From the Rector - Managing Change and Holding to the Vision

We are now deep into our consultation about the conceptual plans for St Faith’s, and we shall soon be able to feed-back the interim findings as collated by North Harbour Consultants.  The consultation process results in a feasibility report that will help guide the Property Development Group (PDG) and the PCC to determine the right way forward for St. Faith’s.  It is clear from the comments that have been directed to me that while many of you are excited about the overall concept plans, some of you are unimpressed and even, dare I say, threatened by aspects of it?  Perhaps it helps to be reminded that, at this stage, the PDG is consulting purely about the concept and not the details. (Remember the PCC has no proposals in front of them yet).  I say this to enable you, when considering the proposed concepts, to look further than, for example, the positioning of chairs or the shape of the extension and to hold in your mind what we are trying to achieve at St. Faith's.  I know that it is easy to get ‘hung up’ on our preferred location for, say, the altar and therefore dismiss the complete picture.  It’s a little like throwing away a masterpiece because one doesn’t like the frame – focussing upon the ‘big picture’ enables us to appreciate what is really on offer before us.

Let me, then, remind you of the PCC approved mission statement for St. Faith’s that has been central to the PDG’s planning process: ‘Our mission is to represent and convey the justice, truth and love of God for all people that Jesus came to share.  We will do this by engaging with the community through a variety of projects that express the unique value of each person and the importance of relationship with other people and with Christ.  We will develop St Faith’s Church in Havant as our centre for communion from which we can reach out to our neighbours, and into which all can find a place.’   The PDG’s plans have always kept the mission of St. Faith’s central to the planning process and therefore the conceptual plans that have been set before you have been carefully discerned over the time they have taken to be prepared. 

When I refer to ‘St. Faith’s’, I mean both the community of faith that meets regularly to worship God and the church building itself.  The duality of the worshiping community and the church building represent Christianity in Havant.  The core meaning of the mission statement of St. Faith’s is to engage with the community.  The concept of adding the Chapter House strengthens our position in the centre of Havant.  The Chapter House would provide modern and usefully sized meeting and function rooms which will enable more people from Havant to not only recognise that the Church (the people and the buildings) are there for them but to utilise the facilities.  Having the Church and the Chapter House side-by-side will hopefully encourage non-church goers to approach the Church.  Although the Church is here to provide a social element for the community, the primary focus is not about having a ‘good time’ but to enter into, and be challenged by, the primary mission of Jesus Christ.  At present St. Faith’s has a portfolio of properties that is scattered around the town, which dilutes the potentially strong positioning that could be achieved by a properly conceived and well thought out plan.  The plan before you has gone through a serious process of questioning and debate with representatives of St. Faith’s as well as professionals such as architects, surveyors, consultants and the Diocesan Advisory Committee.

To conclude, the consultation is about asking you to make your contribution to the conceptual plans in order that a balanced feasibility report can be made.  May I ask that in your considerations of the concept you think not only of the attachments you have to certain aspects of the building, but also what is it that makes you a Christian?  Is our Christianity about the attachments to things we are comfortable with or is it about ensuring that the heart and spirit of the Church lives on now, next year, 50 years and on…

May God bless you,                                                                                                                              David

About The Parish

As a schoolboy, I had two heroes, each associated with the land which made them famous, one hot and one cold.  They were Lawrence of Arabia and Scott of the Antarctic.  Both were the subject of films, played respectively by Peter O’Toole and John Mills.  I remember attending a schools matinee of Scott at the Southsea Odeon which was well received by the schoolboys, albeit we were there in lieu of lessons!  Some years later, I used to pass each day a statue of Scott in Portsmouth Dockyard.  It was one of three by Scott’s wife, Katherine, the other two being in London and Christchurch, New Zealand.  Put on something warm because our narrative is about Scott.

Robert Falcon Scott, known to his five siblings as Con but to his father as Mooney because he was always daydreaming, was born in Devonport on 6 June 1868.  After a cosy time in the little village school in Devon, he was sent to a naval cramming school, as it was called in those days, in Fareham, named Fosters or Stubbington House.  He was aged 11 and he remained at the school for two years.  The cramming enabled him to pass the naval cadet examination and he joined the training ship Britannia on the River Dart.  In 1883, at the age of 15, he became a Midshipman.  His career progressed and by June 1900, at the age of 32, he was promoted a Commander.  More than this, he was selected from nine candidates to lead a National Antarctic expedition which took a year to organise.

In July 1901, Scott sailed in the Discovery to explore the west and east coast of McMurdo Sound.  With the death of Queen Victoria early in 1901 and the Boer War going badly in South Africa, the nation was in need of a success.  With Scott was a man of great destiny - Ernest Shackleton!  Sad to report that the two men did not get on well, worse still after Scott's account of the expedition was published in which he reported that Shackleton's health had required him to be put on a sledge for much of the journey across the frozen wastes.  The expedition lasted just over three years before the Discovery, described as spruce and gleaming, arrived back in Portsmouth on 10 September 1904.  Public morale, now that the Boer War was finally won, had improved and the country was ready to give Scott and his party a hero's welcome.  Rear-Admiral Sir William Wharton, once a critic, said "Commander Scott and his staff have most magnificently maintained the high standard of efficiency of former polar explorers".

For the next few years, Scott worked tirelessly to raise funds, partly to pay off debts arising from the Discovery Expedition and partly to mount further exploration of Antarctica.  On 13 September 1909, Scott announced that he was preparing an Antarctic Expedition to be first to the South Pole.  As we shall see next month, this was the beginning of what someone described as a "first rate tragedy".                                                                                                                                    Roger Bryant

Correspondence Column

Dear Colin,

The ambitious, and costly proposals for “development” seem to have become a matter of prime concern at St. Faith’s, and no doubt, after full consultation and debate, the appropriate, rightful conclusion will be reached.  Considering this, my mind turned to that excellent sermon given by the Reverend Gibbons, Snr. on 18^th June – of which, for a change, I could hear every word – wherein he reminded us all of why we were in church that morning.  It was to celebrate the Eucharist; for thanksgiving, to renew and strengthen our faith.

Perhaps, in all deliberations on “development”, his words and message may be kept in the forefront of our minds.

Yours sincerely,                                                                                                                         John Bradey

Dear Colin,

I would like to re-iterate my objections to and dislike of the main altar being other than at the east end of a medieval cruciform church, where it rightly belongs.  The idea of replacing it with the Lady Chapel somehow supposes that Our Lady is now more Important than her Son and to do it it will be necessary to destroy totally the Lady Chapel in its present form – a Memorial to the mother of Captain Boyd Richardson, designed by Sir Charles Nicholson and dedicated by the Bishop of Salisbury in 1936 as I am sure everyone knows.                           

To replace pews with chairs means a continuing big job for someone of putting them all out and stacking them when necessary, making sure they comply with fire regulations, etc.  What do we think St. Faith’s is – a parish church or the Cathedral of Havant!                         

As to the external alterations to a Grade 2 Listed Building in a Conservation Area:  that will be decided by the Diocese, the PCC and Havant Borough Council in consultation with all and sundry.  If it is OK by them it is OK by me, just so long as a big financial burden is not placed on future generations.

Yours sincerely,                                                                                                                        Sheilah Legg

Parishioners in ‘The News’

Two of our parishioners have been featured in ‘The News’, Peter Thomas and Helena Youle.

Firstly Peter Thomas.  A handful of Royal Marines who fought in Korea half a century ago turned up to see a commemorative bench unveiled at the Royal Marines Museum in Eastney, Portsmouth.  

It was donated by former members of 41 Independent Commando – a 200-strong unit which suffered massive casualties at the hands of North Korean and Chinese forces in 1950.  The ceremony on Veterans Day, 27 June, was the only event held in the Portsmouth area to mark what the government hopes will become an annual “thank you” to Britain’s ex-servicemen and women.  The wooden seat in the museum’s memorial garden honours the 31 men who were killed in action while escorting a convoy through enemy lines to Hagaru-Ri, and the 10 who died in captivity afterwards.

Lieutenant Colonel Peter Thomas, who was in charge of heavy weapons during the battle said: “We were isolated.  We lost half our mortars and machine guns.  If it hadn’t been for the fighting qualities of the US Marine Corps, none of us would be here today.”

Chris Newberry, director of the Royal Marines Museum, said: Our Veterans Day is modelled on the US Veterans Day, which has been a national holiday there since 1954.  In the UK, I’m sorry to say, 27 June is not being marked as a national holiday.”

Secondly, Helena Youle.  As parishioners know, Helena Youle is an ardent campaigner against cruelty to animals.  She featured in ‘The News’ as she was set to run naked through the streets on 5 July, although she isn’t some kind of adventurous naturist.  Instead she was stripping off as part of a campaign aimed at stopping cruelty to bulls in Spain. 

During the annual ‘Running of the Bulls’ week-long Festival of San Fermin in Pamplona, six bulls and six cows are released to stampede through the streets and into the bull ring every day.

In protest, campaigners from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) hold the ‘Running of the Nudes’ the day before the first bull run.

Helena has never gone nude in public before and although she is nervous, she’s determined to see it through she told Sue Wade of ‘The News’.  Helena said, “It’s all about showing people you can have fun without cruelty.  I was asked to join in earlier this year and I hate the thought of animal cruelty so much I didn’t take much persuasion.  I’m a bit nervous about doing it as I’ve never done anything like this before, but as there are so many people doing it, I’m hoping it won’t be that bad. 

Helena went on to say, “We don’t want to stop the festival, just the cruelty to the bulls.  I’m looking forward to seeing all the other things that happen at the festival.  My husband Tony isn’t coming to Spain with me.  He doesn’t seem to mind what I’m doing, though.  He just let’s me get on with these ideas.”

A Pick Me Up

One morning a young lady slipped and was saved by falling totally by a passing priest.  He whispered “This is the first time I’ve had a fallen women in my arms”.  She replied “And this is the first time I’ve been picked up by a priest”.

St. Alban’s Festival Pilgrimage – 24^th June 2006

We were invited to join our friends at St. Alban’s, West Leigh on their trip to St. Alban’s, Hertfordshire.  We set off by coach at 7.30pm, yes another early start.  The drive up there was very good; no hold ups even straight through Hindhead.  Arrived safe and sound, an excellent driver, around 9.15am and guess what, it was raining.  Never mind we had come prepared, but first things first, into the coffee shop.  We had stopped at St. Alban’s monastery in Verulamium Park.  Whilst we sat and had a delicious coffee, we watched the young people getting ready for the procession.  I had not realised it was going to be a carnival; the costumes were very clever and colourful.  We had lions, chariots and horses, eye balls on poles, roses, butterflies and the sea, we waited a while then after a prayer followed behind the procession, the sun came out by this time.  The grounds of the Abbey are beautiful, very large, rivers and streams, wide paths thank goodness, as it would have been so easy to slip off the side into the water.  We all followed and arrived at the cathedral where St. Alban was killed.  Into the cathedral where at 11.30am Solemn Concelebrated Eucharist was taken.  We were on the side, but with the aid of screens and speakers, nothing was missed.  The Archbishop of Canterbury took the service along with a host of clergy.  There were people from all parts of the world, it was great.

After the mass, a quick look around, then off we went Sandra, Valentine, Sheila, Joyce and I to find a comfortable seat and some food.  We ended up in a local hostelry and had a good meal and a drink, non alcoholic of course.  Keeping an eye on the time, we came back to the cathedral and finished our look around.  A beautiful building with lots of chapels and lovely stained glass windows.  A browse in the bookshop just had to get some postcards.  At 4pm we were invited to the Festival Evensong, to get good seats Valentine and I got there early and just sat taking in the atmosphere – lovely.  We had German and Italian clergy alongside us and we felt special.  The service was good, the choirs excellent, but oh! How I would have loved to have joined in with the Magnificat and other responses, but the choir did these.  I know we have to let go, very hard for us old ones.  Sermon by His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, very good.  The service ended with a procession through the Shrine of St. Alban, where roses were placed on his tomb.  This was great as we sung a hymn, a very rousing one, “For all the Saints who from their labours rest”; ending with a hymn to St. Alban, the tune “Glory, glory halleluiah, his faith is marching on” - absolutely mind blowing.  The roses Valentine and I bought we gave to Mary who placed them on our St. Alban’s altar on Sunday.

We eventually found our way back to the coach, the long way of course.  A good trip home very tired but what a day, thank you to our friends for including us in their celebrations.  Jenny Sagrott

The Procession from Verulamium

What is now Verulamium Park was once the third largest city of Roman Britain.  Over 1700 years ago a man named Alban lived here:  an ordinary Roman citizen, whose extraordinary story we celebrate today.

The Story of Alban

One day, a stranger knocked at the door of Alban’s house; he was a Christian priest fleeing persecution.  Alban took the stranger in, and in the days that followed was so moved by his faith and courage, that he asked to be taught more about this new religion.

It was not long before some Roman soldiers came to arrest the fugitive priest.  But Alban, inspired in his new-found faith, exchanged clothes with him, allowing him to escape.  Donning the priest’s cloak, he surrendered himself to the soldiers – and to certain death.

Alban’s Trial

You are now standing near the site of the Imperial Basilica in which Alban’s trial would have taken place.  His accusers, on discovering his identity, tried to persuade Alban to renounce the Christian faith; but instead he proclaimed to his fellow Romans: “I am Alban; I worship and adore the true and living God, who created all things”.

The Pilgrimage Procession

Alban was taken from this place to a hill outside the city walls, where he was executed.  Our Procession today will take us up the hill to the Cathedral and Abbey Church of Saint Alban – built on the site of Alban’s death.

In the course of the Procession some of the events of Alban’s final journey will be re-enacted by members of the Abbey congregations.  The processional images have been made especially for today by the young people of the Abbey.

Opening Prayer

The Lord be with you:

All          and also with you.

Merciful God, whose servant Alban, when faced with death, responded to his accusers with words of faith and hope: give us grace to be courageous in our faith, and even at the last to put our trust in you; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

All          Amen.

                Let us go forth in peace:

All          in the name of Christ. Amen.

First Tableau: Alban crosses the river Ver

“And when he was being led as a lamb to the sacrifice, they came to a river which flowed very rapidly between the city walls and the arena where he was to be killed.  The power of Christ was revealed when the waters of the river were parted by Alban, whose valour was clear by the prayer which he prayed there, in the presence of an incredible multitude of men and women of all ages.”

Second Tableau: a miraculous spring of water

“When Alban asked for water, a continuous spring of water rose up immediately at the martyr’s feet.  Alban ascended a hill, accompanied by the crowd.  The hill was coloured and clothed with many different kinds of flowers, its beauty providing a worthy place to be hallowed by a martyr’s blood.”

Third Tableau: Alban is put to death

“Here, on top of the hill, the gallant martyr met his death, and received the crown of life which God has promised to those who loved him.  As the martyr’s head fell, the executioner’s eyes dropped out on to the ground.  Another soldier, who had been moved by divine intuition to refuse to slay God’s confessor, was beheaded at the same time as Alban.  Saint Alban suffered on the twenty-second day of June near the city of Verulamium.  Here, when the peace of Christian times was restored, a beautiful church worthy of his martyrdom was built, where sick folk are healed and frequent miracles take place to this day.”

Among the roses of the martyrs brightly shines Saint Alban

Parish Office

 

Georgie Black left St. Faith’s after three years as Parish Office Administrator to take up the post of Personal Assistant to the Diocesan Director of Ordinands based at Hambledon.  We wish her well in her new job.

We welcome Clare Kennar to St. Faith’s who took on the role on 10 July.

A farewell lunch was held for Georgie at The Ship, Langstone, on 7 July.

 

Murder, Mystery Evening

There will be a Murder Mystery Evening on Saturday 30^th September in St. Faith’s Church Hall, The Pallant, Havant, commencing 7pm.  A good fun evening - enjoy a three course dinner while you try to solve the murder. 

Come along with a group of friends (tables of 8) or join up with others and make new friends. Tickets are £15 each. 

To book, or for more information, contact Sandra Haggan 023 9245 5161.

St Faith’s Town Fair 2006

Saturday 26^th August 10:00am to 3:00pm at and around St Faith’s Church

This year’s church Town Fair will be held on the final Saturday in August.  Following on from last year’s theme of “Havant Remembered”, this year the theme is “Havant Tomorrow”.

We need help.  If you are able to spend a little part of the day helping with the stalls or with collecting donations beforehand, please do not hesitate to volunteer.  Details are available on lists in church.

We also need donations for all the stalls.  Especially the tombola, bottle stall, and white elephant stall.

Some changes this year.  There are some new stalls such as jewellery.

The grand draw tickets are now on sale (see below).  Please buy some and perhaps sell some!

If you would like to help with a stall or organising the fair, please contact the chairman of the committee – Revd David Williams  (call 023 9246 7597 or see him in church). 

Grand Draw Prizes

1^st Prize - £100 Cash (donated by Swan-Wood Fabrications); 2^nd Prize - £50 Waitrose Vouchers; 3^rd Prize – 2 tickets for Chichester Festival Theatre; plus over 20 other fabulous prizes including DVD Player, Rail & Hovercraft tickets, Family tickets to top local attractions, Cinema tickets, Meals out, Vouchers for local shops and Health Club passes.  The total value of prizes is worth over £500.  Tickets are available from Mike Dodsworth/Town Fair committee.                 Tickets are 50p each.  Draw takes place at end of Town Fair.

Youth Club Rowing

After our disappointment last year when the weather had scuppered our rowing plans on more than one occasion, we could hardly believe our good fortune when Saturday 13^th May dawned with blue skies and sunshine ready for St Faith’s Young Believers (SFYB) to take to the water with Langstone Cutters Rowing Club (LCRC).

Rosemary Thomas had organised with Les Plater from the LRCR to take the members of SFYB rowing, the club had suggested some different dates and we chose the first date offered leaving us 2 standby’s if the weather decided to frown upon us.

It was a bit of a shock to the system for us all as we arrived having had to turn our attention to warm weather clothes and sunglasses for the first time this year.  Eighteen Young Believers arrived, all with their parental agreement forms flapping in the breeze to be handed into Fiona Hedley.  We met betwixt the Royal Oak and Langstone Mill, which is where the club boats are located.  Many of you will have walked along the path and perhaps seen the 2 large covered rowing boats anchored out from the mill but perhaps not appreciated that in addition LCRC have smaller 2-4 man boats.

The LCRC members took all the YB’s names and issued a sticker with the individuals name for easy recognition, ran through the safety aspects of what we were about to do and issued life jackets to the first intrepid volunteers.  The oars of the large boats are pretty heavy and too big for the smallest of our group so helpers and parents alike were enlisted to crew the boats alongside the likes of Holly Smith, Nick Casey and Zoe Poliszczuk.  The younger YB’s enjoyed a ride in these boats as we pulled our way across the water towards Hayling Island.  It is quite a challenge to ensure that you are rowing in time with the “stroke”, and not dipping your oar into the water so far that it is too heavy to pull back up and out.

The smaller 2-4 man boats are lighter and all members of SFYB’s were able to row out into the harbour in one of these boats. 

A fantastic time was had by all, young and less young alike, LCRC showed us great hospitality providing us with a drink and biscuits to keep our strength up. 

The tide was fast disappearing when the last of the young rowers returned and it was time for the large boats to be returned to their mooring before the water had disappeared completely.  We finally all left by about 2pm having thoroughly enjoyed a morning out in the fresh air and getting our first taste of rowing.

On behalf of SFYB I’d like to say a big thank you to Rosemary who made the arrangements and of course to all the members of LCRC who gave up their Saturday morning to introduce us all to a very pleasant way to enjoy a sunny morning of the sea.

LCRC try and row Saturday and Sunday during the summer when the tide is right.  They sometimes nip round to Emsworth and stop for a cup of tea at the tea shop before rowing back, and sometimes go further a field heading to East Head for a picnic.  Aside from picking up the rhythm, the rowing is not too strenuous and LCRC are enthusiastic to meet new members.  If anyone is interested please ask and one of the SFYB helpers who will be able to give you the contact details.                                                                                                                        Victoria Smith

Historic Churches Bike Ride and Walk

Every year the Historic Churches Trust holds a bike ride, and walk, to raise funds which go towards supporting historic churches.  The money which each rider raises in sponsorship is divided between the rider’s church and the general fund of the Trust.  This year’s event is on Saturday 9^th September.  To take part please see Audrey Currie for details and for an application form. 

A Visit to China

I was fortunate enough, during April, to go on a trip to south-western China, arranged by Evangeline Bowen, of Petersfield, who had spent some years working as a midwife and teaching midwifery there.  We went to Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi provinces, seeing large cities such as Kunming, Guiyang and Guilin and remote villages, many of them inhabited by minority, tribal people.

It is remarkable how the network of rural roads has been improved in recent years, enabling buses to go even to remote villages.  Railways and airports have also been built on a large scale.  The government seems to have been ploughing back the money coming from China’s new prosperity into the improvement of the country’s infrastructure, for the potential benefit of the whole population, most of who are still small farmers.  What strikes you as you drive through the country is how every possible natural resource is utilized. Every foot of usable ground is cultivated, often in terraced fields no larger than a fair-sized English garden.  Ploughing is by water-buffalo, or occasionally by rotavator, rice is planted out in flooded fields by hand; slow-moving water-wheels lift water from rivers to paddy-fields.  Little coal mines, employing perhaps five or six people and with machinery which looks as if it had been designed by Heath Robinson, load coal into waiting lorries.  Meanwhile the scenery, in most of the areas which we saw, is of outstanding beauty.  Guizhou, for instance, is very hilly, most of the hills conical in shape, with very steep, wooded slopes.  The little gaps between the hills are intensely cultivated, with any patches higher up the hills which are accessible also ploughed.  And everything is of the most brilliant green.  Fast flowing rivers which remind one of those of Devon or Wales flow through wooded gorges or terraced valleys.  Many parts of China are, of course, the home of modern, large-scale industries, but this development has not led, as it easily might have done, to the neglect of traditional farming and cottage industries.

The people in the countryside have to work extremely hard.  The cultivation of rice is extraordinarily labour-intensive.  But they seem healthy, and often live to great ages.  Old people, as well as dead ancestors and relatives, are greatly respected, in accordance with Confucian teaching.  In the early days of Communism in China, during the ‘Cultural Revolution’, Confucius was decried and his books burned; churches, mosques and temples of all kinds were closed and often pulled down.  But now Confucius is back in favour, and temples and other historic buildings have been rebuilt in traditional style, so that often one cannot tell at a glance whether a building is five hundred years or five years old.

The Chinese are an extremely artistic people, with a great appreciation of natural beauty.  We repeatedly saw parks, beautifully laid-out with lakes, pavilions and bridges, full of people enjoying the scenery; we saw classes of school children picnicking in beautiful parts of the country, about which they would later be expected to write poems.  From Guizhou we flew to Guilin in Guangxi, on the Li River, which is famous for its almost pointed limestone hills. We went down the river by boat from Guihin to Yangshuo in continual rain, but the hills looked atmospheric in the mist.  Next day in Yangshuo I spent some time sitting in a cafe overlooking the river and the misty hills beyond.  The view was so peaceful and beautiful as to be really spell-binding, so that one could hardly tear oneself away to return to mundane activity.

In one of the villages which we visited we met a Christian family and visited the village church.  We were told that there were about fifty Christian families in the village, but others walked from neighboring villages so that they had four services each Sunday.  All non Roman Catholic Churches in China have come together into a single Church of China, though each congregation keeps the type of service which they were used to when they were in separate denominations.  On our last day in China, which was a Sunday, many of us attended a service at a church in one of the main streets of Kunming.  As we approached you could see what looked like crowds converging on the entrance.  There must have been at least a thousand people at the service, which was taken by a visiting minister from Taiwan.  The sermon, which lasted over an hour, was clearly very absorbing, though we could understand only an occasional word.  The hymn tunes, led by a robed choir, were largely familiar to us, and included ‘Praise God from whom all blessings flow’ and ‘What a friend we have in Jesus’.  We came away convinced that the Chinese Church is very much alive and active.  In fact I think that China, including Hong Kong and Taiwan, with Singapore and the Chinese Diaspora throughout the world, will have a great part to play in the future of world Christianity.  Christianity in China starts from a favorable base in the strong ethical and moral tradition of Confucianism, which is very close in many ways to Christian moral teaching.

Should we think of contemporary China as Communist?  Officially, of course, it is.  But not any longer, I think, in the sense we normally mean.  The state is authoritarian, certainly, but perhaps it needs to be.  Immediate democracy would probably put power in the hands of an articulate urban minority, whose policies might easily be disastrous for rural China.  The government seems to be encouraging private enterprise, which can be seen everywhere, but directing this so as to bring benefits to the whole people, thus avoiding the disastrous collapse which afflicted Russia when Communism fell.  On our travels we frequently met peasant farmers whose children were at university:  This raises the question of who will be willing to till the fields when education spreads so widely.  That is a vast problem; but if anyone can solve it, hopefully the Chinese will.

Of course we saw many other things while we were in China.  We went to a ‘marriage broking’ festival amongst the Miao people where there were hundreds, perhaps thousands of people in traditional festive dress, with the girls wearing silver ornaments and headdresses; we saw lime-kilns and brick-kilns at work; we visited the greatest waterfall in Asia.  But my outstanding impressions overall were of the beauty of the scenery and the dignity and friendliness of a hard-working and very talented people.                                                                                  Richard Acworth