1939 — 1962

When the Rev Leonard W Dickens announced to the congregation at Wesley, on the morning of Sunday, September 3rd, the news that we were now in a state of war with Germany, the thoughts of many of the older men must have gone back to the time, twenty-five years before, when they had marched away to a very different kind of war and left the affairs of Wesley to he carried on by their fathers. Now it was the turn of these same men to watch over the Church whilst their sons, one by one (and, soon, their daughters too), marched off into the unknown.

They had already met on the previous Monday to receive an application from the Harrogate Corporation for the use of the Schoolrooms as a Food Control Headquarters "in case of National Emergency," but had decided that, since the Post Office had already been granted the use of the lower rooms at the Chapel for use as store rooms, it was essential, for the time being, to keep the use of the Sunday School. They had met again on the Saturday to hear that the Post Office were to exercise their claim on the Chapel Basement, and to re-iterate their refusal with regard to the Sunday School. They had also decided to black-out the Chapel and the Sunday School. A further special meeting was held on the 11th of September which decided that the evening services would begin at 6 o'clock, an arrangement which lasted until the end of the year only, after which the service was moved back to 6.30.

After further pressure, the Trust reluctantly agreed to the Sunday School being taken over, only to find that it was being used and advertised as a Recruiting Centre. After heated discussions lasting over a month, the Trustees regained the use of the Sunday School on December 19th.

The first fourth months of the war had had their difficulties, and the departure of so many young people, coupled with the effects of the black-out had brought the collections down to the point at which a drop of £4 per week was reported at the Annual Trustees' Meeting in January, 1940, below the corresponding months of the previous year. Fortunately the influx of "billetees" from London brought in a number of members who were to prove of immense value in every way during the coining years, and by the middle of the year the financial position began to look more promising. A note of the purchase of Stirrup Pumps and Fire Buckets in August, 1940, reminds us that the Battle of Britain was taking place, but Harrogate was to remain almost untouched. Other large cities were not so fortunate, and the result was an influx of evacuees into the town during the Autumn. Many, of course, found their way to Wesley and the December Leaders' Meeting decided to hold a Welcoming Meeting for our own evacuees.

At the end of April, 1941, the organist, Mr Mason, accepted the post of Organist at St Mark's, and, in July, Mr Harold Uttley was appointed as Organist with Mrs Uttley as Choir Librarian. In September the Trust received a request from the Harrogate Corporation asking for the use of the Sunday School as a British Restaurant. This was a type of subsidised restaurant, valuable, and, indeed, almost essential in helping to eke out the meagre rations at time when so much food was going to the bottom of the Atlantic. The terms were finally agreed in April, 1942, when the District Valuer fixed a rent of £175 per annum for the ground floor of the Sunday School.

During this year a valuable and helpful legacy of £500 was received from the estate of J W Worsnop, and was invested in 3% War Bonds. In February, 1943, there retired from office in the Church Samuel Cartwright, and the Trust noted, with great appreciation, his many valuable years of service.

The war pursued its weary course with all its attendant difficulties in the shape of rationing of food and clothes, and the blackout which made coming out in the evening a real ordeal for the elderly. Twenty-five years previously only the men had gone, but now both the young men and the young women were serving and the life of Wesley, as of every church, was carried on only by great effort on the part of those who were left.

The usual Society Classes, though greatly depleted, were at least kept going, but a most useful service was performed with the turning of the main Clubroom under the Chapel into a Forces' Canteen. During the early part of the war This room had been used as a storeroom for sandbags; indeed, the floor had had to be strengthened to take the weight of the quarter of a million sandbags. Amongst the young men and women who crowded nightly into the Canteen was Ronald Atkinson, who was to return to the circuit later as an ordained Minister, at Bar Chapel.

Naturally there was not, during the war, much opportunity to carry out needed improvements and repairs, so that, when the war in Europe ended in April, 1945, there was much to be done. A quotation was accepted for a new boiler and for new radiators in the vestries and corridors, and a committee was appointed to examine the Sunday School, for there was news of its impending release by British Restaurants. Certainly there was one permanent. improvement which resulted from the use of the Sunday School as a restaurant, for it left us with a well-fitted and usefully-sited kitchen.

During this first year after the war, Wesley lost two outstanding men in Samuel Cartwright and Harold Angus, and the Trustees recorded their sorrow at the passing of two men who had always been "full of zeal in the performance of their service to Christ and His Church."

Of the twenty-seven Trustees nominated for the Trust in 1929, there were only seven effective members in 1946. It was decided to form a new Trust, calling into service many of the men and women who had, by now, returned from active service.

Four ladies were elected to this Trust - Mrs. Dolly Angus, Mrs Ella Johns, Miss Bertha Buckle and Miss Freda Whitton. Probably none of them knew that it was something of a historic moment when they took their places at the first meeting of the new Trust, for it was just 150 years since the first Wesleyan Chapel had opened in Harrogate, and for 150 years there had been no woman Trustee. They had played their vital part in almost every other activity of the Church, but, whether by accident or design, they had never been on the Trust.

One duty which had become traditionally their own, and which added greatly to the beauty of the chapel, was that of arranging the flowers on the Communion table. Yet, in thirty-three years, there had only been one change of Flower Secretary. In 1912, Mrs A W Woods accepted the responsibility of providing and arranging the flowers. She continued to do so until 1930, when Mrs Tom Wood took over the task. Mrs Wood continued until 1945, so that these two ladies had, between them, given thirty-three years of service. Miss Freda Whitton and later Mrs Mary Kettlewell performed this duty which is now in the hands of Mrs Allie Hitchen, Mrs Ruth Dawson, and Miss Joyce Simmons. How greatly the work of these ladies has been appreciated over all these years.

The Rev F W Townsend had been faced, at Wesley, with the challenge of building up both the spiritual and the financial life of the Church when he had arrived in September, 1944. He started the Men's Fellowship in 1945, and the Church was challenged and strengthened by his forceful preaching from the pulpit. A gift day held in September, 1946, realised £1,070 and cleared off the outstanding debts, but the fact that the year ended with a deficit of £34 emphasised the pattern which had developed over the past years.

The Rev Kenneth Vaughan Jones arrived in September, 1948, to place at the disposal of the Church his very real and varied talents. It was hoped that, as a rather younger man. than was usual for Wesley (and as a bachelor) he would have the time to devote to youth work. Within a few months he had started a Youth Club which ran with increasing success throughout the six years of his ministry. " KV" had the genius which not only attracted young people but gave them a sense of service. Although many will remember the Youth Group from their brilliantly directed concerts, it should be remembered too that attendance at Worship was an obligation of membership of the Club.

It is the almost inevitable lot of a Methodist Minister to have to formulate some plan for dealing with the finances of his church, and, to the Trustees' Annual Meeting in February, 1949, the Rev K V Jones outlined his plans. He suggested that each of the various organisations in the Church should plan to raise money during the year in the hope that Gift Days would not be needed. He expected that, in this way, not only would the gap between income and expenditure he bridged, but the church would gain by the fellowship engendered by this sort of effort.

The Youth Group, as has been said, contributed greatly by their concerts, which used to run for three nights. When a scheme of decoration for the Sunday School was put in hand, the young people offered thirty chairs. There were numerous small efforts by individual ladies, or by two or three combining, and in the Autumn the men of the church put on a Lord Mayor's Banquet. All of these things did what was expected of them; they produced money and knit the people more tightly together.

The Rev Fred Townsend had started a Men's Fellowship to take the place of Mr S G Hitchen's class, which had ceased during the war, but there was a need for some such meeting for the younger married couples, and in November, 1951, the Wyvern Club was formed to meet this need.

In 1951 the Sisterhood celebrated its Silver Jubilee and the Rev Kenneth Waites was invited to preach. At the tea which followed the afternoon service, fourteen of the original Committee members sat at the top table, and the two oldest members, Mrs Gregson and Mrs Morritt, had the honour of cutting the three-tiered cake which Mrs Harry Jackson had baked. The Secretary, Mrs H S Hitchen, made special mention of the fact that during the Sisterhood's twenty-fifth session, both Miss Horne and Mr S G Hitchen had each given their twenty-fifth talk to the Sisterhood.

The Sisterhood had been started in 1926 by Mrs J T Green to serve the needs of the many women who, often unable to come to the Sunday services, found in this meeting a fellowship and a message, which they would otherwise have missed. It seems to have started when the old "Busy Bee" ceased. The "Busy Bee" had been started by the Rev Benjamin Bean in 1904, but, whilst the Busy Bee had had a Missionary aim in that the members had worked to provide funds to support a child in Burma, the Sisterhood has catered to the needs of the immediate neighbourhood for the last thirty-six years.

The Sisterhood is, then, comparatively recent, but the Women's Work for Overseas has been in existence under different names for over 100 years. The name, of course, suggests the missionary aim, and the whole missionary work of Methodism is dependent on the devoted work of the Methodist women. Mrs Ella Johns has been the Secretary of the Wesley branch of the Women's Work for fifteen years and that branch has played its part faithfully in maintaining the work of the Church overseas.

KV's hope that Gift Days could be avoided went awry when, at the end of 1951, the main chimney at the Chapel was found to he in a dangerous condition. The estimated cost of repair was put at £250, but the finished job used up most of the £407 brought in by a hastily called Gift Day.

For sixteen years Wesley had. been particularly well and happily served by Mr and Mrs Jim Dodd, the Chapel keepers, and it was therefore with something of a shock that the news of their resignation was received at the Trustees' meeting in July, 1952. We were most fortunate in our choice of Mr and Mrs Eddie Scanlan, who replaced Mr and Mrs Dodd when the latter left to devote their time to Berwick Grange.

During 1952 the various special efforts raised £438, but there had also been time to prepare for the 1953 Forward Movement in Methodism. The Rev K V Jones outlined to the June Leaders' Meeting his suggestions for Wesley's part in the movement. There was to be a Local Swanwick at the Beechwood^. in September of 1952, and a Circuit Covenant Service at Wesley on January 1st, 1953. The Church was filled to capacity for this moving service in which the Methodist people of Harrogate came to renew their vows. A Festival of Praise was held in the September, and there followed, in October, a week of special services with a further Swanwick weekend in the December of 1953. To the December Leaders' Meeting the Rev K V Jones was able to announce an increase in membership from 270 to 289.

Sunday, July 18th, 1954, was a day of peculiar importance in the life and in the history of Wesley, for the Rev William Russell Shearer, newly-elected President of the Methodist Conference, preached to us on that day. He was an "old boy" of Wesley, and though not the first to pass through our Sunday School and eventually enter the ministry, he was the first to attain to the highest honour which Methodism can bestow. It was at his own request that his first service as President should be in the Chapel in which he had been brought up, and amongst his own people. It will be our hope that he will conduct our Centenary Services on October 3rd, 1962, and that with him will be his lifelong friend and colleague in the Ministry, the Rev Horace Ibbotson, another Wesley boy.

The Rev K V Jones was due to leave in August, 1954, and it was a pity that he had to spend so much of his last year in the Royal Bath Hospital with a slipped disc. However, it is probable that neither he nor Sister Jean Mary Locke (who nursed him through his illness) would consider it any pity at all, for, on September 20th, 1955, they were married at Wesley.

The Rev Herbert Simpson came to us in September, 1954. If he had a genius, it was a genius for friendship, and: the spiritual life of the church took another step forward when he and Mrs Simpson became part of our life.

The hope that numerous congregational efforts would make Gift Days unnecessary had not been realised. in addition to the special gifts of £407 for the repair of the chimney in 1952, there had been further Gifts Days in 1953 and 1954, totalling £253 and £762 respectively. Mr Simpson arrived to find the double threat of a report that the Chapel fire escape was in a dangerous condition, and an increase in the Circuit assessment of Wesley from £700 to £960 per annum. It seemed impossible to bridge the gap of £500 a year between income and expenditure and a small economy committee was set up at the Annual Trustees' Meeting in February, 1955. By the time the committee made its report to the Trustees in September, the Treasurer had been able to offer the heartening news that the collections during the first year of Mr Simpson's ministry had reached a record total. This was fortunate, for the committee, having examined every aspect of trust expenditure, had only one recommendation to make. They suggested that a considerable saving on fuel could be effected by the installation of an automatic stoker using coal. The initial cost would be £400 but a saving of £100 per annum could be expected.

In December, 1955, the Leaders learned that a memorial was to be erected in Rhodesia to the late Rev Percy Ibbotson, who had left Wesley to serve as a missionary in Rhodesia for many years. It was decided that his brother, Horace Ibbotson, who had served with him on the mission field, should preach in Wesley during the following summer, and that the collection should be devoted to the memorial.

At the same Leaders' Meeting a letter was received from the Rev Canon Roger Baines suggesting that, in response to the Archbishop of Canterbury's appeal, members of St Peter's and Wesley should meet to discuss the problems connected with Union. The Leaders expressed their pleasure at the invitation and a meeting was arranged. Actually, two meetings were held, both extremely interesting and informative. In a most friendly atmosphere it became clear that the difficulties, whatever they were, were more apparent and urgent to the clergy than to the layman, but the experience of meeting with the friends at St Peter's, and the increased understanding of the problems involved made the meetings well worth while.

At the Trustees' meeting in February, 1957, Mr F T Kettlewell was complimented on his thirty years service as Treasurer. The Economy Committee, which eighteen months previously had recommended the expenditure of £400 on a new automatic stoker for the chapel were doubtless relieved to hear that nearly £100 had been saved in the cost of fuel in the first year. Mr Kettlewell was also able to report that the inspiring ministry of the Rev Herbert Simpson was reflected in the satisfactory state of the finances.

More than one church in the town makes special arrangements to bring down worshippers from the Yorkshire Home and other similar institutions and a committee of the Leaders reported that the best way of bringing our friends from the Home was by taxi. and, further, recommended that a fund should be started to keep this service going. We still had need, like other churches, for "pushers," and a splendid job the "pushers " have done over these past years.

The question of the coming Centenary had occupied the thoughts of the Trustees for some time, and in June, 1957, they met to consider the first estimates for the painting of the Chapel and the Sunday School. The work began in the Autumn of '57 and the first £200 of a sum which was eventually to total upwards of £8,000, was spent on the first repairs. We heard with some dismay that Mr Simpson was to be "posted" to the Chapel Committee at Manchester. Both he and Mrs Simpson had endeared themselves to us over the four years they had been with us. and it was with infinite regret that we had to let them part from us.

We were fortunate in being able to welcome the Rev W Garfield Lickes again for the final phase of his ministry, and to have his sure wisdom to help to guide us through the four years of intensive preparation for our Centenary.

in April, 1959, a review of all work needing to be done in both Chapel and Sunday School was prepared for a joint Leaders' and Trustees' meeting. There were two main aims of the Centenary Committee. The first was that the entire fabric of our property should be renovated the second was that in various ways the accommodation should. be so altered that, whilst it would still he capable of holding over 800 on special and circuit occasions, the congregation could be brought a little more together during the ordinary Sunday services.

The schemes for outside and inside decoration were approved in principle at an estimated cost of £6,000, to include the necessary electrical work, and the various alterations to the seating consisting of the removal of the pews at either side of the pulpit and the construction of a large screen to cover the back pews in the gallery.

It was realised that a scheme as ambitious as the one visualised would need the utmost co-operation of all members, and a Society meeting was called for June 1st, at which Mr W A Thompson was able to explain the whole scheme in great detail, and, what was more important, to communicate to the Church his own enthusiasm for the scheme.

A Gift Day was held on September 5th, 1959, which realised cash gifts of £2,187 and promises of £2,050, to which were added £900 of interest-free loans. There have been, of course, many small individual efforts in aid of the Centenary Fund, but by far the most important effort has been the Coffee Morning organised by the Ladies every Wednesday morning. it has been running for just over two and a half years and has enabled the ladies to give just over £800 by May, 1962. At this date the whole total of contributions had reached £7,963, but some hundreds are still needed to complete the original scheme, and to this there has to be added a further £1,000 for repairs to the roof and to the steps, so that we have still some way to go.

It was decided that certain work on the gallery pews should start in November, and that the complete decoration should start after Covenant Sunday in January, 1960. Looking forward, the Trust also decided that the Rev W Russell Shearer should be asked to conduct the services on the Centenary Day, October 3rd, 1962, and arrangements have also been made for the Sunday Services in October when it is hoped that our new Minister, the Rev W F Hewitson, will preach on the 7th, the Rev Herbert Simpson on the 14th, and the Rev K V Jones on the 21st.

The detailed work involved in this important renovation had involved the Trustees, and particularly the Trust Executive, in a large number of meetings. Before the actual work began an important alteration was suggested in the construction of vestries in place of the pews at the North end of the Chapel. This has undoubtedly given a cleaner and more dignified appearance to each side of the Chapel and the result has been most satisfying.

When the Chapel was re-opened in March the transformation was startling. The whole appearance of the interior had been lightened by the restoration of the woodwork to its natural colour; the blue of the ceiling and the pastel shades of the walls and pillars all combined to produce a refreshingly modern yet quiet and restful atmosphere. That such a distinct change could win such unanimous approval was a great tribute to the imaginative planning both of the Trust Executive and of Messrs Tophams who carried out the work. Messrs W Dobson, the Chapel Steward, W A Thompson, F T Kettlewell and J E Hitchen, who formed this executive, would all pay tribute to the quiet wisdom of their chairman, the Rev W Garfield Lickes, who, by an ironic twist of fate, has, on both his terms of ministry at Wesley, arrived just in time to be concerned in the two major renovations of Wesley over the last twenty-five years.

One could not finish the story of Wesley without further mention of the part played by the Choir, and by our organist, Harold Uttley. We have probably never had in our history an organist of his calibre; his music is an unfailing delight to all, and we can but marvel that total blindness seems in no way to effect his complete mastery of the organ. On the rare occasions when he and Mrs Uttley, herself a most accomplished pianist, have played together on one, or on two pianos, it has been a joy to hear them. The Choir have had a struggle to maintain their numbers during some of the years since the war, but they have never failed to lead the singing, and tradition and training have kept the music on a high level, despite the smallness of numbers. Fortunately, for some years now, the numbers have slowly but steadily increased. The return of former members gave the Choir the support they needed, and helped, in turn, to bring in the greatly needed younger members. Now the Choir is strong in every section and follows worthily in a great tradition.

One of the oldest members of the Choir was Norman Varey, whose sudden and unexpected death in March, 1962, left us all with, a sense of loss. He had completed fifty faithful years of service as a Sunday School Teacher and. Superintendent, and as one looks hack through the history of Wesley, and notes, from time to time, the record in the minutes of the passing of one and another of men and women who have given a lifetime of service to their Master, one recognises that Norman was but one of a great company. Miss Horne with fifty years of service as a Class Leader, Mr S G Hitchen with sixty-two years of Local Preaching, and many others, are part of that same company who have served God through their allegiance to the Methodist Church in general and Wesley Chapel in particular.

For 100 years Wesley has been part of the life of the town. It has provided three Mayors and countless men and women who have served the town in different ways, but most important of all, it has been a place in which, for those 100 years, God has been worshipped. When it was built it stood alone in Allotment Field now the busy life of Harrogate presses around it. and this is right for it was built to be in the world, though not of it. It takes its standards from One Who is changeless, and seeks to meet those human needs which do not vary from age to age.

There will always be those who say that there are better Christians outside the Church than in it. It may be, though that is a judgement more safely left to God. But Wesley, like any other church, draws its people not from those who come because they are better than their neighbours, but rather from those who simply seek to be better men and women. It is no fault of the Church that it can so much better meet the needs of those who seek the answers, than of those who know all the answers.

So, for this 100 years, Wesley has opened its doors to welcome all who seek the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and there have been families which have worshipped in Wesley for all that time. Probably there will be on October 3rd at least one member of the Simpson family which built the church; there were two Hobkinsons who were members of the first Trust, and there will he more than two Hobkinsons present on the Centenary night; there were Jeffrays and Thomases at the opening ceremony, and their descendants will also be there. The Chapel will not look quite as it did when our forefathers gathered on that Friday a century ago, and these same forefathers would be rather shaken to hear that the scheme of decorations, alterations and repairs has cost twice as much as it cost to build Wesley. But they would feel at home amongst us if they could recognise in us the same loyalty and devotion which inspired them.

We shall thank God on that night for the Grace and Power which kept them, and we shall pray that that same Grace and Power will keep us, and those who follow us in Wesley.

H. S. HITCHEN.