June issue - Magazine - Page 15
Glenside
News
GlensideNews@mail.com
PARISH CHURCHES
THE CHURCHWARDEN’S LETTER
As we read the newspapers and listen to the news,
there are stories of people in trouble - people who
have met failure at some point in their lives. We
will make judgements. Disapproving is easy when
we have not had the same temptations or met the
same problems. Who am I to judge another? I am
not aware what pressures, what suffering others
have had to face. But I do know that there is a
hair’s breadth between success and failure - deep
down I know that there, but for the grace of God,
go I.
Every New Year’s Eve my new year resolution
is “I must not judge” - broken the following day!
My thoughts while writing this month are
about the Midsummer Fair - Festival - on the
coming weekend. I’d better get a move on or the
Glenside News Editor will be beating down my
door. When you read this it will all be history and
the village will be back to normal. The tradition of
a fair in Castle Bytham goes back more than 700
years, to 1287, when the lord of the manor and
owner of the castle, the Baron de Colville, claimed
the right to hold a market and fair on his manor
of Bytham; viz: a market on a Tuesday and a fair
every year for eight days; that is to say on the
vigil and feast day of St James the apostle, and for
six days following.
The church in Castle Bytham is dedicated to
St James, whose feast day fell on the 25th of July.
The fair was held on the hill top at the bottom of
Church Lane and must have been a noisy scene.
Apart from the trading of local goods and animals,
there would have been stalls and traders selling all
sorts of rare produce - ne silks and spices, leather
and trinkets - from far away; not to mention
jugglers and tumblers, musicians and dancing
bears, jousting and feasting that made up the
medieval fair. Much the same as today!!!
History lesson over - now for something
‘spooky’.
The Lost Piper of Castle Bytham
According to legend, when Drogo, William the
Conqueror’s brother-in-law, built the castle at
Bytham, he constructed a secret tunnel in case he
ever had need of escape. As the centuries rolled on
and the castle fell into decay, the tunnel was no
more than a distant memory of the local folk.
Each May Day a fair was held on the elds
beneath the castle mound, when acrobats, jugglers
and all kinds of tradesmen would visit the village.
One year a travelling piper came to the fair and the
people were dancing for all they were worth.
Suddenly, the ground gave way below the dancers.
One of the ancient stones forming the roof of
Drogo’s tunnel had given way under the dancing
feet and revealed a secret pathway running out
from the castle walls. There was much excitement
and some declared that there must be treasure at
the end of the tunnel. However, not one of the
locals was brave enough to venture in, so the piper
said he would march through the tunnel playing
his pipes and the people could walk above following
the music until they found where the tunnel led.
As the people followed the sound of the pipes
they noticed that they were coming close to a
stream - a stream like many others in the area,
that disappeared down a ‘swallow-hole’.As they
approached the swallow-hole the tunes of the piper
were eerie and faint against the rushing of the
water. When they reached the hole they heard the
last scream from the pipes, then notanother sound
save from the stream. The piper was never seen
again, but to this day the swallow-hole is known as
the Piper’s Hole and is marked on the 6in Ordnance
Survey map.
Alistair Anderson, Pam Martindale and the
children from the Bythams Primary School
performed ‘The Lost Piper of Castle Bytham’ as part
of a Festival organised by South Kesteven District
Council a few years ago. The children had written
most of the words and Alistair had created the
music - with the help of the children and Pam. I
can’t bring to mind the year, but I do have the
names of the musicians and singers. I don’t think
the Editor will allow me any more space - perhaps
next time.
With every blessing,
Sheila Robinson
NEW CAREBY CHURCH SERVICE
The Bythams Benefice is in the process of being joined with the Three
Towers Benefice (i.e. Edenham, Witham-on-the-Hill and Swinstead), and
Fr Ed Martin is taking us under his wing. At the first meeting of the newly
elected Careby PCC, he proposed that a service of Morning Prayer should
be held in the church every Wednesday morning at 8.00am.
Prayers for the parish will be included in the BCP service and parishioners
are invited to attend or to request prayers at the weekly service.
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