A POPULAR local vicar benefitted from a delightful leaving do at St Matthew’s Church in Marstow last Saturday.

The Rev’d Ben Bentham has retired allowing his many friends and parishioners who organised the event in his honour to wish him well in the future as he was responsible for the Borders Group of Parishes.

Representatives from the various churches attended on the hottest day of the year, which includes Goodrich (with Welsh Bicknor), Llangarron, Llangrove, Welsh Newton (with Llanrothal) and Marstow.

Rev’d Ben said many vicars joked that when you move to a new parish you have six months when you can’t do anything wrong, six months when you can’t do anything right, and after that you simply can’t do anything.

But he said he had been very lucky and even after eight years he was still enjoying that honeymoon period. But Rev’d Ben, who have been married to school teacher wife Lisa for 31 years and have twin 23 year old boys, Jonathan and David, wasn’t just the local vicar he has a role as a Foundation Governor to the Goodrich Primary School Before entering the ministry in 1996 he was a secondary school Religious Studies teacher in Worcestershire.

And as a clergyman he worked in the parish ministry in this country and abroad culminating in being a school chaplain in Surrey and at Co Durham.

Rev’d Ben said: “It’s a particular privilege to be able to be able to contribute the Goodrich School both as a governor and as the local vicar. I take a strong interest in how church and culture meet,” he said.

Ben will be moving to Cleethorpes for his retirement. In the period before the arrival of a successor the Rural Dean, Sheila Anthony, and the church wardens will take on responsibility for maintaining services, pastoral care and making sure that parish properly is maintained.