St Mary's church, Templecombe
In the summer of 1941 the Bishop of Bath and Wells offered father the living of Templecombe. He agreed to accept if he was allowed to continue his work for C.M.S. till May 1942. He had already been offered the livings of Bourton and Pen Selwood but had refused them as he wished to continue in the work for C.M.S. for 2 years. So in May 1942 we took up our work in Templecombe. We had always wanted a large house as we thought it would be so convenient for our children to have a home to come to when the war was over.
I don’t think any of us realised
what a heavy responsibility and what
hard work it was for father to take up that work in his 69th
year. It was a difficult parish although not extensive. I
wonder how many miles he rode about it on that old bicycle of
his. Of course the war added greatly to our difficulties and the
bombing of the Church and several houses on Sept. 5th 1942 was a
tragedy and added to father's work considerably. He was always
known as a "pusher" and it was his "push" which enabled all the repairs
to be finished in the Church before we left in 1951.Added to all his worries there was the dreadful tragedy of Gordon’s death in Nov. 1944. Only God knows how much that dear laddie suffered and we are thankful now that he is at peace.
Doris came home from Durban as a result of our bereavement and what a comfort she was - we had Barbara home too and David was able to be with us from time to time. He was now a Medical student at St. Thomas’s Hospital. We do thank God for our children.
In November 1946 we had the joy and excitement of having Philip, Yolande and their two little boys home from India. Never shall I forget that moment when their car arrived from Southampton and I was enveloped in Philip's arms. Father, too, was greatly helped by having him with him. We seem to get so much moral support from our sons as we did too from Basil when he came home later that year.
Family groups. 1. Back: Basil Phil David; Next: Yolande Nick Barbara Doris Nancy; Seated: A Nellie GWW AMW A Bessie; Front: Trevor 2. Doris w Gritz Eileen w Hugh A Bessie GWW Basil AMW Barbara w calf Brian 3. Basil and Ruth's (Rampley) wedding in Kenya 4. A Denny Barbara AMW Basil's head David Ruth Nora Gill
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