A DIAMOND OCCASION
 Val and Peter Rayner, long-standing members of St Giles’, have just celebrated their Diamond (60th) Wedding Anniversary. This delightful couple married in 1951, the year of the Festival of Britain, and celebrated their anniversary with their son, daughter-in-law and “four, beautiful grandchildren”.
Val and Peter started married life in Hatch End, when Peter was a Mechanical Engineer in the building business. That job took them both to India for three years with Peter involved in the construction of a steel works. Then they came back to Orpington where he helped to build the M2 Motorway before finally they moved to Ickenham to be nearer the family.
Val worked as a welfare officer at Swakeleys and Vyners schools before they retired. Since then they’ve concentrated on their garden, travelled through Europe and played short-mat bowls in the Church Hall. In fact they were co-founders of the bowls club which still functions 17 years later. Val has also long been a member of the Church Women’s Group.
What’s in the future? “It’s my mother’s 100th birthday and my sister’s Diamond Wedding next year”, said Val, “and God willing, we will be celebrating with them. Meanwhile, nobody could be happier than us.”
AFN
MASTER OF THE KEYS
Anthony Wilson has been appointed to the post of Director of Music at St Giles’. He takes over from Andrew Browning, who earns our gratitude for having undertaken the role of Choirmaster on a “temporary” basis – for the last 4½ years!
Anthony began learning the piano when he was eight and started to play the organ in York aged 15. He studied the instrument further at university, achieving a BA in music and an MA in Music Education. Since then he has held several posts in churches and cathedrals as well as teaching at secondary schools. Now teaching at Mount School in Mill Hill, and living in Harrow, he finds Ickenham is within easy reach. His new fiancée, Sheela, meanwhile, is not so close at hand: she currently lives in India!
Anthony loves the organ for its wide range of sounds. “It enables one to paint the tone colours for each verse, which is just perfect for worship.” He hopes too, that as well as working with the choir, he will be able to encourage other instrumentalists to take part and enrich both church services and other musical performances.
 The new post at St Giles’ is a challenge because, “It presents a wide range of music opportunities. The different services each require a different take on worship. But I’m very much eclectic in my musical tastes and like arranging music and its settings.”
“I also intend to develop the choir, recruiting new members, for which I will need help from the congregation, adults and young folk alike. Let’s see more people get involved. Church choirs work particularly well when based on family units. Then the aim is to gel together as a bigger group of friendly and Christian people”.
Anthony has no shortage of ideas on developing the established traditions of music in St Giles’. He has plans for Cathedral visits, lunchtime concerts and many other ways of building on what has already been carefully established. Finally, he is well pleased with the St Giles’ organ, which he describes as being among the top range of digital organs. So we can look forward in the near future to some glorious sounds gracing this wonderful old church and its appreciative people!
AFN
|
