Columns (May 2010)
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Green Links
by Janis Irvine
It may have been a long time coming but the sun is showing that it can still strut its stuff! We have become so used to wearing many layers of clothing that this sudden all surrounding heat has caught us off guard — well, certainly I was caught out a day or two ago, finding myself decidedly over-garmented as I shopped in the unexpected warmth of the Tyne Valley.
The temperatures 700 feet up above the Valley, where the Vicarage is sited on a ridge, are somewhat cooler but even here today it is pretty warm. Some Spring flowers may have been late in flowering but suddenly lots of different species are all flowering in a condensed time frame, much as I remember from my time living in the Highlands of Scotland when, because of sustained severe frosts, no seed was planted until May and then everything harvested in September before frost visited again. The up-side was that May was the most glorious riot of colour as plants burst forth everywhere and the sheer joy of it was magical.
I am often struck by the wonders of nature which never fail to amaze, but a particular article grabbed me this week, that of ruddy turnstones, a bird not much bigger than a song thrush apparently, which has been tracked migrating from South East Australia to The Aleutian Islands near Arctic Siberia where they feed all Summer before returning to Flinders in Australia for their Summer — an annual migration of 16,700 miles flying at an average speed of 33mph! Pretty impressive for a relatively small bird. From this same article I learned that the Sooty Shearwater makes an annual journey of 46,000 miles travelling up to 680 miles a day! Just two species whose lives are so remarkable and just a small sample of the wonders of the Earth we share.
Following on from last month’s article highlighting the fact that 2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity, I understand thousands of churches will be celebrating Cherishing Churchyards Week due to take place from 18th – 27th June. Run by Caring for God’s Acre (CfGA) and supported by the Church of England’s national environmental campaign Shrinking the Footprint, churches are being encouraged to run events to raise awareness and celebrate the treasures of their churchyards.
Churchyards are often a little green oasis in the midst of urban hard-landscaped sterility and can be a haven for wildlife. Churchyards are, of course, primarily a place of rest for the departed but they can also be a place of peace for the living. It is widely documented that being able to sit, walk or work amongst trees and flowers can have a therapeutic effect on people’s stress levels. Growing trees, shrubs and flowers in your churchyard which are beneficial to birds, bees or insects not only has the potential to increase local biodiversity, it can also offer solace and renewal to those who visit.
www.shrinkingthefootprint.org.
The power of gardening was also illustrated in an article about young people at Seaton Hirst who have undertaken a series of environmental projects funded by the Big Lottery Community Space Challenge programme. The youngsters have developed an allotment, complete with raised beds and a greenhouse made from 1500 recycled plastic bottles, where they have grown vegetables that they have later cooked in healthy eating sessions that aim to bring families and the wider community together.
They have also raised seedlings that they have later planted for the enjoyment of their local community. The kids learn new skills, they have pride in their work and they learn how to help provide food for themselves and their families. Surely a win-win situation! Getting back to nature really is good for you!
Some upcoming dates to help us focus on the natural world are 2nd May – International Dawn Chorus Day and 22nd May International Biodiversity Day, while Green Office Week (over by the time Link reaches you), now in its second year, has helped us to focus on what we can do to help the environment, even in the workplace.
See: www.greenofficeweek.eu.
Happy (green) gardening!
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Rural Affairs
with Dagmar Winter
It’s great to get outdoors…
Enjoy the great outdoors or fancy a challenge? At time of writing spring has arrived, the lambs are gambolling in the fields (after some rather grim days of snow) and those among us who do not live and work in the countryside begin visiting again in greater numbers. And there are so many fantastic opportunities with Northumberland's coastline, hills, forests, rivers and lakes.
You can enjoy walking, running, cycling, mountain biking, sailing, fishing, canoeing, nature watching … Here are just a few ideas:
Northumberland National Park (NNP)
www.northumberlandnationalpark.org.uk
We are so fortunate to have this on our doorstep, a true breathing place for time out. There is also a summer programme of free walks and talks with Park Rangers, details in visitor centres or from the website.
NNP supports its surrounding communities and advertises their events, for instance the first Bellingham All Acoustic Festival (BAAFest) on 1st and 2nd May. And country shows are just some of the other events well worth a visit. Like Powburn Show on 7th August, these shows may include children's sports, a sheep dog trial, and entertainment for everyone.
Oh, and speaking of shows, don't forget the Northumberland County Show in Corbridge with its Churches Together presence on 31st May!
Kielder Water and Forest Park
www.visitkielder.com
Well, there is so much to do and enjoy at Kielder. Quite apart from sailing and other fun activities on the water, there are organized events such as Owl or Bat Nights, Working Forest Visits, Family Wildlife Days, Osprey Watch Weekends etc
Headline news is the first international Kielder Marathon using the Lakeside Way – a brand new trail that encircles the shoreline of Kielder Water, northern Europe's largest man-made lake. This year's Marathon in October is already fully booked but there is also the Second Kielder Challenge Walk on 4th September this year along the same route. Of course you can enjoy the Lakeside Way at your leisure at any time, walking, running or cycling.
The Northumberland Wildlife Trust organises Family Wildlife days including treasure hunts, animal tracking and nature talks. Events from Pond Dipping at Kielder to Bats in Gosforth Park cover the whole area of our Diocese and there is something for every age. Northumberland Wildlife Trust manages over 60 nature reserves covering over 4,000ha. For more information about their work and activities, go to www.nwt.org.uk
The National Trust offers visitors not only wonderful Houses and Gardens in beautiful rural settings (such as Wallington and Cragside) but also coast and countryside highlights such as Allen Banks & Staward Gorge or the Farne Islands. The North East and Yorkshire pages of www.nationaltrust.org.uk suggest a number of easy walks. Individual properties also offer events such as fun activities, food fairs and talks, so it is well worth checking - for yourself, for visitors or for those grandchildren who are coming to stay. From Norham Castle on the Scottish Border to Prudhoe Castle, from the ramparts at Berwick to Black Carts Turret on Hadrian's Wall, there are many English Heritage places to visit. Special events around Roman history take place at Chesters, Housesteads and Birdoswald's Forts on Hadrian's Wall, and also at Corbridge Roman Site. But you could also try your hand at archery or Bedding Hanging Baskets at Belsay Hall, see events on www.englishheritage.org.uk
Fishing: Between Tweed and Tyne, there are many fantastic places to fish. If you would like to have a go or just try somewhere different, go to www.visitnorthumberland.com and go to fishing, whether its fly, coarse or sea fishing.
Are you looking for something more energetic? The Allendale Challenge - www.northoftynesearchandrescue.org.uk (go to events). Organised around the beginning of April by North Of Tyne Search and Rescue Team to raise funds for their work, it's considered by many to be one of the toughest challenge walks around and a "must do" event for any keen walker or fell runner. The 25 mile route covers some of the finest peat bogs in the North Peninnes. 800 people enjoyed (?) it in stunningly beautiful weather this year, including this writer. Have a go next year! - You are still in time for the other event organised by the same team, the Alwinton Round on 5th June, in its 16th year in 2010. There are three walks to suit all abilities: a 6 mile Family Walk, a 15-mile Long Walk and a 20- mile Big Walk.
Haltwhistle Walking Festival
www.haltwhistlewalkingfestival.org
When you read this, you might just be in time to catch some of this event which this year takes place from 24th April to 3rd May. Walking Festivals in Haltwhistle have been held twice yearly since 2003 and are run by a small group of enthusiastic volunteers with support from the staff of Haltwhistle Partnership. Guided walks are available to suit all ages and abilities. The latest arrival among local Challenge walks in the calendar and the blue ribbon event of the Haltwhistle Festival is the Haltwhistle Challenge, in its second year on 8th May in 2010. It's a 26 mile walk (or run) around Haltwhistle, taking in Hadrian's Wall as well as the South Tyne Valley and famous Lambley Viaduct.
Other Challenge Walks/Runs include: the Chevy Chase on 3rd July, a 20 mile route starting out at Wooler and taking in Cheviot and Hedgehope, organised by Wooler Running Club (www.woolerrunningclub.co.uk) and the Cheviots Challenge (www.cheviotschallenge.org.uk) on 28th August (choose between a 15mile and a 25mile route starting in Alwinton), organised by Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team.
Long Distance Walks: St Cuthbert's Way, Hadrian's Wall Path, The North Sea Walking Trail and St Oswald's Way as well as the Pennine Way all invite you to get out your walking boots.
Wherever you go, please follow the country code:
Be safe, plan ahead, and follow any signs
Leave gates and property as you find them
Protect plants and animals and take your litter home
Keep dogs under close control
Consider other people: Remember that what may be a place of leisure for you is someone else's 'shop floor' and livelihood. And support the rural economy by buying your supplies locally.
And finally, if you're feeling exhausted already and don't want to travel far, there is much to be discovered close to or even in urban centres by way of gardens and parks, and a walk along the coastline at Tyneside with wonderful views to St Mary's Lighthouse can refresh body, mind and spirit.
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Christian Aid
“Squalid, filthy and undignified” – but these lives are full of hope
Most of the 300,000 Christian Aid volunteers who work tirelessly in house- to- house collections or who organise fundraising events during Christian Aid Week this May will never see the direct results of their efforts. But recently a local vicar’s wife, Sue Burston from Wooler in Northumberland, had the once in a lifetime experience of seeing exactly where Christian Aid money is spent, when she visited Christian Aid sponsored sanitation projects in Kenya.
Last year Sue and five other Christian Aid supporters travelled to Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. Firstly they experienced the lives of around 3000 people living in poverty with poor sanitation in a slum named Matopeni.
Sue says: “You can know that slums exist, but to actually walk there and to be part of it is so different. No one should have to live like that.” Sue spent the day in Matopeni with Catherine Kithuku and her family who showed the Christian Aid visitors the desperate conditions in which they lived. Sue sat in their home and listened to their life stories. Sue says: “The area was squalid, filthy and undignified. But the people there had hopes and dreams. They have every right to want a better life for themselves.”
The next day Sue was shown around Kiambu by Catherine Nyataa who had been working with local sanitation group, Maji na Ufanisi (MU), to install a water, shower and toilet block. Sue found Catherine to be the most inspirational person she met in Kenya because she “had a vision and was moving forwards in order to achieve her aims.” In contrast to the conditions Sue witnessed in Matopeni, in Kiambu she saw “people who had gained not only clean water but privacy. Privacy leads to dignity and dignity gives people the confidence to take hold of their own lives.”
Although Sue enjoyed her trip to Kenya, she also found it very challenging. She admitted that, as a natural “giver and doer” she was shocked to realise, sitting in Catherine Kithuku’s small home in the slum of Matopeni, that she had more to learn from the incredible strength of Catherine’s Christian faith than she was able to give to Catherine at that moment in time.
However, having returned to the North-east, Sue has been filled with a new enthusiasm and a sense of the great urgency of Christian Aid’s work for people like Catherine Kithuku living in poverty.
“The people I met whilst in Kenya shared intimate details about their lives with me, and I will hold them in my heart forever. My experience in Kenya has made me realise that when you donate to Christian Aid you’re not giving great riches, but you’re handing people’s lives back to them and helping them to realise that their lives matter. In the West
we are so privileged, but we have an opportunity through Christian Aid Week to support people like Catherine Kithuku’s family who desperately need our help.”
Please use Sue Burston’s story to inspire others to give generously this Christian Aid Week. Just £32 could buy the materials needed to build ten metres of new drainage to prevent sewage flooding into houses in Kenya. For more information about Christian Aid Week and resources focussing on sanitation in Kenya please contact the Newcastle Office on 0191 228 0115 or Newcastle@christian-aid.org.
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View from the Lantern
by Canon Sydney Connolly
What Kate did next…
Have you ever wondered what our Canon Emeriti get up to when they vacate their stalls in the Cathedral? I have! By kind invitation of Bishop Martin, Pat and I took up residence in Holy Island Vicarage recently, whilst there is a vacancy in the parish. Canon Kate Tristram has lived on the island for 32 years, and has exercised a long and distinguished ministry to the islanders and the many thousands of people who visit that sacred place every year. I had the opportunity to talk with Kate about that ministry, which is so greatly valued in the diocese and beyond. Kate’s profession is in teaching. For 18 years she was Lecturer in Religious Studies in the College of St Hild in Durham. St Hild’s was responsible for training large numbers of teachers, and was a Church of England College. In the 1970s, St Hild’s went through a series of changes, first of all amalgamating with St Bede’s College and finally being enveloped within the main body of Durham University.
Kate had long been associated with Holy Island, and had bought a cottage there in the late 70s. The Vicar then was Father Denis Bill, who founded Marygate House and, much to her surprise, Kate found that she was being called by God to be its Warden. It was a job she loved, and held for 20 years. She was able to use her teaching skills, as students at various stages of their careers found their way to Marygate House to form part of the resident team, and be taught by Kate, who helped move them on to the next stage. Some students were ordinands, eventually being ordained, some needed a breathing space or time to resolve pressing problems in their lives.
When Kate retired from Marygate House she embarked upon a post-graduate course in medieval languages at Edinburgh, old Irish being her chosen subject. For this she was awarded the degree of MSc.
It was Denis Bill who first suggested to Kate that she might consider becoming a deaconess, and, when the time was ripe, she was ordained deacon in St Nicholas’ Cathedral in 1987. Two years after the Church of England General Synod voted to ordain women to the priesthood, and Kate was amongst the first in our diocese to be ordained priest by Bishop Kenneth Gill. In the same year as her ordination (1994) Kate became the first woman Canon of St Nicholas’ Cathedral, being installed in, appropriately enough, the stall of St Colman of Lindisfarne. In 2001 she became Canon Emeritus.
Kate continues a very full and varied ministry on Holy Island. As well as maintaining (especially during the interregnum) a full round of the daily office and Eucharist, she is constantly being called upon to talk to an endless stream of visitors, school parties, retreatants and pilgrims.
In the midst of a very active life, Kate has managed to write another book! It has been well received and reviewed in The Link and its title gives a clue to its contents: The Story of Holy Island, published by the Canterbury Press at 312.99 – 12 chapters ranging from the island’s “Misty Beginnings” to the present day. It is a fascinating read for anyone who is interested in that very special place, the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. The book is available in the Cathedral shop, or can be ordered there.
You might find also in the shop a new book by another Canon Emeritus of our Cathedral, Angela Ashwin ( “Faith in the Fool” ) Does anyone know of other Newcastle Canon authors (Honorary, Lay, or Emeritus)?
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