A Special Place

Dear friends,

Sometimes the overlooked can be beautiful. When we lived in Carlisle some of the best holidays were not continuing to the far north for the rugged mountains of the Scottish Highlands, or the endless skies of the Isles, but simply to nip “round the corner” for an hour’s drive into the rolling pastures of the Solway Firth. Push on beyond Dumfries, and head back south again, away from the main road, towards the coast, dotted with isolated villages and deserted inlets. Stop at Sandyhills, walk through the static caravan park, and away from the beach –  which will be busy in  summer, but nothing like Majorca – follow the footpath through the gorse, and after perhaps 500m you will emerge into a paradise of seashells. Drifts and drifts of shells, built up by the tide over centuries, form one of those wonders of nature which captivate and enthral. You stand upon a white calcium carbonate sea, a graveyard of molluscs. We still in a cupboard somewhere have a handful of these trophies, collected by astonished children. Walk on along the coast path, if you have the picnic and the stamina, for total tranquillity, and you can make your way round the headland to Rockcliffe, perhaps five miles yonder, a smattering of cottages huddled down against northerlies, looking seaward to the south, a mix of light, sky and blue water that calls to artists and photographers alike. Such places anchor themselves in our souls, as special boundaries between the “holy” extraordinary, as touched by the grandeur of God, unmarked by measured time, and the “days” wherein we do life for the most part, where time is allotted and we are bounded by tasks to be undertaken, committments to be honoured.

Rockcliffe, in the Solway Firth.

Worship Services for Sunday 25th May

9.30am Holy Communion at St John’s Stoke Row with Revd Romey Poston

11am Holy Communion at St Peter and Paul, Checkendon with Revd Romey Poston

Midweek zoom service: Wednesday Evensong at 5.00pm  410 935 129

Gardening, Leave

The grey wagtails continue their vigil on the roof; war has been declared on the pigeons, who have destroyed a (foolishly unguarded) row of Little Gem lettuce, while on other fronts the strawberry patch once again resembles the Atlantic Wall, and the canes are going up ahead of planting out of climbing beans. Radishes are in full harvest, being glad of both May warmth, and diligent watering. This week’s nature highlight was not, however in Checkendon, but in Didcot, where a hedgehog turned up just in time for our visit – in the summer house. Such joyful creatures these, it has been more than twenty years since we have seen one. It would traumatise me as a (sixties) child to see them thoughtlessly and idly crushed on the merciless roads of Kent. Now, they are endangered; as the hedges have gone, as our gardens have disappeared under tarmac and extensions, so have these prickly little experts in slug control. What are we doing to our world?

There won’t be one of these notes from me next week as I will be on leave – sadly not at Sandyhills – but making the most of the gift of time away from the tasks. Thank you for your prayers, and support for your church. Let us continue to hold out the word of life that is Christ, for the sake of our world, and all creatures great and small.

Your Rector, Revd Kevin.