Culture

The new loo and kitchenette for St Bartholomew’s Church has been a mammoth undertaking, but the sparkling new facilities were officially opened on Saturday 7th January by Councillor Paul Potter, the Chairman of Mole Valley District Council; our minister Jonathan Willans; myself; Mick Lock, our amazing builder; and his beautiful little granddaughter Isla.

Vicar Jonathan expressed his delight that Leigh church has these facilities which means the church will be able to reach out more into the community. The Cosy Corner coffee morning held on every 2nd and 4th Monday morning from 10.30-1230 is the first of these supportive initiatives. The Vicar expresses his personal thanks to all who laboured along side him for 20 years to achieve this aim. He especially thanks Mick Lock the craftsman builder, Peter Joyce as project manager and Eileen Winstanley, John Worsfold among others.

Progress has not been easy, and has been made all the more difficult by the loss of our architect, Roderick Maclennan, in his battle against cancer. Not only did Roderick project manage the build until his untimely death, but being the good Christian that he was, he provided constant encouragement.

The resulting facilities are a triumph, and look as though they have always been a part of our beautiful church. The side wall with its window had to be completely taken down and moved outwards between the side buttresses so that we didn’t lose precious space at the west entrance. Every block was numbered and placed in its original position. Horsham tiles had to be found to mimic those on the existing roof. Finally, the tiles in the west entrance had to be completely lifted and relaid in the porch area to lose the 100mm drop, and to allow for a completely flat surface for ease of access. During the course of the works it was found that the porch had sunk in one corner, and this has now been underpinned with concrete to provide many more centuries of use.

This project has been a tribute to so many people. To Mick Lock and his boys, who soldiered through without an architect; to the members of the PCC for their unfailing support; to Sue and Douglas Frost for their fundraising efforts and their successful attempts to put St Bartholomew at the heart of the Leigh community; to Jonathan and Sharon for providing support whenever needed; to Paul Potter and our local councillors for their political underpinning for the project; to our wardens Eileen Winstanley and Keith Bryant, always there to assist and encourage; to Colin and David for managing the money; to my long-suffering wife, Alison, for putting up with my obsession; and of course to Isla for cutting the ribbon.

St Bartholomew’s has not been able to function properly without a loo and a kitchenette. We know that people have turned away the chance to hold a wedding or a funeral because of a lack of these facilities. We can now work on drawing people in not just for worship, but also for a number of new activities which will give the church the chance to become where it should rightfully be – at the heart of the community!

Peter Joyce

Deputy Warden