Chinese meadow-rue is an easy plant to grow, but the RHS warns about its susceptibility ‘to powdery mildews in dry conditions’. Dry times in our spiritual lives are seldom pleasant, but we should always be on our guard against any longer term damage they cause. A dry and barren spirit will seldom value fellowship, public worship and personal prayer. Be on your guard.
At the base of Beorgs of Housetter are a couple of standing stones, erected, we are told, between 4000 and 2500BC. A cairn, pictured below, was also built close by, and its name of Giant's Grave indicates the burial of someone large, or powerful, or both.
St Oswald's Church at Dean in Cumberland is one of those elderly ladies; though old (dating to the twelfth century), she has had some remedial work done since her youth and still retains an air of beauty and elegance, no matter how faded. Rounded arches, a Norman font and even some prehistoric rock art brought in for safe keeping, combine to lend St Oswald’s an air of antiquity.
The Census for 1911 enumerates the occupants of Number 35, Moor Lane, Lancaster:
George Winn, aged 50, boot maker & repairer (my 3x great-grandfather)
Isabella, aged 52 (my 3x great-grandmother)
Thomas Winn, aged 28, linoleum works labourer (my 2x great-grandfather)
Eleanor Wilkinson Winn, aged 29, (my 2x great-grandmother)
In 1770, the Reverend Mr Wesley preached to a large crowd in Leicester’s Castle Yard, above, in the shadow of that ancient church, St Mary de Castro. His opponents tried to disrupt the gathering, as they often did. Wesley himself records:
The Church of St Clement, Eastcheap, in the city of London is only ever closed when I visit. Furthermore, it is so hemmed in by tall office blocks and narrow streets, that I never see it properly, having to strain my neck and squint into the sky. Whatever beauties it possesses are beyond my perception; whatever treasures lay within are beyond my reach.
01282 540 562
pastor @ martintop. org .uk
Salem Chapel, Martin Top
near Rimington, Clitheroe, Lancashire BB7 4EG
Salem Congregational Chapel is a registered charity No. 252401 (England & Wales)
Sunday Worship 10.45am & 6.00pm