The Parish Magazine
December '25
BERWICK ST JAMES
We are all so sorry that Jean Hibberd has passed away. She will be much missed. Our thoughts and condolences are with all her family and many friends.
In Loving Memory of Jean Hibberd.
It is with great sadness that we share the passing of Jean Hibberd, who died peacefully on 19th October, aged 96.
Jean was a proud and much-loved resident of Berwick St James, who greatly enjoyed being involved with village life and the community. Born in a small village in Dorset, Jean moved to Berwick as a teenager, and as time went by never thought of living anywhere else. Leaving school aged 14, Jean was proud to secure her first job as a nanny to the Merton family. Shortly after Jean joined the war effort, taking up a post at the Wilton Carpet factory working on the essential production of camouflage netting, cycling there with others from the village which must have been quite a challenge given the distance and imposed blackouts.
At 17, Jean was bowled over to meet Will Hibberd, who had returned from Egypt and other postings with The Army. By this time Jean was working in the Eye Ward at Salisbury Infirmary and it was here that she formed a long and lasting friendship with Winnie, an evacuee who had lived at the Boot In during the war years.
Jean and Will were married in 1950 at Berwick Church and soon after made their home in what was then a thatched cottage on the High Street, as Will worked at Manor Farm, where he stayed until retiring. Their son Norman was born in the cottage. As their family grew a move to the newly built Downsway house followed where both Colin and Joy were born. The whole family enjoyed living in the village and rural life, and Jean was so very proud of her family. The final move for Jean and Will took them back to a tied cottage in the High Street.
Jean enjoyed being involved within the community and was always willing to offer help wherever needed; crafting tapestry hassock covers which are still used in the Church today, arranging flowers, organizing the jumble at the village fete, and selling poppies for over 30 years. She had strong links to the Reading Room, serving as committee member and keyholder, managing bookings and collecting payments. Living next door, she was perfectly placed to both look after and enjoy the space, helping to host cake stalls, table-top sales, and joining in the much-loved whist drives.
Jean also supported local families with her kind and reliable help, forming close and lasting bonds with those she worked for and their children. After Will’s passing, she continued to take great comfort from her close family, special friends, and the village community who were frequently there to support.
Always caring, always involved, Jean remained so very interested in village life right up until her final days, even in the face of some very tough health issues. Her last outing – a wheelchair trip with her son Colin to see the new bridge at the Mill House – was a fitting farewell, returning to very heart of the village she so dearly loved.
Jean will be remembered for her kindness, her resolute spirit, and her unwavering fondness for her friends in the village and community as a whole. To her family as a Mum and a Nan, she was supportive, independent, appreciative, caring and loving, and will be greatly missed.
CHURCH NEWS
Christmas is fast approaching and December will therefore be a busy month for the church.
On Sunday 7th December there is a Holy communion service at 9.30a.m.
On Sunday 21st December at 6.00pm we have the annual Candlelit Carol Service with 7 lessons.
For new residents, the service is a highlight of the church and we look forward to seeing a full church once again. Mulled wine, soft drinks and mince pies will be served after the service.
On Christmas Day itself, there is a short family service at 10.45a.m. followed immediately by Holy Communion for those who wish to stay.
Everyone is welcome to any one of the services.
As the year end approaches, I wish to thank everyone who has helped with the church in 2025. There is a long list of helpers so I cannot name everyone but to all those who volunteer for the church locking/unlocking rota, the cleaning rota, the flower rota or the reading rotas, I send my sincere thanks. Special thanks to Martin Gairdner for playing the organ, to Ailsa Bush for providing the coffee after the Martins services, to Lizzie Barnes for organizing the flower rota, to Kate Glyn-Owen for sorting the reading rota, to Sarah Humphreys for supervising the church locking/unlocking rota, to Henry Colthurst for being Treasurer, to Wendy Armstrong for being Secretary to the PCC and to James Douse and Stephen Bush for their assistance and support. Thank you all so much.
TEA and CAKE and CHAT at Christmas
The December Tea and Chats are on Tuesdays 2nd and 16th from 2.30 to 4pm. Everyone is very much welcome – there is no charge. It was lovely to have small children playing whilst we had tea cakes and crumpets at the November tea and chat. We welcome all ages, and I will bring toys if needed!
So come along and enjoy a bit of Christmas Cheer in great company (especially if you are there!).
Cheese & Wine Evening
Thank you to those who joined fellow residents on the 6th November for the Cheese & Wine event – and to Bill Hiscocks and Carolyn MacDougall for organising it. It was an opportunity to meet and share some thoughts and ideas about village matters. The ideas raised were wonderfully varied, from a village Conga to board games night and lots more. Also raised was the more serious problem with speeding traffic through the village. A summary has already been distributed to all residents. An appeal goes out to those who want these things to happen to simply make them happen.
A303 Development Consent Order (DCO)
The DCO for the road scheme from Amesbury to Berwick Down to alleviate A303 congestion is likely to be revoked by the Government, after £180m of taxpayer’s money has already been spent since 2018 on valuable consultations, research and design work. Leaders of Wiltshire, Dorset, Somerset and Bournemouth/Poole/Christchurch and many local communities have strongly put forward their opposition to the cancellation of this DCO. Berwick St James is proposing a working group so please do come forward if you are willing to contribute.
New Berwick Chairperson needed.
Julian Glyn-Owen is stepping down as Chair, so we urgently need to find his replacement. If you are interested please contact him about this role. [email protected]
ART APPRECIATION IN BERWICK-ST-JAMES
The last presentation of the year will take place in the Reading Room, opposite the Boot Inn on Thursday 4th December, commencing at 7.30, when the subject will be “The Art of the Fin de Siecle”. This takes place in the Reading Room in Berwick-St-James, commencing 7.30 with entry available from 7.15pm; a donation of £5 for the Reding Room Fund at the door, to include a glass of wine, beer or soft drink. For further information, please see the Berwick-St-James Village website, or email Brian Armstrong at [email protected]
ART APPRECIATION
We would very much like to thank Brian for his fascinating art talks.
A WEAVER IN BERWICK – Berwick Book Club.
Our village book club has been reading Silas Marner by George Eliot. Silas Marner was a weaver in a small rural village. Berwick, like many other villages, had a weaver.
Our weaver, John Horton, lived within the village – most likely in a cottage now gone on Duck St (Asserton Lane), in the garden of what is now Appletree Cottage.
John Horton died on October 21st 1731. In his will he gave the bulk of his belongings (total value £18 6s, including the leasehold of “a dwelling house and little garden”) to his wife Elizabeth, who died six years later, 28th October 1737. His son Richard, who continued to live in Berwick, inherited his “wearing apparel” and his son Moses received his old “narrow loome” which was valued at 8 shillings. (with four pewter dishes and two old plates being valued at 9s 6d).
John Horton wove Spanish Cloth on the narrow loom in a room in his house in Berwick.
The manufacture of broadcloth had been largely replaced by Spanish Cloth which was a medley cloth made from dyed, mixed, fine English or Spanish wool. The Clothier scoured, dyed, cleaned and oiled the wool and had it spun by out-working spinners. John then carried the yarn to Berwick, wove it into cloth and returned it to the clothier. The clothier had the cloth cleaned at a fulling mill (like the Old Mill at West Harnham) and “finished” the cloth.
Some people let looms out for rent, like John Lanham in 1703 who let one to his son John and another to Thomas Watt of Quidhampton. Others employed weavers on their premises, like William Archer of Broadchalke who had three looms worth £3.
The hand-woven cloth industry declined after 1711 and collapsed altogether after 1790. Mechanisation took over, putting out of work the spinners and home weavers, causing some rioting (Hargreaves’ Spinning Jenny came to Salisbury in 1777). Then there were no more weavers in villages like Berwick, as all weaving was done in factories.
Written and researched by Nicky Street.
WILDLIFE WATCH
A stoat was seen in the middle of Berwick in mid October, running along the road under the parked cars.
A great report from Great Wishford.
During the autumn I’ve noticed a significant increase in the number of finches on my walk from Great Wishford to Grovely Wood. Including buntings, it’s possible to see up to twelve species. Starting by the River Wylye, there’s a chance of spotting a Reed Bunting, which breeds here in the summer. A stroll through the village should provide sightings of Chaffinch, Greenfinch and Goldfinch. The road up to Grovely Wood offers good opportunities to see farmland and hedgerow birds such as Linnet, Yellowhammer and Corn Bunting. In Grovely Wood itself, there’s a very good chance at this time of year of encountering flocks of Common Crossbill, Siskin and Lesser Redpoll. And if you’re lucky, you might even come across the occasional Bullfinch, I’m still keeping an eye out for two other finches – the Brambling (a winter visitor) and Britain’s largest finch, the Hawfinch – but no luck so far.
Despite the drop in temperature, I’m still attracting a decent number of moths to the trap I set in the garden. The highlight in October was a Clifden Nonpareil, also known as the Blue Underwing. The moth was almost the size of my hand and, as its name suggests, has a spectacular blue underwing – a truly remarkable sight.
One White Tailed eagle seen over Uppington on 30th October, being followed/mobbed by other birds. Two were seen a few days later, one a youngster. It is thought they are a pair/siblings from Langford Lakes. Two White Tailed eagles were also seen in the field backing onto Mount Pleasant Stoford, at the top of the same garden there is a large cauldron of water the deers regularly drink from.
Garden birds on bird tables – there have been reports of many fewer garden birds both from South Newton and Winterbourne Stoke. Here is Berwick I still have many Goldfinches, Chaffinches, Sparrows, Collared Doves, Jackdaws … Does anyone have any ideas why there should be fewer in places?
Seen in South Newton meadows Moorhens and Wagtails, and Egrets both Large and Small. The otter has been seen too, eating all the fish in the ponds.
In a garden in Stapleford in November – Holly Blue butterfly, Red Admirals, Grey Squirrels, Eristalis species of hoverflies and Marmalade hoverflies. Also Goldcrest, Robins, Wrens, Pheasants, Crow, Magpies and Grey Wagtail, and a Tree Creeper.