frpaulharrison

A journey to Ushaw College

I am a member of the Catholic Archive Society and they are having their annual conference at Ushaw College. I trained to be a priest at Ushaw, but it is now no longer a seminary. I have not been back to Ushaw for a number of years, so was looking forward to a return visit. More on that later

My journey began at Workington station. My route was Workington to Carlisle, then on to Newcastle via Hexham. I changed at Newcastle for a train to Durham and then a taxi to Ushaw. The journey was largley uneventful. My train from Workington to Carlisle actually went on to Newcastle so no need to change trains. It did stop in Carlisle long enough for me to get a coffee. I had a short time on Newcastle station were I saw the unusual sight of two HST’s with no carriages!

On arrival at Ushaw I found my room was in the West Wing, very comfy it is as well. All rooms are en suite – unlike college days!. We had our dinner in what was the proffessors parlour.

A spledid meal it was and in good company. Tomorrow we get down to business.

Saint Matthias

The 14th of May marks the feast of St Matthias. The Acts of the Apostles tell us how he was chosen to replace Judas Iscariot.

“We must therefore choose someone who has been with us the whole time that the Lord Jesus was travelling around with us…… and he can act with us as witness to his resurrection.”

“Having nominated two candidates Joseph known as Barsabbas and Matthias….. They then few lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, he was listed as one of the twelve apostles. ”

That is all we really know about him. There are many legends surrounding his life, none of which can be verified with any certainty. I find our lack of knowledge of him rather reassuring, I am reminded by the countless Bishops, priests and lay men and women who have laboured hard, produced much fruit and their work is either unknown or largely forgotten, except by Almighty God of course.

Passport Woes

My first rail journey ended with a calamity. I lost my passport, let me explain. I had a connecting train from Mainz back to Frankfurt. I got ff the train and after about 5 minutes or so I realised I had left my back pack on the train. In it was my passport. Why had I put it there…. I was told that id could be asked for when the conductor inspected my pre booked tickets. As my journey was almost at an end I put in the back pack rather than keep it in my back trouser pocket. The trouble was, I wasn’t sure which train I had left it on, one that terminated in Mainz or one that ended in Frankfurt.

I then did the usual of the reporting it to lost property, all I had to do was wait, but time was short, I had lost it on a Tuesday, the next day was a public holiday i was suppose to leave on Friday. I looked at the options. The first thing I did was phone the British Consulate were I leaned about the procedure for an emergency passport. More to the point it was going to take 2 working days. The second thing I did was provisionally book 3 extra nights at the Premier Inn. They were very helpful,…

It soon became obvious that time was too short, so I started the process of applying for an emergency passport, which was quite straightforward. The down side was I had to go to Dussledorf to pick it up. At that point two different things happened. The Premier Inn was fully booked on the Monday and hotel prices in Frankfurt were very expensive, as were return flights to Manchester. So I looked at flights from Dusseldorf and was surprised and pleased to learn there were direct flights from there to Manchester and much cheaper!. I booked a flight Wednesday May 8th for 79 Euros. I then booked a hotel, which was not cheap, but I didn’t have too much choice. So going to Dussledorf turned to my advantage.

Another problem soon became obvious – laundry. I had only packed for a four day holiday. However the hotel gave me the address of a place that would do laundry, however they couldn’t do it, they recommended someone else, but I ended up going to a third place. Then I got word that my application had failed because the photo wasn’t quite right. The Premier Inn staff recommended at photo studio in a local shopping mall and that’s were i Headed. At the cost of 16 euros I got 4 pictures. I also came across the food hall. There were some excellent outlets and not too expensive.

On the Sunday (!) I got an email saying that my passport was ready for collection. I duly picked it up on Monday. The consulate was next door to the station.

Quite an ( expensive) adventure!

On my way to Frankfurt.

On Sunday I began my long planned short break in Frankurt. Although my flight from Manchester was on Monday morning, I decided to go down the night before, to avoid a very long day. I booked a train from Workington to Manchester Airport. As I booked just 2 days ago I thought £21.20 standard class was a good deal.

I left from Workington on the 14.34 to Carlisle.

IMGP3914 — Getting ready to leave Workington.

Rather surprisingly I was the only passenger to board and the train was almost empty. The journey itself was uneventful until I got to Carlisle. Parked just outside the station was the A4 Pacific Union of South Africa.

Not the best photo as it was taken through a window on a moving train.

I then was supposed to get the 15.34 from Carlisle to Manchester Aiport. This was delayed by thirty minutes due to signalling problems near Carstairs. Despite it having 8 coaches, it was packed. It was just as well that I had a booked seat! Most people got off at either Preston or Manchester PIcadilly.

The next day (today) was my flight. I had booked business class! This meant a quick check in and access to a priority lounge. I availed myself on free coffee.

IMGP3923 — View from the priority lounge.

As far as I could make out the flight was fully booked. It was a pleasant journey although cloud obscured most of the view. I had a reasonable snack onboard. On the flight I managed to book a rail ticket to the stop close to my hotel. On landing I was expecting a wait for my luggage. Imagine my surprise when I suitcase was the first on the carousel and no other luggage in sight!

I then caught the train to Frankfurt. I had a bit of a difficulty finding the right platforms, but got there in the end. Once off the train I headed for my hotel. I went to the wrong way at first. However with a combination of Google maps and the hotel website I found my way to the hotel. I got the hotel just in time, it had started to rain!.

Crewe and the Mayflower

For my day off I has pre-planned a day/night in Crewe, by train of course. I have not had train journey for some time now and I was getting withdrawl symptoms lol. I left Workington courtesy of the usual dmu

IMGP3844 — IMy train to Carlisle arrives at Workington

I then got on the 12.08 service from Carlisle to Crewe, a pendolino service. I had already decided to make a log of the journey, and do the same from Crewe to Stafford. I arrived in Crewe, checked in to my hotel. I then got a return to ticket to Stafford, mainly to see how fast the class 350’s are. However, as I waited for my train I heard the whistle of a steam train, which turned out to be the Mayflower, which was going from Carnforth to London. I got a quick photo

I had a hunch that my service to Stafford would over take the Mayflower, and I would have a good chance of better photos at Stafford. And I was right!. The Mayflower was held by a red signal for a short time – which helped.

This was an unexpected delight!

A busy morning for a change

immaculate-conception3b — The Immaculate Conception.

This morning I celebrated the 10am Mass which of course was the great feast of the Immaculate Conception of Our Blessed Lady. The Mass was well attended. After Mass we have Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament from 10.30 until 11.30am. At 11am we usually have confessions. This morning I went in a 10 minutes earlier. It was just as well, as I was kept busy until 11.30. I gave Benediction, I then tidied up and went back to the house for a coffee….

However, upon my return there was a sick call to our local hospital, which is actually just one ward!. I went along and gave a lady the Sacrament of the sick and the Last Rites. It was good to see a large number of her family there, who did join in the prayers. In the evening I said Mass at Silloth for the last time, more of which in another post.

Oh and Preston North End, my football team won. All in all a good day.

Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.

P1490080 — Exposition at Our Lady& St Michaels

Last Wednesday, we had a day of Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. It began with Mass at 9am and ended with Holy Hour and Benediction at 6pm. During the day pupils from St Patrick’s, St Gregory’s and St Joseph’s came along to adore Our Blessed Lord present in the Holy Eucharist. It was also pleasing to see so many from the parish in church during the day.

In the evening we finished with Holy and Benediction. Below are a couple of photos of Benediction led by Canon Watson.

P1490084

Day 2 – a trip to Scotland

My day began at Crewe and I was booked on the 9.09am service from Crewe to Edinburgh. Whilst waiting on platform 11 I saw that the rails had been made in Workington. A sad testament to a lost industry for the town. In days gone by, Workington was a world leader in the rail production. I am told the rails in Workington can be found all over the world. In the photo below, you should be able to make out the Workington stamp.

The journey to Edinburgh was largely uneventful apart from one thing: I was able to chat via facebook, to my brother who is in Kathmandu!. He was on a trekking holiday to Everest Base camp, sadly he did not get there as he got some kind of viral infection, and one cannot be ill at over 6000m. Still it passed some time.

On arrival in Edinburgh, I wanted to get to Glasgow Queen Street. I had to book a ticket, but nearly all the ticket machines were not working. Eventually I got a ticket and took the 13.00 to Queen St on the new 385 electric trains, they are fast if a little bumpy at times. Below is a photo of my train from Edinburgh.

The journey back to Crewe involved the 14.40 to Preston, then the 17.17 from Preston to Crewe. The latter was quite full even in first class. At Wigan we went to a different platform, overtook the train I had left at Preston and went on the slow line to Warrington. Not too sure what was going on. Anyway, another good train on the trains.

My November holiday begins

I am having the last of my holidays, and yes there are trains involved!. Today had been arranged at the last minute so I had to make the best of the cheap fares I could find, especially I am based in Crewe – again. My first trip was from Crewe to Manchester Piccadilly. Whilst waiting for the train, the 8.30 from Euston to Glasgow passed through, I made it in one hour 26 mins non stop, rather impressive.

From Manchester I was booked on the 11.22 Trans Pennine express to Carlisle. It eventually goes to Glasgow. The Platform was heaving with passengers, but surprsingly, the train was almost empty when it pulled in. Despite have a first class ticket, I had a poor seat, hardly any window view. The lady opposite was very pleasant and lovely to chat with. The photo below is that train departing from Carlisle.

The final part of my journey was from Carlisle back to Crewe. The weather had been dull, but had cleared up by mid afternoon. In fact it was a little misty in parts. On leaving Warrington I actually saw as ship on the Manchester Ship canal – a first for me.

A long Sunday

Today, for a change I had a busy day. My schedule was as follows.

I began with Mass at 9.30am at St Gregory’s Church, when it was finished I had a 15 minute journey to Maryport for Mass at 11am. After that returned to Workington, this time to Our Lady& St Michael’s for a Baptism at 12.30pm. Thankfully, there were only a small number at it, so I was able to have a coffee and sandwich before my next event at 2pm. This was the parents meeting for Confirmation. This lasted less than the hour we allowed for it. So i was able to “rest my eyes” before Mass at 6pm at Our Lady& St Michaels. This was followed by the reception of Miss Hill’s coffin prior to her Requiem Mass tomorrow.