A FARRAGO

Thinking of visiting Oxford? Try the John & Charles Wesley Tour: this is just one of the many tours you can book at the Tourist Information Centre on Broad Street.

Rev. Philip Clarke, son of Allan & Joyce, has moved into the Lancashire District – to Burnley, as a Superintendent Minister - from his previous appointment at Darlington.

Sincere thanks to the many providers of other folks’ church magazines/ newsheets from far and wide: I suppose that, on this occasion, pride of place must go to that of the cathedral church of St. Jakob, Innsbruck. However, we’ve been delighted to receive (from closer to home) those from Broughton St. John; Christ Church, Fulwood; Church Road (St. Annes) Methodist; Fulwood Free Methodist; Fulwood URC; Central Methodist, Preston; Leyland Methodist and Longton & New Longton Methodist. From a little further afield: St. Andrew’s, Skipton - Methodist/URC, the United Parish of Scorton, Barnacre & Calder Vale, Warton St. Paul’s and from Thornleigh, Grange-over-Sands (Highways Trust); from much further afield: Ludlow St. Laurence, Southborough Methodist (Tunbridge Wells Circuit), Chichester Cathedral and Winchester Cathedral.

Dates for your 2011 diary: from 15^th - 18^th April the Vice President of the Methodist Conference will be making an official visit to our (Lancashire) District; the weekend of 27^th - 30^th June will see the Cliff College Festival, and from 30^th June - 7^th July the Methodist Conference will be held at Southport.

Now here’s a challenge to our hikers and bikers: on 11^th September a spectacular new coast to coast route was officially opened – The Way of the Roses - covering 170 miles (274 km) between Morecambe Bay and Bridlington. It’s described as ‘a new leisure route for cyclists and walkers’ and takes in some grand scenery along the way. Further details at www.sustrans.org.uk

The printed menus at our Oberammergau group’s hotel provided several glorious examples of ‘lost in the translation’, which left some people scratching their heads and wondering what exactly was meant by the white wine produced "by the liberal husbandmen of the Walchau, a peppery Veltliner is to be like him." As if that wasn’t sufficiently confusing, the digestif on offer was a "Domestic Heating Obstler". The list of main courses included shepherd noodles, boiled ox mead and prok in several forms: loin of prok, escalope of prok and prok fried in whole. To round it all off one could have had ice cream and apricot roaster. Hmmm!