News: September 2010

Bike Ride 2010

The route Walney to Wear (151 miles); where is Walney you might ask? Walney is an island just off Barrow-in-Furness with only one road access. This years’ tour started with military precision, the team grouping at 5.30am on the Broadway the planned departure from Houghton at 6am, don’t you just love it when a plan comes together. At 6am we were off with our new driver Roger Elsey along with Derek Farthing taking the role of shotgun for the first time. Due to the early start, some of the team skipped breakfast and I just needed a top-up so Morrison’s of Kendal fitted the bill with just enough time for food to settle before we exchanged ‘horsepower’ for leg power.

The start point found, six happy eager faces were ready to take on what lay ahead and we did not fully appreciate the severity of the route to come. The back-up team were forced to leave us as the transport had developed a technical problem and were in need of support themselves! After arriving at Walney Island, we began at 10.10am where there was clear blue sky and rising temperatures and we followed the signs to pass the large attractive ruins of Furness Abbey. The first check point was Penny Bridge, all present and correct after our first encounter of the hills.

The countryside of the southern lakes was at its best as we strolled into Cartmel and onward to Grange-over-Sands. At this point I did wonder when we would make progress east. At last we were heading east passing Gilpin Bridge skirting Kendal on the south side; such was the need to make progress. A further 8 miles (50 miles in total) and a very welcome sight of the back-up team at the end of the first day at 6.30pm. After 20 mins we had our rooms at Sedbergh at The Bull Hotel. Although we have had better, the hotel was very welcome when tried, hungry and in need of a shower. Day 2 and still on the edge of the lakes we headed to Tebay when we found ourselves on farm tracks parallel to the M6; onto Orton and a well earned coffee stop at the chocolate shop - well it seemed rude not to! Riding on small roads of one car width, the volume of traffic we encountered was staggering, some cars appeared to be oblivious to the group of six cyclists but after one or two close calls we had lunch at Kirkby Stephen. The next section took us to the highest point on route, this being the famous Tan Hill Pub which was at the top of a series of hills and sad to say, Ted Moult was not even there to greet us.

Over the moors parallel to A66 and after a rare steep descent into Bowes we took a quick photograph at the castle then off again up hill to the minor roads heading for Barnard Castle. All well rested on the Saturday evening at three guest houses and we were ready for the last day which the map indicated NO HILLS great!

We opted to take the Hamsterley route with the sure knowledge that a hot drink could be found at the visitor centre. Fully refreshed we followed the route which had unexpected hills (not indicated on the map) to Willington the penultimate stop. The weather had been great all weekend but it was starting to fail us with light rain fall; as the boys gave the final drive for home, a quick tour of Durham was the order of the day beating a route to the Burn Hotel for a reunion of our friends & family.
Well done to all the team for a ride which was a little harder than expected and many thanks to Roger & Derek, our support team, for which this ride would not have been possible.

John Lambton

Friend’s Summer Dance

Well, it’s been a long time in the planning pot but the ‘Summer of 2010’ arrived and on Friday 25th June, so also did the ‘Friends Summer Dance’. The Church was transformed from the setting that we know and love during each service to include a purpose made dance floor, stage and cooking area. After the Trustees and a small group of volunteers worked throughout Thursday evening and Friday afternoon they were equipped to hold our first dance in St. Michael & All Angels Parish Church.

Almost 100 people agreed that to hold a dance in the Church was an event too good to miss and they voted with their feet! It was so good to see that we had a large number of guests from outside our Church Family and we embraced this. The ‘wow factor’ seen on numerous faces as they entered our Church was a vision to behold and this confirmed the vision that our setting was acceptable for example; staging for the band (‘Revival’), genuine table cloths, helium balloons, wine glasses etc. Dress code was optional, however, quite a number of guests took the opportunity to give party dresses an airing and some of the men sported bow ties too! Prior to 7pm a steady flow of guests began to arrive, the music commenced and everyone was seated promptly for a 7.30 start. It didn’t take long for the feet to begin ‘a tappin’ and then the dance floor was the forum for the; rhythmically engaged including, I may say, a small group of colourful ‘Rock and Rollers’.

Dinner was prompt at 8.30pm consisting of an excellent 3 course meal which allowed for varying dietary requirements, some at short notice too thanks to Ian. This was followed by a never ending raffle such was the generosity of the people and business of Houghton. During the proceedings photographs were taken and with the use of technology, prints were available for a small charge of which most people took advantage. To that, the trustees would like to thank everyone who bought tickets, the contributors of prizes from local businesses and the volunteers who willingly helped ‘The Friends’ to reinstate St. Michael & All Angels Parish Church ready for worship on Sunday morning. Nonetheless, success can be viewed in a number of ways; 1st £800 was raised, 2nd A large cross-section of the community attended the function and 3rd the furniture and fabric of the Church building was successfully seen to be multi-functional.
May I send a great big thank you to everyone who has been involved in any way both large and small.

John Lambton

Annual Next 900 BBQ

The 'Next 900' BBQ is always the highlight of the summer calendar here at St Michaels. On Saturday 12th June everyone who is anyone in Houghton crowded into the Kepier Hall on a pleasant evening; apparently there was a succer match on somewhere, but the lure of the food was too much and loyalty to the 'Next 900' team was greater than that towards any other among the faithful crowd of nearly 100.

A crack team of chefs worked over the fearsome heat of the barbeque producing a steady stream of perfectly cooked (well, maybe slightly on the well done side occasionally) food. All tastes were catered for and nobody went home anything other than very well fed.

Of course they also serve who slave over the salad and veg, and the girls were doing a stirling job inside the hall keeping queues to a minimum and plates heaped high. The BBQ was a truly family affair from toddlers to our more senior citizens and everyone was relaxed in each others company.

Al fresco dining was the order of the day for these young ladies for whom pink would appear to be this season's colour. Whilst the 'Next 900' team pride themselves that their events cater for everyone, it's always great to see such a wide cross section who feel at home at our events.

Our thanks to all those who came and supported us, special thanks to Matthew who recently joined the team and worked from long before the doors opened and never stopped all evening. Thanks to those who came and supported us we raised £525.90 towards the 'Next 900' funds.

Maddy Prior & Nick Hennessey in Concert

When St Michaels was re-ordered in mid 2008 one of the things we discovered was the amazing acoustics that had been hidden by the Victorian interior. When we heard the purity of the acoustics we started to wonder which artist could bring out the best of them. Top of the list was Maddy Prior so working on the principle it costs nothing to ask, we wrote to her agent asking if there was any chance of a date.

The culmination of over 18 months of work and waiting was the concert with Maddy & Nick Hennessey on Monday 3rd May. Without doubt this event was one of the highlights of the 'Next 900' team's work over the past 2 and a half years, the building was almost full, the concert was amazing and we made £561 towards the re-ordering funds.

Our thanks to all those who came and supported us, also to Maddy & Nick for a memorable night as well as the team who worked non-stop throughout the evening ensuring our guests were looked after and made welcome. Be assured we will have similar events in the future.

Archaeology

The work of the archaeologists finished in April and a brief summary of their findings can be found here.

Behind the scenes