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Time was when news and
gossip was exchanged when meeting friends and neighbours at work, in the street,
the church, or over the garden gate – those were the days when people lived and
worked within walking distance of their home. However, technology came
THE PARISH PAPERS
In 1874 The Ellesmere
Rural Deanery started the monthly Parish Paper `A Parochial Magazine for Cottage Homes`. The object of the Parish Paper was to
provide sound and profitable reading for times of leisure, especially
Sundays. It was to be printed in large
type such that even aged eyes can read with comfort. “Information will be given about services in the church, Confirmation
classes, Guild, Missionary and Parish meetings, the Choir, the Offertory, the
School and many other matters of parochial interest. It will also contain a register of baptisms,
marriages and burials and will thus form a complete record of every event of
interest to our church and parish”.
The Parish Papers were
published for at least the next 28 years.
They were collected and ended their lives in the Victorian Reading
Rooms, which was Ruyton`s village library and billiard room.
These documents are
indeed, as was stated in 1874, `A
complete record of every event of interest to our church our parish`. In Rev Wilkinson`s time in Ruyton we
learn about many improvements to the church – the north isle was enlarged, the
gallery demolished and an organ acquired, 3 new bells were hung, central
heating installed, a clock in the tower and the choir were presented with
surplices and cassocks made by the ladies of the village.
Land was bought to extend
the churchyard, demolition of the cottage within the castle and an excavation
of the ruins organised by the vicar.
The Penny Readings was a
sort of social club where people could enjoy anything from magic lantern shows,
lectures on Astronomy, Geology or Natural Philosophy or just to learn to read
and write. There were science classes
with exams at the end, on Acoustics, Light & Heat or Theoretical
Mechanisms, in 1876!
In 1889 there was a
Ruyton Men`s Art Exhibition with work entered in wood carving, brass, copper,
stone and iron.
In the last decade of the
19th Century there were St. John Ambulance courses and Dressmaking,
Shorthand, Cookery, Horticulture, Church history, Hygiene and Home Nursing and Drawing
classes. 120 years ago, you could have
learned Bee and Poultry Keeping and Agricultural Chemistry right here in the
village!
In the years before the
Welfare State there were Friendly Societies into which you could pay a
subscription and they would support you and your family in hard times. Reports on the doings and celebrations of the
Ruyton Order of Foresters, The Oddfellows, the Girls, and the Young Men`s Friendly Societies were all reported in the
Parish Papers. You could pay into the
Coal Club at the school and the Clothing Club at the village shop. In the winter of 1879/80 there was a Soup
Kitchen thanks to the generous donation of venison from Mrs. Hunt of Boreatton.
There are regular reports
on missionary work supported by the church and in 1877 the Ladies Association
was formed to sew items to be sent to missionary societies working in
Africa. Dolls, toys, work bags, 3
chemises, 6 pocket handkerchiefs, 6 red & white handkerchiefs, 2 flannel
petticoats and 3 pairs of knitted socks.
Several of those items would have been more useful to the missionaries
than the people they were trying to convert to Christianity.
There were reports on the
doings of the Temperance Society and the junior Band of Hope as well as the
sporting fixtures of the Cricket Club, the Quoit Club not to mention the
popularity of playing football on the nights of the full moon!
Then there were balls and
dances and concerts in the School Room – usually the toffs performing for the
masses, and towards the end of the century, the Rummage Sales became a regular
event.
There is information on
school and choir outings on the train, school inspections, and Mr. Wilkinson`s
travels to visit his sons in India and Canada.
On his return he gives a talk on the opportunities of emigrating to the
New World.
There are regular reports
on the progress of building the Village Cross, the Hearse House and the Fire Engine
house.
More amusing is Rev,
Wilkinson`s attempt to light a Fire Balloon – perhaps on the lines of a modern
Chinese lantern. Unfortunately, it came
down on somebody`s thatch roof. Another
of his stunts was to take a dancing bear into the school. Although, there is no information about where
the animal came from. There is even an
account of the vicar turning up at church in his trousers, having forgotten to
don his cassock!
In later editions of the
Parish Papers there was a regular Children`s Corner with Bible stories and
improving stories for adults. Also, a Railway
Timetable as more people were travelling from the station in Baschurch.
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| Front page of the 1894 Ruridecanal Magazine or Parish Papers | An interesting part of the Ruyton Entry for March 1889 |
