A Breeze in the Graveyard

Lies!  All lies! These weather people lie!  

'Gentle breeze' they say as the wind from the north hammers my window.  Today the wind has dropped but still comes from the north, and they call it 'gentle?' 

Can we sue?

So, I must close my windows tight tonight, they promise 'gentle breeze' and 'clear sky,' so I will look out for high winds and rain storms.

I braved the 'breeze' while what sun we found came out today and crossed over to the graveyard.  

I find it so cheery...

The church has stood here since the 1700s but is based on a congregation that unlawfully met many years before this.  Not far up the road a farmer, John English, let people congregate on Sundays in his barn to hear the word of God according to biblical fashion.  This when Charles II was King and it was illegal not to be in a CoE church at the time.  Bishop William Laud, a man who leant heavily towards the Kings way of operating, dealt savagely with any who opposed his authority.  However, that said, preachers came to the barn to preach, including, it is said, John Bunyan, and out of the two towns population of around 5000 souls some 800 met at the barn to worship God properly in spite of the fear.  When the worst was past, the congregation continued to grow, and a new building was erected, in the 1800s this new one took its place.  A division did occur, it frequently does in churches, and from the gathering two churches arose in the town, a Baptist, which survives, and this one taking the title name as 'Congregational.'  This church survives with a few members, LockDown has not helped the ageing gathering, and work is now being done on the roof.  I suspect someone has nicked all the lead from there!  Hopefully the church will continue, 400 years of service ought not to end like this, Bishop Laud himself would not approve, especially after his head was removed from his shoulders by the puritans.

Not unusually some make use of the ground when others have gone.  What might be called 'the less fortunate' gather at nights, some sleeping here, and clearly leave their lunch tins behind them.  This tends to spoil such places and not all who attend accept the help they have been offered.

 

I took a couple of shots on my new Canon and headed back home for feeding time.  The breeze is still breezing, 'gently,' and the temperature is dropping, not so gently.  It was good to be photographing things badly.  Hopefully we will get out and about soon.