Sunday 28th June

We had our storm last night, lightening and thunder and bucketfuls of rain.  The rose petals are like scattered confetti on the lawn.  I worried about the kitten but she emerged dry from what ever shelter she found.

I took some roses to Margaret Woods grave yesterday for there is exciting news in the offing.  The church trustees have been around and two large builder bags of gravel have been deposited in the grave yard.  When I talked to a friend, she said that the trustees have decided to spend Margaret's money that she had left to the church.  This means that a rather ugly wooden painting will go up to London for restoration and that the little coke house will be repaired.  The decision to spend the money is because there is to be a new bishop at York. Bishop Sentamu is retiring from next year, and the new bishop comes from Chelmsford.  The trustees are worried that the church may take the inheritance and so they are spending some of the money.

As my friend said Paul would have been so pleased, he loved the little coke house and even printed out a leaflet for it.

Now with the demise of modern pubs, it is interesting to think that our first ale houses were old ladies in the cottages making ale to sell for the passing drovers.

You note that church wardens still have the right to arrest people causing trouble, perhaps, which I have seen occasionally, males weeing behind the church after a wedding ceremony.

The church now is closed, the door locked sadly, but over the years we had been here the talk of a loo within the church was often under discussion. Now sadly it will sit in the landscape a white elephant like so many churches that hit the bumper of non religious people.

This the coke house three years ago.  The roses and shrubs are so small.