Minister's Message
On September 3rd 1966 a special excursion train ran from Glasgow to Aberdeen to mark the withdrawal of one of the most famous classes of steam locomotive, Sir Nigel Gresley’s “A4 Pacifics”. Thirty years earlier an engine of this class named “Mallard” achieved the speed record for steam traction which has never officially been beaten.
Read more “Minister’s Message – October 30, 2022”
Minister's Message
I’m sure that we’ve all seen the film of “The Snowman”, based on the book by Raymond Briggs who died earlier this year. This enchanting film first appeared on Christmas Eve 1982 and has been shown every year since, which means that it’s now delighting the grandchildren of the original viewers. It’s famous not only for its magical artwork but also for its music by Howard Blake – this includes the song “Walking in the Air” which, contrary to popular belief, wasn’t sung by Aled Jones but a chorister from St Paul’s Cathedral called Peter Auty: Jones’ record came out in 1985 and made him a star, while Auty wasn’t even mentioned in the film’s credits until it was remastered 20 years later.
Read more “Minister’s Message – October 16, 2022”
Minister's Message
It strikes me (and I may be wrong) that our society has witnessed a loss of faith over the last years and decades. For instance, many people no longer trust mainstream news media such as the BBC as they believe they’re peddling the “fake news” which the Government would like us to hear, What’s strange is that they then turn to social media and seem willing to believe things which are unsubstantiated or bizarre! We have also lost our faith in politicians, whether to give straight answers to questions, to keep their promises, or to “deliver” on their policies. I’d suggest that the behaviour of some – not all! – politicians hasn’t made it easy for us to put our trust in them.
Read more “Minister’s Message – October 2, 2022”
Minister's Message
When I was a child, the buses that passed our house were red and the telephone vans were dark green. The trains that came through our local station were hauled by steam locomotives, and ambulances rang bells when they were rushing to an emergency. Our house was heated by coal fires, the “News Chronicle” was delivered each morning, we played records on the gramophone, and we listened to “The Archers” on the wireless every evening (we didn’t have a television as my parents thought it was a bit “common”). If we were away from our home and wanted to call someone, we had to find a phone box (and hope that we had 4d to put in the slot). Much of the world map was coloured pink, Harold Macmillan was Prime Minister and Queen Elizabeth was on the throne. Life seemed well-ordered, secure and fixed in stone.
Read more “Minister’s Message – September 18,2022”
Minister's Message
I suspect that most of you will know that No. 221b Baker Street, London, was the street address of Sherlock Holmes, the famous detective. Of course the detective and the house number only existed in the imagination of the author, Arthur Conan Doyle.
Read more “Minister’s Message – September 11, 2022”
Minister's Message
Beaumaris Castle, which we visited on our recent holiday in Anglesey, has been called the most beautiful and most technically perfect castle in Britain. It’s not as large as Caerphilly, it doesn’t sit on a dramatic cliff like Chepstow, it doesn’t dominate its adjoining town like Conwy and Harlech. But it does have an ingenious symmetrical concentric design of “walls within walls” and it includes a moat, four lines of fortifications and hundreds of arrow slits, not to mention inner passageways, a portcullis and “murder holes” at the entrance. This was “state of the art” military architecture of the late 13th century, and a triumph for its designer, James of St George.
Read more “Minister’s Message – September 4, 2022”
Minister's Message
Back in Queen Victoria’s day, Tacket Street Congregational Chapel was the poshest Nonconformist place of worship in Ipswich. It wasn’t where the so-called “County Set”, the landed gentry and gentleman farmers attended: they attended the Parish Church. But Tacket Street was where you’d find the merchants, the business owners, the folk who made their money in trade (although possibly without dirtying their own hands in the process!) On Sunday mornings these highly respectable people would make their way to the Chapel for worship; they would return home to a sumptuous lunch and then engage in “improving” – but never frivolous! – activities such as reading, leading a “Pleasant Sunday Afternoon” meeting for the poor (intended to keep them out of the pubs) and finishing off by singing hymns around the piano. No work was to be done on a Sunday; entertainment and humour were strictly forbidden. For this was the Sabbath, the day of rest, dedicated to the worship and contemplation of God.
Read more “Minister’s Message – August 21, 2022”
Minister's Message
Earlier this year, on March 2nd to be precise, Dreweatts auction house in Newbury held a sale which must have had collectors salivating in anticipation. For this was no ordinary sale, but the disposal of the collection which had been on display at the Barometer World Museum in Devon (one wonders if it hadn’t succeeded in drawing the crowds).
Read more “Minister’s Message – August 14, 2022”
Minister's Message
I wonder how many of us have ever made a treasure map, either for ourselves or for the children in our families? We all know what they look like: there’s a wobbly desert island shape, probably surrounded by waters infested by sea-monsters (or, if you’re lucky, by comely mermaids). The island will have mountainous areas, thick forests and beaches bordered by palm trees. Somewhere in that complex geography will be a small ‘X’. And we all know what that means: it marks the spot where the treasure is buried. All we have to do is find the place and get digging. If we’re lucky, we’ll uncover a chest full of riches.
Read more “Minister’s Message – August 7, 2022”
Minister's Message
I’m sure that we all were all horrified last week by those pictures of Wennington, the village in Essex where so many houses burned down in the hot weather. I don’t think that any of us imagined that a compost bin in our back garden could smoulder, catch fire, and cause so much devastation. The area looked like a war zone, somewhere which had been blitzed or one of those cities that’s been so blasted in Ukraine. We can only begin to imagine the distress and shock of the residents whose entire lives were wiped out in a few short minutes.
Read more “Minister’s Message – July 31, 2022”