Travelling with Nick: Churches

Introduction

Last Christmas we were given a voucher for a two-night stay in a hotel. We had ummed and ahhed all year about how and when we would use it but eventually settled on a Double Tree hotel at Charlton Kings, Cheltenham. A very wise choice as it turns out, a great location, delicious food and courteous staff.

We hadn't given much thought as to what we would do during the time that we were there, we knew that Cheltenham itself is an interesting town to have a wander around and so it proved on our first day. The hotel had a comprehensive display of "places to visit" leaflets and I selected a number that I thought might be of interest. One of them was for an "All year round Christmas Shop". I knew that would be of interest to my wife, we have visited many of these types of establishments, mainly in the 'States'. When I showed her the leaflet, there was no doubt that we would be heading for Lechlade, where the shop was located, the next day.

St. Mary's Church Fairford

As we were passing through Fairford, along the A417, I noticed a rather imposing church tower above the rooftops. We both like looking around old churches, they tend to be depositories of England's rich history. We were in no particular hurry to get to Lechlade so we decide to stop off in Fairford (of Airshow fame) to look at the church. Like many Cotswold towns and villages, Fairford is pleasing to the eye, particularly the 'High St.' with its attractive shops and Inns.

We found the church at the top of the High Street, you could hardly miss this attractive, largely 15th/16th century, building. After taking photos of the exterior we walked to the entrance and were greeted by one of the volunteer guides. Unfortunately, I didn't ask her name, I was told afterwards that it could have been Cherillard; she made us very welcome and shared her great and justified, enthusiasm for the church. In particular, she drew our attention to its unique stained glass windows and gave us a guide sheet that described the stories that each one was telling. They are extremely detailed and are depicting several biblical stories in one window. One would have to be a dedicated researcher with hours, or even days, available in order to fully decipher the stories being told, so beautifully, in each of the 28 windows.

Surprise encounters

Halfway through our nearly two-hour visit to St. Mary's, Cherillard was replaced by Geoff Price who was equally enthusiastic and knowledgeable. He and I had an interesting conversation about William Tyndale's translation of the Bible into English using the original Greek rather than the Latin (Vulgate) text. My wife and I continued to look around the church, when we were ready to say our goodbyes to Geoff and his wife I saw that Geoff was in conversation with an elderly gentleman. We had spoken to Geoff's wife, Hope, earlier and discovered a rather bizarre coincidence - As a child, I lived in Aston, Birmingham and still have contact with the United Reformed Church there. Hope mentioned that a very good friend of hers, the Rev. Audrey Martin-Doyle had established a Lee Abbey Community house in Aston some years ago. I was aware of this community through my connection with the URC church in Aston. So, here we were in the Cotswolds discovering a connection with an inner Birmingham suburb - amazing.

I had to interrupt Geoff's conversation with the elderly gentleman in order to say goodbye. We then went on our way to have a tour of Fairford's environs. When we eventually arrived back at our car, parked in Fairford's splendid FREE car park, I was about to get into the car when I saw the elderly gentleman, who we had seen in St Mary's Church, walking, at pace, towards me. "Do you come from Birmingham?" he inquired. I answered in the affirmative and thus began an interesting conversation with a man who told me that he had been the Vicar of St. Mary the Virgin in nearby Meysey Hampton, he retired in 2004. He was full of admiration for Geoff and his wife and told me that the latter had written a book about Angels. What another incredible encounter.

Lechlade

After that, the visit to the Christmas Shop in Lechlade paled into insignificance, even more so when we discovered that it was closed! However, even there I had a chance conversation with a 'window cleaner' who owned a 1964 Ford Mustang V8 ( I run a classic car website **). Also, I took some photos of the river Thames which runs through Lechlade.

So, all in all, a very memorable day!!

Note -

If you are unable to visit St. Mary's Church, Fairford, yourself (highly recommended) then I have put a link at the bottom of the page that provides a pretty good summary.

Here are some photos from the trip -

Cheltenham -

St. Mary's Fairford -

Garden of Eden window St. Mary's Church Fairford

Fairford -

The Christmas Shop Lechlade -

The River Thames Lechlade -

River Thames Lechlade from Half Penny Bridge

That's all folks!

Nick

Info. -

More about St. Mary's, Fairford -

https://www.britainexpress.com/attractions.htm?attraction=1564

Classic Cars

** www.carsceneinternational.com

It was in 1989 when the idea of visiting Jersey was first put on our agenda. We had three young boys at that time and when we weighed up the cost we realised that we could visit Disney World Fl. for not very much more. It may come as no surprise that a trip to the U.S. won the day. In fact we were so bowled over by Disney World and Florida in general, that we have paid many visits since.

But the idea of visiting Jersey has never completely faded and this September we made our wish come true. We are so glad we did. It is a great place to visit as a couple.

As per usual, I did some research before booking a hotel and saw that La Place Hotel, St. Brelade, had consistently good TripAdvisor reviews so I booked a four night stay there. I can report that the glowing TripAdvisor reports did not exaggerate at all, every aspect of our stay at 'La Place' was perfect. The only thing I would say is that it would be well worth the extra money to book a 'Superior' room rather than a 'Classic'. The differences between the two are significant.

Although Jersey is well served by a good public bus service, with routes going to most corners of the island, the inter connection between them all can only truly be achieved via the Liberty Bus Station in St. Helier. I will certainly consider hiring a car the next time we go.

Fortunately we are both fit and were able to walk or use the No. 9 bus to visit most of the many attractions to be found around the St. Aubin Bay area. St Helier, the island's capital, is situated at the eastern side of the bay and is certainly worth a visit. I was particularly attracted by the architecture of its buildings and the general sense of bustle around shops that are very familiar to visitors from the U.K. mainland.

At the other side of the bay sits the tranquil and picturesque harbour village of St.Aubin. It is very pleasant to stroll around its streets and harbour wall. It is well served by attractive bars and restaurants.
Other places of interest which we visited and would thoroughly recommend are -
The 17th Century Elizabeth castle just of the coast at St. Hellier and
St. Matthew's Glass Church, St Lawrenece, on the west side of St. Hellier.

Most of you will know that the Channel Islands became a possession of the English Crown via William the Conqueror. They were lost and won back again during the 13th Century and were often subject to skirmishes between the English and the French up until the 19th Century but overall remained a possession of the English Crown. Therefore they have been subject to English laws, customs and language for around 600 years. I only mention this because I was and am totally fascinated by the almost ubiquitous use of the French language when it comes to place and family names. This fact contrasts with a culture which could hardly be more English and the almost neutral accent of the spoken tongue [e.g. as compared with Scouse (Liverpool) or Cockney (London)].

Here is just a small flavour of Jersey, photographed during a short five day stay. -

St.Helier