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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.

Edinburgh day 2

After cutting short my first day due to a spot of stomach trouble, I spent a lot of time sleeping. Thankfully the symptoms passed off. Also my rover ticket was for 2 days, so I was able to complete my plans.

My first destination was North Berwick, the short branch line was mew for me. There is a useful short history here

After my stomach problems I would not be visiting these shops…

IMGP3571 — Part of the food hall at Edinburgh Waverley

My train consisted of 6 coaches which mean there was plenty of space. Like all modern electric traction they were fast and efficient.

IMGP3576 — My train from North Berwick back to Edinburgh

My second journey was from Edinburgh to Stirling via Falkirk Grahamston. The reason I mention Falkirk is that the branch from Polmont to Stirling was new to me . This line is being electrified. To my untrained eye is looks almost complete. Stirling is a large station with eight platforms, judging by the information screens only 3 are actually used.

IMGP3577 — My train from Stirling to Edinburgh.

The previous train to Edinburgh had been cancelled so this one filled up pretty quickly. These units have first class areas, that are not needed on this route, I found a seat there!

All in all a quiet but pleasant day and my stomach behaved itself!

St Richard of Chichester

Today we keep the optional feast of St Richard of Chichester. If you want a decent summary of his life you will find it Here.

Today’s feast reminds us that we have a wealth of English, Scottish and Welsh saints, many of whom have been forgotten or overlooked. There are historical reasons for that, but I will not dwell on those here, but I feel that they need to be celebrated and remembered.

A fiery end to Mass at Maryport

No, I did not get hot under the collar (!) and shout, rather I nearly caused a small fire in the church. After Mass had concluded there was Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. After I had started, I put the cover of the monstrance to one side on the altar. What I didn’t realise is that it was very close to one of the votive lights, so close it caught fire. Thankfully, I and one of the congregation noticed and we were able to blow out the flames before any serious damage was done.

My Godfather Bob Melling RIP

IMG_20180404_0001 — Bob Melling holding me at my Baptism.

Today I concelebrated at the Requiem Mass for Bob Melling. He was a life long friend of my late father. He was best man at his wedding, as the above photo shows he was godfather to me at my Baptism in 1957. My dad and Bob shared many interests including Climbing, walking, photography and the operrettas of Gilbert and Sullivan. Above all that was their love and commitment to the Catholic Faith. They loved the Church and the person of Jesus Christ. For all their lives they were actively involved in the life and mission of the Church.

Bob was a lovely, kind and gentle man. He was also very self effaccing. He insisted that there was to be no Eulogy or Tribute at his Requiem Mass. However I did want to honour his memory. He was a man of faith and in some ways represented all that was good on the church before the second Vatican Council .

May he rest in peace.

1st Letter of St Peter

This week is week 8 of Ordinary Time. For the next few the first reading at weekday Masses is taken from the 1st letter of St Peter. In fact we will read most of it over the coming days.

The letter is written to Christians in northern Asia Minor – now Turkey. Most scripture scholars agree that it was probably written to newly baptised Christians. There references to the sacrament, but also to how they should live their lives. There are also passages that talk about Christians being subject to difficulties and even hostility. These problems are not specified, so don’t appear to be officially endorsed persecution. It would seem that it is the day to day difficulties of being a Christian in a hostile environment. The letter was probably written about 60-65AD, yet is a way it message is still relevant. How do we as Catholics react to hostility and difficulty – what should we say and do? We we could no better than to listen and read the first letter of St Peter.

A change of Breviary

As I mentioned Easter has come to an end, we are now in what is called Ordinary Time ( more of which another time). For those who pray the Divine Office is also means we change volumes…..

As a priest I am obliged to say the Divine Office every day. This is a series of set prayers corresponding to the different hours of the day – Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer etc. Each hour – as they are called – follow a similar patter: Opening hymn, psalms, a short reading from scripture, prayers and a concluding prayer. Morning and Evening Prayer are longer than some others, as is what is called the Office of Readings. Part of the history of all this is all 150 psalms would be said over a given period. For a long time it was over a week, at the moment they are spread over 4 weeks, and we no longer say all 150 psalms – that is another blog post someday!

Under the present arrangement this is all divided into three volumes. Volume 1 covers Advent, Christmas and the early part of Ordinary Time. Volume 2 covers Lent and Easter. Volume 3 covers Ordinary Time that corresponds with summer and autumn. All volumes have feast and saints days as well.

That is just the briefest of introductions to the Divine Office. It is also known as the Liturgy of the Hours and Prayer of the Church.

Pentecost Break – Day 2: Crewe, Lincoln, Peterborough.

IMGP3457 — My train from Crewe to Derby.

A lovely sunny and warm morning for the first leg of my journey. The above took me to Derby via Stoke on Trent. It was a pleasant journey, but as it was only one coach, it was pretty full. I had a short wait at Derby, before my next train took me on the short journey to Nottingham.

At Nottingham I had the chance for a coffee before boarding my East Midlands train to Lincoln via Newark. This was new route for me and a pleasant one. There quite a few stations between Nottingham and Newark, but my train was non stop. I was hoping the take a photo of the flat crossing where my route crossed the East Coast Main line but I missed it!.

IMGP3468 — An East Midlands HST awaiting departure from Nottingham to London St Pancras

On arrival at Lincoln station I had over an hours wait for my connection to Peterborough. Lincoln is a rather pleasant station, but there was no cafe, so I had to go to a nearby Gregg’s for a snack. To my surprise there were more trains than I thought there would be. After the hour was up, I caught the train to Peterborough. Again it was only one coach. It called at Sleaford and Spalding. As I anticipated, it was rather flat! but looked looked good in the splendid weather.

IMGP3476 — My train to Peterborough approaches

From Peterborough I was booked on the 15.10 to London Kings Cross. This was meant to be a Class 91 but as the photo will show it was an East Midlands HST on loan to Virgin East Coast. It had a different seat configuration so my reserve seat didn’t exist. What is more the train was packed so I had to stand all the way to London.

IMGP3479 — This HST passed at High Speed

Day off at Silloth

On Monday I had my day off. I decided the spend the day in Silloth. There is a flat attached to the Catholic Church. I had pleasant relaxing day in glorious sunny weather. On the way back to Workington I stopped briefly at Allonby and took a couple of photos taking advantage of a lovely clear evening.

IMGP3440 — The mountain is Criffell, which near to Dumfries in Scotland.

IMGP3442 — Left center is the Grassmoor range, right center the High Stile range

Welcome to my Blog

Once again welcome to my personal blog. I am a Catholic Priest based in Workington, Cumbria, England. The parish is that of Christ the Good Shepherd and takes in three former parishes: Our Lady& St Michael’s Workington, St Gregory’s Workington and St Mary’s Harrington. Currently we are also linked with Maryport and Silloth.

The blog will be a mixture of the Catholic Faith, as well as my own interests namely railways and trains, hiking, Catholic History classical music and sport. I will not ( hopefully) be engaging in controversy, that is not my style, besides others are better at it than me!. I’m sure I will make some errors, but I am hoping it will a good experience for me and anyone who cares to read my blog.