Bedfordshire Archives Service Catalogue
  • Reference
    AU34/21/7/16/23
  • Title
    Letter from R P S Waddy
  • Date free text
    6 January 1982
  • Production date
    From: 1982 To: 1982
  • Scope and Content
    A handwritten letter from R P S Waddy (former Rector of St Andrew's, Ampthill) to Honora Grimmer, on headed paper from Maiden Newton, Dorchester, Dorset: "My dear Nora, It is always good to hear your news, and noble of you to send Church & Town, which I devoured (in two helpings). It is delightful to know how the church and parish flourish - it is 30 years since we left now. I find it difficult to believe that the paintings of the evangelists had a monetary value - Sir Albert suggested to me once that they should be removed, when he 'milked' the walls in 1951 or so. But stealing from churches is a horrid business. I am glad that Simon Houfe is doing the editorship so well. Well done, both of you, for surviving 1981 so well, and I hope 1982 will be as kind. We are much nearer to the sea than you, but rarely see it (a well-nourished crow could do it in less than 10 miles: do tell me when you write next Christmas, do crows fly direct? Ours seem to flap around in all directions!) We did have a week at Sidmouth, where Mrs Partington had a broom, and Queen Victoria lived as a baby, to escape Kent's creditors: and where a visiting preacher addressing us in an interregnum had tried to choose an appropriate subject and done so all too well - Decay! And in the autumn we went down to Kent, where Christopher is now back from Caracas, and made friends again with his three small children: where we played on a beach and worshipped in Canterbury Cathedral. There the hand-shaking of the Peace in Series 3 came to life, and our rather dull and anonymous neighbours turned into fellow Christians. So our two brief holidays were worthwhile. Meanwhile, Havana Marking continues to be the apple of our aging eyes: their house next door is now finished, and they were here for ten days at Christmas, plus most weekends. We hope she will go to Bryanston, not so far from here, but she is still only 9 1/2. Bidden at school to write a card, she sat down and wrote one so good that she had to recite it in St Mary-le-Strand at their Christmas service: we are still hoping that she will be musical, but she has too many irons in fires just now to practice. I was glad to have news of Ann - she has the character and determination to do well when her chance comes, and I hope she keeps writing in her spare time. Andrew is a good example, isn't he? My heart has been misbehaving, mildly, and I puff and pant upstairs: our young doctor is trying to slow it (and me) down. We have also acquired a young rector who is full of astounding energy and considerable ability, which is a great boon for the village. I enjoyed my 4 1/2 months in charge, but was glad when he arrived: now I am still able to help in the country churches round Beaminster on most Sundays - for which I can save my energy, which is considerably less dynes than it used to be - that invaluable unit of force measured in centigrammes, centimetres and seconds! Margaret preserves her supply of dynes wonderfully well, in spite of aches and pains, and considering our vintage (1904) we too present an image of Darby and Joan in our village world. But like the 78th psalm, the 78th year does drag a bit! So there - you keep alive happy memories, and we are grateful. Yours sincerely, Pat Stacy Waddy p.s. Judy - Stacy nowadays - has given up her senior lectureship at Goldsmith's and is deep in the television planning world, as well as the quarter-owner of rather a good monthly entitled History Today, for which Andrew might well write."
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