The week in Gainford and beyond

Friday, after band practice, we headed towards Linconlnshire, to familiar places, and to meet up with friends. It was our friend, Jan Marshall's 70th birthday and her family had organised a surprise party.

We had decided to make a weekend of it and wandered down narrow country roads near Grantham to a tiny village, Burton Coggles, where we had booked a room in the village pub, The Cholmeley Arms. Greeted at the door by a golden labrador we gravitated towards a log fire in the bar. Before we allowed ourselves to fall asleep we found our room, one of four purpose built ones in the grounds. The room could have graced a 5* hotel, and the Trip Advisor reviews were not exagerating when previous guests had waxed lyrical about this country inn.

Local bitter with dinner, in front of the now roaring fire, all following a long drive, persuaded us to return and watch the increasingly bizarre  things people do to raise money for Children in Need.

The events in Paris greeted us on the TV on Saturday morning. Enough has been said about the horror of it all, but Children in Need seems to have been forgotten. In the inhumanity of human beings in Paris we have witnessed the evil we are capable of.  But in Children in Need we see how others can push the boundaries of selfless love and courage.

On Saturday morning we had to apologise for not being able to make much of an impression on the feast spread out on the breakfast table. Lunch was too close.

Before setting our for Fotheringhay, we wandered around the corner to St Thomas' Church, recently renovated but still with a notice of October's services on the notice board, but not those for this month. Out of date notices do not inspire confidence, and will fail to draw visitors to worship

Fotheringhay is an important village in Northamptonshire. Once the site of a castle it now boasts a smallish church with a large tower, seen for many miles across the gently undulating countryside. Richard lll was born in the castle and Mary Queen of Scots was executed there. We spent some time in the church reading the history boards and thought of Kim Hardings's talk at the breakfast about Richard and the controversy about his place of burial.

But we found the Falcon, the pub where the birthday celebrations were to take, The plan was to secretly gather in the bar and surprise Jan when she came in with husband Len. As friends arrived, we chatted about past times until silence was ordered. In walked Jan and the look on her was somewhere along the scale of horror, surprise and joy, but with plenty of tears.

We travelled back to our pub and, exhausted, went to bed. The next morning we did do justice o the breakfast and set out for Gainford early, The journey was perfect until we reached there Teeside turn-off and discovered the A1 was closed to Scotch corner. We diverted to Northallerton and Croft, only to discover the river had burst its banks at Croft. Fortunately,  the water only reached the hub caps and we slowly drove through.

The rest of the week has been uneventful and included an evening with the house group. This group originally studied the Alpha course and decided to carry on meeting. They are attracted (theologically of course) to Nicky Gumbell who I don't think I have heard for 20 years. Like all of us, he has aged a little but still has that smile which can be quite disarming. The DVD the group is watching is based on the Beatitudes and there was plenty of material for discussion. Despite our differing theologies, there were many points where we were in agreement.

At the risk of this blog becoming and Egon Ronay pub guide, I will just mention that we enjoyed a super lunch yesterday at Farnaville's Rest in Whorlton, former The Bridge. The pub has been tastefully converted, and again a log fire offered a warm welcome. A 3 course lunch for £5 was excellent and incredible value for money.

The Cholmely Arms at Burton Coggles, The Falcon at Fotheringham and Farnaville's Rest at Whorlton, my recommendations of the week.

And to end...

“the search for meaning is really the search for the lost chord. When the lost chord is discovered by humankind, the discord in the world will be healed and the symphony of the universe will come into complete harmony with itself.” 
― John O'Donohue, Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom