Pilgrimage

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Barrie at the Temple Wall in Jerusalem
Barrie at the site of The Temple in Jerusalem

Standing within your gates O Jerusalem …. Having lived in the pages of the Bible all of our lives there was something very special about our pilgrimage to the Holy Land in May. We visited dozens of sites linked to the life of Jesus and many other biblical scenes over ten days with friends from The Belfrey and some new friends from other churches across York and Yorkshire. 

The first 6 days we were based in Jerusalem in a hotel that overlooked the city walls. Daily trips, mostly by coach, took us to Bethlehem, Hebron, River Jordan, The Dead Sea, Masada and Q’mran. Each with a fascinating story to link the present with events thousands of years ago. 

We took hundreds of photographs. This one was taken in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre; a shaft of sunlight burst through a window and dramatically landed on a carefully positioned Joan. 

Joan in a shaft of light inside the church of the Holy Sepulchre

This southern part of the tour was marked by evidence of the present day tensions between Israel and the Palestinians. Police and guards with guns on street corners; restrictions on movement; baggage checks and a general tension in the air. Israel expands its territories at the expense of Palestinian people who are uprooted and herded together in refugee camps along the west bank. It’s not pretty and cries out for justice.

Heading north we arrive at a hotel on the shores of the Sea of Galilee at Tiberias. It was the start of a fascinating journey through the country where Jesus chose his disciples and began his ministry. Sunrise over the Golan Heights, visible from our bedroom, was both glorious and moving. 

Sunrise over the Sea of Galilee
Sunrise over the Sea of Galilee

The pilgrimage concluded with communion on a beach at the north end of the Sea of Galilee. I was challenged. Was this just another holiday or would I be changed by the experience to live for Jesus more intentionally when I arrived home? It was no ordinary trip – it was extraordinary.

Three Score Years + 10

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Baby Barrie and his father, Deb, outside Rose Cottage in Elterwater
Barrie in his father’s arm at Rose Cottage, Elterwater. July 1949

It was 1949. Barrie was born into a homeless family in Elterwater. His parents were living in cramped conditions with friends after being forced to leave their flat in Ambleside. Is it any coincidence that 70 years later he is a founding director of a charity that serves people who are homeless in York? This was the year he had decided he would retire as Chairman of Restore (York) , standing down in July after ten years during which the charity had grown from nothing to be housing 35 people who are homeless  in 9 houses in York. He spent the last year, along with other directors, preparing the board for his departure by recruiting new board members and filling the key role of chairman. It coincided with some restructuring of the staff team and the creation of a Chief Execs post. Restore is now a well established housing provider for single people who are homeless in the city, an expression of the love of Christ in a broken world.

Barrie and his 70th birthday cake

2020 will be the year that Barrie’s term as a churchwarden of St Michael le Belfrey (often now known as The Belfrey – belfrey.org) comes to an end. Will it be the year that retirement really kicks in? Joan is still working as a facilitator for school workshops at the York Museums Trust and she’s not yet ready to give it up completely, although she may reduce the number of days she works. 

Next Generation

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Where does the time go? Alex turned 12, Emily 10 and Anna clocked up her 2nd birthday. 

Barrie and Alex in his cricket kit

One of Alex’s passions (apart from Lego) is cricket. He’s a dedicated cricketer, playing for a team in a local league. He attends regular training and specialises in being a right handed spin bowler and a left handed batsman. It means grandparents can enjoy a summers day on the boundary drinking tea, chatting and occasionally applauding the success of Alex’s team; now and then getting up to help Alex warm up with a few well meaning attempts to bowl him a few balls away from play, outside the boundary.

The curtain rises; dancers fill the stage. It’s Emily’s annual show at the Central Theatre in Chelmsford. The climax of a year of classes at her dance school. Her performance is graceful, creative and faultless as scene after scene unfolds. Next year Emily has won a part in a new production; weekly rehearsals start in January. This means there will be another show for grandparents to attend as well as the annual dance school show. It’s also the year Emily goes up to the big school to join her brother. O dear, time has flown.

Cousins Emily and Anna
Emily and Anna – cousins and best of friends

In Cambridge, Anna started nursery this summer when Matthew went back to work after his stint as stay at home Dad. How would she cope? How would the nursery cope? The answer is: both managed extremely well as it turns out. She seemed to take to it like a duck to water. Even when Matthew or Laura are at home she still wants to go to school. We really enjoyed our holiday in Wales with her and the rest of her family including her other grandparents. She is a delight.  Next year will be an exciting one for Anna; a new addition to the family is expected in March.

Damp work

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“We’ll take the plaster off the walls up to one metre above the floor, treat the wall and then re-plaster .…” 

If that sounds messy – it was. In January we moved out for a week and stayed with Wesley in Chelmsford as the damp proofers got to work on the ground floor of our home in York. Arriving back, we were prepared for the worst – it was worse! Enough to say that it was August before we were straight and ready to live normally in our now dry home. 

The work was overdue – we knew it had to be done and finally decided to bite the bullet, obtain estimates and apprehensively give the go ahead. We knew there would be dust, damage and decorating – enough to fill the next 8 months. Thankfully it’s done.

Marathon Month

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Barrie running the Coventry Half Marathon - arms raised aloft.

There’s something wrong. My knee is painful and I can hardly walk, never mind run. It’s August and so far this year I had completed 2 half marathons, no end of shorter runs and contributed about 8 miles to the Chase the Sun coast to coast relay to raise funds for Restore. I went on holiday and ran the Pembrokeshire cliff tops with Matthew and less than a week later, out of the blue I’m brought to a grinding halt. I was booked in for the York 10k in August and the Langdale Half Marathon in October. Would I recover in time? Not a hope of completing the York 10k but October seemed a long way off.

Physiotherapists concluded that the pain was caused by a cartilage issue and I started a sequence of rest, ice, exercises, X-rays, until slowly the pain subsided enough to cycle and then jog. But not in time for the half marathon in the Lakes. I’m still in recovery and advised not to book the Coventry half marathon scheduled for spring next year. So until then I’ll slowly increase my distance and pace in anticipation of a full recovery. 

I did have a fear that the physio would give me a stern talking to about doing too much at my age, and that I should just take things easy from now on. But on the contrary, they are all keen to get me back to fitness and fully engaged in running. I’m up for that.