FAITH MATTERS

The Parish Magazine of St. Faith, Havant with St. Nicholas, Langstone

DECEMBER 2005 (Internet Edition)

Click on the reduced version (thumbnail) of the graphic to see the full version, then click on the "Back" button on your browser to get back to this page.

From the Rector - Preparing for Christmas

Can you believe it’s almost here again?  Are the Government sneaking in leap days here and there without telling us?  Christmas will be with us soon, but where has the year gone?  More importantly if Christmas is just round the corner when am I going to find time to get ready for it?  There’s so much to do and so little time to do it in.  Do you have the same feeling?

The church is doing its own preparation for Christmas.  We have a tree to decorate and presents to put underneath it (donated by you and others on Sunday 4^th December at our 9.30am Tree Service and which will find their way to children in hospitals at Christmas time).  We have to decorate the building with lights (mostly candles for the Carols by Candlelight on Christmas Eve) and flowers, especially holly and mistletoe.  Thus we can be as busy as any family.

However the season of Advent, which is the four weeks leading up to Christmas, is not just about getting ready for Christmas day in a practical sense.  We are supposed to be preparing ourselves spiritually for the coming of Jesus.  Now we know that two thousand years ago Jesus came as a baby whose life changed dramatically the course of human history by reshaping our relationship with God.  But it is easy to forget that Jesus also promised that he would come again and, as John’s Gospel reminds us, take us to himself so that “where I am you may be also”.  It’s not hard to see why this is often overlooked.  Christmas is busy enough without having to ponder on such things, but part of Advent is about making a little time to reflect on the meaning of Jesus’ promise.  What did he mean?  How could he come again and to who and why?  Clearly there is some sense of divine plan for us and yet we cannot imagine what it might be.

Last Advent I set myself a goal.  I said to myself, “Okay, I know it’s going to be busy getting ready for Christmas, but I will take a few opportunities to stop what I am doing and to relish that moment.”  And I recall a few moments where I did just that.  Even though December was no smoother than any other, it took some of the pressure off my anticipation of Christmas day.  Rather than being the great event that had to be perfect, Christmas day became a day like any other, special for Christ’s birth rather than the good time I was supposed to be having.  Actually I probably over did it, as my wife will tell you, because I carved the turkey at the wrong time and made a mess of the lunch!  (Better not do that this year).  But my point is this: if Advent is the season of preparing for the Lord’s coming, then let us be busy in the Lord’s work.  Mostly this means decorating the house or church and giving gifts to family, friends and those in need.  But for a little time it also means getting things right with God.  Do yourself a favour this Christmas – spend a little time talking and listening to God.  You might be surprised at what God has in store for you!

May god bless you – and have a happy Christmas.                                                                             David

Christmas Greetings

Our very best wishes to you all for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Pam and Derek Bowley

A Happy Christmas and a healthy and prosperous 2006 to all our friends at St. Faith’s and St. Nicholas.                                                                                                                       Beryl and Colin Carter

Wishing all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year with love.                             Sandra Haggan xxx

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.                                                             Vicki Mockford & Family

Wishing the clergy and everyone at St. Faith’s a very Happy Christmas and New Year. Year.

Val Rose

Wishing all a Peaceful and Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year.    Valentine Searle

A very Happy Christmas to all our friends in St. Faith's. St. Faith’s.            Roger & Marion Simmons

To all our friends at St Faiths best wishes for a Happy Christmas and New Year, with love from

The Smiths, Richard, Victoria, Emma and Holly xxxx

Peter and Rosemary Thomas would like to send Christmas greetings to all the clergy, the verger, organist and the choir and thank them for all their hard work during the year. Every good wish, also, to all their friends in the congregation. Rosemary especially thanks all those who help so generously with their time and money arranging the flowers in the church and wishes you all a very Happy Christmas.       

Happy Christmas to all my friends.                                                                                                Ruth Tunks

Joy and Paul Utting wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a peaceful year in 2006.

Colin and Sheila Warlow wish all their friends at St. Faith’s a very happy and peaceful Christmas and best wishes for 2006.

About The Parish

This is my favourite Christmas story.  It was Christmas Eve 1914 when E Murker out walking in the evening met a group of German men who gave him a glass of whisky and some cigars.  Not much of a story, I hear you say.  But E Murker was a British soldier scouting across No-Man's Land in World War One who had encountered an enemy patrol.  The Germans gave him the message that if the British troops did not fire on them, the Germans would leave their trenches and meet with them on Christmas Day.  The guns were silent that night and the following morning the Germans walked cautiously from their trenches towards the British lines.  

The British troops started to emerge from their trenches and the two sides were soon mingling together, embracing one another and exchanging cap badges and the like as souvenirs.  The British went even further by giving the Germans plum puddings which proved very popular with them.  Some days previously, the British had launched a disastrous raid on the German trenches with huge casualties.  The British dead were still piled up in front of the German positions and the two sides decided to bury them.  The Germans carefully carried the British dead across with great respect to a half way line where the British buried them.  With dignity and solemnity, detachments of German and British soldiers stood together while a German and a British Chaplain alternately read prayers over the massed graves.

All along the front in France and Belgium, similar meetings occurred and it must be said that almost everyone was initiated by the Germans, either by message or singing.  On one front, a British officer heard a German soldier singing and when he had finished, called out to him to sing another song.  The German then sang, Schumann's "Two Grenadiers".  Soon the soldiers had left their trenches and were talking and singing together in a spirit of comradeship.  The day finished with two songs.  The Germans sang, "Die Wacht Am Rhein", (which my grandson Darren tells me is a traditional German song titled "The Watch on the Rhine"), followed by the British singing "Christians Wake!”   Some Germans and British started to kick a football about but the later report of an actual football match between the two sides was not correct.  In one extraordinary incident, a British officer, 2nd Lieutenant R D Gillespie, was taken to a German trench where they showed him a Board which they had put up to honour a British officer who had fought his way to the trench before being killed.

A member of the German High Command coined a wonderful phrase to sum up their admiration of the British soldiers and their contempt for their incompetent generals who were as much responsible for their slaughter as the men firing the guns.  The phrase was, "Lions led by Donkeys!"  The principle Donkey, Field Marshal Sir John French, went on record as saying, "I issued immediate orders to prevent any recurrence of such conduct and called the local commanders to strict account, which resulted in a good deal of trouble."  On Boxing Day, another Donkey issued orders saying that such unwarlike activity must cease!  Cease it did, because there were no further Christmas truces.

So that is my Christmas story.   Despite the Donkeys, something quite wonderful and miraculous had occurred that Christmas.  When we next sing "Silent Night", we should remember the silence of those guns and the actions of those Christian Soldiers.  Do have a lovely and peaceful Christmas.

Roger Bryant

 From the Registers – November

7^th Funeral of Kathy Collin (Portchester Crematorium)

8^th Funeral of Gemma Litchfield (St. Joseph’s)

9^th Funeral of George Robert (Bob) Harvey

11^th Funeral of Gladys Marjorie Cook

27^th Baptism of Gary Raymond John Handley

George Robert Harvey RIP

Many of us were privileged to attend the funeral of Bob Harvey in St Faith's Church on 9 November, to join with Joyce and their family to pay our respects to a man of great courage and fortitude.  Bob was described as a Wolverhampton Wanderer who in the 1940s had come south where he was to meet and marry the lady of his life, his beloved Joyce.  He lavished his love and time on his family, giving them memories of a very happy childhood and so much more.  Over the last 15 years he won the admiration of everyone as he battled on against Parkinson's disease, with the devoted care of Joyce and family.  He was a very remarkable man, much loved and respected, and our love and thoughts are with Joyce, their children and grandchildren at this sad time.

The Cross

A young man was at the end of his tether, seeing no way out, he dropped to his knees in prayer "Lord, I can't go on," he said. "I have too heavy a cross to bear."

The Lord replied, "My son, if you can't bear its weight, just place your cross inside this room.  Then, open that other door and pick out any cross you wish."

The man was filled with relief and said, "Thank you Lord," and he did as he was told.

Upon entering the other room, he saw many crosses; some so large the tops were not visible.  Then, he spotted a tiny cross leaning against a far wall.

"I'd like that one. Lord," he whispered.  The Lord replied, "My son, that is the cross you just brought in."

When life's problems seem overwhelming, it helps to look around and see what other people are coping with. You may consider yourself far more fortunate than you imagined.

Your Cross

Whatever your cross

Whatever your pain

There will always be sunshine

After the rain

Perhaps you may stumble

Perhaps even fall

But God's always there

To help you through it all

Historic Churches Ride 10 September 2005

My thanks to Mr Bruce Strugnell, Mr & Mrs Deadman and Mr Wilkes for the super amount raised between them.  I was able to forward the sum of £232.10 and we have received a cheque for £117.55 as our share towards the Restoration & Redevelopment Fund.  Many thanks.             Audrey Currie

Correspondence Column

I am Doris Bassett’s daughter and many of you will have had a letter from me last Christmas letting you know that Mum was in hospital for a period after having had a fall at home.  I am now writing to update you on Mum’s circumstances since then. 

Mum went home from hospital at the end of January, with good home care support, but unfortunately had another fall at the start of March and broke her hip.  This led to another period in hospital and a reassessment of whether she could really continue to manage at home.  She had begun to suffer from some significant memory loss over the previous couple of years, and it is now clear that this was actually due to developing dementia.  The falls may well have been linked to the causes of the dementia, and Mum’s general health sadly went down hill a good deal quite quickly over a relatively short period.

Since June, therefore, Mum has been living at the Moreton Hill Care Centre, Standish, Stonehouse, Gloucestershire GL10 3BZ.  She has settled in quite well and I know will be pleased to continue to hear from you if you are able to keep in touch.  Mum is about 15 minutes drive from where I live so I am able to call in frequently to see her.

With all good wishes,                                                                                                        Margaret Sheather

(Mrs Bassett is the widow of the late Canon Bassett who was the Rector of St. Faith’s from 1962 to 1969 before becoming Vicar of Hambledon)

Recently we found amongst family archives a recording of a service which was broadcast from my Uncle's parish near to Midhurst in the late 1940s.  My Uncle was the Rector there and it was very interesting to hear the differences in the services then from what we know now.

Perhaps the most striking thing to us was the way that the service was intoned.  Obviously there was no audio amplification in use in the church then to carry voices but we were impressed by the way that my Uncle used his voice to carry to the far corners of an old building.  When Father Felix visited St Faith's recently it was noticeable, I think, that he also made his voice carry into the church space.

Can we learn from this?  Do we rely too much on the use of microphones to get our voices heard?  I know that microphones have their place but should we not learn to make our voices carry more on their own?  Maybe we need voice training practice just as much as the choir learn to create a carrying sound?

Do other people have thoughts about this?                                                                     Hilary Deadman

St. Claire’s Church – Service of Thanksgiving - 23 October

The church was built 35 years ago to serve the expanding population of Warren Park.  It is a bright, small, modern church with a hall attached and the partition between can be opened to create a large space.  The hall is well used with a daily nursery and a youth club.  I often attend meetings in the church and it was very nice to attend a service.

The church looked beautiful with twenty stunning floral displays undertaken by members of local churches.  From St. Faith’s, Rosemary Thomas and Joan Medley’s lovely arrangement was titled ‘Peace’ and was made up of green and white foliage.

All the pupils from the nearby Warren Park School had attended a service in the church on the Friday to celebrate Harvest Festival.

Dom. Timothy Bavin, who was Bishop at the time the church was dedicated, preached during the Sunday service and there were representatives from many local churches. 

In common with many churches attendances have declined, today there are just 35 on the electoral roll.  It is a very friendly and welcoming church and there was great movement around the church for ‘the peace’.                                                                                                                                      Ann Buckley

Trafalgar Great River Race 2005

Langstone Cutters Rowing Club once again took part in this marathon race of rowing 22 miles down the River Thames from Richmond to Greenwich.  It is a fantastic experience for all the crews rowing past or under some of London's most famous landmarks.  After passing Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, past the Tower of London with just a glimpse of St Paul's Cathedral and under Tower Bridge, it is only a three mile dash to the finishing line opposite the former Royal Naval College of Greenwich.

This year over 300 boats from all over the country took part.  It was a wonderful and colourful event after the previous day's Trafalgar Pageant on the Thames, which re-enacted the route that Nelson's body had taken on its way to his funeral at St Paul's.

Langstone Cutters entered 5 boats and a Montague Whaler, belonging to the Portsmouth Historic Naval Trust, crewed by some of the Club's ladies.  Our boats did very well with "Osprey" coming 8^th fastest overall: "Gladys", with a crew of 'Super Vets'(over 60's) winning her class and came 54^th overall in a record time of 2 hours 59 minutes & 37 seconds.  The three remaining boats, "Mabel, Millie and Lotty" all finished in very commendable times.

The overall effort of the Club in this event raised £1,250 for the Tsunami Khao Lak Community Appeal.                                                      Ann Plater

"War of the Worlds - The Crusades"

Last month, we and Emperor Alexius waved the 100,000 crusaders off from Constantinople on their journey to the Holy Land.  Fifty miles away and directly on their route was the Turkish fortified coastal city of Nicaca which had to be captured in order to secure their supply lines.  The city was massively defended with four miles of walls, heavily fortified with towers.  Part of the powerful garrison was away dealing with insurgents but it was quickly summoned back to launch itself at the Crusaders.  A battle waged all day until the remnants of the Turks fled the battle scene.  There was still the problem of capturing the city.   While the Crusaders spent their time catapulting the heads of Turkish dead into the city, the Byzantine engineers sent by the Emperor attempted to blow holes in the walls but without success.  It seemed something of a stalemate until the Emperor sent a squadron of ships to mount a seaborne assault.  Their admiral secured a surrender and escorted the Turkish garrison away before the Crusaders could murder them.

Flushed with victory, the Crusaders marched on across the steppes of Anatolia.   Bitterly cold in winter, with 50ft snowdrifts, and baking hot in summer, the steppes were as formidable as any army.  By June 1097, the Crusaders had reached the city of Dorylaeum where they were attacked by a strong force of Turks which they defeated, leaving them free to march on to Iconium.  This city had been deserted by the inhabitants, leaving the Crusaders the luxury of a stay in a beautiful garden city, with an abundance of fruit and comfortable quarters.   Soon they were marching on some 80 miles east to Heraclea where they defeated the Turks again, who fled leaving southern Cappadocia to the Crusaders.  Following the battle, the Crusaders saw a great comet blazing its way across the sky which they took to be a sign of God's blessing on their victory.  

Following the battle, a dispute broke out between the leaders as to their next objective.  While the bulk of the army marched on across the Syrian plain to Antioch, a large body of almost 3,000 Crusaders, led by Tancred and Baldwin, proceeded through the steep and rugged pass through the Tarsus Mountains with the intention of capturing Paul's city of Tarsus.  Tancred with 300 Crusaders arrived first at the city which was held by the Turks who made an attempt to drive off the invaders but soon fled back into Tarsus, where the Christian community eagerly awaited their liberators.  Soon Baldwin with the bulk of the army arrived and, under the cloak of darkness, the Turks fled from Tarsus, leaving the Christians to open the gates to admit the Crusaders.

When they left Tarsus in 1098, the Crusaders moved towards the Kingdom of Edessa through country inhabited by Armenian Christians who rose and massacred the Turks as Baldwin arrived.  The Armenian Prince of Edessa offered to be joint ruler with Baldwin, but the prince was very unpopular with his people.   Following his death, torn to pieces by a mob of his own subjects, Baldwin became the sole ruler, with the title of Count of Edessa.  While all this was going on, the main army of Crusaders, after four months of hard fighting, had finally arrived at the magnificent city of Antioch.  The Crusaders still numbered around 100,000, with casualties replaced by regular reinforcements from the West.   Battle raged for months around the city walls, with heavy casualties on both sides.   At one point, the Crusaders declared a truce to allow the Turks to come out and bury their dead.   This Christian act was somewhat spoilt the next day, when the Crusaders dug up the nearly buried Turks, to steal the personal possessions buried with them!  Eventually, after much hard fighting, the Crusaders captured Antioch on 3 June 1098 to the great joy of the Christian inhabitants.  However, almost as soon as they established themselves, a large Turkish army arrived to lay siege to the city.  

After more bloody fighting, the Turks were again vanquished and on 13 January 1099 the Crusaders moved on towards the prize of Jerusalem.  There were many more battles, many towns liberated from Turkish rule, before the Crusaders under a new leader in Raymond finally arrived before the gates of the Holy City.    The army had suffered huge casualties during the long and exhausting campaign and was now down to some 30,000 troops, led by Raymond on foot, true to his Christian vows, barefoot and in a pilgrim's garb.  The Egyptian Fatimid Governor had no intention of surrendering the massively fortressed city.  He had expelled all Christians and had poisoned the wells outside the city walls.  The Crusaders tried unsuccessfully to storm Jerusalem but were easily repulsed.  Months went by while the Crusaders prepared assault towers and received supplies by sea.    By July, their strength was down to 15,000 and the Crusaders learnt that a large Egyptian army was on its way to relieve the city.  Finally they breached the defences of Jerusalem on 13 July 1099 and proceeded to murder every man, woman and child in the Holy City.  Not just Moslems but also Jews, many of whom were locked in the Synagogue which was then burnt to the ground.   When there was no one left to kill, the Crusaders went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to give thanks for the great triumph of the Cross!  Within two weeks and before news of the victory could reach him in Europe, the spiritual leader of the First Crusade, Pope Urban, had died.  Next month, our attention turns to the large Egyptian army fast approaching the Crusaders.                                                           Roger Bryant

From the Editor

Another year is drawing to a close – how quickly they seem to pass.  2005 has been an interesting and busy year for parishioners with two significant anniversaries being celebrated and plenty of events to keep many people busy.  Here are some of the personalities that featured during 2005.

Rod Thomas, our overseas missionary in Sendai, Japan, was a guest speaker.  He was accompanied by his wife, Glenda, and their children.

Judy received her new dog, Innes, at the beginning of the year and they have now learned to live together.

Over five days in the summer, we had an exhibition showing Havant during World War II and many parishioners recalled their memories.  Audrey Currie, our longest serving member at St. Faith’s opened the exhibition. The Mayor and Mayoress of Havant, Cllr Cyril Hilton and Cllr Olwyn Kennedy attended the opening ceremony.

In August, we had the annual Town Fair, and were blessed with a fine day.  There were many attractions for the people of Havant to enjoy, including face painting by Deborah Creasy and Fiona Hedley.

Fr. Felix Annancy from St. John the Divine in Nsawam, Ghana presided and preached at Sunday Eucharist. Canon Derek Brown, Rector of St. Faith's 1969-2001, presented Fr. Felix with a chalice and paten which he had received when he was ordained priest by the Bishop of Rockhampton in North Queensland, Australia, in 1952.

Edna Gomersall, who has run the Church Shop for over 30 years, celebrated her 90^th birthday with a tea in the Church Hall.

The organisers of the Sunday Club and the Youth Club continued to arrange interesting sessions for the younger members of the congregation and we had many social and outside activities to cater for the interests of most people.  There have been the normal celebrations, including a variation for Harvest Festival with “Send a Cow”.  Members of the committees and individuals responsible for various activities, including our bell ringers and expanding choir, have put in many hours so that the church continues to function efficiently.  All will need to be repeated in 2006.

My personal thanks go to Roger Bryant who continues to produce many interesting articles for “Faith Matters” and to Sisyphus for the crossword which reaches number 60 in this edition – where does he find all the clues?

In one hundred years time, will we still be celebrating Christmas in its current form?  Every year we read that more things have been banned or renamed by government departments, councils and organisations because we are told we must not upset non-Christians.  We must ensure that the politically correct brigade do not besmirch our Christian faith.                                              Colin Carter

Outing to English Martyrs Church, Goring by Sea

On Saturday, 24 September and in fine weather a small group from St Faith's set off to visit this church with its reproduction painting of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican.  Whilst the outside appearance of the church is not particularly attractive, the inside is beautiful with stained glass panels, a marble altar and paintings of the Stations of the Cross.  The wonderful ceiling, which is the only known reproduction of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, took five and half years to complete, a real labour of the love by the artist, Gary Bevans, a local man and designer by profession.  The scale of the ceiling is approximately two thirds of the original and the colours are matched to those of the restored ceiling, the colours appear bright and show Michelangelo as a superb colourist.  We were given a talk by a priest who told us of the history of the church and about the lovely interior paintings and stained glass.  Apart from the ceiling there was a particularly interesting and lovely painting of the Last Supper.  After visiting the church we went into the adjacent historic Jupps Bam, which at one time, was the church on this site and is now used as a parish hall, where a fete had been taking place that morning.  We then moved onto Marine Gardens cafe where we had a very nice lunch before making our way back to Havant.                                                      Ann Plater

Remembrance Travelogue (2)

Last year I wrote about my visit to Southern Italy under the "umbrella" of Remembrance Travel.  This year my sister in law and I decided to follow in the footsteps of my husband's long march, with the Rifle Brigade, through Italy to the area around Florence and Arezzo.  The Pilgrimage was very well organised with help on every side.  There were about 30 war Veterans, all very elderly now, on the trip.  Some were on their own, some with their wives.  Three chaps were in wheel chairs, two of whom were looked after by their sons and one by his grandson.  It was heart-warming to watch the younger generation in this caring role.  Some members of the group were visiting graves of relatives, and one a daughter who had been 1 year old when her father was killed.

There was a lovely young ex-military doctor to assist with any health problems.  She said she wanted to do her travelling before starting her family.

Many of you will remember the wartime F.A.N.Y.S (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry Service).  This was an affectionate cover title for the S.O.E. (Special Operations Executive).  Their job was to decode messages sent from Partisans and agents in place around the country.  A dozen of them had come together to visit the grave of one of their friends who was killed while serving near Siena.  It proved most interesting to talk to these ladies.  One thing they all remember was the bitter cold.  They used to put layers of paper under their mattresses, and go to bed in their greatcoats!  One, Margaret Pauley, has written a book about their experiences.

To start with, we all met at The Union Jack Club near Waterloo Station, and travelled by coach to Stansted Airport.  From there we flew to Bologna and thence by coach to the hotel in Castiglion.  No complaints about the hotel beyond missing being able to make early morning tea.  The following day was a free day, and those who wished went by train to Arezzo.  Unfortunately, it being the Feast of St. Francis, we were unable to get into the church to see the precious frescoes.  However, a luncheon of delicious bruschetta with tiny diced tomatoes and mozzarella cheese was a great consolation.  Later that day, we took a bus to Cortona clad in waterproofs.  We were told that it rarely rains all day in Italy!  I'm very glad that the bus took the strain of the steep climb with its hairpin bends to this ancient Etruscan town.  We had a marvellous panoramic view from the top.  We listened to a flautist in the square as the weather cleared.

The next day, as the coach took us to the cemetery at Bolsena, we had a very interesting commentary about the campaign in 1944.  It is well nigh impossible for such as me to imagine how it was then.  Even the old soldiers found it difficult, as all is now quiet and peaceful.  Nature has healed the scars on the landscape, which sixty one years ago, was packed with the men and machinery of war.  However, the graves bear witness to the slaughter and again I wept to read of so many young lives cruelly cut short.  After the visit, we repaired to the town of Orvieto, and ate savoury pancakes.  We had but a fleeting visit to the Cathedral with its marvellous frescoes.  Tuscany is so attractive with the tall cypresses silhouetted against the skyline, the terracing, neat rows of vines and forested hillsides.  There is a great deal of road building taking place and the high speed train passed us by in the twinkling of an eye.

The visit to Assisi was a wonderful experience.  Restoration after the extensive damage wrought by the earthquake in 1992 was obviously a mammoth task, and has been very well done.  Although there were so many people gathered to see the magnificent works of art, everyone obeyed the request for silence in the holy places and the monks on hand confirmed the special atmosphere.  One could easily spend several days here, rather than a couple of hours.

The Service of Remembrance was held in the war cemetery outside Florence. The British Ambassador and the British Consul attended.  The Military Attaché, resplendent in his uniform, embellished as it was with gold cord, also came.  We had a bugler and the Royal British Legion Standard Bearer, Mr. John Grimes.  He is the National Champion and is due to perform at the Royal Albert Hall on 12^th November.  Fr. Lawrence Mclean, the Anglican Chaplain, conducted the service, as we stood round the Cross of Sacrifice.  I left my spray of poppies in this beautifully laid out cemetery.  We all signed the visitor's book, and I was able to thank the gardeners for the work they do.  The lawns and flower beds are immaculate, miniature roses were still in bloom at the beginning of October.

We also had a "free" day in Florence, but it proved to be a very wet one! However, we took a tourist bus and saw the town and its environs with a commentary in English to inform us as we went along.  Had the weather been conducive, we could have alighted and rejoined as often as we wished.

On the last day the weather was beautiful and we were taken to Siena by coach.  There is another treasure house of a Duomo which is built in two kinds of marble.  This gives the building a striped appearance.  It was very dark inside.  All the churches have the facility to light a "candle".  They are not real, but electric substitutes which light up when money is put into die slot.  Somehow the effect is not the same, although one understands the reasoning behind it.  We had our pizza lunch overlooking the famous shell shaped Arena. It is here that the annual horse racing takes place.  Our last port of call was San Gimignano. This is a charming town of nine tall towers, which were the result of a "keeping up with the Jones" story!  The church holds enormous frescoes depicting scenes from Our Lord's life on earth.  An enormous Italian ice cream rounded off a lovely day.  So, this second holiday with a difference was a poignant mixture of learning, looking back, and enjoyment of the present-day beauty of Italy.

Joan Medley

Back to Magazine