MERLIN FINDS A NEW HOME In 2009 Cotesbach became home to a Rolls-Royce Merlin 724-1C engine, which was fired up successfully for the first time on 8th March 2009.

The Merlin is a liquid cooled 27 litre V12 piston aircraft engine with supercharger, designed and developed as a private venture by Rolls Royce (PV 12), first flown in 1935 and fitted to the Spitfires of Battle of Britain fame (designed by R.J. Mitchell) which were pivotal in the victory of World War II.

The Merlin enabled aircraft to fly at least 100mph faster than before, reaching speeds of 450mph and greatly improving performance at high altitude.

Widely considered to be among the most successful engines produced during World War II, Merlin engines were also used in, among other aircraft, Hurricanes, Wellingtons, Defiants, Lancasters, Halifaxes, Mustangs and Mosquitos.

This engine was one of four fitted to a Canadair DC4 Argonaut civilian plane of the 1950s, each 1800hp (this one is labelled ‘Right Wing Outer’).

It was acquired and restored by Tom Newton’s cousin, Francis Machin, architect and son of the sculptor Arnold Machin who sculpted the iconic

image of The Queen’s head we know so well from the Royal Mail stamp. His mother, Patricia Newton, was an artist.

The engine was kept at Francis’ home, Garmelow Manor, Staffordshire, but since his sudden death in 2007 resulted in the sale of that property, Tom has been appointed ‘Guardian of the Merlin’ until Francis’ children can accommodate it, as it is hoped to keep the engine in the family.

We are proud that this crucial piece of aviation history can make its home so close to two others: Stanford Hall where Percy Pilcher broke the world distance record in 1897 leaving the ground in his ‘Hawk’ for 250 metres, and Lutterworth, where initial testing of the jet engine by Frank Whittle took place, which superceded the Merlin design at the end of World War II.

THE VITAL SPARK

On 30th September 1941 a patent was registered by Fred Newton (Tom’s grandfather and Francis’s great uncle) of Newton Brothers, Derby, for a Carbon Pile Voltage Regulator.

Fred Newton was managing director of the family engineering firm which was set up in 1899 and operated from their premises in Alfreton Road which in 1948 was described as a firm ‘fully occupied making the equipment so urgently needed by the country’s power and industrial undertakings’...Newton Bros had close links with Rolls Royce in the same city, and in time the regulator was fitted to all Merlin engines, enabling them to fly successfully at higher altitudes and thus giving them a strategic advantage over the opposition.

To quote a news item from 1945:

“A new type of voltage regulator invented by Mr Frederick Newton, and manufactured by Messrs Newton Brothers (Derby) Ltd, has, during the past four years formed an essential and integral part of almost every aeroplane, warship, radar and gunsight installation.”

Some 40,000 regulators were being produced monthly in the later part of the war; Mr Newton was flown to the U.S.A. in 1941 for the purpose of assisting the production of the regulators there. “The magnitude of the application of this one patent, and the essential quality for nearly all of the electrical equipment, afford striking tribute to the brilliant skill of Mr Frederick Newton” commented Colonel Cooper-Parry, Chairman of Newton Brothers.

Although his invention never attracted national recognition, rest assured that here in Cotesbach the Merlin will continue to celebrate his achievements, as it does every pilot and technical hand involved with this colossus of British engineering.

We fire the engine approximately once a month, usually on the first Saturday, 11.45am for 12 noon in the Stable Yard, Cotesbach, but this depends on other village events, so please check the website first. Next firings: 11/6/11; 16/7/11; 10/9/11; 8/10/11; 5/11/11

Directions: follow signs to the shop www.naturallygoodfood.co.uk LE17 4HX or call 01455 552697 for information or check our website on www.cotesbach.net for updates. We are very grateful to Hammonds of Lutterworth for their advice and technical assistance.

SJN Cotesbach July2011

8

A thousand ages in thy sight

Are like an evening gone;

Short as the watch that ends the night

Before the rising sun.

Time, like an ever rolling stream,

Bears all its sons away;

They fly forgotten as a dream

Dies at the opening day.

O God, our help in ages past,

Our hope for years to come,

Be thou our guard while troubles last,

And our eternal home.

The Blessing

God grant to the living, grace;

to the departed, rest;

to the Church, the Queen, the Commonwealth

and all humankind, peace and concord;

and to us and all his servants, life everlasting;

and the blessing of Almighty God,

the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,

come upon you and remain with you always. Amen

The National Anthem

God save our gracious Queen,

Long live our noble Queen,

God save the Queen!

Send her victorious,

Happy and glorious,

Long to reign over us,

God save the Queen.

Thy choicest gifts in store

On her be pleased to pour,

Long may she reign.

May she defend our laws,

And give us ever cause,

To sing with heart and voice,

God save the Queen.

Parade Dismiss

Burbage Parish CouncilBurbage Parish CouncilBurbage Parish CouncilBurbage Parish Council

&&&&

Hinckley & DistrictHinckley & DistrictHinckley & DistrictHinckley & District

Royal British LegionRoyal British LegionRoyal British LegionRoyal British Legion

Burbage War MemorialBurbage War MemorialBurbage War MemorialBurbage War Memorial

Sunday 13th November 2011

Officiating Minister

The Revd Dr Robert StephenThe Revd Dr Robert StephenThe Revd Dr Robert StephenThe Revd Dr Robert Stephen Associate Vicar, St Catherine’s, Burbage

Remembrance Day

Service

2

Introduction:

Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,

they shall mount up with wings like eagles,

they shall run and not be weary

they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40.31

What does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6.8

We meet in the presence of God.

We commit ourselves to work in penitence and faith for

reconciliation between the nations, that all people may, together,

live in freedom, justice and peace.

We pray for all who in bereavement, disability and pain continue to

suffer the consequences of fighting and terror.

We remember with thanksgiving and sorrow those whose lives,

in world wars and conflicts past and present, have been given and

taken away.

Let us pray

Ever-living God,

we remember those whom you have gathered from the storm of war into

the peace of your presence;

may that same peace calm our fears,

bring justice to all peoples

and establish harmony among the nations,

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

All Amen.

7

The act of commitment is made:

Let us pledge ourselves anew to the service of God

and our fellow men and women:

that we may help, encourage and comfort others,

and support those working for the relief of the needy

and for the peace and welfare of the nations.

All Lord God our Father,

we pledge ourselves to serve you and all humankind,

in the cause of peace,

for the relief of want and suffering,

and for the praise of your name.

Guide us by your Spirit;

give us wisdom;

give us courage;

give us hope;

and keep us faithful now and always.

Amen.

Hymn: O God, our help in ages past

O God, our help in ages past,

Our hope for years to come,

Our shelter from the stormy blast,

And our eternal home;

Under the shadow of thy throne

Thy saints have dwelt secure;

Sufficient is thine arm alone,

And our defence is sure.

Before the hills in order stood,

Or earth received her frame,

From everlasting thou art God,

To endless years the same.

6

We pray for the wounded and the captive,

the grieving and the homeless,

that in all their trials they may know your love and support.

Lord, in your mercy

hear our prayer.

Most holy God and Father,

hear our prayers for all who strive for peace

and all who fight for justice.

Help us, who today remember the cost of war,

to work for a better tomorrow;

and, as we commend to you lives lost in terror and conflict,

bring us all, in the end, to the peace of your presence;

through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

A Prayer for the Armed Services

Almighty God,

stretch forth your mighty arm

to strengthen and protect the armed forces:

grant that meeting danger with courage

and all occasions with discipline and loyalty,

they may truly serve the cause of justice and peace;

to the honour of your holy name,

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

All Amen.

We gather our prayers in the words Jesus gave us to say when we

pray:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come;

thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread

and forgive us our trespasses

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil

For thine is the kingdom, the power,

and the glory for ever and ever.

Amen 3

Hymn: Praise my soul the King of Heaven

Praise, my soul, the King of heaven;

To his feet thy tribute bring.

Ransomed. healed, restored, forgiven,

Who like me his praise should sing?

Praise him! Praise him!

Praise the everlasting King.

Praise him for his grace and favour

To our fathers in distress;

Praise him still the same for ever,

Slow to chide, and swift to bless.

Praise him! Praise him!

Glorious in his faithfulness.

Father-like, he tends and spares us;

Well our feeble frame he knows;

In his hands he gently bears us,

Rescues us from all our foes.

Praise him! Praise him!

Widely as his mercy flows.

Angels, help us to adore him;

Ye behold him face to face;

Sun and moon, bow down before him;

Dwellers all in time and space.

Praise him! Praise him!

Praise with us the God of grace.

An Act of Penitence

Let us confess to God the sins and shortcomings of the world;

its pride, its selfishness, its greed;

its evil divisions and hatreds.

Let us confess our share in what is wrong,

and our failure to seek and establish that peace

which God wills for his children.

After a short silence, all say

4

Most merciful God,

Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

we confess that we have sinned

in thought, word and deed.

We have not loved you with our whole heart.

We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves.

In your mercy forgive what we have been,

help us to amend what we are,

and direct what we shall be;

that we may do justly, love mercy,

and walk humbly with you, our God.

Amen.

Almighty God, who forgives all who truly repent,

have mercy upon you,

pardon and deliver you from all your sins,

confirm and strengthen you in all goodness,

and keep you in life eternal;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

A Reading from the New Testament

We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are

called according to his purpose.

What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He

who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with

him also give us everything else?

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or

persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all day long;

we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more

than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death,

nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,

nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us

from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 828,31-32, 35-29

5

Exhortation:

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old.

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

we will remember them.

All: We will remember them.

The Laying of Wreaths

The Last Post

The Two Minutes Silence

The Reveille

Kohima Epitaph:

When you go home tell them of us and say

for your tomorrow we gave our today.

Prayers:

In peace let us pray to the Lord.

We pray for the leaders of the nations,

that you will guide them in the ways of freedom, justice and truth.

Lord, in your mercy

hear our prayer.

We pray for those who bear arms on behalf of the nation,

that we may have discipline and discernment,

courage and compassion.

Lord, in your mercy

hear our prayer.

We pray for our enemies, and those who wish us harm,

that you will turn the hearts of all to kindness and friendship.

Lord, in your mercy

hear our prayer.