The first edition of the Hampton Hill Parish Magazine

The Hampton Hill Parish Magazine was launched in November 1884. It stated: "Its design is to place on record the various little events of parochial life, which are especially interesting to those who have taken part in them, or have been otherwise connected with them; to give statistics and financial statements of the various institutions of the parish; to give notice of the services of the Church, and of any parochial events which are to take place; and to give the Vicar an opportunity of communicating with his parishioners as occasion may require”. These original aims were set out clearly in the first editorial and they have not changed very much over the years. However, the way in which they are achieved has changed a great deal with the times and will of course continue to do so.

1902 January

Covers
From November 1884 until January 1931 the magazines in the archives are preserved bound together as hard-backed books, one or two years in a book. Consequently, there is no record of the covers of these particular magazines, which also means not many records of services and staff at this time as they were mostly printed on the covers. However, a front cover dated 1902 January, shown right, was discovered in the archives. The inside has several advertisements. From January 1931 the magazines are preserved separately with their covers, which also show the church staff and services. The "Parochial Notes" at the top of the first page of each magazine show details of the various groups, clubs and so on. From the 1940s the covers only show the vicar's name and the services with the "Parochial Notes" showing details of the churchwardens, the organist, the Parochial Church Officer as well as the groups, clubs and so on. There was a new cover in 1933 which was used until 1936 and then the January 1943 edition changed the design again.

1952 January

January 1952 saw the introduction of 'The Spire', replacing the old Hampton Hill Parish Magazine. The first cover of the Spire was light yellow with a print of the church spire on the front (see left) but after four years the yellow cover paper was changed to light pink and then in May 1962 there was a newly designed pink cover. The following May the pink was changed to white. Ten years later, in May 1973, there was a new cover picture of St. James's with a new view of the building, "showing its long aisle and very fine spire, set among well grown trees". The date was omitted from the front cover in 1976 for a few years to save money in the set-up costs. The cover for Pentecost, May 1983, showed a return to the picture previously used from 1962 to 1973 and this was used until May 1987. The December 1984 issue saw the first deviation of the cover image from the spire to a specifically Christmas design and from then on there were nearly always special Christmas and Easter covers, either in the design or the paper colour.

2003 January

A specially drawn picture of the Spire was used on the cover between June 1987 and May 1995 when another specially drawn picture was introduced in June 1995 (see right), with that issue reporting: "One of the most important aspects of the Church's ministry is to be part of the community. This is something which we hope the new cover of 'The Spire' will illustrate, the Church at the centre of the community." Many children entered a competition, in 1995 and again in 1998, to design a front cover for the Easter edition of the Spire with some adventurous, sensitive, funny and carefully prepared entries. During this time gold paper was normally used for the covers at Easter and red at Christmas with appropriate designs.

April 2006 saw the first Spire produced 'in house', A4 in size, not A5 (see below). Paper, printed with coloured logos and boxes, was purchased so that the text, and many more pictures than previously possible, could be overlaid on the front and back covers. In 2008 it was decided have it professionally printed with full colour on both the front and back pages. Each front cover had a different, topical, full-page coloured image. The first such magazine was published in October 2008. Most of the magazine covers can be seen on the pages Magazine Covers before 2010 and Magazine Covers 2010 and beyond.

Content
All the early magazines, from November 1884, contained the offertories, extracts from parish registers, hymns for the month, church accounts, individually titled articles and the Church Calendar showing the services, meetings and activities for that month. Most of them also contained school reports and church accounts. Hymns for the month were added later and lists of subscriptions and the number of District Nurse visits were included periodically.

The parish material was published in association with a nationally produced inset, 'The Church Monthly', "an illustrated magazine for home reading", with the inset being described as "valuable in many ways, and particularly in taking our thoughts further afield than our own doorsteps, alerting us to wider issues and concerns, and making us more fully aware of what the Holy Spirit is doing in the church and the world today." It included articles about Christianity, 'short' sermons (several pages long), much poetry, many illustrations and a long-running serial. From the first issue of the new Spire, every magazine from 1952 to 1963 included the inset, 'The Window', described as "the layman's church newspaper". 'Outlook' replaced it in 1963 and this was followed by 'The Church News' in 1969. From May 1973 the Spire was printed locally by a printer who could not handle the inset, so it had to be dropped.

The magazine underwent a change in January 1894, becoming larger and with most of it being a letter from the vicar to his parishioners, always beginning with "My Dear Friends" and ending with "I am, my dear friends, Yours very sincerely, CHARLES R. JOB". Included in these letters was information on all the meetings, activities, etc. that were happening that month. In the January edition Mr. Job commented that he was "anxious to make the magazine a means of friendly communication between myself and, if possible, all the parishioners and members of the congregation" and went on to ask people to "promote its circulation". In the next edition he reported that he was "glad to know that the new magazine has met with so kindly a welcome as it has".

When Revd. Coad-Pryor became vicar, he continued Revd. Job's letter but addressed it to "My Dear People". This was followed by different parish notices, offertories, church accounts and parish registers, with intercessions and parish news being added later. Advertisements appeared from time to time during 1917 and 1918 and became a regular feature during 1919. The inset was changed to 'Home Words for Heart and Hearth' in January 1916 and then back to 'The Church Monthly' in 1921. Intercessions and more "local matter" started to appear in the magazine to increase its "general interest”. Then in the March 1920 edition of the magazine Revd. Coad-Pryor started a Children’s Column, which consisted of a monthly letter starting "DEAR CHILDREN, Each month something of special interest to you will appear in this column, so please read it very carefully………..” and ending “Don’t forget to say your prayers in the morning as well as at night. Your affectionate friend, THE VICAR."

From the early 1920s there were certain regular items included in every magazine: a letter from the vicar, the intercessions, parish news including details of services and preachers, accounts, donations, subscription lists, church music and the following sections: "IMPORTANT - Will all those who are responsible for Church Work please send in a full report by the 20th of each month, by so doing it will not only be of great use to our readers, but greatly forward the work of the Church"; "PARISH WANTS - a Parish Hall, a Litany Desk, a Bier for use in Church at Funerals, approximate cost about £30, a Piano for the Infants' School' a Bath Chair"; "CHURCHYARD - Contributions towards keeping the Churchyard and the graves tidy will be welcomed"; "THE VICAR may be seen at the Vicarage on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, between the hours of 8.45 and 10 a.m. And on any day, except Mondays, between the hours of 6 and 7 p.m."

From September 1923 adverts appear for local firms as headers and footers on some pages.

In the January 1931 magazine Revd. Harvey reported: "In order to make the magazine more interesting I have rearranged it and I hope to receive each month matter of general interest from those concerned." By then, in each magazine there were parochial notes at the top with times and venues of all the activities taking place, then the vicar's letter, Special Days to Remember, Services and Preachers, Missionary Association and then other items of news, finishing with baptisms, marriage and burials.

The July 1950 magazine reported: "We are most anxious that the parish should think of this magazine as their own. We want to include articles of interest, help and encouragement, and we want the members of our Church to come forward themselves with contributions and ideas. We want to include a news column: to have for example, knowledge of special birthdays, of Wedding anniversaries, of examinations passed; the names of young people about to do their National Service, and of people who are going away on interesting holidays; we want to know of local festivities, events; we would like to know of people who have recovered from long illness. In short we want to be told of everything which is going on in the parish, and of events outside it of which Christians should take note, so that the Church may add its interest, prayer and good wishes." The result of this was the eventual introduction, in 1956, of a special section in the new style Spire magazine called 'Around the Spire'.

1952 January Information

From the first issue of the new Spire magazine in January 1952, the whole of the front inside cover became an information page with lists and details of church officers, services, Sunday Schools, clubs, groups and societies, confirmation classes, hiring the parish hall and club rooms, and seeing the vicar. The information was changed from time to time to reflect changes in staff, services, groups, etc. Sunday School information was dropped in 1955 and in the following year the section for the individual contacts for clubs, groups and societies was dropped with a collective paragraph taking its place. From 1958 there was an explanation about why no collection was taken during services and in 1962 about how the church was being maintained through direct Christian giving. May 1963 saw a new layout of material. Whereas the previous Spires had the text in two columns, from May 1963 there was just a single column. The May 1964 issue was given a new information page which was updated with the new pattern of services in July 1965.

1952 'Around the Spire'

Also from the first issue of the Spire, nearly every magazine until 1967 started with 'Vicar's Notes', where Revd. Brunt wrote on a wide variety of topics. A special section called 'Around the Spire' was introduced in the first issue which reported "notes and news about people, activities and organisations". The section called 'Some Dates to Note', introduced in May 1951, continued and every magazine ended with lists and details of that month's baptisms, marriages, burials and cremations. Another new section was added in July 1952 called 'Beyond the Spire' which was left out periodically when there were too many other items. 'Around the Spire' and 'Beyond the Spire' were dropped in 1963 and each separate article in the magazine was given its own title. A section called 'Personalia' existed for a while in the sixties. This was replaced by a "chat column" in 1976, again called 'Around the Spire', as it was felt that it would be good to know what was going on in and around the parish at a more personal level. Various new sections, like the 'Children's Corner' and 'View From The Pew', came and went during this period but did not last for very long. The chemists' additional duty rota appeared now and again as did the intercessions rota.

During Revd. Chubb's incumbency, just for a year or so from June 1983, the back inside cover contained details about the rest of the church organisations, times, places, contact details, following on from those on the front inside cover. The leading article was still written by the vicar and other articles were still given their own titles but there were no regular articles to start with apart from 'Around the Spire', which was written most months. The magazines continued to finish with 'From the Registers' and 'Dates to Note'. From 1983, a few simple images, but no photographs, were occasionally added within the magazine.

One of the Cartoons

During Revd. Leathard's incumbency, the inside of the front cover continued showing the 'Church Officers' and 'Sunday Arrangements', with all the other services and activities being shown at the end of each magazine. The leading article was still written by the vicar most of the time and other articles given their own titles but there were no regular features other than 'Around the Spire'. Magazines continued to end with 'From the Registers', 'Regular Weekly Services' and 'Other Services and 'Dates to Note'. More black and white images, including specially drawn cartoons but still no photographs, were added during these years. Starting in June 1995 the magazine committee introduced an article series, each to run for a year, beginning with 'Interesting Jobs' and continuing with such titles as 'Saints', 'That made a difference' 'My Work', 'Exploring Hampton Hill High Street', etc. The article series ran for many years. A children's item was also introduced, which came and went during the following years. For several years in the early millennium there was a series of 'Chronicles', later called 'From the Archives', taken from the archived magazines. These either reported on what was happening at St. James's one hundred years ago, or were articles that linked with the theme of the current magazine. When the new style Spire started in April 2006, the leading article was actually named the Leader, there was a new 'What's On', 'Welcome' and crossword. The old favourite, 'Around the Spire', continued as did the contacts and 'From the Registers'. Every magazine continued to finish with 'Services', 'Dates to Note' and a new 'Events'.

October 2008

During Revd. Vannozzi's incumbency, the Spire continued to inform anyone who read it about the church services and activities linked to the church, and also the clergy and parishioners who held positions of responsibility within it. It was hoped that a newcomer to the parish could get an immediate idea of the many groups and activities, and how to access them. To start with the content continued along the lines of the magazine in Revd. Leathard's incumbency. The church officers, with contact details for them and for all the groups and activities, were moved from the inside of the back cover of the new Spire to the inside of the front cover in October 2007. In June 2007 several new items were introduced, including a permanent designated children's page, a permanent 'Special Feature' in the centre spread and 'Yours Faithfully' running for just a year. Throughout the year every magazine featured information about that particular time in the Christian Year. When the first 'in-house' produced, but professionally printed, magazine was published in October 2008 a number of changes occurred at the same time. All the information about the church, the services, clergy, churchwardens, dates, contacts, credits, printing, and the 'Welcome' were all collected together on the second page, after the cover. A new 'In Thought and Prayer' ran alongside the Leader on page three. The 'News Bulletin' together with the registers and 'Around the Spire' were located either side or the centre article, 'Cover Story', on pages four and five. A large full-page image to go with this was featured on the front cover. The 'Young Spire', as the children's page had already been named, was on page six, new 'Revelations' together with 'What's On' on page seven, and 'Your Voice' together with 'Our Church' on the back page. The latter, featuring coloured photographs and descriptions of parts of the church, was replaced in 2010 with 'Songs of Praise', telling the story behind a hymn which would be sung in the coming weeks.

Cost, Publication, Distribution, etc
In June 1885 the magazine reported: "The cost of publication is considerable, one penny and two fifths per copy, exclusive of the trouble of delivery. As nearly 100 copies are supplied to the members of the Provident Club at 1d. per copy, we are anxious to obtain as many subscribers at 11/2d as possible, and so decrease the amount of loss." By 1892 the magazine had a circulation of two hundred and the committee wanted to increase this, as reported in the October edition: "The price is 2d. per number, reduced to Is. 6d. per annum if paid beforehand, and Is. per annum to all members of the Provident Club. Intending subscribers are requested to make application at the Vicarage, or at the Post Office." In 1920 the price was increased from 1d. to 2d. These rising prices were due to the rise in printing costs.

The printer reported that there must be a drastic cut in the size of the magazine from January 1944 as a "war-time necessity”. The 1943 November magazine reported: "This will mean a considerable condensation of matter. For the time being the cover will disappear. The inset, the 'Church Monthly, will appear as usual, as well as the Diocesan Leaflet. This will of course upset the present system of advertising and will mean a small reduction in the cost. It is a war-time necessity and we shall return to the normal issue at the earliest opportunity." There are no magazines in the archives between January 1937 and March 1950, apart from all the 1943 magazines and January 1948. It is not known whether this is because they were not produced or were not saved.

January 1952 saw the introduction of 'The Spire', replacing the old Hampton Hill Parish Magazine. Rising printing costs during the previous few years had nearly prevented the magazine from continuing even after raising the price from 3d. to 4d. a copy. So the committee decided to "reduce production costs to the minimum, altering the size and form of the magazine, making it a little smaller, but attractive and easy to handle and read." They asked the advertisers for all advertisements to run for a yearly period beginning in January, instead of from several different months, which further reduced printing charges. The printer, the manager of the Hampton Press, managed to keep these at an affordable level and the first copy was sold at the reduced price of 3½d. Read the article Introducing the Spire.

The price of the Spire had to be raised "reluctantly" to 4d. in January 1956 due to further rises in printing costs. However, one of the achievements of the Christian Stewardship Campaign was that plans were made in 1962 for the free distribution of the Spire magazine "to all who are sufficiently interested to ask for it". It was decided to have an editorial team to produce the magazine instead of the vicar producing it more or less on his own. The distribution was also tackled. A suggestion in 1965 that the Spire should be replaced by a news-sheet brought forth parish protests and so the magazine subsidy continued, as the Council considered the Spire to be of benefit and interest to the church community. Although it continued to be free of charge "voluntary contributions would be welcomed". In July 1978 a special edition with many extra pages was sent to every house in the parish, about three thousand copies at that time.

Some time was spent during 1983 discussing the Spire's content, format, cost and effectiveness. A good number of people joined in the debate, which ranged far and wide. There were expressions of "great confidence and gratitude. It reflects a caring and go-ahead parish, it widens people's horizons, it is interesting". It was certainly reaching and being read in all parts of the parish and beyond by a wide range of people, so the message "seems to be that we keep going, realising that what it says may be reaching surprising places far beyond our imagining, even it if is not always perfect". The hundreth anniversary of the parish magazine was celebrated the following year in November 1984. Read the article A Hundred Years of the Parish Magazine.

2006 April

'In House' Production

April 2006 saw the first Spire produced 'in house', A4 in size, not A5, with no adverts at all and being copied in black and white on the copier in the new church office. Photographs were added for the first time, including one of a watercolour of the church, painted by a member of the congregation.

The magazine continued steadily changing and evolving into something new and with even greater appeal to the parish as a whole. "We want anyone, of any belief, who respects our church, to feel welcome within it and to understand what we are trying to do. Beyond the facts about groups and people, we hope our articles and features say something about how our faith influences our lives. We hope that they show also that we are a broad church with room for everyone who is seeking new or further understanding of themselves and the world around us."

A Spire survey was held in April 2007, resulting in many positive comments with the feedback being used to plan content for future issues. Photocopying the Spire to make 600-700 copies per month proved to be too much for the office photocopier. It frequently gave up the ghost or just churned up the paper, clogging the machine. The quality of the print was also poor and financially it became a burden, so the committee decided to continue producing it 'in-house' as before but have it professionally printed. Every year, three issues each contained two months: December/January, the two months at Lent/Easter and August/September and these were produced in full colour throughout. The distribution of the Spire was reviewed in 2010 and as a result more copies were placed in the High Street, at the Post Office, library, Medical Centre and dentist with the response being "outreach at its best". The Spire Committee received some good news from the printer, Justin Hollingsworth, in March 2011 that a new copier meant he could produce all nine yearly issues of the Spire in full colour at no extra cost. It had long been the ambition of St. James's to produce all copies in full colour, but previously it had not been affordable.