Eat Fish and Chips at the Seaside

Well, not quite although Great Kingshill is nearer the seaside than Little Hampden. We had our delayed Christmas meal with the deputy wardens and their partners on Friday evening at The Red Lion, Great Kingshill. We originally planned this for January – we decided that December was too busy so going out in the new year would be better. However, we were snowed off – or at least the majority were. Don managed to get up to the Rising Sun in his 4WD and we walked – we were the only clients that evening. However, when I tried to book the Rising Sun for the delayed event, I got a recorded message “we’re now closed for a while...” So Red Lion it was. I picked the fish and chips (it was rather more grandly described)

The pub did a grand job: we were 17 so we ordered in advance. Instead of arriving at the table asking “who ordered sea bass” the staff had our names – so the service was very rapid and personal. The food was excellent – try it (I may get a discount next time of lots of you go – mention the blog!) I had tried it out a week or so before. We’d got it booked for one of our regular deputy warden meetings but several people couldn’t attend. I had already rebooked it once because of snow so I felt I couldn’t cancel yet again. So I did a “rent-a-guest” evening where I invited some friends to join me: it was like a dinner party but at the pub. It was great fun and I can see this being repeated.

The Christmas meal was a success – I felt it helped me to “sustain the sacred centre” that these lent activities are all about. We had an organised movement after each course so that we could speak to as many people as possible. In spite of the complexity this worked and nobody was left with nowhere to sit. We ended with the Messy Church Grace much to the amusement (or amazement) of other diners.

Following links – more engineering

As we’d failed to get into the cathedral of Saint-Etienne in Châlons-en-Champagne, I thought I’d try to find some pictures of the interior on the web. It’s not quite the same as visiting but there are usually dozens of pictures – by amateurs and professionals of any significant building. I found several – but I also found a fascinating site which resonated with yesterday’s entry about engineering. Structurae is an international database and gallery of structures. To quote the home page “This site offers you information on works of structural engineering, architecture or construction through time, history and from around the world. ... Structurae deals mostly with bridges, tunnels, dams, skyscrapers, stadiums, towers, etc. Explore this site to discover the marvellous works of structural engineering.

The site is German so there’s an emphasis on German buildings but as well as St Etienne, I found the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth, the CNIT dome at La Défense – I used to stay in the hotel in this dome – it’s apparently the largest concrete shell in the world in terms of square footage of area covered per support – there are only three. There’s also an entry for the vaulting in Christ Church, Oxford.

You can see the Structurae site here.

Read a magazine – be an engineer

Wow, over a week with no postings! It’s been a busy week but I did manage to read the Times science supplement Eureka. This included an article by Lord Browne of Madingley ‘Change the world – be an engineer’ which argues for the UK to train more engineers.

Lord Browne doesn’t ask a question that has worried me for some time: why are engineers not regarded more highly in this country? In Europe – at least in France and Germany – engineering is highly- respected profession but not so here. Yet virtually everything we interact with daily is the product of engineering. I commented a while ago about the two cultures – the sciences and the arts. It’s acceptable for people to admit knowing nothing about the former – even to boast about it. But to say “I don’t know much about Shakespeare” or van Gogh or Beethoven? Never. Engineering has an even lower rating.

I think one of the problems is that scientists and engineers are not good communicators – at least in a way that everyone can understand. There are exceptions: David Attenborough, Robert Winston and the Coast presenters. But science and particularly engineering don’t get the media coverage. There are four or more reviews of theatre, films, the opera and other arts events every day in the papers but when did you see a review of an engineering achievement?

Lord Browne is a former chief executive of BP and is President of the Royal Academy of Engineering. You can read his article here and his contribution to a debate on the House of Commons Select Committee Inquiry into Engineering here.

Take a friend and go ape

I was wondering whether meeting up with an old uni frined and going to an Indian restaurant in Rugby counted. The Masala Lounge does offer ‘Avant Garde Indian Cuisine’ (I’ve always been rather concerned about ‘Indian cuisine’) We had an enjoyable evening and some excellent Indian cooking. It was really avant garde: much more delicate than your normal curry.

When we got back to our friends’ house we had a phone call from another college friend who happened to be passing (from Ely to Plymouth!) so we agreed to meet up and have lunch. We went to the Admiral Nelson at Braunston – a canal-side pub so I nearly achieved another of the suggested actions – except I want to save that for later.

So I think meeting up with two friends whom I first met in 1963 and having lunch with them and their wives counts as going ape.

I've made a loaf!

OK, so it was in the bread machine.

Anthony Caro Chapel of Light

From Anthony Caro Chapel of Light

Last Thursday we were returning towards Calais to catch the ferry on Friday morning so a diversion to Bourbourg was easy. We found the Church of St Jean Baptiste but the Chapel of Light was closed for annual maintenance – it was due to reopen on Saturday and clearly work had finished. After some disappointment and annoyance at finding yet another of our targets closed (the Cathedral at Châlons en Champagne was closed, too) we decided to find the Choeur de Lumière office. We were welcomed by Coralie and explained that we had hoped to visit the Chapel particularly as it was one of the items on the Diocesan Lenten activities (I’m not sure if pulling rank helped!) She was very helpful and got us permission for a special visit. She phoned the Guardian Benjamin and by the time we returned to the Church he was waiting with protective covers for our shoes. We were admitted past the ‘no entry’ signs into a wonderful world.

The Church had been destroyed in the war – during the Dunkirk evacuations a British pilot crashed his blazing plane into the roof of the Church to avoid the town. Later the Germans took much of the stonework and ground up the paving to make an airfield. The Church was restored in the ‘50s but the Choir was left untouched with a brick wall closing off the East end of the Church. In 1999 Sir Anthony Caro was asked to design the restoration of the Choir and the work was completed and dedicated in 2008.

The Choir is approached though an external sculpture ‘Threshold’ which is inspired by the ancient plan of the town of Bourbourg.















It represents a transition from the busyness of the town to the calm of the Church. The Choir itself is full of light – enhanced by the choice of a modern material – mineral concrete – for the floor. The new floor is symbolic but it is separated from the columns and walls by a gap to respect the difference between the ancient and the new. The Baptismal font is constructed in this new material and is designed to allow immersion. I think it’s unusual that the font is placed in the Choir of a church rather than the traditional location near the entrance.


Caro’s sculptures fill the nine niches around the Choir itself together with two in the wings. All are constructed of steel and terracotta and are big and bold. The first, Alleluia, has body fragments and figurines. The Niche elements represent the creation with an emphasis on water – The Depth, Sea Creatures, Galapagos, Seashore, Watering Hole, Waterfall, Undergrowth, Beside the River, Fruits. Finally in the other wing is Paradise Garden featuring Adam and Eve. There are also two towers – Tower of Morning, and Tower of Evening – made out of French oak. These make use of the height of the Choir and encourage climbing. Unfortunately we were asked not to enter because they had been recently treated.
The lightness and modernity of the whole was a big contrast to the dim and traditional main body of the Church, a wonderful example of Sustaining the Sacred Centre.

We thanked Benjamin for hosting our special visit; he gave us a candle of Notre Dame de Bourbourg which we’ll light to remember our visit.

There’s a wonderful quotation on one of the brochures issued by the Chapel of Light: “... Not all our books will perish, nor our statues, if broken, lie unrepaired. Other domes and pediments will arise from our domes and pediments. Some few men will think and work and feel as we have done, and I venture to count upon such continuators, placed irregularly over the centuries, and upon this kind of intermittent immortality.”


More pictures - click on the slideshow to see all the pictures.

First week of lent – first feedback

France was closed this week! We were staying near Châlons en Champagne so I tried to visit the cathedral there – described as a belonging to the spearshaped gothic style. The building was started in 1235. However, the cathedral was closed. We enquired at the tourist office and they said that it is not open at the moment because they can find no one to secure it. We did see the ‘impressive Gothic north facade’ so I think I can count that as a visit.

On Thursday we tried to visit the Caro Chapel of Light but this was closed for maintenance. However, we found the office and negotiated – and were let in. Pictures and more info over the weekend.

I did manage to ‘Just sit and be’ on the ferry coming home today!

Lent is nearly here

Last year I followed the daily suggestions in the Love Life Love Lent booklet. Having something pre-determined to do each day was a challenge but I did manage most of them. This year I’m going to try to do 3 or 4 things each week from the Sustaining the Sacred Centre card I copied a week or so ago. I’ll try to select these ahead of time so you can have a go, too.

Lent starts on Wednesday so it’s a short week. We happen to be going near Bourbourg so I shall try to visit the Anthony Caro Chapel of Light at Bourbourg (not on a day trip – but I think that’s OK!) I’ll also try to visit a Cathedral and just sit and be...

Software

Software – computer programs – have been in the news recently. Today the recall of the Toyota Prius for brake failure has been blamed on a software fault. Computers controlling brakes? They are getting everywhere! A few years ago I had a towbar fitted to my car and one of the items in the bill was a charge for a software upgrade – presumably to handle the extra lights.

The other reference to software recently was in connection with the A320 Airbus that ditched in the Hudson River a year ago. This Airbus was one of the first commercial fly-by-wire aircraft where computers interpret the pilot’s intentions and keep the plane flying safely, correcting errors that would otherwise cause the aircraft to stall. It’s now reported that Captain Sullenberger was significantly aided in his textbook-perfect landing on the water by the A320 software which controlled the descent. So not all software is potentially error-prone, although most PC owners wouldn’t agree!

So next time you’re sitting at the end of the runway waiting for take-off, think of a French programmer somewhere in Toulouse. But think of flight 1549 rather than Prius brakes!

More Lent activities

Two more Lenten activities: Christian Aid has a daily programme of activities “Count Your Blessings” which you can download from their web site www.christianaid.org.uk. It’s a thoughtful set of activities that encourage you to donate small amounts each day.

Tearfund has a Carbon Fast which focuses on environmental issues. This, too, can be downloaded from their site www.tearfund.org

Lent is coming

Last year I followed the Love Life Live Lent book. This year the Oxford Diocese has published some suggestions under the ‘Sustaining the Sacred Centre’ section of the Living Faith banner. The suggestions are for activities that we can do during lent – one for each of the six weeks. There are a whole range of activities – some are way out and some even crazier. So here’s the challenge: I’ll try some of these and report my experiences. Why don’t you – and feed your thoughts as comments? Perhaps I’ll offer another bottle (to be consumed after Lent, of course) to the best. Are you up for it?

Click on the image for a larger version - I'll put the list on the web in a day or so

Zone Plus

Last year Malmesbury Abbey had a skateboarding week in the abbey! Friend Helen and I were inspired by this and discussed – rather vaguely – doing something similar at Great Missenden. I didn’t think much of this till Helen e-mailed me a while ago saying she had arranged to borrow a skateboard ramp for us for the Easter holidays so Zone Plus was born (or rather began to ease into existence) We’ve had a number of crazy ideas to amuse youngsters during the holidays – and to get them into Church. They range from a drama day to graffiti (not, I hope on the Church walls – think what English Heritage would say about that!) We’ve got a web site – www.zoneplus.org.uk – not fully operational yet but things are starting to take shape.

I’ll keep you posted – meanwhile bookmark the website!

Come and Sing – Bob Chilcott

A great day in Church today with Bob Chilcott and over 100 singers – not me!

Click on the slideshow to see larger pictures

Oil!

A warm Church at last – oil was delivered this morning!