Bill Morris has sent in this memoire of a popular Littlebury vicar, Reverend Wright

 When I arrived in Saffron Walden in January 1940 I joined the choir at St. Mary’s church. To be more accurate I applied to join. I was then invited to a choir practice for a voice test and had to sing the scales and a verse of a psalm or hymn in front of the rest of the choir. The choir in those days consisted exclusively of men and boys but today is predominantly female. The organist and choirmaster was Dr Mahon who was a strict disciplinarian and perfectionist who loved playing Handel at full blast. We boys were paid a half-penny for practices, one penny for matins and evensong on Sundays (we are talking old money here). For weddings, usually on a Saturday afternoon, we received sixpence. I joined the choir at a very low level but progressed to second boy by the time my voice broke several years later. Roy Braybrooke was top boy and took all the solos with Cedric Brazier as his deputy. Much to my relief, and probably of that of the congregation, I was never required to sing solo in church.

The vicar at the time was Dr Leonard Hughes who seemed to the choirboys an old man, but he died in 1954 at the age of 84 so he wasn’t as old as we thought. He gave the most boring sermons I have ever heard and we passed the time playing noughts and crosses. He lived in the Vicarage, now the Rectory Surgery. It was customary for wedding photographs to be taken in the Vicarage gardens accessible through a gate, now bricked up, opposite the North door of the church.

In July 1940 a new curate was appointed in the form of Philip Wright. He was born in 1908 on a farm in Suffolk and spent his next few years living, going to school and working in the countryside. He left school at 14 in1922 and went to an agricultural college afterwards working on various farms.   He joined the Church Army and in 1933 had a call to the church and after training became a lay reader at St. Andrews, Whittlesford in 1936. After passing a General Ordination Examination he was ordained deacon in Liverpool Cathedral and he took his first curacy at St. Marys, Bootle in 1938.

He was very talented and like a breath of fresh air to the Parish of Saffron Walden, which comprised Sewards End and Little Walden; the latter small church being his own particular charge. His sermons were kept short and amusing and the choir boys actually listened to what he was saying. At a later appointment he displayed in his church a notice reading;

IMPORTANT

1. Visitors are never given the cold shoulder.

2. Services are never long.

3. Sermons are short and not read from a book.

4. The Church dates from the 13^th Century, is full of interest but is not a museum-some of us use it for worship.

5. You need God and God needs you.

Philip lived in the curate’s house in Museum Street, now a private house, and was joined by Rev. Humphreys, later to become vicar of Newport for many years. His stipend was £200 a year and in 1941 he was married in the parish church. He joined the National Fire Service and started a Company of The Church Lads Brigade. Soon it had over 70 boys with a drum and bugle band. Having very little musical talent I was put in charge of the big drum. With many service units stationed around the town the band was often required to lead the many Church Parades, which took place. He joined a flourishing Church Sports Club and the Amateur Dramatic Club, playing leading parts in their productions. He started a concert party, which performed in The Central Hall, then owned by The British Legion, now home to the Saffron School of Dance. The highlight of the show was Philip dressed in a farm workers smock, a battered hat, sucking a straw and reminiscent of Bernard Miles.

In his autobiography, he claims to have renamed the ‘Union,’ St. James Hospital, becoming the Chaplain. It is now a residential complex called The Spike. He formed a hand bellringing group and at Christmas we entertained the patients at St. James Hospital and The General Hospital, now Uttlesford District Council Offices. In 1942 he started The Young Farmers Club, one of the first in England.

In 1980 he wrote of his time in Saffron Walden in the 1940s: ‘What a lovely place is Saffron Walden; absolutely unspoiled and full of genuine charm and beauty’.

He volunteered for the Army in 1943, becoming a Chaplain in The Royal Artillery, serving in coastal batteries. After the war he was offered the parish of Littlebury where he stayed for ten years. During that time he was elected to Saffron Walden District Council and commanded the company of Army Cadets in Saffron Walden as well as helping to stage the Army Cadet Tattoo in Dunmow in 1948. He was Honorary Secretary to Saffron Walden Horse Show and when The Essex Show came to Audley End Park in 1949 he became their press secretary. In 1954 he was awarded the M.B.E .for services to the Army Cadet Force and was invited to Buckingham Palace Garden Parties on three occasions. That year he was offered the Benefice of St. Paul, Woodford Bridge where he helped form the National Traction Engine Club, later becoming President. He became a committee member of the London Carthorse Parade and the London Van Horse Parade which then combined to form the London Harness Parade, remaining as Vice Chairman for twenty years. After eleven years he was offered the Benefice of St. Michael’s, Roxwell where he continued with his various activities and where he completed twenty eight years in the Army Cadet Force and had attended twenty six annual camps. In 1976 he retired after a distinguished career.

When I retired in 1990 I worked in the Tourist Information Office as a volunteer. The TIC produces a Christmas card each year with a local connection. In about 1992 the manager asked if I had anything, which would form the basis for a card for that year. I found a Christmas card sent to me by Philip Wright in 1942. During the war there was a shortage of most things and it consisted of one sheet of card with a pen and ink drawing of St. Mary’s church on the front and a Christmas message on the back. We traced Mrs. Wright and asked for permission to reproduce it, which she gladly gave. Sadly, we learnt that Philip had died several years before. Subsequently, we produced an updated version of the card, which we launched in a window display. I loaned Philip’s autobiography, published in 1980 and then out of print, to help publicise the cards. The book created enormous interest and we were inundated with people, especially residents of Littlebury, wanting to buy it. Eventually, we had to put a label on it saying NOT FOR SALE. I am glad to say the Christmas card was a great success.