The Parish Church of St George the Martyr, Waterlooville
This has been a very busy month, for the MU members have attended eight events, seven in the deanery and one in Llandudno for the General Meeting.
The first event was the Church Fete, on behalf of the MU members I would like to thank everyone who helped on a very windy day. A big thank you to all the people who made all the lovely cakes, financially this was one of our best results.
12th June, on a very wet morning Margaret and John Symonds, Gillian Griffiths and Jennefer waited for the coach to pick us up, we did the rounds of the diocese picking up members on the way, we were 37 in all.
Arriving at Llandudno at 4.30, at the Evans Hotel we found our rooms, most of us were on the top floor and the lift was very cuddly, it only took four at a time. 6.30 we had dinner, the food was excellent throughout our stay, in the evening most of us went for a walk to the sea front or to explore Llandudno. All the time we were in Wales it was very wet every day except the day we came home in glorious sunshine, typical!
On the Wednesday we visited Conway and had lunch then off to the Trifiew Mills where there were some very good bargains to be had. Returning via Betws-
On Thursday we went to Blaenau Ffestiniog, had coffee and boarded the train to Portmadoc, joined the coach and spent the rest of the day at Portmeirion, weather was damp but no rain until we were on the coach. In the evening we all went to a concert to hear the Traeth Male Voice Choir, 50 singers and two soloists, the male soloist aged 18 sang twice, the second time in Russian. He joked before he sang and said if he forgot the words he would make them up and anyway we would not know the difference, he sang it well and had a very lovely voice, we enjoyed the evening very much.
Friday the weather was at its worst so we did not go to the Bodnant Gardens. Our coach driver took us on a scenic route to the beautiful Marble Church St Mary’s Bodelydden, it was fantastic, the marble Font, the carved pulpit and lectern, the East window was made of the most colourful glass especially the robe of Our Lady, it was the most vibrant blue. The church has attracted many visitors and is well worth another visit. On to lunch at a garden centre, then we visited St Asaph’s Cathedral, the smallest cathedral in the UK. We had to leave early as we had to have an early dinner prior to going to Bangor Cathedral for our Festival Eucharist, the Archbishop of Wales preached. I must say that at the same time we were in Bangor Cathedral another identical service was taking place at St Asaph’s Cathedral because there were so many representatives of the Mothers’ Union attending the General Meeting; it was a wonderful experience.
Saturday was the day of the general meeting held in the Llandudno Theatre, it was a good day. I will not bore you with details.
Sunday, some members went to the local church for the 8 am Eucharist, breakfast over, we set off to go to the Isle of Anglesey, through a lovely scenic route through the Snowdonia National Park to Betws-
It was a most enjoyable break and enjoyed by us all.
Jennefer Higginbottom
Summer Edition 2012