Life at Christ Church: 1968 to 1975
Women's Own 25th Anniversary
Women's Own celebrated their 25th anniversary in 1971. A photograph taken on this occasion shows Catherine Coombs (front row fourth) and former vicar’s wives Gertrude Bartle (front row second) and Irene Roberts (front row third) with Annie Ellis (front row first) and other leaders including Barbara Hill, Diana Evans, Olive Voller and Cecily Stone.
Another picture from this occasion shows Peter Coombs with Gertrude Bartle in the background.
A photo taken from the third floor of the vicarage shows Catherine Coombs in the centre of Women’s Own for a garden party during this period.
Alan Caldwell
Alan Caldwell came to New Malden with his wife Kathy and daughters Kathleen, Helen and Fiona in 1969, serving as Curate at Christ Church for five months before succeeding Gordon Dodson as Curate-in-Charge of St John’s in June 1970. Alan moved on in 1973 to become Curate-in-Charge of St Andrew’s, Edgware.
Alan's final post (from 1987 to 1994) was as Vicar of St Mary Magdalene, Cowden , and it was during this period that his eldest daughter Katy became a member of Christ Church with her husband, David Loffman. In 2014, with her father’s encouragement, Katy Loffman became a Lay Reader.
Ian Cundy
Ian Cundy was Curate of Christ Church from 1969 to 1973. The photo below shows Ian’s marriage to Jo just ten days before his curacy began.
Ian went on to become a figure of considerable importance within the Church of England, editing one of the three preparatory books for the influential Second National Evangelical Anglican Conference in 1977 on theme of ‘Obeying Christ in a Changing World’. He went on to become Bishop of Lewes from 1992-1996 and then Bishop of Peterborough. Sadly Ian died of cancer in May 2009. Jo (who was able to join us for our 150th Anniversary) wrote a book about this called ‘Letting Go of Ian: A Faith Journey through Grief’.
Doug Johnson
Succeeding Ian Cundy was Doug Johnson, who was Curate from 1973-1976. Doug is pictured below with his first wife Ann, who sadly died of cancer in 1990), and their son Daniel.
Doug was one of the first leaders of the newly formed CYFA Youth Group. Doug left Christ Church in 1976 to become Vicar of St Matthias, Tulse Hill.
Sunday School Groups
In 1975 the Sunday School groups at Christ Church moved from the afternoon to the morning. This was the beginning at Christ Church of Scramblers, Climbers and Explorers. Pathfinders which had begun in 1959 also moved to Sunday morning. Having begun in 1973, CYFA replaced King’s Own as the major youth group at Christ Church in 1975, meeting after the 6.30 service on a Sunday evening and continuing until 2008 when it was replaced by Engage.
Golden Wedding Anniversary of Reg and Annie Ellis
Reg Ellis (the long running churchwarden of Christ Church) and his wife Annie celebrated their Golden Wedding at Christ Church in July 1973. The photo below was taken from the third floor of the Vicarage. ‘Uncle Llew’ and his wife Irene returned for the occasion, and can be seen on the right towards the back.
Weddings
The photo below shows Peter conducting the wedding of current members Andrew and Margaret Rankin in 1970.
Another shows Peter and Norman Taplin holding their wives' accessories at another wedding!
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Life at CCNM 1958-68 | Building CCNM 1968-75 | Life at CCNM 1976-90 |  |