Amble Mothers Union travelled to Preston - 2010
On Wednesday 7 members of the Amble Mothers Union travelled to Preston for the Mother’s Union A.G.M. This was my very first trip away with the Mother’s Union and even though it was a good way to go for an overnight stay I wouldn’t have missed it for the world
On the way down we stopped at Skipton for 4 hours, we ate and watered our selves then lightened our purses in the shops and the market, we had time to visit the local C of E Church, and some went on the canal so, it was truly a worthwhile stop.
We left there and moved on to Blackburn Cathedral where the Celebration Eucharist was to be held. The building was something not to be missed and held me in awe of its design and mixture of old and new architecture. There had been a church on the site for over a thousand years but when the Dioceses of Blackburn was created in 1926 the impressive church of St Mary the Virgin was raised to Cathedral status. Fund raising began in 1930 and by 1938 they had eno0ugh money to start work on enlarging the new cathedral. War held up the work but resumed afterwards.
There is a distinctive lantern tower which consists of 56 different panes of coloured glass, finishing this off is an impressive aluminium spire. (The new build) The three architects were John Palmer, W.A. Forsyth and on his death in 1950 Laurence King took over. Outside the Cathedral there is a magical sculpture by Mark Jallanden titled ‘The Healing of the Nations’ standing at 35 by 26 feet, it is abstract of a steel and copper circular piece containing thousands of interwoven fibre optics that create every changing pattern of light at night. This sculpture is deemed by many to be one of the most innovative pieces of modern sculpture at any English Cathedral.
The service was very special and moving with an accompaniment of a superb choir consisting of young girls and boy sopranos, the boys usually sing with the men and are ‘The Cathedral Choir’.
After the service we went to our hotel in Preston. The next morning we went to join Mother’s Union members from all parts of England, it was a big turnout, all the speakers were brilliant, there was lots of literature, most of mine away to Pam Shapiro our Mother’s Union link in South Africa. The theme of the meeting was ‘Regulations not Rules’, interesting and worth listening to, some good hymns and laughter where needed.
It was a great pity we didn’t see much of Preston, only the bus station, the underpass to the shopping mall and the large well kept Guild Hall, of course these things people do not forget if they are unlucky, anyway a good time was had by the seven of us and we had a safe journey home.
Best wishes - Audrey Jones
