Extracts from the Minute Books 1920 - 1950.

Earlier minute books arid records are at the Northallerton archive.

The extant records from 1920 are currently with Richard Watson, Secretary to the PCC.

They show insights into thee life of All Saints' through the decades.

Some things never change and reading them leaves one with the thought

 "We have been here before".

           The meeting of April 15th 1920 elected as churchwardens Mr. J. W. Boyd and Mr. Richard Wilson

Elected members of the PCC were:

Mr. Harry Boyd

Mr. Edwin Brown

 Mr. W.C. Brown

Mrs. Gibbon

Mr. RobertP Lee

Miss Lightfoot

Mr. W. Oswald

Mrs. Rhodes

Mrs. Ryan (wife of Canon Ryan, Minister)

Major Whitaker Colonel M. J. Wilson M.P.

Mrs. J.G. Wilson

Miss Wilson.

A month later on May 20th it was proposed that there should be a large scheme of insurance to pay for dilapidations to the Church and old age pensions to clergy. This was followed by the proposal from Mrs. Wilson that the Parishioners should have some.

say in the appointment of the incumbent.  A further proposal was that 'the Church Council should have a legal right to have an equal voice with the incumbent as to the character and ritual of Church Services.  Much of this is underlined in purple crayon indicating feelings must have been running high. The case may have been that the parishioners felt Canon Ryan, who had been appointed in 1889, had  served too  long.

The proposal came to little; Canon Stirling Wilkinson served from 1925 - 1945,   W. Oddling Smee's from 1945 - I960. Dale Martin was minister from 1960 - 1975. It is only in the last twenty-five  years that service has noticeably shortened - the Board to the left of the main door gives

the dates of past incumbents.

One feature that clearly emerges from the minute books is the endless

small works that have to be carried out to maintain the fabric of a building,

medieval in origin, heavily restored in 1858.

In 1920 Mr. and Mrs. Bolitho. Celebrated their Golden Wedding by giving a donation of £50.0 to replace the cracked tenor bell - there is a brass plaque to the left of the vestry commemorating this.  A subsequent meeting discussed re-casting all the bells as recommended by the contractor but this was turned down on account of the cost.   The repair of the Church Clock was also discussed and adjourned.

If the plaque to the Bolitho's is accurate and it was the tenor bell that was recast then it did not last a great deal of time because the plaque to Major armaduke Whitaker, who died on active service in the Sudan in 1938, states the tenor bell was again re-cast  which is the probable date of the photograph. It is believed that the man with the glasses is Hairy Boyd and standing next to him is Canon Stirling Wilkinson.

Returning to 1920 an advisory committee was set up under J. W. Boyd to see what ought to be done to keep the church in repair. On Sept 22nd the committee reported back that ivy needed to be removed, spouts needed cleaning and a stone preservative should be applied to badly weathered stone. Repairs were, and still are, a constant in Church life.  The October meeting discussed the need for and cost of lightning conductors on the Church and Vicarage.

At the meeting of January 19 1921 there was a request for funds to repair the stained glass windows at York Minster.

On March 28 1922 cost for repairs to a v/alland fabric of the Church amounted to £68.11.4.

By 1924 the boiler which had given fifteen years service was causing problems and one solution was to heat the Church for three days before a service.

Other costs had been new music for the choir. The organist's salary was £3.15. 0 p.a. The fixing of the lightning conductor came to £10.15.6. The census showed that there were over 300 living in the village.

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