Sunday bumbling ....

The last few weeks have been quite busy, though broken up by the interlude in Lubeck. Plus having a cold hasn't helped so this week hasn't been very productive at home, but at least I've managed to get the Organist's CCTV system installed. It was quite a battle, first to get it, then to get the various bits to actually work. Running the cables for it in the Abbey have been real fun - not - and I am now a qualified contortionist as I have had to work inside the Milton Organ to get the cables to where they needed to be.

Working inside an organ case is fascinating, but terrifying, since you are in very close proximity to a large number of fragile 'levers' that make up the action, an enormous number of pipes which can be "detuned" by simply bumping them and every movement requires careful thought before you attempt it. I'm happy to say that I managed to carry out the installation without mishap, though I can now claim to have an intimate acquaintance with the Great Trumpet, the Clarina, several other ranks of pipes and the "action" racks at the back of the console. One does tend to get to know these bits very well when you have to ease yourself between them, under them or around them in order to work.

At least the Organists seem to be pleased with the result, though there is still some work required to "screen" out interference on three cameras from the sound system. It must also be said that I could not have done it without the help of a friend, Duncan, whose patience in "programming" the DVRs involved far exceeded mine.

Today has been fairly busy as well, with having served as Deacon of the Mass for the Said service at 0800 and the Parish Eucharist at 0915 before Serving at the Sung Eucharist at 1100. Having a part in the Liturgical Ministry of the Abbey is a huge privilege, no matter how small and I have to admit that my time here has been a period of tremendous spiritual growth. The role of ministry though is a demanding one and I know I am not alone in finding the act of leading worship very tiring. Small wonder I was disinclined to undertake any major work around the house this afternoon!

Still, it's now time to open a nice bottle of ale, make a sandwich and start getting my head round spending next week at my former employers premises teaching.

Medieval decorations ....

Lubeck is proud of its great medieval Gothic Brick Churches. Seriously damaged during the war they have been lovingly restored, even the medieval decoration inside has been recreated using the samw paint formulae and exactly recreating the original deocration or simply restoring it where it has survived. At the highest point in the town stands the Marienkirche - the Church of St Mary the Virgin - with it's soaring twin towers. This is the Civic Church standing next to the Rathaus or City Hall. Like the church the Rathaus is a medieval structure. Reduced to a shell in 1943 - 45 it too has been painstakingly restored to its original appearance and use.

The first picture gives an idea of the soaring height of this church, 38 metres or a hundred and twenty feet internally in the nave with a total length of 103metres (335 feet). The brick and plaster vaulting is decorated simply and very beautifully, the present decoration being a recreation of the original destroyed in a bombing raid in 1942. Interestingly the fire caused later plaster to spall from the walls revealing the medieval decoration beneath. These were carefully recorded and in 1948 work began on restoring them. Recently eyewitnesses have appeared on History Channel talking of the 1942 raid and one lady recalled the sounds of the bells falling from the towers. She described it as sounding as if the churches themselves were crying out in agony.


The twin towers are 406 feet in height, a phenomenal feat by the medieval builders using brick. At the time of its construction (1250 - 1350) no one in the world had ever attempted to build a brick and mortar wall of this height before.

At the end of the South Aisle is a small enclosure in which lie the remains of two of the eight bells that fell during the 1942 fire. They remain as a memorial to the many who died as the medieval city burned. A fitting one for a revived city.

Birthdays ....

Today is the youngest daughter's birthday and she is currently out for a special evening with her partner. Tomorrow is the son's birthday and Sunday they plan to have a joint feast.

I hope you will join me in wishing them both every happiness in the coming year and that all their dreams may be fulfilled.

Baltic Interlude

The ancient Hanseatic League cities of Lubeck and Wismar are gems. Lubeck is the home of Neideregger Marzipan, so if you are a Marzipan lover, this is Mecca! Wismar suffered badly during the war, being bombed by the RAF extensively and then ravaged by the Soviets and their Communist puppets afterward. Since reunification however, the city has been undergoing a loving restoration, the work painstaking and as precise as only the Germans could be.

In the second picture the Market Square of Wismar shows a fully restored 18th Century gabled front of a Merchant's House and this is just one of the many. Here and there one can still find some of these buildings in the run down and dilapidated state the Communists allowed them to fall too. But probably one of the greatest acts of vandalism the Communists carried out was the deliberate dynamiting of the 13th Century Brick Gothic nave and presbytery of the Marienkirche. The buildings built over it by the Communists have now been cleared and the site excavated archeologically. Now the walls are being slowly recreated using bricks made in the same manner as the originals.

Anyone who still thinks Socialism in any of its guises - and Communism is the ultimate expression of Socialism - should be required to study the damage this philosophy has done to the heritage of every nation it has touched, however lightly.

Dentists, banks and business ....

This morning I finally get the cap fitted to a premolar I broke three or four months ago. It has had a temporary cap for most of that time and, to be honest it won't take long to rip the temporary cap ff, clean off the glue remnants and fit the new one. But I am one of those people who would rather face some dangerous and challenging situation than recline in the dentists chair and let someone poke around in my mouth with a range of tools that look and sound like something out of the Dungeons-R-Us catalogue! Perhaps too many childhood experiences of "This won't hurt a bit!" and "You won't feel a thing!" have left me deeply suspicious of the profession. Fortunately my current dentist is a bit of an artist and good at his work. Still, it isn't a fun prospect. But at least there's nothing else needing attention ....

Unlike my bank, which has lost the really important Standing Order I handed in to them three weeks ago in preparation for my trip to Iran. They've asked for a duplicate but I know that scenario, been there before. Suddenly two deductions coming out when you've only got funds for one. And from Tehran I've got diddly chance of detecting that or sorting it out! So that will need to be addressed PDQ as well.

And then there is HMRC who want this years tax - and a half again "on account" for next year. Makes me wonder why I bother trying to make a living.....

September 1st

September the 1st 1939 marked the start of the second "Great War", probably more correctly referred to as "unfinished business" from 1918. The assault on Gdansk (or Danzig in German) marked the start of five more years of war that would bring ruin to Europe and the shameful betrayal of the Polish and other Central European nations by the West.

The UK went to war over Polish sovereignty and ended it by handing the Poles and their nation over to the Soviets. That was probably the most shameful thing the Labour Party has ever done in a long list of shameful things. But then, Attlee and his fellow Labourites thought Stalin was a hero and a man they could trust. After all, he was anti-Fascist and head of a "Workers Paradise". Some Labour MP's even suggested that the Soviet model should be adopted in the UK and they fell over themselves agreeing with the establishment of totalitarian regimes across Eastern/Central Europe dominated by the Communists. They aided and abetted him in setting up the Iron Curtain and even supplied him with the secrets of the jet engine so his MiG's could outfly and outfight the West's aircraft in the Korean War.

Today the Polish people marked the anniversary of the attack that led ultimately to their subjugation and subjection to Soviet rule for almost fifty years. Attlee even sent the exiled Polish Government back to Stalin assuring them they could "trust" him despite their certainty that all Stalin wanted was to imprison and try them on trumped up charges. Attlee's response? Total collusion with Stalin. The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, today apologised for the part her people played in that and even the Russian Prime Minister made an effort. What I have yet to hear is any sort of acknowledgement from any of the present UK government's closet communists, of the part their party played in allowing Communism to be imposed after 1945.

I won't hold my breath though, there's more chance of Hell suffering an Ice Age.

Back to work

Just back from Germany and a fabulous break with Mausi. Unfortunately I have also managed to catch a really bad cold which is now starting to bite. So its off to bed with a bit of Night Nurse and the cat.

Tomorrow I have quite a day to get through and a lot to get organised. But, I will also download the pictures from the trip and post a few.