News

Jean Whitehead (19 Aug 1931- 3 Jul 2025)

7/8/2025

This lovely display of dahlias adorned the chapel today for the funeral of Jean Whitehead. She was our longest standing member of the Chapel and will be greatly missed by all.
Jean was evacuated to Nether Whitacre and married Bert a local chap. They had two boys who attended the village school. Jean served in the Post Office for many years and loved dancing and singing. Over a hundred came to say farewell all wearing bright colours following Jeans wishes.
Jean was always ready to sing the hymns with a bit of go in them and was quick to be dancing away as she enjoyed these songs. A friendly comment and a delight in meeting others particularly the younger members of the church was typical of Jean.

Ellen Taylor née Dryden

31/7/2022

Ellen Dryden, the eldest daughter of Mr & Mrs. R. Dryden and sister of Sue Wagg, died Wednesday July 27th.
She attended Nether Whitacre school and then King Edwards before going to Oxford university. After gaining her degree, she went on to acting and won a scholarship for writing. Many of her plays were performed in London and at Birmingham Reparatory theatre. "Harvest" was one that was set in a village chapel and was obviously Nether Whitacre chapel where she had been brought up. Other plays were recorded for the radio.
She married Don Taylor, who died in 2003, and they had two children, Jonathon and Lucy.
We send our condolences to all the family.

Rev Derek Shaw

23/10/2020

Derek enjoying a harvest quiz

Sadly the Rev. Derek Shaw died on Wednesday night October 21st, in the Marie Curie hospice at Solihull.
Those who knew him will not forget easily his gentle concern for others. His funeral on the 13th November had a number of the chapel who were able to attend and celebrate his wonderful contribution to our chapel lives.

Derek was born and brought up in Zimbabwe together with his three brothers. He came to London to train for the ministry and met his future wife Mollie there. They married and had a son Geoffrey but later moved to Kenya. Here their daughter Jessica was born.
When they returned to the UK Derek held several posts around the Reading area before he retired and they moved to Birmingham to be nearer Jessica. In 2009 Derek volunteered to be the minister of Nether Whitacre for one year and ended up staying for three! We have never had a minister solely responsible for our church and will probably never again experience such luxury. Throughout his time with us Derek was not paid nor claimed any expenses. He asked for gift aid envelopes and regularly put his collection in our plate each Sunday. When he retired again in 2012 he continued to lead some of our monthly Bible Studies, attend our quizzes and all fund raising events. He has taken the Christmas candlelit services for the last 10 years and will be sorely missed. Truly he practised what he preached and his quiet but strong leadership inspired us all. We sent £200 to the Marie Curie hospice in Derek’s memory.

Memorial hymn books dedicated

19/1/2020

Fifteen new "Singing the Faith" hymn books were dedicated this morning as part of the service by Farai. These have been donated by family in the memory of Mavis Coggins (1922-2019), who was a member of our chapel for over sixty years.

Mavis Coggins

26/11/2019

Mavis Coggins 1922 - 2019

It is with deep regret that we record the passing of our longest serving member, Mrs Mavis Coggins.
She was born Mavis Webb at Kingsbury in August 1922 and had a twin brother Maurice.
When she was 21 she married Jack Coggins ,a miner ,at Kingsbury Methodist Church in August 1943. Jack had to get his Father’s permission to marry as he was not 21 until the September. They lived with Jack’s family in Dosthill for their first year together and in 1944 moved to Station Road Whitacre. Using their tandem they continued to attend Kingsbury Methodist Church until the birth of their children Valerie and then Vincent. Finally they crossed over the road to worship here. The minister at that time was Rev.Hodges and the organist Harry Hill. There were over twenty members and Mr & Mrs Dryden ran a flourishing afternoon Sunday school, supported by Mr.Shaw. Every year there were anniversary celebrations when the children sang and were presented with attendance certificates. Annual outings were organised. The other main activity at the chapel was the Women’s Social Hour, which Mavis joined of course.
She became a dinner lady at Nether Whitacre school and when her children were bigger, went to work at Woolworths in Birmingham. She cycled to Nether Whitacre station and when it closed used Water Orton until 1982 when she retired. That gave her a year with Jack because he died in 1983.
She has worked tirelessly for our chapel in many capacities and told me she particularly relished the many friendships she had made and the hymn singing at services. One of her favourite hymns was "O Jesus I have promised to serve Thee to the end." This she most certainly did!
We shall miss her so much.

Rob Sheward 1940 - 2016

14/10/2016

Today was the funeral, at Coleshill, of our resident drummer Rob Sheward. Always found at the front of the church when we have had special services playing his drum kit. What many did not know is that Rob once supported the Beatles in a support band. His contribution to these services is now only a memory and he will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with Pauline and all the family.
In case you missed Rob here is a poignant reminder of the joy he brought to our services taken in November 2014.

Betty Gibbs 1931- 2016

20/5/2016

Betty was such a fun loving person. When her kids were small she was a full time Mom who has always had a busy social life. She loved celebrations such as bonfire night when family, friends and neighbours when she could often be found in the kitchen cooking an amazing amount of food for everyone to enjoy. Betty loved having a full house.
Betty was involved in everything. She loved to sing, dance and act. For many years she could be heard singing at church and was involved in acting in local plays at the working mans club in the village. When not rehearsing she would be helping with costumes using her old hand wound sewing machine which saw a lot of use over the years.
Betty was so well known in the village that her children found they could not get away with anything as she would always find out. Latterly her beloved red mk1 ford fiesta car announced her progress around the area as she travelled to her many activities.
As an older Mom she became more active with the WI. She loved going to the meetings and would often host at home too. She helped out with anything they did; shows, jumble sales parties. She loved to play whilst too and had her own club for many years too.
Betty loved to be around people and she will be missed by all who knew her in the village and in the church.

Don Brown 1923 - 2015

28/10/2015

Today Methodist church was privileged to host the funeral of Don Brown.
Don always attended the monthly coffee mornings (see our October coffee morning post with a lovely picture of him) and was due to talk at this year's Remembrance service. The church was full of his family, colleagues and admirers. He was a well known and respected figure in the village. From 1954-1990, together with his wife, Alice, he served as Publican in the Swan Inn. He enjoyed looking after the donkeys there and was a proficient carriage driver himself, taking part in local shows. A member of the caterpillar club, he was very proud of his war record and had many amusing tales to tell of his days as a prisoner of war.
The choir sang Stuart Townsend's the Lord' s my Shepherd, one of Don's favourite hymns and the wake after cremation was held at Langley Cottage in Cottage Lane, where Don could often be found drinking with John and Carol Morgan.
The collection was for the RAF Benevolent Fund and already has nearly reached £500.
We send our condolences to his son Gordon, his wife, and the rest of the family. Don will be missed by so many people.

Bernard Wheeler 1942 - 2012

10/8/2012

Bernard Wheeler’s funeral was held on Friday August 10th in the Chapel he had attended until his very recent move. Family and friends filled the church and paid tribute to him. Born and bred in Whitacre, he was a faithful member of the Church for many years and we shall miss him greatly. After a service of thanksgiving for his life, at the Methodist Church, led by Rev. Derek Shaw, he was buried at St Giles. A collection was made for Walsgrave Hospital, where Bernard was cared for during the last 2 weeks of his life. We continue to remember Christina, Deborah, Darren, Laura, Jake, Heidi and Steve in our prayers.

Bernard Wheeler was born in Whitacre on February 25th 1942. He lived with his 3 brothers and 1 sister at Glenroy Cottage, Ridley Lane. Later the family moved to Coton Road.

After attending Nether Whitacre School he moved to Kingsbury Secondary. At weekends and evenings he worked at Jarman’s Farm cleaning out the cattle sheds but when he left school he went to work for the local builder Whiteheads. When they finished Bernard went to work at Lea Marston Leisure Centre, and was in the kitchen there for 11 years before he became too ill to work. He had many health problems and was in a wheel chair for the last years, but never complained.

He met his wife Christina through a penpal organisation. When they met they immediately “clicked,”as Chris says and were soon married. They had nearly 47 years together and had 2 daughters Deborah and Heidi. They enjoyed cycling and were familiar figures on their tandem, travelling miles, often with Deborah behind them. After their wedding they moved to the opposite side of Coton Road and were there until earlier this year.

Bernard attended Sunday school at the Methodist Church and all the important dates in his life were celebrated there. Although he and Chris had moved to Kingsbury, they remained members at Whitacre and will be sorely missed by us. His faithful support and gentle humour cannot be replicated.