| The
Parish Church of St James St. James's Road, Hampton Hill, TW12 1DQ (Parish Office 020 8941 6003) |
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| THE
SPIRE MAGAZINE |
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Until January 1933 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. The first magazines to have covers and show services and staff are from 1933. |
| During Mr. Bligh's Incumbency |
Initially the parish material was published in association with a nationally produced inset, 'The Church Monthly', "an illustrated magazine for home reading". It was "an illustrated magazine for home reading" and was 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." The magazine itself contained articles about the Christian religion, short sermons (several pages long), much poetry, many illustrations and a long-running serial. 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.” See the magazine archives |
| During Mr. Job's Incumbency |
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”. These early magazines were bound into hard-backed books with their covers removed. However, one cover, shown left, was discovered in the archives. |
| During Mr. Coad Pryor's Incumbency |
Advertisements
in the parish magazine appeared from time to time during 1917 and 1918
and became a regular feature during 1919. In 1920 the cost increased
from 1d. to 2d. All this was due to the rise in printing costs. 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 edition of the magazine Mr. Coad-Pryor started a Children’s Column which consisted of a monthly letter which started "DEAR CHILDREN, Each month something of special interest to you will appear in this column, so please read it very carefully………..” and ended “Don’t forget to say your prayers in the morning as well as at night. Your affectionate friend, THE VICAR." See the first column |
| During Mr. Harvey's Incumbency |
The January 1943 edition of the magazine changed the design of its front cover. In November 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 1943 magazines and January 1948). It is not known whether this is because none were printed or whether none has been saved. |
| During Mr. Brunt's Incumbency |
January 1952 saw the introduction
of 'The Spire', replacing the old Hampton Hill Parish Magazine. See
the magazine Rising printing costs during the past few years had
nearly prevented the magazine from continuing even after raising the
cost 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
reduced printing charges. The printer, the manager of the Hampton Press,
managed to keep the printing charge at an affordable one and the first
copy was sold at the reduced cost of 3½d. Read
the article
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 taken over 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 first cover of the Spire
was light yellow with a print of the actual spire on the front (see
left) with advertisements on the back and also in the magazine itself.
After four years the yellow cover paper was changed to light pink and
then in May 1962 there was a newly designed pink cover (see right).
The following May the pink was changed to white with a new layout of
material. Whereas the previous Spires had the text in two columns, from
May 1963 there was just a single column. Ten years later, in May 1973,
there was a new cover picture of St. James's with a new view of the
building. (see right). Then in 1976 the date was omitted from the front
cover to save money in the set-up costs.
From the first issue of the Spire the whole of the first page became an information page with lists and details of church officers, Sunday services, Sunday Schools, weekday services, clubs, groups and societies, confirmation classes, hiring the parish hall and club rooms and seeing the vicar. See the first information page 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 and a collective paragraph took its place. From 1958 there was an explanation about why no collection was taken. See an example and four years later an explanation about the church being maintained by direct Christian giving. See an example The May 1964 issue was given a new information page which was updated with the new pattern of services in July 1965. See this page Also from the first issue of
the Spire nearly every magazine started with 'Vicar's Notes'
where Mr 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 always ended with
lists and details of that month's baptisms, marriages and 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. The sections 'Around the Spire' and 'Beyond the Spire'
were dropped in 1963 and each separate article in the magazine had 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. |
