Some Friendly English Friends
My wife and I had been to England many years before we even met. Neither of us had been to York or Cornwall and had heard good things about those travel choices. We consulted friends, bought a guidebook, a Britrail pass and planned a busy two weeks. We hit almost all the marks. But as often happens, some of the best times were serendipitous. Our style of touring includes walking the streets just getting a feel for the surroundings. It also includes getting confused by the GPS directions and just wandering. This is how we came across three Friends Meetings.
The first occurrence was in York. Here we expected to find evidence of prehistoric, Roman, Viking and Medieval England, and we did. A “shortcut” back to our AirB&B led us past Friargate Meetinghouse. During our stop-in, we were given a tour and shared common concerns about youth involvement, hybrid technology and use of the building. Friargate’s building is very much used by the community including a young socialist group. There are nine part-time staff members keeping track of all the activities.
Our next encounter was in Hexham, where we went to start our visit to Hadrian’s wall. We were headed to the market for lunch supplies. The Meetinghouse was not open.
Our most fortunate visit occurred in Marazion near Penzance in Cornwall. Marazion has a castle-like place call St. Michael Mount, which (like its namesake in France) can only be reached by foot during low tide). We walked along a beach path for about three miles to get close but did not walk to the buildings because the timing was wrong.
We decided to take a bus back to Penzance. While we were looking for the bus stop, we found an old-style sign with a hand pointing to “Quaker Meeting”. Sure enough, at the end of this Quaker Way was a sign inviting the community to Monday Open House – and we were lucky enough to be there on a Monday! We were warmly welcomed by Friends, had a tour of the small Meetingroom, a short history lesson (George Fox spent the night in town in 1656), discussion re: Young Friends, covid and hybrid concerns and building upgrades – current day universal Friends’ concerns. We also had delicious cake, pie, and tea (naturally).
Tea with Marazion Friends
It is heartening for me to meet Friends from a distance who share so many values and concerns and who are working to better their communities and themselves.