Ely Ensign

I assisted Owen with the editing of the diocesan magazine, Ely Ensign, from about March 2003,

At the time, I was supporting his youngest son with his GCSE’s, so was a regular visitor to the Spencer-Thomas home.

Occasionally, after I had finished work with his son, Owen asked me to proofread one or two of the articles he was putting together for the magazine.

Gradually, as his son needed me less, Owen drafted me in on a more regular basis to help co-edit the magazine. It was a wonderful experience. As you can see from the selection below, there were some fascinating stories to be read.

• The Bishops’ Way walk (April 2003)
• Outcasts at Worship. How Cambridge cared for its lepers (June 2003)
• Queen appoints new Lord Lieutenant (August 2003)
• Celebrating pilot’s bravery (November 2004)
• Pioneering priest lights up Christian faith with a bang (November 2004)
• A dozen things you should know about fireworks (November 2004)
• On the Spot (Owen Spencer-Thomas) (December 2004)
• Church glass (July 2005)
• Around the world without a paws (August 2005)

Given my interest in the two World Wards, there were a series of articles, featuring Conington church, which I found of particular interest:

• September 2003 Conington church symbol of 60 year friendship between two countries
• September 2003 Down memory lane
• December 2003 Conington’s local bobby named
• July 2004 Ceremony and fly-past tribute to US heroes

And two articles about the bombing of St Paul’s Church on Hills Road, Cambridge in 1941:

• July 2005 Broken but restored
• August 2005 A wartime memory

You can find further Ely Ensign articles on Owen’s personal website, Say IT Straight, including:

• The Good and the Great
  A series of articles about notable Cambridgeshire people, that appeared in the Ely Ensign, the Ely Diocese website, and finally Owen’s website, including a series of articles about local author, Dorothy L. Sayer’s and John Henslow Stevens, mentor to Charles Darwin.
• Dr Livingstone, I presume (November 2003)
• Snowdrops in the churchyard (February 2004)
• Church and community work together in face of school disaster Living behind the school, we had a first hand view of the disaster as it unfolded.  And so we as a community pulled together to help provide support to the school and its pupils ready for school the very next day (November 2004)
• Homes to roost for endangered swifts My time at GE meant I was aware of the work of ex-employee, and local churchwarden, Dick Newell, and his quest to safe the swifts (February 2006)
• The origins of Mothering Sunday (March 2006)
• A series of articles about Christmas including:
  • Wishing you a very merry Christmas – how to make the perfect Christmas pudding
  • Face to Face – Father Christmas
  • Christmas plants