A FARRAGO

In early May a ‘Looking Back’ photograph appeared in the Lancashire Post showing Colin Maudsley and his brother when they had attended a reunion event, some years ago, at Fulwood & Cadley School. Many of you will be familiar with this building which has stood at the corner of Cadley Causeway since 1938.

We all know that Colin is a special person but in this case he was more than special. Not only did he attend F & C from the day it opened but previously had attended the former Cadley School which stood on Victoria Road.

You may be less familiar with the whereabouts of this one. However, the next time you’re passing Christ Church’s parish hall on Victoria Road, cast your eyes upwards and you may see the stone which tells you just that.

This summer Rev. Sue Creighton of Central Methodist Church will be returning to home pastures when she takes charge of Loughton and Trinity Debden churches in the Forest Circuit, Essex. We wish her well. Rev. Barbara Pettit will be the replacement at Central.

In 12 months’ time our Circuit Superintendent Minister, Mark Slaney, will be gearing himself up to take charge of the Shetland Circuit. Haroldswick Methodist Church, Unst, is the most northerly church building in the UK and he’ll be nearer to Oslo than London up there! We wish Mark and his family well.

By the time you read this Lancashire is scheduled to have its first female bishop when Rev. Dr. Jill Duff is consecrated Bishop of Lancaster at York Minster on 29th June.

The Lake District National Park is expected to make a decision later this year on the proposal to develop Keswick’s disused pencil factory into the base for the annual Keswick Convention. The plan would be to contain the Convention to a single site within the town. The site has been derelict since Derwent Pencils relocated to Workington in 2008.

Other folks’ church magazines, newsletters and weekly sheets have arrived from the following:- Central Methodist Church, Preston; Chester & Delamere Forest Methodist Circuit; Chester Diocesan News; Christ Church, Fulwood; Fulwood URC; Knowle Green Congregational Church, near Clitheroe; Leominster Baptist Church; St Catherine’s, Crook near Kendal; Oakworth Methodist Church; St Andrew’s & St Peter’s, South Shoebury, Essex; St Leonard’s, Penwortham; St Mary’s, Redlynch & St Birinus’, Morgans Vale, Salisbury; St Peter’s, Chester; Trinity Methodist Church, Ellesmere Port; St Paul’s, Warton; Upton URC, Chester; Wesley Methodist Church Centre, Chester; Willaston Methodist Church, Wirral; Salisbury and Wirral Methodist Circuit Plans and a copy of the quarterly Blackburn Diocese Mothers’ Union News.

We also had many from France, including the Fontainbleu area, Laon, Vichy, Châtillon-sur-Seine and the Ardèche region, courtesy of John Butterworth. We thank all who’ve taken the trouble to bring these in and particularly Mr & Mrs Hackett, who bring them by the bagful!

We also regularly receive a copy of the magazine from our twinned church, Evangelisch-methodistische Kirche in Recklinghausen, Germany.

It can be surprising the things one learns from these magazines. Earlier in the year it was interesting to learn that Over Wyresdale Parish Church had given new meaning to an ancient custom: a ‘Blessing of the Tractors’ rather than a ‘Plough Sunday’ service! Meanwhile, a report in another informed us that, "Over the millions of years the glaziers came and went!" (Oh! Those British workmen!!) One assumes glaziers was meant to be glaciers! And believe it or not, one church hall is regularly booked by the Lover Ladies. The mind boggles!!