Olive has not been at all well in these last few months and so it is not surprising that after many years of indefatigable service to Christ Church and its predecessors (Longridge Congregational Church and Longridge United Reformed Church), she needs to step down from most of her responsibilities. Indeed we are extremely grateful that she has managed to continue for so long as she has certainly earned the right to an honourable retirement. (more…)
We would like to thank all our friends at Christ Church for the wonderful send off that was arranged for us. To Helen for a most memorable service “Going on a journey.” We will never forget it. To Pam and the catering committee for all the delicious food prepared thank you and to everybody who stayed to help eat it and offer their good wishes to us. We had much pleasure spending the most generous cheque presented to us. We chose a blue duvet cover, pillowcases and curtains from Laura Ashley. Our bedroom looks beautiful. Thank you to everybody for everything. (more…)
Dear Friends,
Anyone who has email communication will surely receive some that just make you stop and think.
I received one such email recently which had a link to a YouTube film clip – and if you are able perhaps you’d like to watch it too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzgzim5m7oU
In case you can’t, this short film illustrates the power of words to radically change your message and your effect upon the world. It was made by an online marketing company, but through the power of YouTube, it has received over seven and a half million hits. (more…)
If you look South from Longridge, you will see the large Winter Hill TV mast. Move your attention to the East, at the top of the next hill and you will notice the Darwen, or Jubilee, Tower. This prominent landmark was the target for this month’s walk. The tower was built to commemorate the local landowner’s decision to allow free access to his land for all.
As the Bolton group were in charge today, we had to start from a civilized starting point, Roddlesworth, with its café and toilets. (more…)
This popular and enjoyable walk was undertaken a few years ago, so we decided it was time to re-visit the area again. Not only is this a scenic area, it is also steeped in local history largely connected to the commerce of the canal era.
First, a little bit of history. The Lancaster Canal was originally planned to link up with the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, which involved a large aqueduct across the Ribble. However, due to a lack of funds and the future competition from the railways, this structure was never built. The resultant link consisted of a canal spur from the L&L Canal to Walton Summit, followed by a tramway, which crossed the Ribble at Avenham Park, across the wooden bridge that still exists today and on to the canal basin at Corporation Street. This canal spur was the focus of our walk. (more…)
For this month’s walk, we ventured a little further from home to explore the pretty landscape to the north of the county around Abbeystead.
Starting from the car park at Stoops Bridge, we entered the estate of the Duke of Westminster, following the Wyre Way, a good path which crossed the Marshaw Wyre a number of times. To our left appeared the imposing manor house, one of the Duke’s many properties. Pheasants were a regular sight, reminding us that this is a shooting estate. (more…)
Dear Friends,
Life as a Minister can be challenging, rewarding, exhausting, and exciting – and that is often all in one day! But occasionally, there are times when I am encouraged to step back, ponder, and re-invigorate myself, away from the telephone and the emails.
One such occasion was very recently at the North Western Synod Minister’s Winter School. Entitled, ‘Lost for Words?, Evangelism through Welcome’, it was led by Francis Brienen, (the URC Secretary for Mission), Lawrence Moore, (URC Moderator Elect, and Director of the Windermere Centre), and Rev Stephen Collinson (NW Synod Training Officer). (more…)
The walk for February consisted of a seven mile circuit to the East of Chipping. Unfortunately, three of our regulars were non-starters, due to undercarriage problems, but I’m sure that they will be back soon. However, we had a good turnout from the Bolton group which brought us up to strength. Starting from the village car park, we first had a stop for coffee at the village café. (We really are going soft). Then it was through Chipping via Windy street and onwards, entering the fields along a curving path towards Pale Farm. Our route now took us through the garden of a beautiful barn conversion, but instead of the usual hostility to walkers, the owner had constructed a pretty walkway covered in climbing plants that led to the fields beyond. Then it was on to the Gibbon Bridge Hotel, Read more
During the extreme weather a year ago, we enjoyed a pleasant and quite challenging walk from St Annes to the Tower. This year we decided to repeat the experience, making the walk a little longer by starting from Fairhaven Lake. Our party of nine, including the welcome appearance of the Top Brass, in the form of Helen and Colin and their dog, Basil, joined the coastal path around the lake where there seemed to be some excitement amongst the bird watchers. It appeared that a rare Red Neck Grebe had flown in to pose for photographs. We were now heading due north into a bracing headwind, following the path towards St Anne’s Pier, where we briefly stopped to have a look at Les Dawson’s statue and then descended to the sands on our way to South Shore. This bit of Read more
Having trodden new ground last month, this month’s walk was on more familiar territory in the Ribble valley. Jim was back in charge and he chose a pleasant ramble along a selection of marked footpaths in the Gisburn Forest. Meeting as usual in Longridge, the five of us managed to fit into one car for the enjoyable drive to Slaidburn and on to the forest car park. The Gisburn Forest contains an extensive network of excellent public footpaths and cycle tracks and walkers and cyclists seem to co-exist quite well with each other. Starting from the car park, we walked north and west, heading for Stocks Reservoir, the source of much of our drinking water in this region and walking a little way on a quiet country lane which gave us a splendid view of this large body of water Read more