Eleven members of our congregation set of from Dun Laoghaire by the Stena Sealink at 11.30 on Friday in earner anticipation of our journey to Great Hucklow in the Peak District of Derbyshire where we were to meet up with Bill and Morag and members of the churches of Stockport and York. When we arrived at Holyhead we found our bus waiting for us with its excellent and friendly Welsh driver who was to bring us most expertly to our destination. The journey of around Four hours took us along the Anglesey coastline up to Ellesmere Port and thence south of greater Manchester to Stockport. Traffic was quite heavy and a break for refreshments was welcome. However we arrived in plenty of time to get settled in and take a walk around the lovely village before over 30 of us sat down to our evening meal. We all met afterwards in the main sitting room for a short epilogue which was followed by our division into 3 groups based on our positive or negative feeling towards Cats, Guinness and Tattoos. When some of us compromised on our firmly held views in order to make the numbers as equal as possible each group was supplied with a basket of props on which we were invited to base a short theatrical episode for the following evening. This problem send most of us off to the local pub where there was a lot of chat, some singing and listening to (Brid in particular). A fitting close to a full day.

After breakfast on Saturday we were provided with picnic lunch. Paul, Bridget and Tony set off to walk to Eyham, a nearby village, but some of the less fit and energetic used a local bus. Eyham is best known for having been decimated by the Great Plague which in some cases wiped out complete families. Some of the recommended cures at the time left us feeling thankful that we lived in an age of antibiotics but also saddened by the village's gloomy history and the matching cloudy day. Nevertheless the call of the theatre had us all participating in noisy and hilarious rehearsals in different parts of our temporary home. I don't think that first night nerves stopped anyone, even the authors or the producers, from eating a hearty supper. The three performances, though each very different in content, provided much laughter though no clear winner emerged. Prizes were presented to the winners of two ingenious quizzes. There was much praise for those who gave their time and ingenuity to preparing these popular events. As on Friday we repaired to the "local" though it was rather more crowded .
The weather on Sunday improved greatly and so we could walk in leisurely fashion to the beautiful old 17th century chapel for morning service conducted by members from the York church led by Margaret Kirk, their minister, whom we had welcomed in Dublin quite recently. We enjoyed this worship together and were pleased to be invited to coffee afterwards by the local congregation. Our final lunch completed a very happy and companionable week-end and we were given a great send off when our bus arrived to bring us to Holyhead. When safely back in Dun Laoghaire we had almost begun to plan for our next visit.
C.McCaw July 2005