City's longest-serving vicar says emotional farewell after 31 years

HULL'S longest serving vicar has bid an emotional farewell to his parishioners after a 31-year ministry at a West Hull church.

And for once it was the Rev Allen Bagshawe, 65, who was on the receiving end of a sermon when the Venerable Zichri Smith, Archdeacon of Hull's twin city of Freetown, Sierra Leone, led a special Thanksgiving service at St Matthew's Church, Boulevard, yesterday.

Mr Bagshawe – who arrived at St Matthew's on the day Margaret Thatcher became Britain's first female Prime Minister – will not be severing all ties with his flock, however, and will remain as chaplain for Hull City AFC, the Yorkshire section of the Showmen's Guild of Great Britain, and lead chaplain for the Air Cadet force in the North of England, while also working to develop further links with Freetown.

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The Sheffield-born vicar said he had developed a deep affinity for Hull and its people over the last three decades, particularly the former fishing community of Hessle Road.

He said: "Letting go now is quite emotional. You get very attached to things but it's the right time to go.

"People and things do change but some things still come through. What I've discovered, my patch covers part of Hessle Road, is that there's a very special quality of being Hessle Road. There's something clearly different.

He added: "Of all the emotions grief is the strongest and deep down the most forming of character and that's what made Hessle Road very special.

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"Every time a trawler went down it wasn't someone having an accident, it was a whole community in mourning.

"When I first came the tight terraces were still down there and it was a privilege to know them. They might be spread around the city now but there's something that always draws them back."

Mr Bagshawe said he was already a football fan when he arrived in the city, but soon shared his community's passion for Rugby League.

He said: "I knocked on the door of Boulevard (Hull FC's former home) to find out what my parishioners were doing and got hooked."

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He became chaplain to Hull FC, a role he performed for 20 years, and found a wider demand for his services.

He was appointed the lead chaplain for Rugby League, a post he still holds, and helped to establish chaplaincies at most Super League clubs.

His extensive work in sport led the Diocese of York to appoint him as sport and recreation chaplain for the East Riding Archdeaconry.

He organised the chaplaincy for the Rugby League World Cup in 2000 also served as a lead Chaplain for the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

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Away from sport, in 1979 he was appointed chaplain to Hull Fair, which is held each year in his parish. This in turn led to him being appointed chaplain to the Yorkshire Section of the Showmen's Guild.

Mr Bagshawe has been Area Dean for West Hull for the last 10 years, a role he now relinquishes on his retirement. He has also at various times been chairman of the Church Mission Society for Hull, Yorkshire and the North.

Mr Bagshawe has a long-held interest in overseas ministries and in the late 1980s spent a two-month sabbatical with the Anglican Diocese of Central Tanganyika in Tanzania.

He has visited Freetown on three occasions and in May led a party of nine from local churches.

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One of his hopes for retirement is to see an increase in the number of local parishes with a link parish in Freetown. But it is closer to home where his presence will be most greatly missed.

He will, however, continue to support the church alongside his other work and will still lead funeral services.

He said: "I've done over 1,900 funerals and that's an awful lot of tears but I think it's a privilege and something I will continue doing.

"I hope having more time will allow me to do the things I am doing a bit better."

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APPOINTMENT THAT BEGAN WITH THATCHER OUTLASTED FOUR PRIME MINISTERS IN ALL

The Rev Allen Bagshawe became vicar of St Matthews on May 4, 1979, the day Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister.

His ministry also outlived the premierships of her successors John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

Also in 1979, the USSR invaded Afghanistan, beginning a 10-year war, Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia was overthrown, Iran became and Islamic Republic and Britain agreed to give independence to Rhodesia, which was renamed Zimbabwe.

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The IRA assassinated Earl Mountbatten and the INLA claimed responsibility for killing of Airey Neave.

Devolution referendums for Scotland and Wales resulted in a "No" vote in both countries.

Hit songs of the year included YMCA by the Village People, Message In A Bottle by The Police, and I Don't Like Mondays by The Boomtown Rats.

The average house price in the UK in 1979 was 19,900, a pint of milk cost 15p and beer cost 34p a pint.

In the 1979/80 season, Hull City finished 20th in Division Three, and Hull FC won all of their 26 Division Two matches in 1979 under new coach Arthur Bunting.