Return trip to Trebah gardens and a puncture!

With a sunny morning and breakfast outside we decided a return visit to Trebah Gardens, which we had so enjoyed earlier in the week was the plan for the day. Especially as having paid once you get to go back in again free for the week.

It was well worth our time to walk parts of the garden we had't managed earlier in the week.







Small things make a delight and capturing a dragonfly pausing is just one of them.

It was from Trebah that some troops had set out to invade Europe in World War 2.













Now we know why you don't see the loch ness monster in Scotland. Its sitting quietly in a pond in Cornwall!!!

The delightful wooden bridge set over the larger pond makes for a great reflection moment.












Where ever you wander there are great views

 The bottom pond almost reaches into the sea. Its as if the hedging is between the two.

So all in all a great time and we made our way back to the car. As we drove off the message appeared on the dashboard 'you have a puncture'. Now having lived in Sheffield as great as it has been. It's the only place we have lived where we have consistently had to get the tyres fixed because of punctures. Do the local tradesmen throw their nails on the road in partnership with Kwik fit? So there I am having to put on the spare with two kindly women stopping to give helpful advice as to where the ATS garage was, and oh I always have a pair of rubber gloves in the car to keep hands clean!!

So off to Helston carefully we made the garage in time and encountered the Cornish wit of the mechanic. As I took out the two old rusty deckchairs we keep in the car for holidays, we felt obliged to make an excuse for their ancient history and that we came from Yorkshire. He commented on our need for new ones and "we do have a pound land here"!! Trying to deflect him I asked him was he not impressed I could take a tyre off and replace it "bet the AA man did it for you" was his quick retort. He was an absolute hoot, really friendly and helpful.  When it came to paying ....it took for ever. He wanted to talk and it turned out he was a West Ham supporter so that was it. Talk of last nights win over Cheltenham, the match against Chelsea last season and the madness of clubs keep changing managers "after all only one team can be at the top"!! So profound. In  giving our post code he then asked for the number of the house, "239"  "oh we don't have streets that long round ere" 

Finally we were on our way back to our cottage and a delightful evening with the owners of the cottage who live next door. The evening air was filled with a great deal of a laughter as we compared notes on children, holidays and life.

Sadly just one day to go

Coverack & Kennack Sands.

The wonderful thing about Cornwall is the sheer number of beautiful coastal communities to visit. Even better still you don't have to travel far to get to them..

After a leisurely breakfast outside! and a good read, we decided to go to Coverack which has recently experienced the terrible flash flooding.















It still has a privately run harbour and one or two businesses were having work carried out to do repairs.

Well what to do after a walk up and down? Obvious Cornish scones , cream and jam....








Then it was back to the cottage to put our feet up and read.

Still time then for a late afternoon coastal stroll to Kennack Sands a favourite place for kids wanting to play with their surf boards. The tide was just beginning to come in and the waves just starting. I just had a slight tinge of regret I hadn't brought my body board this year. But only a slight tinge as while the sun was shining amidst the clouds I do require it to be really warm.

And so back to cook tea eaten outdoors with a visitor looking for scraps. He's not as nimble as last year but just as friendly and takes delight in licking our feet.

Tuesday - Serious walk!! and Mullion in the evening.

The weather continues to be good and with no desire to drive anywhere it was time for a proper coastal walk. That is after breakfast outside which always for us makes it feel like a proper holiday.


So off down to the local cove and along the coastal path that takes you all the way if you want, to the Lizard.
















Through the small fishing cove of Cadgwith,



































pass the 'Devils frying pan'











 and out along towards Church Cove ( the one that's on the East side of the Lizard).
































Time for a coffee so we headed in land towards the Lizard village stopping to chat a woman who was delivering her news sheet around the 'Church Cove' village.  Turned out she goes to the local village Church, used to go to the Methodist!!

As we walked into the Lizard we pass Ann's pasty house....so yes we bought a couple for our lunch which after a coffee we ate on the Lizard. They were good and filling. Duly fortified we cut aback across country which took us pass the local farm that sells the milk and 'ice cream!!!!!!' .


So a good 8 - 9 mile walk left us feeling content, so time for good read and chance to finish a book sitting in the sun. Oh and face time our granddaughter what a way to spend a day.

So it was with fading hope we drove to the West side of the Lizard to watch the sun set. 

Sadly too cloudy as we sat on the cliff overlooking Mullion harbour with a small glass of white wine. 

The sun tried but to no avail.

Trebah - Monday

Monday and the sun is shining so breakfast outside a must to start the day of well.










Then it was off through the narrow country lanes to visit the beautiful gardens at Trebah which go down to their own beach.





The necessary coffee and cake to build up the energy. Then off we went for a walk through the four and half miles of pathways that wind down through water features, a Hydrangea valley, pond and so much more to the beach and back again.

 A commorant posed wonderfully for me!!!

It has its own small amphitheatre

I tried to capture the reflection in the pond nearly.

And some folk were hanging around off wires practicing for a a performance.....

If that was scary, try driving back a different route thanks to the Sat Nav. It felt like every time you got going a car came at you, reverse back to a so called passing place and off you went again. Yes I caught the wing mirror but thankfully it did not break.

A return visit is a must before we head back to Sheffield.

Cadgwith Saturday/Sunday

It's a long way to the Lizard and when travelling in August it takes even longer with heavy summer traffic.

So it's very welcoming to be greeted by the owners of our cottage with a message , fresh bread, cakes and milk. They were also here to say hello to make sure we had everything we needed .

 An evening stroll took us down to the Cadgwith Cove Inn and a fish Tapas that was a delight. A welcome from the owner who remembered us from last year again helps to make you feel at home.

Then it was a walk back up the hill in the dark with the wind up torch.



















Well as we expected, but not as bad as it was, it rained most of Sunday. A chance to recover from the travelling, read books and chill. So it was a late coastal walk that we finally put in amidst the rather dismal but now dry weather- well mostly.


The cove at the bottom of the lane where we are staying looked at grey and misty.
the camera kept catching the rain drops on its lens.......

 Then at least we could return to the delightful converted barn for a well earned cup of coffee.

beauty in the city & a village chapel

Walking up the steps from the station we came across a bit of
waste ground and there standing proud was a most beautiful Sunflower set against the setting of our city of Sanctuary. It seemed very poignant and lifted the spirit. How did it get there? Did someone deliberately place it there to bring joy?

Nature has this amazing talent to transform landscapes even when people don't seek to do anything. So often cities are seen as places of concrete, tarmac roads, tower blocks. We are still invited by our creator to see it's beauty. To work with it to create a complementary use of nature thats allows for diversity.

 Our own back garden in Burngreave gives us the opportunity to try and make a difference to the environment. It attracts the wildlife and provides us with pleasure. Our own little sanctuary.










Last Sunday I led worship at our Warren Methodist Church for the final time. It too has been a special sanctuary for people seeking God, and a faithful community offering worship and service. This Autumn the building will close but the people will  move on to carry on worshipping and serving within our Chapeltown Methodist Church.
Just as nature has to adapt to the changing climate and work with humanity's creation, so does the Christian community.

time to play catch up

The opportunity to stop working caused by the delight of looking after a granddaughter who now is sleeping gives a moment to catch up on the blog.

Really disappointing as I type to see yet another beautiful tree being cut down on Abbeyfield Road. Its not diseased, just disturbing the pavement, forget the benefit its bringing to the environment. Do I believe these trees being taken down across Sheffield will be replaced? Wait till the council says its run out of funds!!!



Well we are making good progress now with out scheme for the church building at Firth Park Methodist. September should see the beginning of the roof works so that a third of the roof where we have most serious ingress of water will be renewed. Internally we will begin to remove the pews to create the floor space for an internal wall and the installation of soft play equipment. For this first stage of the scheme we are still looking to raise £80,000 and grant applications are currently going into funders. If as a reader of this blog, and you would like to support this scheme to provide a much deprived area of the city, then please get in touch all donations will be gratefully received and wisely used.

Our trial soft play fortnight proved to be a success and gave us great encouragement to keep going to create a bespoke centre for the community.

One good thing about the summer is a chance to take a break from normal routine and if possible get away. So a delightful week in Crete was had . Wall to wall sunshine with tempratures ranging from 38C- 32C so yes warm and the need to go into the pool or the sea. This time we did visit Knossos , The Minoan palace, which I found fascinating even in the blazing heat.

The Parent and Toddler group as Mosborough have been supporting the church in Ghana and their last lot of gifts finally arrived. Parents and children once again were overwhelmed. Just a reminder that small things can make a massive difference.









This past Methodist year we decided to try and create a Sunday night youth group for year 7+ once a month. Thanks to three other volunteers its proved a success and we ended the year with a BQ at the manse and parachute games in the park. If all goes well we will move to meeting once a fortnight and hopefully our numbers will grow further.








Now its back to the routine of circuit life and the current challenges we face in a climate of diminishing church membership. The new President and Vice president of the Church have asked the question of each church. Do you have a growth plan or a end of life plan?

The longer I serve as a minister I recognise that is exactly what I have had to ask all the way through my ministry. Even when I started and Methodism had the largest youth organisation in Europe the writing was on the wall. The lack of willingness to change and develop. To pool resources to generate the energy required to not just sustain the existing but undertake new work. It was obvious what would happen you didn't need to be prophetic.
So we find ourselves still with too many buildings often in the wrong places and many unfit to do the work we need to. A membership now down to 188,000 trying to sustain an institution that is unsustainable in its current form.

In the face of this the Sheffield Circuit is trying to express ministry in a variety of ways. The coming together of eight circuits was never going to be straightforward and its only now that a new momentum is building up. The appointment of a worker to reinvigorate children and youth work begins in October. They will not only organise key events, but identify new pieces of work, train, encourage and encourage existing workers among our young people. We have four pioneer workers lay and ordained in the circuit which again is a pointer to being open to new ways of being and doing church. We have many committed people who are still up for a growth plan. So even if the Methodist Church disappears it will leave a legacy of lives changed and continue to be part of God's work creating the Kingdom. So roll on the new Methodist Year who really knows what it holds?