FORMER Treloar School and College Chaplain, Reverend Canon Ed Pruen, returned to the area this month from the West Country to become the new ‘Priest in Charge’ of the parishes of Bentworth, Lasham, Medstead and Shalden.

The official licensing service, conducted by the Bishop of Basingstoke, the Reverend Canon David Williams, took place in the evening of Tuesday, July 19, at St Mary’s Church in Bentworth.

Canon Pruen was based at Froyle as the Canon for Treloar School and College seven years ago, while his wife, Margaret, was a special needs school nurse, first at Whitedown School in Alton and then Hollywater in Bordon.

In a message to his new congregation, Canon Pruen said: “We are leaving Cornwall to be with you – a land of mist and rain – but we will be so much closer to our daughter Fiona in Brighton and our son Sean and his family in London. You may have heard that our grandson was born during the (job) interview... it felt like a new beginning.”

Canon Pruen added: “We are returning to live on the Pilgrim’s Way. It is a wonderfully symbolic path that we have long journeyed.

“You may know the words from the hymn: ‘Brother, sister let me serve you’. They seem like a fitting few lines as we join you: We are pilgrims on a journey; We’re companions on the road; We are here to help each other.”