The picture above is of Yockenthwaite a small hamlet in upper Wharfedale. We drove through Yockenthwaite on the Monday of our holiday last week and the river was little more than a trickle, forming rock pools among the large pebbles, worn smoothe by the flowing water over hundreds of years. By Thursday afternoon on a…
The cartoon above made me laugh when I first saw it, it is of course a gross overexageration, but as Karen and I have travelled around Yorkshire over that past few days, we have felt to be in an alien land, having to comply with strict Covid rules, hand sanitising every time we have got…
Mother Julian of Norwich has fascinated me for several years, I chose to write a reflection about her during my first year at college and her book Revelations of Divine Love was an inspiration to me as I set out on a new journey of faith myself. Little did I know, as I studied that…
Those of you who know me well, know that I am no gardener, my knowledge is limited to growing grass, dandilions, Daisies and weeds, so I invest very little time in tending my garden apart from mowing the lawn and blame time restrictions and the weather for my lack of interest and expertise. One of…
As a young child I was taught the important concept that “manners maketh the man” and consequently my parents taught me important words when I was little like, please and thank you, sorry, excuse me and I beg your pardon. I was taught to respect my elders, to hold doors open for people, to not…
We had a lovely open air service during August and I learned that I needed to acquire yet another new skill thanks to the Covid experience, that of identifying members of the congregation, while wearing face masks. The task was particularly difficult that particular day with some of our lady’s who were wearing big hats,…
Sometimes a seemingly innocent telephone call can set a massive challenge for you. One such call landed in my lap on the last Saturday in August, the challenge was that we are taking responsibility for a further four Churches which we are inheriting from a neighbouring Circuit and the plan was to hold a special…
I was delighted to see that Channel 5 were screening a new TV series of what has become a twentieth century classic, penned by Yorkshire vet Alf Wight better know to the world as James Herriot. I thoroughly enjoyed episode one and loved seeing placed that hold dear to my heart. I will be watching…
Some Churches have been dipping a toe in the water over the last few weeks to re-imagine what Church might look like in the coming weeks and over the next few weeks increasing numbers of Churches are opening with a variety of different expressions of what Church might look like. I have spoken to several…
Matti Ensio Nykanen is considered by many to be the greatest male ski jumper of all time, winning five Winter Olympic medals, nine World Championship medals and twenty-two Finnish Championship medals, most notably he won three gold medals in the 1988 Winter Olympics, yet my guess is that only a few of you will know…