The years before the Consecration of St. Edmund’s bring to mind many interesting and happy memories. All sorts of money raising efforts were held; these included house to house visiting to collect money, and the baby-sitting service which I ran with the help of eight other ladies. Our charge was 2/6d an hour which rose to 5 shillings after midnight.

We raised £450 by this means.

Before the day of the Consecration in 1964 ladies had scrubbed the stone slabs surrounding the Altar (these are now covered by carpet).

For the service we had an augmented choir as men and boys from St. Giles church Ickenham joined with our existing choir. The music sung included Psalms 24 and 122, the Hymns ‘Come Holy Ghost our Souls inspire’, ’O Faith of England taught of old’ , ‘All people that on Earth do dwell’, ‘Once to every man and nation’ and finally ‘Now thank we all our God’,- these accompanied by the trumpeters of the Kneller Hall School of Music. One of the prayers said by the Bishop of London (Robert Stopford) as the West Door was opened was:

Peace be to this House from God our heavenly Father.

Peace be to this House from His son who is our peace.

Peace be to this House, the Holy Ghost the Comforter.

Seated among the congregation were the nuns from The Community of Sisters of the Church, Ham Common, who had made the Altar linens, the architect, representatives from the builders, the Mayor from Bury St. Edmund’s and the Chairman of Ruislip and Northwood Council.

The climax of the day took place when Father Ames brought in The Blessed Sacrament from the Lady Chapel and placed into the Sacrament Chapel. We knew then that the church was now fully complete.

Attending Sunday School, also attending Guides in the separate hall which stood where the Sanctuary stands today. Evelyn Jennings, née Deacon, was my lieutenant.

My mother started making her ever famous cakes and pies and sold them at the Saturday Market to raise money for the building project.

As a member of A.Y.P.A. making many pounds of marmalade at Jenny and David Jones’ house, - again a money raising project.

Being taught flower arranging by Margaret Dale along with four other people at the Vicarage (this was a house at 41 Pinner Hill Road at that time). I remember my first attempt was at Easter in the old church (now the hall). The flowers were in two ‘L’ shaped arrangements standing by ‘Our Lady’ which had been placed on a table in front of what is now the serving hatch. Since then I have spent many hours arranging flowers for all sorts of occasions - long may it continue!

1963 was a momentous year for the church of St. Edmund the King and for us new arrivals, the Heath family, who moved into the parish in May with our daughter and three young sons. The Vicar, Fr. Reg Ames lost no time in welcoming and introducing us to the wonderful event which was to take place, namely the building of a brand new parish church.

Much effort had already been put into the project and there was great excitement as the year progressed. Work started in the autumn with the clearance of the site and the laying of the foundation stone. The stone can be found behind the high Altar, shielded from view by heavy curtaining. Perhaps it will be revealed during the anniversary celebrations for all to see.

Before the building of the new church, the present hall served as a dual-purpose church and hall and we had the experience of worshipping there whilst the new church was being built. Work proceeded rapidly and was cleverly designed to link up the hall with the new building by the construction of a Lady Chapel and blocking off the archway at the rear of the hall.

The great occasion of the Consecration of the new church took place on 10^th October 1964. It was presided over by the then Bishop of London and attended by many dignitaries including a host of magnificently robed clergy. The church was packed for this impressive and splendid celebration for the successful construction of a lovely new church and as a thanksgiving for the efforts of all those who had worked so hard to see it completed. It must have been a proud moment particularly for the Vicar, Fr. Ames, whose determination and spirited leadership had made all possible.

Although we moved out of the parish in July 1970 we have been pleased to keep in touch with St.Edmund’s and the many friends we made there. We have fond memories of past times and look forward to joining in the celebrations of the 40^th Anniversary of the Consecration.

On a final note, the church visitors’ book kept in the church, records the names of many of those who were privileged to attend the Consecration and whose support had contributed to a magnificent achievement.

I have many memories of what happened before, during and after the building of our church.

I especially recall those days during Lent when many of us knelt on our knees with bucket, scrubbing brush and swab to clean the rough wooden floor of the church hall.

We used many ways to raise the money for the building including the ‘shilling a week’ fund, and the weather did not deter those stalwarts who regularly collected from all the roads in the parish. Many people from other churches contributed and also some who just wanted to help us in our efforts to build our church.

While the church was under construction I was able to watch its progress through my kitchen window. One Sunday morning I noticed that there were workmen around the building. Later it was realised that these were in fact thieves who were stripping the copper off the church roof! They even said "Good Morning" to some of the 8 o’clock Worshippers!

If you go around to the memorial garden you will be able to see the cross picked out in the brickwork; this is formed from bricks removed from the old building.

The wonderful Art and Flower Festivals that we used to have around Harvest time brought many people into contact with the church.

Now we have contacts with the local Primary Schools (sponsored by Classic Concerts) and an annual concert for them by Chaconne Brass.

I’m sure that many of our parents and friends will remember the work that went into providing the hassocks, although I miss the ones that we made first which were for different Guide and Scout organisations.

Over a period of time we were able to put in stained glass windows, which remind us of the many people who worked so hard to complete the church that we have come to love.

My name is Brian Parker and I have just found your web-site. My family lived in Latimer Gardens from 1939-1962 and attended church at the old building throughout this time. My father, William, my brother Donald and I were all in the choir and Dad played the piano for services for some time. Don and I both became servers and I also served on the PCC. We were keen members of the badminton club, youth club and appeared in a number of plays, including the first pantomime (Cinderella) for which I still have a press cutting and photographs.
(I was an ugly sister).

St. Ed’s is where I met my wife Barbara and we were married there on 23^rd May 1959. In 1962 we moved to Hemel Hempstead where we were very involved with one of the local churches in a large team parish. I retired early and we moved here to Exmouth in 1996 where again we are very involved in church life (I’m still serving).

We have two daughters, one living in Cornwall and one living in the south of France. We have five grand-children. My brother Don also lives in Cornwall.

Please remember me to anyone from our era who is still around. God bless.

parker232@onetel.com

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I had a few minutes to spare and did a Google search and came up with the site. I have many fond memories St. Edmund’s having been involved in the church choir. Freddy Walsh was the choir-master, later I became a server and I was also a member of 2^nd Northwood Hills scouts. The choir boys formed the majority of the Scout troop. We also had a Drama group that made use of the stage at the back of what was then the church.

Regards, Geoff Cann

geoff.cann@nwahs.sa.gov.au