Parish Jottings

Parish lockdown eases

The lockdown restrictions may have eased, but the risk of catching the virus infection remains, if to a lesser extent. People in the vulnerable groups must continue to exercise the utmost care. Our church endeavours to be active in all the ways that it can, and is considering the possible options for opening its doors again in the near future. In the whole of our church’s history, since it first opened in 1848, apart from the period of its enlargement during 1890/91, our church has never been closed before, not even during the two world wars.

In the parish during the lockdown, only essential shops have been allowed to remain open. Now the other shops are starting to open once again, together with dentists and hairdressers, providing they can comply with the lockdown restrictions of social distancing and other stringent requirements. More people are now on the streets, and the town is slowly starting to take on-board its new way of life within a new realisation.

Trinity School is planning a phased reopening for some of its pupils. In the south of the parish, the open spaces of Mill and Marsh Meadows next to the river have remained open, but the children’s playgrounds are still closed. In the town, and not all public conveniences are open. Many of Henley’s main annual events will not take place, including the Royal Regatta, the Henley Festival, and the Thames Traditional Boat Festival.

At the Thames Traditional Boat Festival, an 80^th anniversary event for the ‘Dunkirk Little Ships’ was to take place. With this in mind, we recall a former member of our congregation, the late Eric Garside. In 1940, he took part in ‘Operation Dynamo’, when hundreds of boats and ships raced across the English Channel, to the shores of Dunkirk in France, to evacuate the stranded BEF and other allied forces, to save them from being captured by the advancing German army.

The original Holy Trinity church built in 1848, before its enlargement in 1890/91