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The Whiteway Interviews Archive (since February 2003)

This is an archive of biographies about church people and others in the local villages written by Roger Whiteway that we have published in the Parish Magazine. If you would like to contribute to our magazine or these webpages, please contact the Webmaster.

Last updated 28 September 2005

Sums 'n' Stuff - The Whiteway Interview (October 2005)
by Roger Whiteway

Mérida on the North-West corner of Mexico ’s Yucatan peninsula is a popular holiday resort, but might not strike one as an automatic venue for the International Mathematics Olympiad. Had the event been televised we would have been cheering for Matthew Lee for he was competing in the UK team, which won a silver medal. ‘Too many people think that being good at Maths is being able to calculate the cost of the shopping before they reach the counter,’ he complained. Ten minutes with Matthew would be enough to disabuse them. ‘The way to solve a simple calculation in arithmetic is obvious. If you can’t do it in your head you take off your shoes and socks and start counting on your toes or you turn on your calculator. The Maths I’m talking about is solving problems that have little to do with numbers or arithmetic but with using techniques to solve intricate problems logically or probe the very secrets of the Universe.’ Matthew was born in Leicester , moved to Coalville when he was three and to Kibworth when he was eight. When he was in year three or four of the primary School he enjoyed Maths because he was good at it. ‘Later, in my class I was sitting close to the bookshelves and when I had finished my allotted tasks I would take a Maths book and read it.  Soon I wanted to create my own theorems and devise proofs for them.’

Both Kibworth High School and Robert Smyth were sympathetic and supportive to Matthew’s desire to make the most of his ability. ‘My Maths teacher in Robert Smyth was Mr Fay. He made me sit my GCSE a year early and from then on taught me to understand Maths – not just to pass A level.’ Matthew did of course, with A’s in Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Chemistry, earning himself a place at Trinity College , Cambridge , where Isaac Newton was educated.

In 2004 Matthew joined the British squad for the International Mathematics Olympiad. He narrowly missed a place in the team that competed in the world competition in Greece . This year, however, he made the team for Mexico .

‘We flew to Houston and stayed there for a week to get over any jet lag, acclimatise to the heat and practice the kind of exam papers we might encounter. Then we continued to Mérida. We were treated to a performance of traditional dancing by women in voluminous dresses with bottles of liquor or even trays of bottles on their heads, some of which fell off from time to time. Then the Lady Governor of Yucatan welcomed us and we tucked into the local food. Ninety-three countries from all over the world fielded a team of up to six competitors. We got to know each other by playing games of table tennis and ‘air hockey’ – in my case against the Tajikistan contingent.’

The serious stuff consisted of two four-and-a-half hour exam papers of three questions each on successive days. The Chinese won in spite of having their transit visas revoked by the Americans and having to change itinerary at the last moment, losing a night’s sleep. The UK came a creditable thirteenth with their keen rivals, the Germans, one place higher and won silver medals. One team member Martin Orr from Northern Ireland has won individual bronze, silver and gold in successive years and is joining Matthew at Trinity.

The prestigious Royal Society in London gave the team a reception to present their medals, the team responded with an account of their experiences and Frances Kirwan FRS responded with a lecture on Topology, Geometry and String Theory (yerwot?).

Matthew has Grade 8 in the flute and will join the Trinity Music Society as well as the Christian Union and the Ultimate Frisby Club. ‘I’ll visit the Freshers’ Fair to see what else I want to join. I have no ambitions except to read Maths and enjoy the next three or four years.’

Matthew has spent days of the vacation decorating the church hall. Many thanks and best wishes from us all!

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With a Smile and a Song - The Whiteway Interview (July/August 2005)
by Roger Whiteway

Dawn Sharman has always had a passion for singing. ‘They could never shut me up when I was a child’, she admits. When auditions for Joseph were taking place, she was there along with her daughter Chelsey-Anne. ‘Chelsey and I loved every minute of it. Elizabeth trained us so well throughout the rehearsals that we both learned a lot. By the opening night of the show we knew the music and were confident, hearts fluttering with anticipation rather than nerves.’ Dawn and Chelsey were so happy with what they had done that they joined the choir in February 2004.

Dawn was born in Willoughby Waterlees. Her first school was the Church of England Primary School in Gilmorton, which gave her an introduction to the Christian religion. She was in the choirs of her next two schools, Lutterworth High and Leysland High in Countesthorpe, where she studied music, drama and dance. This has given her the desire and the right background to help Felicity Peberdy at the Kibworth Dance Centre at the High School, at which Chelsey is a keen student of both ballet and drama. Dawn will be taking the part of Maria in the Dance Centre’s forthcoming production of excerpts from the Sound of Music. Among her other leisure activities are computing, sending copious Emails to her sister, drawing and painting. I was privileged to see her truly stunning cartoon-style mural, which covers one entire wall of her son Richard’s bedroom.

Graham and Dawn married in 1988 in Broughton Astley. At the time, Graham was production Supervisor at Turner and Jarvis, who knitted top of the range garments for the likes of Burberry and Next. After many years with the company he injured his back and had to stop working. The possibility of a corrective operation was investigated but the orthopaedic surgeon involved advised against it as there was a strong possibility that the rest of Graham’s life might be spent in a wheel chair. He was an active sportsman playing both football and cricket and would love to be able to coach juniors. ‘Unfortunately’, says Graham, ‘a coach cannot just tell the youngsters how to play, he must be able to show them and I couldn’t do that. It’s a great pity for there are over a hundred juniors in Kibworth Cricket Club and plenty of opportunity for coaches. For a long time after my accident I couldn’t even bear to go and watch because I was longing so much to be on the pitch with the lads. However I intend to lend a hand with Rock Solid, in which Richard is a member.’ They have a son, Richard who is thirteen, does karate, and sings in his school choir. They performed at a concert at the National indoor Arena in Birmingham with Kathrine Jenkins, who took part in the VE Day celebration with Dame Vera Lynn. Richard will be baptised in July.

Chelsey was one of the four young choristers given their choir ribbons in June to denote that they are no longer on probation but have become full members. She is ten years old and a member of King’s Kids.

Graham and Dawn moved to Kibworth seven years ago because a council house became vacant in Hillcrest Avenue . Dawn’s father helped them put their large garden in order but sadly died only two years later. Dawn has recently attended the Alpha course.  Thus inspired and to Dawn’s great joy, she and her mother, Sylvia Mc Nulty who often attends St Wilfrid’s, are going to be confirmed together in December.

For holidays Dawn and Graham like nowhere better than Chapel St Leonards on the Lincolnshire coast. ‘It’s a proper family holiday,’ they agree ‘the accommodation, food, entertainment and beach  are all brilliant, the weather usually obliges, we meet lots of old friends who go at the same time as us – but best of all, much as we love our children, we can leave them to their own devices under someone else’s supervision all day long!’

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Sea, Sand and Smiles - The Whiteway Interview (June 2005)
by Roger Whiteway

The Collinses have a welcoming house with a thoroughly modern feel. It is always in the course of refurbishment I was told. The sitting room television is only slightly smaller than Cinerama and has twin ghetto blasters to provide the sound. No wonder Paul is on the audio rota in church. The garden is not over-fussy. It provides friendly habitat for the two remaining rabbits (a third escaped recently) and the three children with an impressive range of equipment including a slide and a swing-boat. Paul and Sarah met in Dublin . They were each on a separate Easter jolly and fortunately their paths crossed. They married in 1997 and set up home in Hertfordshire. Paul is an IT project manager. His company thought he would be nearer his work if he moved to the East Midlands so they came to Kibworth in 1999. ‘Actually it has made little difference to my travelling to work and I operate from home two days a week anyway,’ said Paul. ‘I was lonely at first with Paul being away so much,’ said Sarah ‘and would willingly have moved back to Hertfordshire but I wouldn’t now’. Their expanding family necessitated a move to the Greenway in 2003. Sarah was a nanny in London . ‘I have the Diploma of the Nursery Nurse Examination Board (NNEB). This is the same training as the Norland Nannies receive but they have to pay for their course, wear a brown uniform, consider themselves superior and usually get paid more.’ The training and on-the-job experience have not been wasted; Sarah has six-year-old Maddy, who enjoys being in year 1 at the primary school, Flynn aged three and a half who is at Methodist pre-school and eighteen-month-old Mia to look after.

Sarah’s first contact with St Wilfrid’s was taking Maddy to Sparklers. ‘Then three years ago I joined the Alpha course and loved it. Paul did it the following year and we were confirmed together by Bishop Tim in January 2004.’ After Alpha they joined the Monday Home Group where Louisa and Alison persuaded them to help with the Sunday Clubs. ‘Rock Solid’s Friday evening session is a big success,’ said Sarah. ‘Whereas we only get a few children on Sunday mornings, we get between ten and twenty on Fridays. Every time there’s a different activity. Paul has edited camcorder footage of two of Rock Solid’s activities to make into DVDs. After our Twenty-four Hour Famine he worked all night so that we could see the film the next morning. Many of the children have no connection with church but they’re curious about it. We’re careful not to preach to them and as long as they keep coming the message will get through. The hall extension will make a huge difference. It won’t be a big leap to move from King’s Kids to another room in the hall but for some reason moving to the Rectory is. It should enable us to get a smooth progression from Sparklers all the way to Rock Solid.’

Paul has taken part twice in Christ in the Centre. ‘I was adamant that I wouldn’t but when Louisa confronted me I just said “Yes, I’d love to”.’ His picture as John the Apostle with Jesus was published in the Mercury. 

For holidays they find that nothing beats sea and sand. ‘Our most recent seaside holiday was a week in Antigua ,’ said Paul. ‘We were a party of twenty- seven friends including a dozen children and they just played happily all day. The sea was a clear turquoise; we could snorkel among the fish and see fathoms down. Also we’ve been to Arkansas to stay with friends – not exactly seaside but a lot of fun all the same.’ 

I wanted to find out their attitude to the screens. Paul had no objection but thought they could perhaps be left out of the more traditional services. Sarah was whole-heartedly in favour. ‘When I come in from the hall I’m surrounded by children, all the books have gone and it’s easy to read from the screens.’ Thoroughly modern Sarah has spoken.

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Where Jesus walked - The Whiteway Interview (December 2003/January 2004)
by Roger Whiteway

The first time many of us noticed Jane Wood in St Wilfrid’s was when she did the intercessions. As she lives in Oakham it seemed reasonable to enquire what she was doing worshipping in Kibworth.

‘Ann Flower is a friend from schooldays. She invited me to St Wilfrid’s and I immediately felt comfortable. It is hard to say what you want from a church but you know when you have found it. A lot of churches feel a bit stiff. St Wilfrid’s doesn’t. All the people seem to know each other and are involved.’

When Jane left school she trained as a textile designer. She married and had two children. After the arrival of the second she stopped working. Oliver, a tree surgeon, is twenty six. Ruth, twenty-three is back at university studying jewellery design and silversmithing.

Jane came to live in Oakham eighteen years ago. She shares her terraced cottage with her black Labrador Freya, named after the intrepid traveller Freya Stark. When the children went to school, she took a counseling and psychology course and worked as a home care manager for ten years. ‘My job was to assess people’s needs and lay on the appropriate home care help. It was satisfying work because I was giving helpless people a chance of a decent life. After ten years I began working for a charity, the Langley House Trust in Wing Grange in Rutland . Some twenty ex-offenders lived there and were helped to acclimatise to the outside world, get jobs and live a normal life. I then trained as a psychotherapist, which is what I do now. I work in primary schools with children who have disruptive behaviour.’

Jane spent the period from December to June in Shetland attached to a small religious community on the remote island of Fetlar . She had seen a television programme about the founder of the community, Mother Mary Agnes, who had been a nun in Devon but had been allowed to become a solitary. She went on holiday to Skye with Ann Flower and continued North to visit the community. ‘I thought I might apply to be a novice but decided not to. I love solitude but I need to relate to people too much. I drove up there by myself this time. Breaking my arm three days before setting off made the journey harder. The ferry from Aberdeen to Lerwick takes fourteen hours then there are two more ferry crossings to get to the island. It measures about six miles by four and there are only eighty inhabitants.’

The Society of Our Lady of the Isles, as the community is called, lent Jane a cottage free of charge for six months. ‘They were wonderfully generous to me and I worshipped with them every day. As the Shetlands have no trees, the views seem endless and the skies immense. Shetland is closer to Norway than Scotland and retains much Nordic heritage including the place names. Up Helliar is an annual Viking style celebration with vastly expensive costumes and decorated longships. The Lottery refuses to contribute because women can take no significant part in it. I wanted to experience Winter there but it was unusually mild. I loved the walking and the wildlife – otters, seals, minke whales and birds we don’t see here such as phalaropes.

Jane has ‘done PCC, fund raising and so on’. ‘I lead an Alpha group and see my role in the Church as worshipping, developing my relationship with God and helping others to do the same. To that end I’m actively exploring ordination.

For relaxation Jane paints, listens to music and tends her garden. Apart from Shetland, my most memorable holiday was to the Holy Land . I’m very fond of the Jews but their treatment of the Arabs upsets me. It’s distressing how religion divides people. I found the Muslims’ call to prayer very devout. Most of all, it was wonderful to walk where Jesus walked. It literally changed my life.

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An Ideal Secretary - The Whiteway Interview (November 2003)
by Roger Whiteway

Paul and Yvonne Thompson were bronzed and radiant, cherishing the recollection of their holiday in Sharm-el-Sheik at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea. ‘It’s our third time,’ said Yvonne. ‘We’ve also been to Eilat three times because we love snorkelling. The variety of fish is amazing. They are even more colourful than their photographs suggest and surprisingly territorial. We see the same species in the same bit of reef day after day. They advise us not to molest the moray eels. It’s a bit like telling us not to pull a tiger’s whiskers.’

‘We have also visited Jerusalem, the Dead Sea and Masada, where the Romans besieged the Jews until they all committed suicide rather than be captured – very atmospheric,’ said Paul. ‘Unforgettable too, was the clarity of the night sky. With no competing lights in the desert, star-gazing is quite wonderful.’

Yvonne has been appointed PCC secretary. ‘Apart from the fact that I’ve never been a secretary and can’t type, I’m ideal. Competition for the job was not all that stiff. Anyway it gives me an incentive to learn and I have two months between meetings to get the minutes right.’

Yvonne was fifteen when she met Paul. He was twenty and had a private pilot’s licence thanks to the Air Cadet Corps. ‘I had a three-week course at Sywell in March in a Tiger Moth. It had an open cockpit and no radio. My face was so cold up there that I couldn’t speak anyway. You can imagine Yvonne’s parents’ reaction when she told them she was going up with me. They thawed when they met me and allowed her to go. I worked for Auster Aircraft at Rearsby and enjoyed many hours of subsidized flying including glider tugging. My licence expired ages ago but I still enjoy my membership of Leicester Aero Club.’

The Club is not far from the family firm where Paul still works three days a week. ‘We are mercers to the shoe industry – the people who supply linings, laces, zips and so on. Our sons run the business now. Andrew is thirty-eight and Richard thirty-five. They both live in Kibworth so we see them and Andrew’s two girls often.’

Yvonne trained for knitwear design when she left school but never made it a career because she married Paul when she was eighteen. They lived in Oadby for ten years before moving to Carlton Road. Twenty years ago they moved to their present house on Leicester Road. The meadow behind the house, which includes the Munt, belongs to them. ‘English Heritage visit it occasionally to make sure we haven’t tampered with it,’ said Paul.

Yvonne works part time for Lloyds the chemists in Oadby. ‘They’re German-owned and even bigger than Boots in sales of pharmaceuticals. When the boys left home I tried to get a job with them but was refused because I had no experience. The greengrocer in Harborough was advertising for staff. It was January and he was less fussy about experience. My six months with him enabled me to get into Lloyds, which I enjoy. Not because of the money,’ she added.

The Thompsons are outdoor types. They both like to go bird watching, having been to classes on the subject at the Community Centre and travelled to Trinidad and Tobago to se those of the rain forest. They sail and Paul fishes for trout at Rutland water. ‘We always used to go for our holidays in Wales or Norfolk, where the boys learned to sail and still love it,’ said Paul. ‘I used to ride,’ said Yvonne, ‘but all the rest of the family played golf so I took it up when I was eleven.’ She was too modest to add that she was County girls’ golf champion. ‘I gave up when the children arrived but now I’m looking forward to being a member of Kibworth. My father who is in his nineties and still working bought me a new set of clubs so I’m determined to play well.’

Will Lloyds be knocked into the rough?

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Wild Life at Centre Parcs - The Whiteway Interview (October 2003)
by Roger Whiteway

The advertisement for the jobs of children’s and youth worker first brought St. Wilfrids to Dilys Johnson’s notice. She and her husband Trevor, who had moved to Great Glen, decided to have a look at us. Their first visit coincided with a triple christening. Their second was Palm Sunday with its procession and pantomime donkey. They looked up our web site and were convinced that membership of St. Wilfrid’s would not be dull.

‘Wendy Davies collared us as soon as we went in and made us feel welcome,’ said Dilys. ‘Then Steven invited us to the Welcome Supper where we met more people like us as well as those who had been in the church a long time. So we were off to a good start.’

The Johnsons live in Stretton Hall. Although I had often seen the signs erected by Wilson Homes I had never been nosy enough to look.  The Hall was built in 1715. The arms of the Hewitt and Pack families, who built it, are carved in stone high above the front door. It was used as a hospital for disabled children for many years, closed, became derelict and was used by the police for training in storming buildings with firearms, grenades etc. Wilson Homes bought the estate for building and it now contains a hundred lovely houses.  The Grade 2* listed Hall has four floors and has been beautifully restored.  It retains eight acres of its own parkland. At the front is a wide terrace and a parterre the size of a couple of tennis courts with forty flower beds, fountains and lights commanding a view to Billesdon in the North-East.  There is plenty of wildlife on their land, such as hares, rabbits, muntjacs and pheasants. ‘Although I’m quite good at shooting clays, I don’t shoot for the pot,’ said Trevor, ‘but landowners have a legal responsibility to control their rabbits so I sometimes have a go at them’.

Trevor owns two carpet stores. The house was festooned with samples, which had newly arrived. ‘There are few British manufacturers left now,’ Trevor told me. ‘The biggest closed three weeks ago. The best quality carpets are pure wool. They have the best feel, the richest colours and last longest, but most people don’t buy them. They regard carpets as a fashion item to be changed with the décor; the price paid for them hasn’t changed substantially for twenty years.’

Trevor was born in Kettering and brought up in Leicester. His stature suggests that he might have thrown the hammer for England or subdued the All Blacks single-handed. ‘The nearest we get to strenuous exercise is a season ticket to Leicester Tigers,’ he said.

Dilys comes from Hertfordshire. She is a keen gardener (she has to be), used to sing in the Chanterelders and has joined our choir and band.  She came to Leicester Royal Infirmary to train as a children’s nurse in 1980. While out socialising with her friends, she ran into Trevor and they hit it off. They married in 1982. When the children came along, Dilys packed in nursing but became involved with play groups.

They have three boys. Simon is twenty and reads Vehicle and Automotive Design at Coventry. Adam, 18, has done his A levels and is starting a foundation course in Graphic Design. He has a particular interest in designing web sites for he and Simon. created the third biggest Formula 1 web site and sold it after five years for a useful sum of money. 16-year-old Alex has started his A/S levels but has not yet chosen his future career

When they were first married, the Johnsons lived on Uppingham Road in Leicester and went to Holy Trinity church. Through the home groups they made many firm and lasting friends. ‘Counting all our children there are about sixty of us aged from two months upwards’ said Dilys. ‘We still meet once a month for a big riotous meal and go to Center Parcs for holidays together’. ‘You can’t beat the church for making friends,’ they both agree.

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The Third Order - The Whiteway Interview (September 2003)
by Roger Whiteway

Shirley and Cliff Lee have lived in the same house in Prospect Road ever since their marriage in 1956. Shirley was a state-registered nurse until their son Simon was born in 1959. He sells computer software overseas. Heather arrived two years later. She runs a successful catering business in Kibworth. Matthew, 34 is a bandsman in the Parachute regiment and Marcus, 32 works for Harborough Hire and is a brilliant DIY man. They also have six grandchildren aged from two to nineteen. With a family like that it is no wonder they often entertain twelve of them to lunch.

Shirley is one of fifteen people in Leicestershire hosting this year’s Quiet Gardens scheme. ‘It’s hard to be quiet at home; there’s always some distraction,’ she explained. ‘So we offer our gardens for people to come and contemplate, read, pray or even doze in silence. It is limited to a dozen people in case it rains and we have to come indoors. We have a leader – in our case Desmond Treanor – who gives us a few very short talks to provide food for thought and conducts a little service before tea, when we chat about our day and go home.’

Cliff goes out on Quiet Garden days. ‘I love peace and quiet; in fact we take our caravan to West Wales for three or four weeks every year and soak up the silence but compulsory contemplation is not for me.’ Cliff is vice-president of Kibworth Band. ‘It’s another word for dogsbody.  I do the things everyone else forgets. We’re proud of ourselves for having won a place in the Championship Division. So we’re competing in the National Championship in Dundee this year and need to raise some funds.’ He is also vice-president of the cricket club. ‘It was not so much an honour as a reward for re-roofing the club house for a friendly price,’ he said modestly. ‘Roofing was my business. I ran my own company, employing twelve or more men, until I retired six years ago.’

Shirley’s family were not church-goers but she was a member of the Girl Crusaders. ‘I must have become a little prig and when I told my mother she should not smoke nor wear make-up, she forbade to go any more. When we came to Kibworth I gradually became involved with St Wilfrid’s. I was a member of the Mothers’ Union in 1965 and a group leader of the Young Wives. I was on the PCC for fourteen years and a member of the Deanery Synod but had to give up when I had cancer in 1985/86. It was ghastly of course – nine months of chemotherapy – but it taught me to thank God for everything I have and to cherish every moment thereafter.

Dennis Ireland made Shirley his sacristan. He invited her to a quiet day in Highfields. ‘The leader was a Franciscan monk, Brother Edward,’ she said. ‘I talked to him afterwards about what was involved in becoming a lay member of the order. He told me that someone like me who is married and lives with her feet planted firmly in the world could become a member of the Third Order. I needed a spiritual director – Dennis Ireland would do nicely – and a personal rule of life involving prayer, study and work.  My personal Rule had to involve some commitment to the Eucharist, penitence and self-examination, personal prayer, self-denial, annual retreat, study, simplicity, work and spiritual counsel.  I duly became a Tertiary, I meet with some thirty or so others in the Leicestershire and Northamptonshire group once a month and it remains a great source of strength to me and was especially during my illness, knowing that someone was praying for me all the time.’

Cliff and Shirley are keenly looking forward to the opening of the new bowls club with its big, square green and better clubhouse facilities. Shirley was a county player and they both bowl typically three times a week. May they enjoy the clatter of woods and the rub of the green for many years to come.

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Roses Round the Door - The Whiteway Interview (July/August 2003)
by Roger Whiteway

Richard and Mary Green have been running Kibworth Post Office for fourteen years.

‘I was trained as an accountant and was financial director of two engineering firms. Mary was a secretary at the British United and a building society’, Richard explained. ‘We dreamed of retiring at fifty-five to a rural post office with roses round the door, where we would know everybody and have a sociable time.’ The idea of retiring to a post office raised a hollow laugh. ‘But I was made redundant. Mary saw the advertisement for the Postmaster’s job and I applied. My salary depends mainly on the number of transactions and less on the turnover. From this comes the rent and all other expenses. The Post Office provides the safety screen, the safe and the computer.’

They are both deeply involved in amateur dramatics, beginning with pantomimes and other shows when they belonged to St Michael’s Church Youth Club in Belgrave. Their enthusiasm has rubbed off on their daughters. Lucy is twenty-three with degrees in music and teaching and teaches music at King Edward VII Upper School, Melton Mowbray. Helen is seventeen, taking her A/S level exams at Beauchamp College and wants a career in medicine with a preference for midwifery. All four Greens take an active part in Last Minute Theatre, which was formed to raise funds for the Grammar School Hall. ‘Around the World in 80 Minutes’ will be their eleventh production and in February they will put on the pantomime ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’. Mary is a member of the Wycliffe Drama Group in Lutterworth where she first took the stage as a tap dancer in ‘Stepping Out’. Richard is a member of the South Wigston Musical Theatre. He and Lucy appeared in ‘Cinderella’ and Helen in ‘Oliver’.

Mary was a Sunday school teacher and Richard a churchwarden as well as being a server, member of the PCC and Deanery Synod at St Michael’s. Since owning the Post Office neither has been a regular worshipper. ‘We found working six days a week difficult to combine with going to church on Sundays,’ said Richard. ‘Our children used to describe Sunday as ‘daddy day’ because they saw me and I cherished the time we spent together.’

When I interviewed Richard and Mary they were still at the Post Office and Mary was hastily finishing her supper. ‘The place gets so frantic during the day that it needs a good clear-up,’ she said. ‘Apart from the proper business, there is the retail side which I look after and need to see what wants reordering. There are shoe repairs, cleaning, petitions, charity and community items to clutter us up. We do a full balance every week, which takes hours.’

Mary explained the benefit reforms. ‘Pension books and child benefit books are expensive to operate and open to fraud, so the Government wants to pay pensions through the banks but customers still want to collect their money weekly from us in cash. Fortunately they still can because they can have a Post Office Card Account and we’re agents of the High Street banks.’

When I mentioned the expensive name change to Consignia, which was scrapped, Richard’s face became apoplectic. On the positive side he says automation is more accurate and quicker. Extra services such as foreign exchange, home insurance and banking increase the volume of business and therefore profit. He believes that Government cost cuts will force some 3,000 of the 19,000 Post Offices to close but Kibworth Post Office will survive!

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An Independent Ecumaniac - The Whiteway Interview (June 2003)
by Roger Whiteway

Roger Garratt attracted the second highest total of votes in our ward to win his place on the District Council. This is despite or possibly because of the fact that he is an independent. ‘Party politics are irrelevant at this level,’ he says ‘and we can do without the name calling they sometimes cause.’ I admitted that I could not remember what he hoped to achieve in the council. ‘Not surprising,’ he replied. ‘I said in my manifesto that I had no agenda. The Lord will show me what to do in due course.’

This year Roger ended a highly successful twelve-year term as editor of the Kibworth and District Chronicle. ‘Out of the blue, Meriel Godfrey asked me if I would be editor and, doing what I’m told as usual, I said Yes. I would have brought my term to a close two years earlier but for Richard Darke’s death. It was important to maintain continuity for a time, but my leaving was the best thing I could have done for the Chronicle. It’s doing very well without me and I shall not poke my nose in. The Chronicle is a community newspaper. It must never be run by the Rotary, the Methodists, the Parish Council or any other interest group and I think we avoided that during my time.’

Roger was born in Wigston and was educated at Kibworth Grammar School then took an arts degree at Leicester University, majoring in music. He went on to do teacher training and taught for two years at a school in Ashby de la Zouch.  He taught music at Kibworth High School for some thirty years before deciding to leave and take private pupils instead. ‘I admire the High School immensely and I cannot understand parents in Kibworth sending their children anywhere else. So it was not in any way the school’s fault. There is too much interference from higher up. I want to teach children to make music – sing, bang things and blow things, not teach them about music. Teenagers today have too many exams, assessments, projects and corrupting influences. I tell them to forget about their grades for a while and play music for relaxation and fun.’

St Wilfrid’s was lucky enough to have Roger as organist for at least ten years. Shortly after he ceased he became Chaplaincy Musician at Gartree. ‘I could not have done this if I had still been at St Wilfrid’s. When one door shuts the Lord opens another,’ Roger smiled. ‘I go there two or three times a week to provide a listening ear. Those men need all the help they can get. When I compare their huge burdens with my trivial problems I am lost in admiration for the way they cope. Some knew Christ before they went to prison; some have come to Him since and pass on the message to their fellow prisoners, which takes a lot of courage. On weekends they are banged up early and spend long, lonely nights. By Sunday morning the faithful are desperate for their communion and you can see it lifting their spirits.’

‘I am an ecumaniac,’ says Roger. ‘ If you want to see ecumenism in action, go to Gartree. The full time chaplain is an Anglican appointed by the Home Office but the Roman Catholics and Methodists have the right to appoint part time chaplains and do. We face our differences openly and then ignore them in order to carry out our Christian task. Christians, of all people, should love one another. We don’t even know one another in Kibworth. There are all kinds ways in which we could collaborate more and not just in church.’

Roger’s life is full. ‘My work is my pleasure,’ he says. ‘But when I want to get away I go to Shetland. It looks bleak and it doesn’t get much sun but it has a strong sense of community and there is a Methodist service on every one of the sixty-odd inhabited islands every week. If you want fresh air, peace and solitude that’s the place.’

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Shock to the system - The Whiteway Interview (May 2003)
by Roger Whiteway

‘I felt that our move to Kibworth was meant; Roger’s not so sure,’ explained Kathie Lazell. ‘We lived in Bedfordshire and our daughter lives in Fleckney. Her husband has a disabling disease that’s getting gradually worse. Because I was a nurse I knew I could be really helpful if only we lived closer. Two years ago Roger was made redundant from his lifetime career in the paper trade. Unwelcome though that was, it was the perfect excuse to move. Thanks to the difference in house prices between there and here we were able to pay off the mortgage.’

Kathie and Roger are as happy as sandpersons in their house in Milestone Close, surrounded by good neighbours. Kathie cannot say why she decided to go to St Wilfrid’s one Sunday morning soon after they moved in but she is glad she did. She was given a friendly welcome. Mary Ireland talked to her about joining the Alpha course. She hesitated, dithered and turned up. Again she was glad for, although she had been confirmed in her teens, she had not really understood what it meant to be a Christian. Terry and Sue Wilks, who also went on the Alpha Course, run a home group once a fortnight and Kathie is a member.

Before she left, Mary asked Kathie if she would like to be a server. ‘The other servers convinced me I could do it. They were marvellous and so was Desmond Treanor. “Hold the cross up high when you lead the procession; remember you’re proud of it”, he’d tell me, and “when you’ve taken the offertory money, lift up the plate to show the congregation that you appreciate what they are offering to God.” Steven still has to put me right sometimes but the others said it would take a year to get the hang of it.’

Kathie left school at fifteen and worked in a record shop and a grocery store before her friends persuaded her to become a cadet nurse. ‘In those days you could be a cadet at sixteen and, if you liked it, make it your career as I did. While the children were young I worked a couple of nights a week in hospital and it fitted in quite well. Then the bureaucratic load of the job increased a lot. I used to dread the patients waking up in the night and preventing me from getting my report writing done. What sort of nursing is that?’

‘About twelve years ago a friend suggested I try first aid training. My nursing experience was useful of course and it only took a week to learn the first aid and eight weekends before I got my Further Adult Education Teaching Certificate. I was apprehensive when I had to do my first lesson without much warning but it went off all right. Now I can tell from their body language whether or not I am getting through to my students.’

Kathie found a job with St John Ambulance as soon as she moved here. She is still a professional first aid trainer so you will not see her in black uniform getting a free view of the Tigers. The four day first aid course that I teach is very comprehensive and includes mouth to mouth resuscitation. I would like to see more defibrillators available,’ she said. ‘They cost about £2,500 each and are quite easy to use. When someone has a heart attack the electrical signals that make the heart muscles work in the correct sequence get mixed up and the heart wobbles aimlessly like a jelly. The defibrillator delivers a powerful shock which stops it and starts it again. The machine is programmed to tell the operator what to do and greatly increases the chance of reviving a patient.’

For light relief, Kathie tends her pretty garden and does sugar craft. She showed me her portfolio of beautifully decorated cakes. ‘If I valued my time at the minimum wage they would be worth hundreds of pounds each, but who could afford them? I’d better stick to first aid, she said.’

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Unlucky at cards .... - The Whiteway Interview (April 2003)
by Roger Whiteway

It is no surprise to hear that Eunice Hayes in response to Steven’s advertisement is about to co-ordinate the efforts of those who work with children in our church. She is an experienced child minder and so popular with her young charges that ten of them insisted on being bridesmaids and pages at her wedding to Peter last December.

Peter is a bank manager who joined Midland Bank (now HSBC) from school thirty-eight years ago. ‘I was born in Loughborough because too many maternity wards in London were still bombed out in 1946. I was brought up in the South of England and spent the first part of my career in Essex, Hertfordshire and London before I was offered the opportunity to work in Market Harborough. I also had an interesting spell in Hong Kong being involved in the start-up of the London International Financial Futures Exchange (LIFFE). Banking is quite different these days. Banks are so dependent on computers and offer so many products that the personal service your old-fashioned bank manager used to provide would be too expensive.’

Eunice came from Manchester and won a place in a grammar school when she was only ten. ‘I peaked early,’ she told me. ‘I was lad mad and couldn’t settle down to studying so I left before taking my exams and worked in Boots, to the consternation of my mother. “You’ll giggle your way through life and miss your road”, she told me.’ 

‘I moved to Kibworth in 1977 and worked for Rosemary Conley. I did Keep Fit classes for seventeen years. My first marriage lasted for twenty-five years. It was held together by our two wonderful children. Nicola is a nanny and bristling with degrees. David works in retail services for the Daily Telegraph and will soon be coaching tennis in Kibworth.  His fiancée, Siobhan, is an actress and singer.  Peter has two sons aged twenty-eight and twenty-six.  Anthony works for Deloittes in San Francisco and Chris is a recruitment consultant (head-hunter).

Peter signed up for bridge lessons in Market Harborough when Eunice did the same in Kibworth. The Harborough class folded for lack of support and the survivors came to Kibworth. That was the magic moment when they met. ‘As soon as I saw Peter, I liked the look of him and invited him for a drink at the Old Swan after the lesson.  Five and a half years later we were married.’ ‘

‘We began our honeymoon in Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas,’ said Peter. ‘For three days we couldn’t stop saying WOW!  Beside the hotel is a lake three hundred yards long with arrays of beautiful Belagio fountains that play in time to music. We only gambled enough to complete the Vegas experience.  Then we visited the Grand Canyon and viewed it from a helicopter. The whole thing was quite unforgettable. We’ll go back and visit other parts of the USA as soon as we can.’

Eunice’s involvement with St Wilfrid’s began when Louisa Feltham started a home group and Liz Ellwood invited her along. ‘At first I thought they were all mad but gradually I saw the point of it all and became as keen as anyone.’

Through Eunice’s influence Peter came back to church. ‘I was impressed by the warm welcome I got,’ says Peter. ‘We are a true family in St Wilfrid’s and we must continue to provide for as many styles of worship as possible from the 8 o’clock Book of Common Prayer service to Kibworth Praise.’ 

Eunice believes that the Sunday Clubs are a great initiative and the sooner we expand the hall to make more room for them the better. ‘There are many different approaches to the religious education of children and no one has all the answers, so every group is willing to pass on the benefit of its experience. I intend to gather all the advice I can from other organisations.’

And what happened to the Bridge? ‘Oh that!’ They say dismissively. ‘We never could get our heads round it.  Anyway it’s served its purpose.’

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Taking the Pledge - The Whiteway Interview (March 2003)
by Roger Whiteway

Linda Taylor deserves much of the credit for the fund raising at St Wilfrid’s. Soon after arriving in Kibworth, she joined our finance committee, becoming Treasurer, then PCC Secretary and now Covenant Officer. ‘Covenants have been replaced by Gift Aid but the tax recovery principle is the same. My job is to account for all the pledged giving and make the necessary tax return. Then I write to people to thank them, tell them what they have contributed during the year and how much tax we have clawed back on their behalf. Finally I suggest that they may want to increase their gift.’

  The success of the fundraising campaign was reported in the Christmas edition of the magazine. Steven’s letter, adapted seven ways for different kinds of recipient, brought a good response from existing givers and from the parents of children who had been christened, resulting in an overall increase from £30,000 to £45,000 pa.

  Although we scheduled our meeting for 8pm Linda Taylor and her husband Cliff only beat me through the front door by a short head. Linda is a project manager with Omnibus of Loughborough.

 ‘We develop computer systems for broadcasting companies, including the BBC, which enable them to transmit programmes automatically,’ Linda told me. ‘They broadcast round the clock but they don’t need someone there full time. I’ve only been doing the job for a short time. Before that I wrote programmes for stockbrokers with Consort of Leicester. No one reports to me in my present job, which is a pity for I enjoyed supervising people. However I’ll get the chance to work abroad from time to time which I shall enjoy.’

  Cliff and Linda met at school. Linda went on to read mathematics at Leeds, while Cliff read electrical engineering and management studies at UMIST. They worked in Manchester for the first five years of their married life.

‘I worked on blood flow with a team at the hospital,’ Linda explained. ‘Healthy patients don’t like being cut up in order to have their blood flow measured, but we had to know what it was to compare it with arteriosclerosis patients. We cracked it with the aid of ultrasound. Then we moved to Husbands Bosworth, where I worked for Honeywell, before coming to Kibworth fifteen years ago.’

Cliff is a self-employed computer consultant. ‘I did a lot of work on direct mail. I’m partly to blame for those ‘personal’ letters you receive with your name popping up all over the place. Now most of my work is for local government in London and I commute by train.’

  The Taylor youngsters have flown the coop. Brian is twenty-four, he works as a chemical engineer for the big contractors, Kelloggs, in London . His Malaysian girl friend is a Christian and Linda hopes her influence may rub off. Hazel is twenty-one. She read philosophy and classics at Nottingham and works for Next in customer service.

  Despite their busy jobs, life is not all work. They are friends of the Alexander Theatre in Birmingham and go with Linda’s parents on outings, which involve a visit to a gallery, stately home or garden, lunch or supper and a theatrical performance. These have included the Globe and the Maltings. From the back of the house they look over their beloved garden to the High School playing fields. Cliff is a member of the Cactus Club and goes with them to Germany and Holland.

  Their last memorable holiday was in Kenya in 2001. ‘We arrived at the Masai Mara at the time of the annual gathering of countless Wildebeest. It was truly fantastic,’ they agree. ‘We saw giraffes, lions and elephants but our favourite was the oryx with its lovely soft colouring and long graceful horns. We were surprised by the wonderful variety of beautiful birds. There was obviously poverty in Nairobi and Mauritius, where we went afterwards, but a lot of pride too. They dress beautifully to go to church and the children all have school uniforms. With all our affluence we would do well to follow their example’.

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Tender Loving Care - The Whiteway Interview (February 2003)
by Roger Whiteway

While Jill Ferraby plied me with coffee in the sitting room Bumble, the ten year old whippet-cum-something licked me affectionately. Paul soon arrived and advised me how best to take their photograph for he is a Licentiate of the British Institute of Professional Photographers and we all admire the beautiful portraits in the window of his High Street studio.

Jill comes from Bristol. Her father was a clergyman who, after parish ministry, became deputation secretary for the Ruanda mission of the CMS. She was educated from age five to eighteen at Clifton High School then did secretarial training in order to help her father in his missionary work. ‘We all need to find Christ in our own time and in our own way,’ Jill believes. ‘It happened for me when I was eleven. I was so angry and sorry because Jesus had been rejected by the people he had come to save. “Well I’m not going to reject him”, I told my parents.’

Jill was attracted to teaching handicapped children. ‘They had a broad range of mental ages from two to twelve, but even those at the lower end learned from life’s experience – not academic things but how to live, use such ability as they had and develop confidence.’

Paul’s education could hardly have been more different from Jill’s. His father was an officer in the Royal Engineers. He went to boarding school at first then to seven army schools wherever his father was posted – including Germany , Singapore and Cyprus . ‘I was not an academic star but I could paint and draw.’ The paintings in the sitting room back this up. ‘I got my diploma from Farnham Art School and studied photography at Guildford College of Art and Design. When I was twenty-three I had been ill for some months and found myself lacking a purpose. My wise doctor gave it some thought and recommended that I visit the church in Basingstoke. I reluctantly decided to give it a shot and became a happy Christian.’

Paul was employed to redecorate the school where Jill was teaching and they fell for each other. He proposed and Jill’s mother gave them her blessing on condition that Paul held down a job for six months. He complied and they married. The job was to help Jack Townsend and Fred Hutton develop Care village at Shangton. Jill joined him there.

‘I have always been keen on music,’ said Jill, ‘singing and playing the piano, violin and guitar. My twin sister and I used to compete in music festivals and carry off our share of the prizes. I was told that the Torch Family Singers in Hallaton needed some help so I volunteered. I became editor of the news letter and five devotional magazines for the Torch Trust. They are published in three formats – Braille, cassette and large print. There are far fewer blind people in the UK these days because a major cause – oxygen deprivation of premature babies - has been largely eliminated. Most of our output goes to the increasing number of blind people in the third world.’

They went to live in a house in the grounds of Hallaton Hall and the Torch Trust provided Paul with much of his photographic work. The Trust has sold the Hall and its surrounding houses and plans to do its production work in a new factory in Market Harborough. The Ferrabys moved to Kibworth five months ago and Paul opened his first dedicated studio. ‘The shop window gives me wonderful publicity and brings in lots of work,’ says Paul.

They have three boys. Robin, 25, took a degree at Loughborough and designs products for Kenwood. Alexander, 23, is teaching English at a Chinese University and Nicholas, 19, plays hockey for England, cricket for the County seconds and studies sport at Loughborough.

Jill lists her hobbies as running, cycling, music, surfing the net and creative cooking. Paul’s are watching the Simpsons, shooting rabbits and keeping chickens. They both agree that the church’s highest priority must be to reach out to the young.

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Last updated on Wednesday, 28 September 2005 by Kevin Feltham (Webmaster)

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