Community events #Sunday #ramble

Welcome to my Sunday ramble, when I ramble on about whatever happens to be on my mind. I was out at the local church hall taking photos for a charity event last night and so I’m struggling to stay awake today.

There are two churches overlooking the valley where I live, one protestant and one catholic. In the ‘old’ church, there is a stained glass window devoted to the heathen god the town was named after. Wednesbury was named after the Anglo-Saxon god Woden. It may seem paradoxical to have a window named after a heathen god in a Christian church, but it serves to remind us of the power of the Christian message when it came to Britain and virtually replaced the existing heathen religion.

This is the Woden window that last nights fundraiser is trying to save. It’s very unusual, perhaps unique. I think more people are becoming active in their local communities and civil society around the world is becoming stronger and more involved. I think people should be more involved; politicians can’t be trusted to make the right decisions, so need to be influenced by the collective view of the people.

Before I went to last night’s event, I checked the place out for parking the car. Since having surgery on my hip, I can’t walk too far without a lot of discomfort. The price of getting old! I have to do the same again today, but this time I have to find a place to park so I can photograph a local carnival. I think anywhere near the main entrance, to the park will be impossible.

Richard III

I take an interest in historical finds now because I’m admin of the History of Wednesbury page on Facebook. Finding the grave of Richard III under a car park could be just the beginning. It seems that Philippa Langley, the inspiration behind the successful hunt for Richard III’s remains, is now on the trail of his forebear Henry I, one of the first rulers of England following the Norman conquest in the 11th Century. Henry was the son of William the conqueror and  King of England from 1100 to 1135. Anyway, Philippa Langley says she had a ‘feeling’ about that car park she found Richard under and now it seems she has a ‘feeling’ about Reading Abbey; which was founded by Henry 14 years before his death. The Abbey was mostly destroyed 400 years later, but Henry was said to be buried there, so he’s there somewhere… 

Dig it all up… Get the JCB’s in…

Expensive history

Preserving history can be expensive, that stained glass window is going to cost £30,000 to fix. I did wonder if we could do something with a bag of ready-mix, it’s only the stonework around it that’s crumbling. Digging up Reading Abbey won’t be cheap. It makes you wonder if it’s all worth it when we have Food Banks and charity shops around town trying to help people to just survive.

At least the rain has stopped today, I might be able to take a few photos this afternoon after all. Time to cook lunch now. Please subscribe to this blog, using the widget in the sidebar or just follow me on Twitter for updates. You can comment and tell me what you think too.

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