a
Friend. There are some more photographs on the St.
Tudno's and Holy Trinity Events pages for 2011.
Autumn Working Party
Friends joined parishioners for
the working party on Saturday 15 October, to put away the benches and
tidy the church and churchyard on a beautiful, sunny day. There
are some photographs on the St. Tudno's page.
Friends' AGM
The AGM was held on Saturday 24
September and the day began with a Eucharist service at St.
Tudno's. We were delighted to welcome as preacher Fr. Philip
Barrett, who has written a booklet on St. Tudno. The service was
followed by lunch at the Queen's Hotel in Llandudno, where the business
meeting was held. The day finished with a slide show of Friends'
events and events at St. Tudno's during the past year. The photo
shows Fr. John and Fr. Philip (right) outside St. Tudno's.
Open Church Day
On Saturday 17 September St.
Tudno's took part in the national Open Church Day. The
church was "manned" by the Friends of St. Tudno's Church, who welcomed
visitors, provided refreshments, gave talks on the church and showed
slides of old pictures of the church.
Summer
Fair
This was held at Holy
Trinity
Church on Saturday 27 August, to raise funds for re-roofing St.
Tudno's
Church. We were glad to use the parish gazebo as the day turned
very
wet and windy! There are more photographs on the St.
Tudno's and Holy Trinity Events pages for 2011.
Open
Air Songs of Praise
This was on Sunday 28 August and
was in
addition to the regular open air service in the morning. The
hymns
were chosen and introduced by members of the Friends of St. Tudno's
Church. The invitation choose a hymn was open to everyone in the
parish but it was the Friends who took up the challenge.
Great Orme Walk
This was on Saturday 6 July and
was a natural history walk led by the Country Park Warden, Sally
Pidcock. Starting from the Summit Visitor Centre, Sally took us
for a walk on the upper area of the Orme, telling us about the plants
and animals as we went along. Sally also explained how the
limestone pavement formed and we compared the plants growing within the
pavement with those in the surrounding grassland.
Friends' outing
On Saturday 16 July the Friends wisited the beautiful
Wybrant and Penmachno valleys. At Ty Mawr Wybrant we saw the
birthplace of Bishop William Morgan, who first translated the Bible
into Welsh, and learnt about life in this area in the 16th
century. We enjoyed lunch at the Conwy Falls Hotel, as shown in
the photos, and most of us took the walk through the woods to view the
falls. We then visited St. Tudclud's Church in Penmachno, at the
invitation of the Vicar and congregation, and finished the day at the
Penmachno School fair. St. Tudclud and St. Tudno are said to have
been brothers and we were very interested to learn the history of St.
Tudclud's Church.
St. Tudno's Day
A number of Friends took part in the Pilgrimage
walk from Holy
Trinity Church
to St. Tudno's on St. Tudno's Eve, Saturday 4 June. On St.
Tudno's Day, Sunday 5 June, Friends prepared the church, took part in
the service and served refreshments afterwards. There are more
photographs of the Pilgrimage and the service on the St.
Tudno's and Holy Trinity Events pages for 2011.
The end of the Pilgrimage, at St. Tudno's Church.
Spring working party
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working party on Saturday 14 May was well
supported and the benches were set out for the open air services and
the church and churchyard cleaned and tidied. There was even time
to
relax with a hot dring and a piece of cake! There are more
photographs
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Tudno's and Holy Trinity Events pages for 2011. |
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Easter breakfast
A number of Friends took part in the Easter Vigil
service at St. Tudno's at 5.30 am on Easter Day and the Friends cooked
a breakfast of barbecued "bacon butties" for everyone after the
service. There are some photographs on the St. Tudno's
page for 2011.
Friends of St. Tudno's Church spring fair
This was held at Holy Trinity Church on Saturday
16 April. The fair opened with a performance from Llandudno Town
Band and in addition to refreshments there were various stalls including
plants, books and handicraft materials. Good
weather allowed some stalls to be held in the church grounds, where the
soft toy bungee jump was in operation. The fair was in
aid of re-roofing St. Tudno’s Church. There are additional
photographs on the Holy Trinity Events
and St.
Tudno's pages for 2011.
Archbishop
of Wales sponsors 1000th slate
In April 2011 The Archbishop of
Wales, the Most Reverend Barry Morgan, sponsored the 1000th slate for
the roof of St. Tudno’s Church.
Dr. Morgan’s message for the book of sponsors is: “I have
very fond memories of preaching at St. Tudno’s when Elwyn Roberts was
the incumbent and I was university chaplain. I have loved the
place
since those days.”
The Archbishop is seen receiving a special Sponsor-a-Slate certificate
from the Rector of Llandudno, Canon John Nice, following a service at
Holy Trinity Church, Llandudno, when the Archbishop had been presenting
the Archbishop of Wales’ Awards for Church Music (see Holy Trinity
Events 2011).
Sponsor-a-Slate raised more than £15,000 towards the roof appeal
and
the Friends
of St. Tudno’s Church are continuing to help the parish raise funds
for maintenance of St. Tudno's.
Add-venture in Learning at St. Tudno’s
On
March 17th St. Tudno’s was visited by a group of blind and partially
sighted people, accompanied by sighted guides and a number of guide
dogs. The party comprised about 30 people who were taking part in
an
“Add-venture in Learning” week based in Llandudno. The party
arrived
in minibuses, cars and on foot, a number having walked up from
Llandudno. After a welcome from the Friends of St. Tudno’s and a
short
introduction to St. Tudno and his church, the party was split into four
groups to be shown some tactile objects in the church and churchyard,
under the direction of some of the Friends of St. Tudno's Church.
2010
Carols by Candlelight
The Carols by Candlelight
services on Sunday 19 December went ahead thanks to the efforts of five
of the Friends of St. Tudno's, who walked through the snow to St.
Tudno's on the Saturday to prepare the church and walked back on the
Sunday to lead the two services. The Friends were delighted to be
joined by another 25 people at the 3.00 pm service and five at the 5.00
pm service. As the roads on the Great Orme were virtually
impassable, the congregation had all walked, too. There are some
photographs of the services on the St. Tudno's
page for 2010.
Christmas cards
The 2011 Friends of
St. Tudno's Christmas cards show St.
Tudno's by moonlight, while the
2010 cards show the church
prepared for
Carols by Candlelight.
Autumn working party
The
benches used for the open air services
were put away on Saturday 16 October.
Other jobs will included clearing the churchyard of rubbish and some
small maintenance matters.
Friend' AGM
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The
Friends' AGM was held on 25 September 2010 and followed a
similar format the previous year, with a Eucharist at St. Tudno's
followed by lunch and the business meeting at the Queen's Hotel,
Llandudno. The afternoon ended with a slide show of Friends'
events
during the past year.
Mr Guto Bebb, MP for Aberconwy, joned the Friends' service and
sponsored the 750th slate for St. Tudno's roof. Mr Bebb (right)
was presented with a special Sponsor-a-Slate certificate by Friends'
Chaiman, Chris Fosbury.
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Friends' Fair
The
Friends
of St. Tudno's Church Fair was held on Saturday 4 September at Holy
Trinity, in aid of re-roofing St. Tudno's Church. Entertainment
was provided by Beulah Brass and the popular soft toy bungee
jump. As the weather was good some of the stalls were held
outside, while the refreshments team was kept busy inside.
Great Orme Walk
The Friends' Great
Orme guided walk on Saturday 21 August was led by local historian Tom
Parry. We walked from St. Tudno's Church to the Iron Age hillfort
at Pen Dinas and on the was Tom told us about the local history and
legends of places that we passed. At Pen Dinas we learnt
about the hillfort, the Maen Sigl
(Rocking Stone) and the rock cannon.
The Friends
listen to Tom's introduction at the beginning of the guided walk.
Friends' outing
On Saturday 10 July
the Friends had an outing to some of the Celtic Circle churches of
SW Anglesey. The first stop was Llangadwaladr
Church, where we enjoyed the
flower festival and a tour of the herb garden. We had lunch at
Aberffraw and visited the church and Llys Llewelyn centre, before
walking out across the tidal causeway to St. Cwyfan's Church ("The
Church in the Sea") for a short service (pictured below). We
finished our tour at Llanfaelog, where the parishioners kindly provided
refreshments at the church.
Spring working party
The annual working party was
held on Saturday 15 May. This included setting out the benches
for the open
air services, checking stability of the headstones and cleaning and
tidying the church and churchyard. Tea and cakes were provided
and there were jobs to suit everyone!
The photograph shows the sound system being checked ready for the open
air services, while one of the benches receives a coat of preservative.
Spring Fair
The
Friends
of St. Tudno's Church
Spring Fair was held at Holy
Trinity Church on Saturday 17 April and
was well attended. As the weather was so good, some stalls were
placed in the church grounds.
Unfortunately the soft toy bungee jump could not be offered this time
as the operator was ill. The
Friends are raising money towards
re-roofing
St. Tudno's and as part of this are offering the opportunity for anyone
to Sponsor-a-Slate.
2009
Carols
by Candlelight
Some
of the Friends of St. Tudno's Church started preparations for Carols by
Candlelight by cleaning the church on Saturday 19 December. The
candles and path lights were set out on Sunday 20 December, ready for
the services at 3.00 pm and at 5.00 pm. Despite "severe weather"
warnings for the area, both services were well attended and more
photographs from the services can be seen on the St. Tudno's
Church and Holy Trinity Events pages for 2009.
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Friends'
AGM September
The AGM on 26 September began with a Eucharist service
at St. Tudno's. Friends had lunch together at the Queen's
Hotel, Llandudno and this was followed by the business meeting.
The afternoon ended with a slide show of Friends' events and events at
St. Tudno's in the past year.
Open
Churches Day September
Friends manned the church for the Open Churches Day on 19
September. Friends offered visitors refreshments, talked about
the history of the church and sold Friends' souvenirs.
Friends'
Fair September
The
Friends' Fair was held at Holy
Trinity Church on 5 September. The fair saw the launch of
Sponsor-a-Slate and sponsors were queueing
to sign up, after good coverage in the local press.
The stalls and refreshments were busy and entertainment was provided by
Llandudno Town Band.
The soft toy bungee jump was as popular with adults as with children!
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Friends'
Walk August
A dozen Friends took part in the
walk on the Great Orme, led by the Country Park Warden. Starting
at the summit, the route passed the Bishop's Quarry (pictured below),
copper mines, Pink Farm and St. Tudno's Church before returning to the
summit. On the way we learnt something about the varied
vegetation of the Orme and its management, the fossils and history of
the Orme and how to tell the age of one of the Great Orme goats!
Friends'
Outing July
Friends on Beaumaris Pier, ready to embark for a cruise around
Ynys Seiriol (Puffin Island). Some of the group landed on the
Island, with kind permission of the landowner, while the others
returned to Beaumaris where they joined some more of the Friends for a
visit to Penmon Priory.
St.
Tudnotide celebrations
A number of Friends joined the Pilgrimage walks of St. Tudno's
Day, Friday 5 June, participated in the services on 5 and 6 June or
help with refreshments after the service on 6 June. There are
photographs of these events on the St. Tudno's
2009 page.
Working
Party, 16 May
Many thanks to everyone who took part in the working party on 16
May, it was definitely a case of “many hands make light
work”. Friends of St. Tudno’s Church were joined by
some parishioners and we were able to: move the benches from the shed
to the churchyard for the open air services, clean out the sheds,
remove litter, put surplus cushions into storage and so release more
storage space, clean the silver, brasses and vases, enjoy refreshments
and offer them to visitors and protect some of the plants in the
churchyard. The last job may need a bit of explanation.
During the spring there were a lot of cowslips in flower in the
churchyard and quite a few native bluebells, so to enable them to set
seed they needed protection during the grass cutting time. The
main clumps were therefore marked with canes and tape and Tim, who cuts
the grass, very kindly left these areas uncut (and a few more patches
which he spotted). In the late summer, Tim will also be leaving
the ragwort plants, to allow the cinnabar moth caterpillars to feed on
them. In addition to protecting these specific plants, the grass
is cut in sections and this seems to be quite a good compromise between
safety, tidiness and conservation. (Update: June 2009 - some
pyramidal orchids were spotted in the churchyard and these were given
similar protection.)
Tombstone inspection
2008
Carols by Candlelight
A number of Friends attended, took part in or prepared the church
for the two Carols by Candlelight services on 21 December. The church
was lit with candles inside and path and flood lights outside and there
are some more photographs on the St.
Tudno's 2008
page and on the 2008 Events
page.
First
AGM
A meeting of the Friends of St. Tudno's Church was held on
Saturday 20 September, at
3.00 pm in the church. The meeting included the first
Annual
General Meeting, during which the Constitution was agreed and a
committee elected. Refreshments were served after the meeting and
some of the gentlemen fitted a new rope to the flagpole. We hope
that maintaining the flagpole will not become a feature of all Friends'
meetings!
Some of the Friends fitting a new rope to the flagpole (left) and
the
Church in Wales' flag flying from the flagpole (right).
Inauguration
of the Friends of St. Tudno's
Church, 7 June 2008
The Friends group was inaugurated at a Eucharist service at the church
on Saturday 7 June, at which the preacher was the Dean
of Bangor, the Very Reverend Alun Hawkins. The
Rector and St. Tudno’s wardens spoke about some of the aims of the
Friends: to enable members to be part of the church family at St.
Tudno’s, whether they live in the parish, in other parts of the UK or
overseas; to keep members in touch with St. Tudno’s through newsletters
and special events; to invite members to participate in the life of St.
Tudno’s, e.g. by helping at services or with odd jobs; to pray for the
work and witness of St. Tudno’s and for those who ask their prayers
there and who may have no one else to pray for them; and to contribute
to the restoration and maintenance of the building, so that St. Tudno’s
mission can continue to future generations. Those present were
invited to become founder members.
Dean Alun then inaugurated the Friends with the following prayer.
Heavenly Father, we give thanks for
this ancient church, for the beauty of its setting and its great
heritage of faith beginning with the coming of St. Tudno. We
remember that we are the living stones of the church in this
generation, entrusted both with the care of this building and the
maintenance of its mission in worship and in the welcome of visitors
and pilgrims.
We ask your blessing on us today as
we inaugurate “The Friends of St. Tudno’s Church”. Prosper this
new group as it seeks to support the work of the Parish of Llandudno
here at St. Tudno’s. We ask all this in the name of Christ our
Lord. Amen.
Tea and cakes (baked by Friends) were served after the service, while
the Secretary was busy gathering in membership forms and some of the
gentlemen started with a rather heavyweight odd job – lowering the
flagpole to retrieve a rope which was stuck at the top. Other
Friends helped to clear up after the service and tea and Elly, from
the Netherlands, was helping again at the Sunday service.
Dean Alun has kindly agreed to be Patron of the Friends of St. Tudno's
Church and more than
half of the founder members come from outside the parish – from
Gwynedd, England and the Netherlands. This follows a tradition of
support for St. Tudno’s from people who may live many miles from the
church, of whom we remember in particular Mr. William Henry Reece of
Birmingham. In 2005 we celebrated 150 years since he generously
paid for restoration of the church, which had been abandoned 16 years
previously after losing its roof in a storm, but the roof now needs to
be replaced again, to maintain the church for the generations to
come. The Friends' subscription will support restoration of the
church and membership forms are available in the church or can be
downloaded from this page.
The atmosphere at St. Tudno’s was summed up by Dorothy, a Friend who
visits from England and who had been on both pilgrimage walks on St.
Tudno’s Day (more details on the Holy
Trinity and St. Tudno archive pages for 2008). “Normally I have
the church to myself, and that’s
wonderful, but these two days the church has been full of people who
feel as I do – and that’s wonderful too!”
An invitation
from the Rector
We all need friends - it’s impossible to imagine life without them.
They care for us, put up with our failings, stick with us through thick
and thin and are always there for us. Almost two hundred years before
the birth of Christ a Jewish scribe called Ben Sira wrote ‘A loyal
friend is something beyond price, there is no measuring his worth’
(Ecclesiasticus 6:14). I’m sure we would all agree with that!
But it isn’t only human beings who need friends. Ancient churches need
friends too, they need folk who will care for them, cherish them and
protect them. We are inviting you to become a friend of one of
these ancient churches – our own St Tudno's.
On Saturday June 7th at a special Eucharist we are setting up a new
group to be called ‘The Friends of St Tudno's’ and we hope that people
from near and far will want to join and become official friends of St
Tudno’s Church.
For many years now cathedrals and other large churches have had groups
of Friends to help in the care of their buildings and their work. More
recently smaller churches all over the country have begun to follow
suit and we have now decided that it is time that St Tudno's had its
own group of friends.
But why do we need such a group? Surely St Tudno's is already well
cared
for by our parish and is supported in all kinds of ways by large
numbers of people from far and wide. Certainly St Tudno’s is a well
loved place. I am always being asked if we conduct marriages there, or
if someone, often from miles away, can be buried in the churchyard. The
comments written in the visitors’ book are evidence of how much this
little church means to so many people. What would having a ‘Friends of
St Tudno's’ add to all this?
I suppose that what we are really trying to do is to tap in to all this
love and goodwill and to harness them more effectively by gathering
together those who care for St Tudno's from near and far. It will be a
way for people to keep in touch and feel that they are involved in what
is going on.
Of course there is a financial aspect to this. The subscriptions paid
by those who want to be members of the ‘Friends of St Tudno's’ will
help us to look after our ancient church. And the Friends may also be
able to help with money raising activities.
But finances are only one aspect of what we hope a Friends organization
will be able to contribute. They will also surely have a part to
play in what goes on up at St Tudno's: our worship, our mission to
provide a space for solitude, quietness and prayer in a busy and
distracted world, and above all our concern that visitors may encounter
Christ in that place of holiness founded by St Tudno's back in the
sixth century, and which has been a place of worship ever since.
Although 'The Friends of St Tudno's’ will be inaugurated on 7th June
and membership application forms are already available much of the work
in setting up the group has yet to be done. We will probably have the
first meeting in the early autumn to elect officers and a committee, a
simple constitution will have to be drawn up, and the exact
relationship between the parish and the Friends sorted out. Regular
newsletters will have to be produced and events planned.
Meanwhile I invite you to share in this exciting project – come along
on June 7th be in at the start! Naturally we would like all our own
parish family to be members, but we also hope that members of other
local churches and indeed those of no religious commitment who value St
Tudno's would also want to join. And then there is the vast army of
visitors to Llandudno who have grown to love the place –I'm sure you
would agree that there is no shortage of potential members!
The new season of St Tudno’s Sunday services began on 25th May and we
are looking forward to St Tudno’s Day on Thursday June 5th when we will
celebrate a Eucharist to commemorate our founder and patron St Tudno.
Before this service I will lead a pilgrimage walk from Holy Trinity to
St Tudno's beginning with Mid-day Prayers at the parish church at 12.15
pm. Do join me if you are able to do this walk. After the Eucharist a
small group will then visit St Tudno’s Well, perhaps the place where
the saint baptized converts to the faith of Christ. Then two days
later, on Saturday June 7th, the Dean of Bangor will preach at the
Eucharist I referred to earlier in this letter when we shall inaugurate
‘The Friends of St Tudno's’. I look forward to sharing these events
with you.
(Extracted from the Parish
Magazine for June 2008.)
Fr John.
Last updated: January 2016
