The Canal Trust has been at work

 

Work parties have restored parts of the Lancaster canal at Hincaster over the summer months. Here is their AGM report,  and here is a link to the website.

Tractor diggers appearing on Sedgwick Road site.

 It would appear from these photos that survey work has started on the Home Field.

Crazy Craig the Climbing Curate

 Last month, Craig, our curate at St Mark’s Natland was standing before Bishop James to be ordained as a priest. On 8th November he faces a different challenge. 

As with most churches this year we have been presented with problems fundraising for both church funds and for charities. When ideas were called for then cometh the hour cometh the man. “I’ll climb Everest suggested Craig, but as I can’t get to Nepal how about up and down the church tower?” “OK” came the hearty reply. After some simple maths it was agreed 490 times up the tower equates to 29,029 feet. “Lets round it up to 500” said Craig. 

So starting on 8th November Craig will be climbing and descending the narrow spiral stairway inside the tower climbing about 5,000 feet a day to complete the climb and still preach a sermon (perhaps sitting down) on 15th November.

Looking for an appropriate charity to support the PCC decided upon the International Nepal Fellowship, a Christian charity working in Nepal which, as a poor country has been hit extremely hard by Covid. Money raised will be split between INF inf.org.uk and church funds.

We are delighted that Bishop James has given special permission for us to fly the Nepalese flag during the climb. We are also pleased that we have secured sponsors including Quiggins Kendal mint cake and Crosby Granger architects who recently supervised major repair work to the tower.

If you would like to follow Craig’s climb on Facebook visit @churchofstmark

If you would like to support Craig you can do that by clicking on his Justgiving page.

 

British Legion Poppy Appeal

There can't be any door-to-door poppy selling this year but if you wish to donate online, just go onto the British Legion Website and click on the donate option. You will then be able to make your donation and if you wish, to print a poster of a poppy to put in your window.

I hope that you will find this helpful as we find new ways to do things.

Pamela Mansfield.

Craig's Everest Challenge

Have you noticed the banner that has appeared on the Vicarage wall?

Here's a clue as to what it's all about.

If you would like to read more have a look at pages 20-24 of October's Parish News which you can find by clicking here.

 

 

200 Club Winners

 The winning numbers in the Village Hall 200 Club's October draw are

1st: 47 2nd: 59 3rd: 100.

Amazon Prime Scam

 Hilary Atkinson writes: On Saturday and this morning I’ve had phone calls to my landline number pretending to be from Amazon and informing me that I’m about to be charged £79.99 for Amazon Prime subscription, then asking for details of my laptop, phone or computer so they can send me a form to cancel it. At this point I put the phone down.

Apparently this scam has been around since last year, but it was new to me so others may not know of it. More information is on action https://conversation.which.co.uk/money/amazon-prime-renewal-scam-phone-call/ under Amazon Prime scam.

Communion service 11 Oct 20

Here is the communion service from this morning. And the order of service can be found here. 

THE SUNDAY SERVICES WILL NOW BE AVAILABLE, NEW EVERY WEEK, ON THE ST. MARK'S CHURCH PAGE ON THE TAB ABOVE.

Everest Challenge Quiz

The Parish News for October is here

It's harvest time this Sunday at St. Mark's Church and though it won't be the same as usual, offerings of tinned goods are still invited for the food bank, and financial contributions to the Bishop's Harvest appeal. There's news of the ascent of the church tower by our indefatigible curate, the Rev. Craig Bentley, and photos, and plenty of material to use for worship at home. Click here  to see the full 44 pages.

The Weather in Natland in September

September	2020	Sept. average
Temperature at 8 a.m.	11.3° C	11.6° C
Minimum Temperature (Ave)	10.2° C	9.6° C
Maximum Temperature (Ave)	15.6° C	15.1° C
Rainfall	99 mm 4"	133 mm 5.3"

September was near average for temperatures. We had a dry spell in the middle of the month which brought the total rainfall below average. John Dobson.