Dear Friends, Here we are March already and we can finally look forward to the coming of Spring. Let us hope that the wind and the rain that have caused so much havoc in various parts of the country are behind us for the time being at least. The bushfires in Australia have ended – […]
“Anything from the Trolley?” Thoughts for March from Graham Moss Thinking about my early years (about 100 ago!), I served as an altar boy at a church in Wigan and for me Lent was always the dreaded time when I felt I had no choice but to give up my beloved sweets. We were constantly […]
In early December I found myself preparing for our next holiday out in Spain, a journey I am getting quite used to organising whether by plane or ferry and car. This set me thinking about other journeys I have undertaken over the years. Family holidays were Blackpool by train and only when dad got […]
Candlemas Bells Snowdrops are one of my favourite flowers. I marvel when I spot those slender white shoots poking up through the cold hard earth – as early as December these days. The botanical name is galanthus nivalis, which means snowy milk white flower. But common names for them in folklore include Snow Piercer, Mary’s […]
First of all let me take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy and peaceful new year, and also I would like to say a huge thank you for all the good wishes and cards I have received from you all, as I celebrated my 70th birthday at the end of December. […]
Dear Friends We often complain that Christmas starts earlier and earlier every year. Christmas cards appear in the shops by September and as soon as Halloween and Bonfire night are out of the way, up go the Christmas trees and decorations in the shops and restaurants and we are serenaded by Christmas Carols […]
North, South, East or West? Thoughts for December from Shirley Rowlandson Ever since I was a little girl, I have been fascinated by those “faraway places with strange sounding names”; the opulent Orient, the colourful Caribbean, the mystical Middle and Far East, the majestic Mediterranean and the amazing Americas. With my husband and family, I […]
100 years on With Remembrance in mind, this article from the Parish Magazine of 1919 seems relevant….. Vicar’s Monthly Letter My dear friends, with the signing of peace and the return of all our sailors and soldiers from the great conflict, it is doubtless a great disappointment to many that we have not at once […]
Dear Friends, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” Luke 6. 27-28 The hymn “Make me a channel of your peace” is a favourite hymn for many. I am as fond of […]
At your wit’s end We’ve all been there at sometime in our lives. The moment when you feel in the depths of despair with no way out. Well here is the solution wonderfully explained by Antoinette Wilson. Are you standing at Wits’ End Corner, Christian with troubled brow? Are you thinking of what is before […]