History

Recollections of a few parishioners on the occasion of the 
Church's Silver Jubilee: 1957-1982 
Compiled by Edgar Barker

Our story starts in 1942 during the War. Glenfield was part of St Peter’s parish in Leamington Street, which included the western part of Leicester, Glenfield-Groby- Markfield and Ratby a huge area, served by three Priests – Father Farmer (Parish Priest), assisted by Father Douglas Key, who was later made Bishop Ellis’ secretary, Father Michael Cryan. Glenfield was surrounded by green fields, farms, the Leicester City Golf Links and Western Park. There were no roads suitable for cars or buses and the main access to Leicester and St Peter’s church was by dirt track across the fields and alongside Western Park. To attend Mass one had to walk or ride a bicycle. New Parks Estate had not yet been started.

In 1942 Father Farmer decided to try to establish a mission in Glenfield. A wooden bungalow in Liberty Road was used for Mass on Sundays at 8 am. The assistant priests from St Peters would take it in turn to offer Mass at 7 am at St Catherine’s Convent cycling along Glenfield Road and then over the field path to Glenfield for 8 am – then on to Kirby Muxloe for 9 am. When the weather was bad the poor curate had a miserable morning! Sadly, the mission was very poorly supported, and after about twelve months was discontinued.

In 1945, New Parks was beginning to develop into a large estate and provision had to be made for Catholics coming into the area. About this time Father Farmer was succeded by Canon Michael Gilleran.
Another mission was started in 1947 by St Peter’s this time at the le White House on Stephenson Drive. This was much better supported and continued for several years. Transport was still a problem, but roads were rapidly being built (in the large part by German prisoners of war), but still for Glenfield and New Parks people the only way get to Mass either at St Peter’s, The Blessed Sacrament orto St. Catherine’s was by walking or cyling and for small families it was indeed difficult. However developments were in hand. At St Peter’s we had a human dynamo in Canon Gilleran urged on by an equally forward looking Bishop Ellis – and in the early 50’s a bold decision was made to build a brand new church at New Parks. Building was started in 1955 and the foundation stone was laid on the 14th June 1956, and the opening Mass celebrated by Canon Gilleran, assisted by Father Feeley and Father Ford on 11th October 1957. This was a wonderful act of faith by the parishioners who had undertaken to support the church and its services for an indefinite period and also be responsible for the (in those days) huge debt of about £40,000. About this time a start was made in fund raising and an extremely successful gala was held in the church grounds, which continued all day and into the evening, with various stalls, a roast pig and barbeque, balloon races, tug of war etc.etc, and a dance in a marquee in the evening. This was organised by St Peter’s, with Father Ford and a large band of helpers from our newly born congregation – supported wholeheartedly by the congregations of St Peters and the Blessed Sacrament and many other parishes.

Our first parish priest was Father Timothy Shanahan(1959 to 1964) who was to have a very uphill struggle – no house to live in – no parish established – no funds available – no parish records. However St Peter’s and the Convent came to his aid and housed and fed him for a time until he was able to purchase a temporary house at 51 Hilders Road, and St Peters also carried out the church building fund. His offertory collections amounted to about £25 per week to house and feed him and his housekeeper – run his car – heat the church etc. etc. and all the expenses of running a parish. He introduced a planned giving campaign in addition to his offertory collection and enrolled about 20 helpers to collect the envelopes from groups of houses each week. He ran all manner of fund raising schemes – Spring/Summer/Christmas fares – dances at the Corn Exchange and St Patricks Club – raffles – prize draws etc. He established an SVP Conference and a UCM. During his stay in the parish he celaborated his Silver Jubilee and the parish- ioners gave him a party at the New Parks Community Centre – to his great delight and surprise.

Canon (now Monsignor) Bernard Allen was our next priest (1964 – 1971) and we soon discovered that we had a “go-getter”. A very quiet spoken man who had the knack of sorting out problems and taking action. A real “whizz kid” where fund raising and management were concerned. Within a week of arriving he had installed a public address system because (quote) “If I don’t have such a system none of you will hear a word of what I am saying from the sanctuary”. He took over the church building debt from St Peters – built a house in the church grounds – built the church hall – installed the church notice board – installed the electric organ – changed the boiler system from coal to oil fired – rebuilt the sanctuary to have the alter facing the cong- regation. All the above cost money so he instituted “bingo” in the hall to run twice a week – instituted the “tote”, both of which proved a great success, and the resulting income was far more than the offertory collections, but he quietly and persistantly prodded us to increase these. He introduced the Covenant Scheme.His money raising and management flair was so successful that he cleared all the debts outstanding on the church, the house, the hall etc., and when he left we had a clean slate!
During his stay with us, two Papal medals were awarded for outstanding service to the parish and, most unusual for this award, they were awarded to a man and wife team (Mr & Mrs Haw). He also had an unusual hobby – he loved to “fish” around all over the world on his shortwave radio, but could not always get good reception. He enlisted the help of another enthusiast from the parish and installed a special aerial – the stubs are still in place in the house chimney. He seldom used his car and walked everywhere on his calls around the parish – economy and thrift were his watchwords – ‘you see and learn more on two feet than you ever do on four wheels” Canon Allen was also the Diocesan Finance Director, operating from the Cathedral at Nottingham almost every week. We were all very sad when the time came for him to leave, but his special skills were needed elsewhere.

Our next parish priest was the co-adjutor Bishop of Nottingham – James J. McGuinness (1971-1974) with Father James Cahill as his assistant. This wonderful priest quickly endeared himself to everyone. Regretably we did not see as much of him as we would have liked as he had to spend quite a lot of his time at the Cathedral preparing for the time when he would be required to take over the mantle of Bishop. However during that time quite a few outstanding things happened. Our own church, being now free of debt, was consecrated on the 21st November 1975 – what a wonderful occasion that was. The whole church inside and outside was redecorated. The Altar Crucifix was purchased and installed. On the death of Bishop Ellis, he was obliged to leave us to take up his new duties, but he will never be forgotten by the people of his parish. When he comes back on special occasions, a great welcome always awaits him. Father Cahill was recalled afterwards, and a new parish priest was appointed.

Father (now Canon) Bernard Needham (1974-1977), assisted by Deacon (later Father) Stephen Foster. Two bright and energetic young men of happy disposition who made quite an impression on the parish. Almost in his first week Father Needham locked himself out of the house and in his own words “people at the bus stop opposite must have thought they were seeing things, when a priest suddenly appeared with a ladder, clambered up on top of the garage and proceeded to break into his own house through the landing window”. A number of unusual and important changes took place whilst Father Needham was here: Father Foster completed his studies and was ordained here on 24th April 1976 by Bishop McGuiness, a very rare occurrence and a ceremony that of us had never seen or taken part in, a most memorable and moving occasion. On a pilgrimage to Rome, Father Needham was on the look out for a statue of our Lady. He was succesful and bought the one which is installed over the front entrance. This is modelled on the statue of Our Lady of Betharram in the church of The Sacred Heart Fathers, near Lourdes. In the process he had the words ‘Mother of God – Pray for us’ carved in the stonework underneath it. Whilst the plinth was being built into the wall, it was found that the frame holding the large stained glass window above had become loose from the wall. It was quite a major operation to remove the whole window and refix it securely, but what a blessing it was discovered before any serious damage was done. This led to a further inspection of the building and several coping stones were found to be loose and were repointed. Father Needham was responsible for building the small porch over the side entrance to the church. He also put in hand the extension to the church hall and refenced the area round the hall. However the work had not been completed when he was suddenly recalled to take over as Rector at Tollerton Hall. Father Needham was replaced by our present parish priest, in February 1977: Father Francis McLaughlin. Father Foster was later recalled in November 1977.
The number of parishioners was still growing as New Parks Estate was now completly built up – housing estates had gone up in Glenfield, Groby and Ratby, and the population of the whole area had trebled since the church was built.
In spite of the workload and the recalling of Father Foster, Fr. McLaughlin completed the building of the hall extension, furnished the conference room with new tables and chairs and a piano, and it was officially opened by Bishop McGuiness on 27th June 1977. He also installed a statue of Our Lady and St. Joseph in the recesses on either side of the sanctuary; arranged a very successful mission week by the Redemptorist Fathers in October 1978 – a heartwarming experience for all of us. The outside of the hall, church and house have all been redecorated. The original PA system in the church has been taken out and completely renewed with very beneficial audio results. All the bench Kneelers have been taken out and repadded. Diocesan long service medals and citations were rewarded by Bishop McGuinness in 1980 to two of our parishioners – Messrs. J. Carter and E. Barker. Fr.David O’Mally, son of Paddy & Frances, was ordained to the Priest- hood in the Salesian Missionary College, Shrigley, Macclesfield, and celebrated Mass on Sunday 29th June 1980 in the Mother of God Church. A beautiful reception was held for all the parishioners and guests in the parish centre. To assist Father McLaughlin in his ministry, three ministers of the Eucharist were appointed in February, 1981 and these have proved helpful, taking Holy Communion to the sick and housebound and assisting in the distribution of Holy Communion at Mass.
As these notes are being prepared the whole country is preparing for the visit of our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II.
E. Barker

Postscript:
To celebrate the Jubilee of the church, it was decided to start the New Year with a gala day for the parish. The Jubilee Committee arranged a very successful football match, ‘Dads versus Lads’, which took place in thick fog! A netball match was played in the hall, ‘Mums versus Lasses’, and that too proved that our mums are very fit! January, 1st is now the Feast Day of our church – The Solemnity of the Mother of God’ and Mass was offered at 6.00 p.m. The children had a very touching ‘Crib Service’ immediately before the Mass. Afterwards about three hundred people crowded into the parish centre for a beautiful buffet, organised by the parishioners – and it was free! The music lasted to midnight and old and young had a wonderful day, thanks to our Committee and many others.
The Parish suffered a severe set-back in early March. Our hall was broken into and set on fire. Thankfully, a passing motorist noticed smoke billowing out of the windows and raised the alarm. The Fire Brigade was quickly at the hall but the damage was extensive. The cost of repairs and redecoration, has amounted to twenty thousand pounds. We are grateful to our Diocesan Insurance Company who are looking after our claim and to the parishioners and friends who rally round to support our fund raising efforts. The inconvenience to the many who use the hall has been great, but all have accepted it with cheerfulness and understanding. To prepare us Spiritually for the visit of the Pope, Father Joe O’Hanlon and Father Ken O’Riordan led the Parish in a wee a week’s Renewal which was very helpful!
As we go to press, parishioners are preparing and looking forward to the visit of our Bishop, priests, guests and friends, and the Thanksgiving Mass on Monday 11th October 1982. The Mass will be celebrated at 7.00 p.m. This will be the twenty fifth anniversary of the opening Mass, celebrated in the church, on the 11th October 1957.