September 26, 2016

Ault Hucknall, Derbyshire – St John the Baptist

We headed out on Sunday afternoon 11 September 2016 to do a couple of Heritage Open Days properties – and this is the afternoon of the guidebook. Our first church has two, one about the church, the other about every single house in the parish! St John the Baptist, Ault Hucknall, is on a minor road with few houses nearby but just a few miles from the M1 – SK467653. It is open on Summer Saturday afternoons and this weekend. The kettle was on! There are pictures of the church at this website. One of the other people there...
Categories Derbyshire Comments: 0
September 12, 2016

Chesterfield, Derbyshire – Holy Trinity

This weekend is Heritage Open Days, but Thursday and Friday were both too busy to get out. We started Saturday 10 September with a visit to the Allestree Autumn Fair, then went for a drive to Chesterfield. Holy Trinity church – SK383716 – has the grave of George Stephenson, so this was the obvious place to go (the church with the funny steeple will have to wait). The church has a website. As you can see, we parked right outside, and got a lovely welcome. They have a very comfy vestibule, the kettle was on and the cakes were...
Categories Derbyshire/Railway History/World War 1 Comments: 0
September 8, 2016

Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway – St Michael

On Wednesday 31 August I had a look at St Michael’s parish church in Dumfries – grid reference NX 975756. They have a website with this wonderful address – it is still advertising 2015 Christmas. The church was open and I got a good welcome – thanks for the guided tour, much appreciated. They have united three congregations in the one building – I wonder how that has worked. There is evidence suggesting that Ninian (circa 390 AD) stopped here en route to Whithorn – at least he didn’t have a wife who got no further than the Book...
Categories Scotland/World War 1 Comment: 1
September 7, 2016

Ruthwell and its Cross – Dumfries & Galloway

Ruthwell Church is just north of the village – NY101682. What the OS map does not tell you, even with its “Selected places of tourist interest”, is that it contains the Ruthwell Cross. We parked and I entered the church. Other visitors gave me the key (if the church is locked the key lives outside the Manse). Having seen the cross I got Julie to come and see it too. The guidebook on sale is a book about the Cross by the Reverend John L. Dinwiddie. He was minister of the parish for 45 years from 1890 – apparently...
Categories Scotland Comments: 4
September 4, 2016

Eastriggs, Gretna and Quintinshill, Dumfries and Galloway

A week’s holiday near Dumfries – lovely Sykes Cottage. I won’t blog the whole holiday, but there’s a couple of churches to come. I will blog a museum, a Church Hall, and a railway accident – a day exploring on Monday 29 August 2016. The Devil’s Porridge Museum at Eastriggs remembers all those who worked in the WW1 ammunition factories that stretched across from here, through Gretna, to Longtown – a distance of about 9 miles. We knew quite a lot about them from the play Timbertown Girls which we saw in Carlisle last summer – see my blog. The...
Categories Railway History/Scotland/World War 1 Comments: 0
August 24, 2016

Alsop en le Dale, Derbyshire – St Michael

Wednesday 24 August was a beautiful day. After a morning service we drove to Ashbourne and parked in the centre. It is not the most Julie-wheelchair-friendly town, but Costa is accessible and there is a very good Oxfam bookshop. Those of you who know my wife will know that was expensive. Then we drove north and went to Alsop en le Dale – I last looked down on this village from my balloon. St Michael’s church is at SK160551, park of the Peak Five group. The house opposite is quite special too. A welcoming notice telling me the church is open, and...
Categories Derbyshire/Railway History Comments: 0
August 22, 2016

Tissington, Derbyshire – St Mary

When I left Ponteland, the lovely staff of Richard Coates School gave me a balloon flight as a leaving present – jokes about Vicars and Hot Air. I flew from Tissington on Monday 15 August with Virgin balloons – website. I had to be there at 6 am, so parked by the Hall and Church, and walked up to the launch field. Being one of the first there, Graham the pilot, Chris his sidekick, and me got the hot air blowing into the balloon, and I hung on to various ropes and did what I was told. 16 of us...
Categories Derbyshire/Personal Comments: 0
August 21, 2016

Glasgow – St Andrew’s Catholic Cathedral

There was a cheap deal on Virgin Trains, and a day return from Crewe to Glasgow for £14 is not to be sniffed at. On time into Glasgow, and time for a walk. I had never been down to the Clyde, so walked down the side of the station to the river. It is not the most beautiful river, but there is a bridge leaflet here. The piers are those of the first Caledonian Railway Bridge, built in 1878 and demolished in 1966. The current railway bridge is the 1905 Caledonian Railway Company’s ‘New Clyde Viaduct’. Before opening it was load tested...
Categories Railway History/Scotland/World War 1 Comments: 0
August 19, 2016

Lincoln, Lincolnshire – St Benedict

St Benedict’s church is the Mothers’ Union church in the centre of Lincoln – SK974711. It is run by the Lincoln Mothers’ Union, and they have a website, but it doesn’t tell me when the church is open. On Wednesday 10 August we had had lunch in the nice Italian – Bar Unico – across the road, then Julie went shopping and I explored with my camera. They had a welcoming poster outside, and rather lovely flowers inside. The church is just a bit of a church. There was a probably a Saxon church on the site, but the...
Categories Cathedrals/Lincolnshire/World War 1 Comments: 0
August 14, 2016

Belper, Derbyshire – Christ Church

Belper is a town we regularly visit – a manageable branch of Morrisons. On Monday 8 August we went to explore the town. The main road is not the easiest to wheel along, so I left Julie in Belper library while I went to visit the church. An excellent library – we must not loose them. They have some excellent reading lists, but I can’t find them on line – libraries website. Something to think about at the library door. Christ Church, Belper, is at the high end of the Church of England. One recent priest is now a Greek Orthodox...
Categories Derbyshire/World War 1 Comments: 0