John's Letter of Thanks

Farewell to John Bettley as he takes up his new appointment in Bristol.
Words and Pictures by Ken Amery

Over 100 parishioners were in the Vicarage garden on Sunday 4th September to bid a fond farewell to John Bettley and to wish him well in his new position as Director of Music at Bristol Choir School.

This was a very informal goodbye and the weather befitted the occasion with the sun shining brightly.

There was a short speech from George Repath who recounted his first meeting with John and how they had got on extremely well since that occasion. He thanked John for his outstanding contribution to the musical life of the St Michael’s. He presented John with a cheque from the parishioners; the choir had made their own collection, which had gone towards a meal at the Waterside Inn.

In reply John took the vicar to task. He had assumed that there would be some sort of speech required from him at this event, which he had started to write during the morning’s sermon, however the sermon had been unusually short which meant that he had not had time to finish it! In spite of this, the failure did not seem to hamper him too much! He thanked George the choir, both collectively and individually, and both the present and past choir masters for all the work that they had done during his past eleven years as organist.

After the speeches, many of the parishioners took the opportunity to individually wish John and his wife Judith all the best for the future.

John leaves St Michael’s with memories of a rich legacy of musicianship, with some very personal touches. Was that ‘Auld Lang Syne’ that kept popping up during the organ intro to the morning service?

John and Judith left, hopefully with many good memories of
St. Michael’s. They were off, straight to Bristol. At nine o’clock the following morning he was due to play the organ in Bristol Cathedral for the first time for morning assembly. A daunting prospect for most of us, but one, which we are sure, John will take in his stride.

An extract from a letter written by John Bettley on
5th September 2005:

Dear George,

May I once again thank you, the Parochial Church Council and the congregation for the very generous donation which you presented yesterday.

I was taken aback by the magnitude of the sum, and by the kindness of such a wide range of the congregation.

As you know, I will always remember your friendship and hospitality and in particular the occasion which you arranged after the Sunday Eucharist.....

Countless thanks to Vivian and yourself, and best wishes for your future enterprises.

John.