ALL SAINTS CHURCH, SOMERFORD KEYNES

We went to Church again this morning, but decided that we would still wear our masks, particularly for singing, although we weren’t near too many people - and it was an enjoyable service.

As we were more towards the north side of the town, we decided to go that way looking for dereliction, but what we found wasn’t that brilliant - not that dereliction ever is, of course, so I decided not to bother with that today!

Instead, I have chosen to show you All Saints Church at Somerford Keynes, which is about five miles south of Cirencester.  Its origins are from AD 695 and opposite the entrance door, which is still the original medieval oak one - top left in my extra collage - is a tall and narrow doorway, which was the entrance to the original Saxon church and dates back to the 7th Century - middle shot in the collage.  This has now  been glazed and engraved, so that there is a clear view out into the churchyard.  There are also several beautiful stained glass windows in the Church.  

I noticed that there was a large plaque in the Church remembering ten men from the village who were killed in the First World War.  Five of the ten men came from the Hayward family, who all fought with different regiments;  what sadness there must have been in that household.  This reminded us of those fighting in the Ukraine, but at least this family knows where their relatives are laid to rest, unlike many families in Ukraine, who will never know where their relatives are buried because they are in communal graves.  

There was even a very old organ, with a handle at the side to work the bellows - but we think there was also an electric piano nearby, so perhaps this old one is no longer used.  I can remember one like this in our church when I was a little girl - we always knew when a certain person was on “bellows duty” as there were sweet papers left all around on the floor!  

In the middle of the collage is a shot of a grey heron, just flying off - it’s not a brilliant shot, but I took it especially thinking of my Blip friend, LSquare and hope that she likes it anyway!  There are various other  shots taken in this rural area, including two ladies on horseback;  the roads around here are so narrow that we had to wait for them to pass by, otherwise they or us, would have ended up in the ditch.

We stopped in a gateway overlooking one of the man-made lakes - formed when gravel has been extracted from the ground - to have our picnic lunch - and you can see from the sky and clouds what a glorious day it has been.  It was a joy to be out enjoying God’s wonderful creation, to hear the birds singing and to see all the signs of Spring around us.  Hope you all have a great week.  

“The beautiful Spring came;
     and when nature resumes
          her loveliness,
the human soul is apt 
     to revive also.”
Harriet Ann Jacobs