1. Art and Diseño

The Magazine
February 2015
Newspapers & Magazines delivered to your door
7 days a week
Confectionery, Chocolates, Cigarettes & Tobacco
Fresh milk, Hot & Cold drinks
Warm Pies & Pasties
Gifts, Greetings cards, Gift wrap & Stationery
Dry Cleaning and laundry Service
And much more
Open Mon - Sat. 6am till 4.30pm Sun 7am till Noon.
Graham Patterson
Joinery Services
All aspects of Joinery
undertaken. Doors, Kitchens,
Wood and Laminate Flooring,
Fencing and Decking
Mobile 07554441057
22, High Street, Belford
Tel: 01668 213237
MATTWOOD DEVELOPMENTS
BUILDING & PLUMBING SOLUTIONS
All aspects of Building, Joinery,
Plumbing & Heating works
Contact:
John Matthewson – 07712330505
Richard Wood – 07734566733
[email protected]
Please call for a free quote
For all your
Hardware, gardening,
Petfoods and DIY
E & M SHEARER & SON
Border Stoves
and Cookers
3, High Street, Belford
Tel (01668 213770)
BELFORD INTERIORS
with The French House
19 - 21 High Street Belford, Northumberland
NE70 7NG
Tel/Fax 01668 213677
Ladies and Gentlemen's
Hairdresser
Extensive ranges of wallpapers, curtain
and furnishing fabrics, at competitive prices
All aspects of Hair colouring
Special styles for Weddings
Work room facilities specialising in interlined,
hand stitched curtains and pelmets.
Visit our website
www.belfordinteriors.co.uk
Tel 01668 213322
OPEN : Monday - Friday 10 am - 4.30 p.m
Saturday 10a.m. to 4 p.m.
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS
THEY SUPPORT US
28
The Magazine
February 2015
The Magazine
The Parish Churches
of
St Mary, Belford & St Hilda, Lucker
£4.00 per year / 40p monthly
In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is
perfect.
Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways,
and they're still beautiful.
The Magazine
February 2015
The Farmhouse Guest House
The Magazine
February 2015
A.M.GILHOME
The Blue Bell Hotel
(Anne and John Murdoch)
24, West Street, Belford
Northumberland NE70 7QE
Market Place
Limited
Belford
Joinery and Building
Tel (01668) 213083
,En suite accommodation,
'Visit Britain' 4 star with GOLD award.
Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence
BHS and Pony Club Approved Centre
Lessons, Livery & Hacks to
St. Cuthbert's Cave
Contact Claire BHSII
On Tel 01668213370 or 07762773559
www.swinhoefarmridingcentre.co.uk
E-mail farmhouseguesthouse@hotmail .com
www. thefarmhouseguesthousebelford.co.uk
CROFT CABS
BELFORD
For all types of joinery
and building work
Tel 01668 213543 fax 01668 213787
e.mail [email protected]
16th century Coaching Inn
28 ensuite Rooms, incl. 4 family rooms,
2 disabled rooms
and 13 ground floor rooms
Tollgate Cottage, South Road
Belford, NE70 7DP
Tel01668 213587
Mobile 07712 640038
email [email protected]
JOHNNIE TAIT
PAINTER & DECORATOR
John Nixon
(T/a T.H.Nixon & Son)
Proprietor Gordon Patterson
(4 Seater Car)
[email protected]
Unit 1A Chealebeat Estate
Belford Industrial Estate
Tel (01668) 213321
All makes of car and van servicing
and M.O.T’s
Tyres, exhausts,batteries etc
Airport ,trains and local
07803 496 278
Palin & Twyford Solicitors
MILRACE HOUSE
WEST STREET
BELFORD
NORTHUMBERLAND
NE70 7QE
Phone 01668 213351
Mobile 0780 3826954
ALAN D. HAILE
Funeral Services
Private Client &
Business Legal Services
• 24 hrs 7 days a week Private Chapel of Rest
• All funeral requirements professionally arranged
• Pre-payment Funeral Plans available
Wills, Probate, Powers of Attorney, Property,
Litigation, Matrimonial etc
111A Main Street, Seahouses,
Northumberland,NE68 7TS
By appointment at 14-16 Bridge Street Amble
Or at 11, Lansdowne Terrace Gosforth
Tel : Office (01665) 720258
Home (01665) 720658
Mobile 0777 5524 438
Tel: 01665 714 567 or 0191 285 8510
home/place of business visits available at no
extra cost
free initial consultation
[email protected]
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS
THEY SUPPORT US
2
South Road, Belford, Northumberland
NE70 7DP
Tel: 01668 219 662
E: [email protected]
W: www.sunnyhillsfarmshop.co.uk
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS, THEY SUPPORT US
27
The Magazine
February 2015
The Farmhouse Guest House
The Magazine
February 2015
A.M.GILHOME
The Blue Bell Hotel
(Anne and John Murdoch)
24, West Street, Belford
Northumberland NE70 7QE
Market Place
Limited
Belford
Joinery and Building
Tel (01668) 213083
,En suite accommodation,
'Visit Britain' 4 star with GOLD award.
Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence
BHS and Pony Club Approved Centre
Lessons, Livery & Hacks to
St. Cuthbert's Cave
Contact Claire BHSII
On Tel 01668213370 or 07762773559
www.swinhoefarmridingcentre.co.uk
E-mail farmhouseguesthouse@hotmail .com
www. thefarmhouseguesthousebelford.co.uk
CROFT CABS
BELFORD
For all types of joinery
and building work
Tel 01668 213543 fax 01668 213787
e.mail [email protected]
16th century Coaching Inn
28 ensuite Rooms, incl. 4 family rooms,
2 disabled rooms
and 13 ground floor rooms
Tollgate Cottage, South Road
Belford, NE70 7DP
Tel01668 213587
Mobile 07712 640038
email [email protected]
JOHNNIE TAIT
PAINTER & DECORATOR
John Nixon
(T/a T.H.Nixon & Son)
Proprietor Gordon Patterson
(4 Seater Car)
[email protected]
Unit 1A Chealebeat Estate
Belford Industrial Estate
Tel (01668) 213321
All makes of car and van servicing
and M.O.T’s
Tyres, exhausts,batteries etc
Airport ,trains and local
07803 496 278
Palin & Twyford Solicitors
MILRACE HOUSE
WEST STREET
BELFORD
NORTHUMBERLAND
NE70 7QE
Phone 01668 213351
Mobile 0780 3826954
ALAN D. HAILE
Funeral Services
Private Client &
Business Legal Services
• 24 hrs 7 days a week Private Chapel of Rest
• All funeral requirements professionally arranged
• Pre-payment Funeral Plans available
Wills, Probate, Powers of Attorney, Property,
Litigation, Matrimonial etc
111A Main Street, Seahouses,
Northumberland,NE68 7TS
By appointment at 14-16 Bridge Street Amble
Or at 11, Lansdowne Terrace Gosforth
Tel : Office (01665) 720258
Home (01665) 720658
Mobile 0777 5524 438
Tel: 01665 714 567 or 0191 285 8510
home/place of business visits available at no
extra cost
free initial consultation
[email protected]
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS
THEY SUPPORT US
2
South Road, Belford, Northumberland
NE70 7DP
Tel: 01668 219 662
E: [email protected]
W: www.sunnyhillsfarmshop.co.uk
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS, THEY SUPPORT US
27
The Magazine
February 2015
The Farmhouse Guest House
The Magazine
February 2015
A.M.GILHOME
The Blue Bell Hotel
(Anne and John Murdoch)
24, West Street, Belford
Northumberland NE70 7QE
Market Place
Limited
Belford
Joinery and Building
Tel (01668) 213083
,En suite accommodation,
'Visit Britain' 4 star with GOLD award.
Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence
BHS and Pony Club Approved Centre
Lessons, Livery & Hacks to
St. Cuthbert's Cave
Contact Claire BHSII
On Tel 01668213370 or 07762773559
www.swinhoefarmridingcentre.co.uk
E-mail farmhouseguesthouse@hotmail .com
www. thefarmhouseguesthousebelford.co.uk
CROFT CABS
BELFORD
For all types of joinery
and building work
Tel 01668 213543 fax 01668 213787
e.mail [email protected]
16th century Coaching Inn
28 ensuite Rooms, incl. 4 family rooms,
2 disabled rooms
and 13 ground floor rooms
Tollgate Cottage, South Road
Belford, NE70 7DP
Tel01668 213587
Mobile 07712 640038
email [email protected]
JOHNNIE TAIT
PAINTER & DECORATOR
John Nixon
(T/a T.H.Nixon & Son)
Proprietor Gordon Patterson
(4 Seater Car)
[email protected]
Unit 1A Chealebeat Estate
Belford Industrial Estate
Tel (01668) 213321
All makes of car and van servicing
and M.O.T’s
Tyres, exhausts,batteries etc
Airport ,trains and local
07803 496 278
Palin & Twyford Solicitors
MILRACE HOUSE
WEST STREET
BELFORD
NORTHUMBERLAND
NE70 7QE
Phone 01668 213351
Mobile 0780 3826954
ALAN D. HAILE
Funeral Services
Private Client &
Business Legal Services
• 24 hrs 7 days a week Private Chapel of Rest
• All funeral requirements professionally arranged
• Pre-payment Funeral Plans available
Wills, Probate, Powers of Attorney, Property,
Litigation, Matrimonial etc
111A Main Street, Seahouses,
Northumberland,NE68 7TS
By appointment at 14-16 Bridge Street Amble
Or at 11, Lansdowne Terrace Gosforth
Tel : Office (01665) 720258
Home (01665) 720658
Mobile 0777 5524 438
Tel: 01665 714 567 or 0191 285 8510
home/place of business visits available at no
extra cost
free initial consultation
[email protected]
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS
THEY SUPPORT US
2
South Road, Belford, Northumberland
NE70 7DP
Tel: 01668 219 662
E: [email protected]
W: www.sunnyhillsfarmshop.co.uk
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS, THEY SUPPORT US
27
The Magazine
February 2015
QUIZ TIME ????
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Answers on P. 26
In which county is Tiverton.
Who was called the ‘Scourge of God’.
What sort of government does Burma have.
What did God create on the 5th day.
The coarse fishing season runs from 16 March ‘till when.
What is a runcible spoon.
Which famous school is at Godalming.
From what sort of wood was Noah’s Ark built.
What sport did Babe Ruth play.
Who wrote the play ‘The Winslow Boy’.
The Magazine
February 2015
real prayer, coming from the silent centre of our spirit, is the source of the selflessness of love, the source of energy. In that centre, the source of our Being, we encounter God…. To find God is to find love. To find love is to find oneself in harmony with the basic energy of all creation, which is love. When a community is directed to this as its essential priority, ordinary limitations imposed on human relations by egoism become, as it were, flipped around. Where there was self seeking
there becomes service. Where there was desire for self protection there becomes an
impulse to lead others to fulfilment through love.”
John
Events and Services February 2015
Intermediate
Suduko
Monday 2nd
7pm
Deanery Synod
Wednesday 4th
9am
Holy Communion
St Hilda’s Vestry &
APCM
Vicarage
9am
Holy Communion
St Mary’s
6pm
St Mary’s PCC
St Mary’s
11am
Schools Lent Service
St Mary’s
MU Lent Lunch
St Mary’s
6.30pm
Wednesday 11th
Friday 13th
12 noon
Contributions to the March edition to Barbara and John
Before TUESDAY 17th FEBRUARY 2015 please
24
Venue
TBC
St Mary’s
Wednesday 18th
Ash Wednesday
7pm
Holy Communion
(Cross on the Coast)
St Mary’s
Wednesday 25th
7pm
Cross on the Coast
St Ebba’s
Beadnell
Each Thursday
6.30-8pm
Cubs
St Mary’s
5
The Magazine
February 2015
The Magazine
February 2015
EVENTS - Dates for your diaries. Details to follow in later Magazines
Friday 13 February
Lenten Lunch (MU)
Friday 10 April
Ladies Easter Bonnet & “posh frocks” evening
Sunday 7 June
Church lunch on Sunday
Saturday 25 July
Summer Fair and Strawberry Teas.
Friday 14 August
Ladies “pudding club” evening
Sunday 4 October
Harvest Lunch
Sat 21/Sun 22 November Xmas Tree Festival and Fair weekend
THANKS
Nancy Turnbull would like to thank all her friends for
the lovely Christmas Cards and Beautiful birthday
cards.
SEEING AND UNDERSTANDING
All the words hidden in this wordsearch are things you see with or look
at:
Many people had seen the steam
lift the lid of a kettle, but it took a
James Watt to see it and go on to
think of that power becoming a
steam engine. It is all a matter of
how we see things. We could see
something a thousand times and
not make the connection.
SPECTACLES
LECTEVIDYC
GEAGLEOPEE
SWNAEPBSSN
EAKSVIDEOE
STCLICELFO
SCOOSTGGRW
AHLOIUOGEE
GAMENEUGOV
Jesus explained why he taught
with parables, stories that explain
some-thing in simple ways to do
with everyday life that people of
the time would recognise. He explained that it was because people
look without seeing, and listen
without understanding (Matthew
chapter 13, verses 13-14).
* clock * eyes * game * glasses *
goggles * lens * picture * scene * spectacles * television * video * view *
watch
What gadget do we use to see
through a wall?
A window.
We all do this, and that is why we
need other people to help us learn
more about what the stories in the
Bible mean. People who can explain and help us to see with ‘new
eyes’.
Optician: What can you see out of
the window?
Patient: Only the sun.
Optician: How far do you want to
see, then?
SEEING THE WORDS
Optician: You need glasses.
Patient: But I’m wearing glasses.
Optician: Then I need glasses.
6
23
The Magazine
February 2015
Belford
Branch
January saw our members night when we were entertained by Eric
Gassner, who led us in a singalong then we had a ‘name that tune’ type
quiz the evening was completed with a pie and peas supper and members agreed we had a thoroughly enjoyable night.
February 9th 2015
Janet Punton Handmade Jewellery
Hands on jewellery making.
Competition; Family Heirloom Jewellery
Tea Hostesses & Raffle;
Barbara & Amanda
~~~
For further information ring
Secretary Brenda Potts 213385
The Magazine
February 2015
With Valentines Day approaching even as I write ! Ed
A Good Wedding Cake
41b of love
½lb of sweet temper
llb of butter of youth
llb of blindness of faults
llb of pounded wit lib of good humour
2lbs of sweet argument
1 pint of rippling laughter
1 wine glass of common sense
A dash of modesty
Put the love, good looks and a sweet temper into a well-furnished house. Beat the
butter of youth into a cream and mix well together with the blindness of faults. Stir
the pounded wit and good humour into the sweet argument, then add the rippling
laughter and common sense. Work the whole together until everything is well
mixed and bake gently for ever
Hear to Help
Hearing Aid Support Service Drop in
Information about hearing loss
Cleaning hearing aids
Bell View, Belford
day each month, 2.00 – 3.00 pm
2ndTues-
Tuesday 10th February 2015
I thank you, Lord for knowing me better than I know myself, and for letting me know myself better than others
know me.
Make me , I ask you, better than they suppose and forgive
me for what they do not know.
Abu Bakr 572-634
Funerals : St Mary’s :
Weddings : St Hilda’s
Florence Jackson
Mary Sylvia Robson
Ian Payling & Felicity Pearson
St Hilda’s
John Pearson
22
7
The Magazine
READINGS
February 2015
The Magazine
February 2015
Belford and District Hidden History group
February 2015
Year B in our Lectionary
February 1st
Presentation of Christ (Candlemas)
(White)
First Reading: Malachi 3:1-5
Second Reading: Hebrews 2:14-end
Gospel: Luke 2:22-40
February 8th
2nd Sunday before Lent
(Green)
First Reading: Proverbs 8:1,22-31
Second Reading: Colossians 1:15-20
Gospel: John 1:1-14
February 15th
Sunday before Lent
(Green)
First Reading: 2 Kings 2:1-12
Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 4:3-6
Gospel: Mark 9:2-9
February 22nd
Lent 1
(Purple)
First Reading: Genesis 9:8-17
Second Reading: 1 Peter 3:18-end
Gospel: Mark 1:9-15
March 1st
Lent 2
First Reading: Genesis 17:1-7,15-16
Second Reading: Romans 4:13-end
Gospel: Mark 8:31-end
8
The new exhibition is now open in the Museum charting the impact of the
second year of WWI on Belford and the contribution made by village men
serving on the front. We are looking for information on the men that returned, injured or not, and their subsequent lives, employment etc.
£237 was raised at the Christmas Fair where we had a stall and a raffle;
thank you everyone for your support. The money is going to be used to
purchase a display case.
Belford and District Hidden History group were afforded a great honour
when we were presented with the Village Group of the Year award at a
ceremony following the switching on of the Christmas lights. Thank you to
everyone who voted for us and who have given us encouragement and
assistance us over the years and especially the Community Group for their
continued support.
We have had a visit from Belford First School children. They all thoroughly
enjoyed their visit, although we may have to stop likening trench foot to
ovine foot rot as one child went home worried about his father who spends
all his time outside in all weathers working with sheep.
We are currently putting together an application for heritage lottery money
to purchase museum quality, secure cases to house our WW1 artefacts,
digitise all the information on the Belford fallen and organise a programme
of events that relate to the war.
(Purple)
... but the greatest of these S
The Greeks had three words for it. We have only one - Love. This is sad.
Broadly, the Ancient Greeks recognised eros, caritas and agape. Eros is
the whole business of human attraction and physical sex. Caritas covers
the field of compassion, of caring for one another. Agape cannot be simply
translated but speaks of the universal underpinning of all that is by Something unknowable and contains within it overtones of yearning.
In English we use the word 'love' to cover everything from the desire for an
ice cream on a hot day to our sacred relationship with God. Worse, we say
'in love' to indicate the divine madness which is finite and is essential to
the continuation of our species. This is to say nothing of romantic love, the
theory that there is One Person in the world for each of us.
21
The Magazine
February 2015
The Magazine
February 2015
SUNDAY ROTAS
February 2015
1st Feb
Freya Hulbert
Belford Branch
8th Feb
John Bradley
The first meeting of the New Year was our AGM. We had a very
pleasant afternoon, once ‘business’ was completed we adjourned for
tea and homemade cakes and informal sharing of news and information.
15th Feb
Jenny Hubbard
22nd Feb
Gill Quinn
1st March
Freya Hulbert
1st Feb
Lord Walton
Mrs C Harris
8th Feb
Mr D Pirt
Mrs C Wood
15th Feb
Mr J Bradley
Mrs J Bradley
22nd Feb
Mr S Robertson
Mrs E Robertson
1st March
Lord Walton
Mrs B Twiname
1st Feb
Mr J Harris
Mrs C Harris
8th Feb
Mr D Pirt
Mrs C Wood
15th Feb
Mr J Bradley
Mrs J Bradley
22nd Feb
Mr S Robertson
Mrs E Robertson
1st March
Mrs A Gladstone
Mrs B Twiname
Servers
Next meeting Feb 4th 4pm Bell View
Maundy Money.
Tea and Coffee: Anne and Val
Visitors are always welcome.
Readers
Headlines — A object lesson to all Editors
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Sidesmen
Man Struck by Lightning Faces Battery Charge
Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says
Drunk Gets Nine Months in Violin Case
Two Sisters Reunited after 18 Years in Checkout Counter
Include your Children when Baking Cookies
Stolen Painting Found by Tree
Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers
Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures
Eye Drops off Shelf
Red Tape Holds Up New Bridge
20
9
The Magazine
February 2015
Five Other Reasons Why God Created Eve
1
2
3
4
5
God worried that Adam would get lost in the Garden of Eden because
men never ask direction.
God knew Adam would never buy a new fig leaf when the seat wore
out and therefore Eve would need to get one for him.
God knew that Adam would never make a doctor's appointment for
himself.
God knew that Adam would never remember which night to put the
wheelie bins out.
God knew that Adam would need someone to hand him the TV re
mote, because men don't want to see what's one television, they want
to see WHAT ELSE is on television.
The Magazine
February 2015
'That which is impenetrable to us really exists. Behind the secrets of nature remains something subtle, intangible, and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that
we can comprehend is my religion.'"
Albert Einstein.
PARISH BREAKFAST ROTA
FEBRUARY 2015
Feb 1st
G Quinn & W McMillan
Feb 8th
C Reavley & S Bullen
Feb 15th
K Williamson & F Hardy
Feb 22nd
A Taylor & S Hogg
March 1st
C Wood +
Bible Study Group
Meetings for February 2015
5th Feb
Jane and Bob
Brooklea, South Road, Lowick
12th Feb
Judith and John
1, Crofters Court
19th Feb
Stuart and Elaine
Blue Bell Farm House
26th Feb
Carol
17, West Street
5th Mar
William
Neralcm, Cragmill Road,
All welcome - Just come, even occasionally,
it is not a course of study
10
19
The Magazine
February 2015
The Magazine
On the peculiarities of ordination candidates
An Invitation from Belford Parish Council
to a Public Meeting in the Community Club on West Street
Tuesday February 10 at 6.30
The Rectory, St. James the Least
My dear Nephew Darren
I was quite happy to see the young person from your
church whom you are encouraging to get ordained – even
though we did not entirely see eye to eye.
When I answered the door to someone dressed in T-shirt, jeans and
trainers, I naturally assumed he was the gardener; it was only after I had
given him the wheelbarrow and shown him where the spades were, that I
found out who he really was. His assurance that this is how Jesus would
dress, were he to visit in person again, jarred somewhat. I think that a threepiece suit and stout pair of brogues would be far more likely. We agreed to
differ.
I moved on to ask him about the Sunday Services he attended and
was interested to hear that he was a church musician. Wanting to know if he
sang tenor or bass, or even played the organ, he told me that he was the
drummer in the worship band and provided backing vocals. I felt obliged to
comment that I was not sure how that would fit in with Mattins, but he told
me that he had never heard of that Service and only attended Mega Rock
Praise. Since I suspected it would not have been written by Cranmer, we
moved on.
I had hoped we may have been on safer ground when I asked him
whether he preferred early perpendicular or Victorian gothic, but as he had
apparently only ever worshipped in your converted cinema, he was unable
to offer any opinion. His reaction to my offer to show him round our late Norman church, prompted him to tell me that he believed all churches should
be closed and people should gather in each other’s homes, like the early
Christians.
In a last despairing attempt to find common ground I asked him if he
had ever preached. He was slightly apologetic to admit that he had done so
very rarely, as he found it took such a long time to write an hour-long sermon. When I mentioned that I did not think I had ever exceeded eight
minutes in my entire life, he gave me such a look of withering astonishment
that with heroic Christian charity, I did not beat him over the head with the
Bible he was carrying.
Your loving uncle,
18
February 2015
Eustace
Belford Parish Council is working towards developing a
“Neighbourhood Plan”.
A Neighbourhood Plan gives local communities the power to create their
own planning policies to shape future development in the area; it will support strategic policies of Northumberland County Council and will be used
when determining planning applications; it will guide development to the
most appropriate locations for our local area. It allows communities to be
inspirational and creative.
Development is not a bad thing: people need houses – especially houses
they can afford to live in. Businesses need people. We all need visitors. The
mix, the style, the location, the constraints of development should be set
locally. Hence a Neighbourhood Plan. It will be developed by people
who live, work and shop in the area, go to school there, or have family or
social connections. We know the community best and can identify sites suitable for housing, business or other forms of community-related development
which will shape the long term future.
It is important because, if in due course a vote at a local referendum approves the Plan, it will be a legal document and decisions on planning applications will have to be made in accordance with the plan.
There is more information at www.northumberland.gov www.locality.org.uk
and Home - My Community Rights
Please come to the meeting in the Community Club on February 10 at
6.30 to tell us your views. County Councillor John Woodman and Peter
Rutherford from Northumberland County Council Planning Department
will speak and be available to answer questions.
11
The Magazine
February 2015
The Magazine
February 2015
Phyl Carruthers had a well earned holiday during the Christmas period and shares
her thoughts with us.
Today is 7th January, or Christmas in the Orthodox Church, and I'm writing
for the February magazine already! So harking back to our Western Christmas
might seem a bit old hat, but Christmas 2014 was very different for our little family.
No Crib Service on Christmas Eve, no being summoned by bells to greet the glad
morning on Christmas Day. Instead we spent Christmas Eve in a little restaurant in
Tokyo eating yakiniku, or Japanese barbecue, and Christmas morning opening our
gifts in my daughter and son-in-law's apartment, while the rest of Tokyo went to
work as usual.
On 23rd December, we had celebrated my elder daughter's birthday (shared
with the Japanese Emperor) by visiting the Meiji Shrine. There we saw Shinto
priests processing in honour of the Emperor, several wedding parties, and along
with everyone else we threw our lucky coins into the hoppers, bowed and clapped
to attract the gods' attention, and then wandered off through Yoyogi Park in the chilly shade of some spectacular trees, while the sun blazed bright in a blue sky above
the canopy. We'd been to a lot of shrines and Buddhist temples during our stay, and
watched queues of people waiting to throw their coins, bow, and clap twice (or not depending on the shrine/temple); we'd washed our hands and mouths, leaned into
incense burners to be touched by the smoke, drawn lucky sticks from metal canisters and had our fortunes told. We'd stood in front of a memorial to Hiroshima, with
an eternal flame which had been lit from the burning wreckage of that unhappy city.
We'd sat in a Buddhist temple watching a family memorial service. We'd even
passed a group of Japanese carol singers standing in the street with candles and
lanterns in the middle of Tokyo, singing about the birth of Christ in words we couldn't understand to a tune we didn't know. It was all exotic, different and, if I am honest, faintly baffling to one as ignorant as I am about Shinto and Buddhist beliefs.
It made me think very hard about what I am so familiar with, the celebrations
going on back home centred on the birth of a small child in an outhouse somewhere
in what we refer to as the Holy Land. I thought of a photograph album which I had
been looking through at home, photographs taken by my father in 1943-1944, which
he'd sent to my mother while World War II raged about him. A convoy of lorries on
the road to Damascus, temples at Baalbek built and partially destroyed, as my father noted, by pagan and Christian Romans, a view across Galilee to Syria, a camel
train entering Palmire, a village near Aleppo, one of Homs. Photographs of
mosques in Egypt, of the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Garden of Gethsemane and Mount Olivet, in what was then called Palestine. Familiar names, and still too often in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
And today for reasons which are beyond me, so many deaths in Paris.
I don't know much about Shinto or Buddhism. I don't know much more about Islam,
and what I know about it and the Judaeo-Christian traditions is often profoundly dis-
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Having dinner out with your friends.
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The Magazine
February 2015
Friends of St Mary’s, Belford
Friends of St Mary's are in the process of
planning their programme for 2015 which
will hopefully include a Tea on May 10th .
Please keep that date free in your Diaries !
Plus tea towels and small cards for sale are
being organised and we hope to have them
available for Easter .
Thank you for your continued support .
Regards
The committee
Contact details : William McLaren ( [email protected] )
or Anne Gladstone ([email protected] )
The Magazine
February 2015
turbing in terms of the sometimes deeply negative impacts those faith systems have
had on humanity. But what I do know is that when you are struggling to understand
something, or to be understood, there is no headway to be made by brandishing a
gun.
My daughter and son-in-law could be in Japan for a while. I'm going to read
up on it, and try to understand.
Employed by the human-development center of a corporation in the
midwest, my friend trains employees in proper dress codes and etiquette.
One day as she was stepping onto the elevator, a man casually dressed in
jeans and a golf shirt got on with her.
Thinking of her responsibilities, she scolded, "Dressed a little
casually today, aren't we?"
The man replied, "That's one benefit of owning the company..."
Belford & District Local History Society
Bo o k G ro u p
Tu e s d a y F e b 2 4 t h 2 0 1 5 a t 7 . 3 0 p m
Book and venue to be confirmed.
For further information contact
25th February 2015 In the Community Club
Geoff Stewart Fishing in the 1800’s in Seahouses
At each meeting there is a speaker, and often slides and photographs, and the topic is about some aspect of
local history. We welcome new members. The annual subscription is £10.00, but anyone can come
as a visitor for £2.00 per session. Please come and join us!!
Sheila Cogger 219793
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The Magazine
February 2015
North Northumberland Food Bank
Newsletter January 2015
This month’s news:
`
It’s been an amazing Festive Season for the Food Bank. People
have been so generous! We managed to augment the usual food parcels
over the Christmas period, making provision for 7 days and adding seasonal fare and presents for children in households. More than 100 such parcels were distributed by the Children’s centres,
with yet more through the Alnwick group, CAB
and Social Services.
And some of our mini mountain of pasta
was used and a cheesy pasta bake, together
with coconut sponge were included in Christmas Hampers for over 20 older people who are
customers of Bell View.
People were really grateful for the thought and
extra consideration given over the period and the Steering Committee is
enormously grateful to those who donated, those who helped pack and
those who distributed. In particular we’re grateful to the Girl Guides who
came in and helped with the packing at the Food Store.
Donations of money have been made by a range of individuals, including
one of £100 to Alnwick. Additional sums have been given by St Paul’s
School in Alnwick, The Gathering run by Royal Voluntary service in Wooler
and Vera Baird, our Crime and Police Commissioner, has also promised a
donation.
Latest stats: From November to mid January, the number of food parcels given out from the north of our area totalled 265, and feeding 179
adults, and 194 children – that’s 373 people all together.
From Alnwick, in November and December, in excess of 50 parcels fed 30
households, mainly families with children and representing 84 people, 54 of
them children. The number of single households in Alnwick is almost 40%
of those helped.
The Home from Hospital Food Pack scheme run by Bell View in Belford
has had its first service users with referrals made form both Alnwick and
Berwick Hospital Discharge Teams. Publicity for the scheme has been brilliant – radio, TV, newspapers. Anyone who knows of an older person in
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The Magazine
February 2015
their community who is being discharged from hospital is urged to remember the scheme. It’s ironic that the recent debate about bed blocking in
hospitals failed to recognise that food can be a real problem for older people when they first go home after a hospital stay.
The causes of need for assistance are as varied as ever, focussing primarily on shortage of cash due to Benefit issues, not being in work, paying bills
and the general expense that happens over Christmas.
What’s needed now!
Generally stocks are pretty good, but there are some particular shortages.
The store is VERY short on longlife milk, shampoo and soap.
And we’re completely out of toothpaste, toothbrushes and loo rolls!
In addition, one of the easiest dishes for people is tinned pie - so if
you can help with these items, we’ll be very grateful. You know, the
ones where you take the lid off and then bake in the oven.
Looking forward:
As this newsletter is being prepared, the weather forecast for tonight is for
one of the coldest we’ve had in years. It looks pretty, but it certainly doesn’t
feel that way! Please bear in mind your neighbour who might not have as
good a heating system as you – might they have paid a bill and be hungry
as a result? Please be a good neighbour!
And if you’d like to see something in next month’s edition – or have something to say – then please don’t hesitate to let us know at
[email protected].
Do activities are based around making
things, outdoor activities, singing, playing games, going out on visits, investigating nature, listening to stories, learning how to be safe and most importantly,
making new friends.
Meetings on Thursdays 5-8
Church Gallery
Thursdays , Middle School 6.30—8 pm
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