FROM THE DESK OF THE JOBSWORTH PARISH COUNCIL
A Message from Cllr Joe Frame
A belated happy holidays to all the Jobsworth residents reading this! By the time this arrives in your inboxes, we will firmly be in the year 2025. I, and indeed everyone else at the parish council, hope you all had an incredibly relaxing and joyful holiday season. We’ve got a cracking newsletter for you this week with a new “History Corner” feature.
It was wonderful to see so many of you at the parish hall for our production of Cinderella by the inimitable Dr Alan Houseman. Such an avant-garde piece of theatre that left jaws on the floor. At one point I think I genuinely saw Terry Carpenter bend over to pick up his dentures! I am aware of a few complaints from parents of youngsters that the panto was surprisingly racy and that there wasn't really any need for so many scenes containing nudity, to which I have replied and will continue to reply "would you tell Picasso to stop messing around with all those funny shapes and just paint something that looks normal"? No, no you would not.
Now then, despite being no one at the council's fault, we'd all like to express our sadness at having to cancel the Jobsworth Maker's Market that we advertised so proudly in our last edition. Being a coastal village (and proud of it!) we are subject to some extraordinary weather patterns and it was not to be on that fateful weekend as "Storm Darragh" raged. Rest assured though, we will not be deterred. There will be a Jobsworth Makers Market by Q3 2025 mark my words!
In community newsletter software project news, progress has been slow over the holidays as the team at Half Frame have taken a frankly questionably earned winter break. Please be assured though that progress on the project will be as swift - or even swifter - than any council funded project that came before or that is likely to come after.
I’d like to thank you all for your continued support, we are a small but mighty parish council and we are bending over backwards to make sure that Jobsworth is THE best place to live.
All the best,
Joe Frame
Community Spotlight
David Rightshaft
Every month, we would like to highlight particularly special members of our community. This month is David's month.
David is a younger member of our village community being in his early 30s but what he lacks in experience he makes up for with persistence. After successfully applying to some of the biggest magazines in the world as a photojournalist, he didn't let rejection deter him from taking his camera in hand to capture the world around him.
His images have slowly circulated their way around the whole village. You can recognise his work from its distinctive style and the fact he’s the only photographer in the catchment area. Whether he's snapping the local wildlife or doing the year 3 end of year school photo at Hotpot Primary, any photo taken by David is sure to capture not just what he sees through the lens, but also your imagination.
We asked David for a quote for this edition of the newsletter and he had this to share with us.
When I pick up a camera and look at our magnificent village through the lens it transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary, the object into subject, and our seemingly dreary village into a rural paradise.
Those are some lovely sentiments and I know I speak for everyone at the council when I say how happy we are that David has settled down in our slice of rural paradise.
History Corner with Cameron Reagent
According to the literature the church likes to distribute to new members. James the Less is very likely* the least famous son of famed celibate couple Mary and Joseph. Not quite as celebrated as his brother in Christ, James has generally played second fiddle to brother Jesus, although you’d not form that opinion yourself if you went to a Sunday service at this proud St James monument.
Built by the famed architect Nathaniel Dorking in the mid 1800s, the church consists of a west tower, nave without aisles, south porch, and chancel. The style is Perpendicular but in spite of this, the chancel is well developed and the roof is of a good pitch. The entrance is by the south porch, and the font is correctly placed. All the seats are open with total capacity for 300. Across the beautiful stained glass windows you can see the story of James' life from birth to death.
There is record of the church and surrounding land undergoing the consecration process on the 21st of May 1852 by the Lord Bishop of Winchester, Charles Sumner, at which point the church was officially brought into the diocese of Winchester. At the time, this caused quite the stir amongst the residents who considered the land claimed by the church to be excessive.
*This fact is under incredible levels of dispute, particularly by the Catholic Church.