I think it was 2006 when plans were first mooted about a massive housing development just up the road from Kirby Muxloe - the village on the edge of Leicester where we'd lived since 1995. The Council had thousands of letters of protest in the first week. And just one saying "Our church is very close to the proposed site- if you do this how can we help build a good community there?" And because he was the only one who offered help, they took Bob seriously. We got Churches Together In Leicestershire on board, and went for prayer walks round the muddy fields where the new town was due to be built. The Council said if we provided a community worker, they would provide housing [which was way more than we'd dared hope for]
As we left KM for Dorset, the development was coming along nicely. We returned for the commissioning of Sue Steer as the Community Worker [she's a Baptist Minister] Things have gone from strength to strength. 
Such sad news about Dr Michael Mosley. I did not know him personally - but listened to him on TV and radio, read his books, and even tried his diet plans. I particularly enjoyed his "Just One Thing" programme. I did briefly attempt the cold shower thing, but decided against that becoming a daily habit. 
I do believe he was a good man, who genuinely wanted to help other people to live happier, healthier lives. He always came across as kind and caring, with a good sense of humour.
My thoughts and prayers are for his widow Clare, their four children, and his many grieving friends right now. And with the people of Symi - a tiny island now overwhelmed with media coverage. They really pulled together to search for him [one of their police officers fell and broke his leg] and this is not the outcome anyone was hoping for.
Thank you Michael - for challenging so many of us to think seriously about the way we eat.RIP
Two logos - one for the local grouping of Churches Together, the other for the World Council of Churches.
Oikoumene means inhabited world
Both include the image of a ship on the sea. Traditionally a symbol for the church throughout the ages. Jesus' first disciples were fisherman - and he calmed the storm - the winds and the waves obeyed him.
When we were in Paris we visited the church of St Etienne Du Mont [St Stephen of the Mountain] which is situated just behind The Pantheon.] This is a fascinating church - there has been a place of worship here since the 6th Century.
The tie is a strip 1½" x 8" cut to a point at each end.
According to the dictionary, “a riddle, the answer to which involves
a pun or play on words” – or simply, a puzzle, I love wordplay, and cryptic
crosswords. So here’s a conundrum for you “What connects Disney, a Dwarf, and
D-Day?” Answer – PLUTO – the Disney cartoon dog, the dwarf planet, and the Pipe
Line Under The Ocean.
In August 1942, a disastrous raid was made on the French Port of Dieppe [under
German occupation] It was a fiasco – 5000 Canadians were killed, wounded or
captured, the Navy lost 33 landing craft, and the RAF lost 106 planes. After 6
hours, there was a hasty retreat. Lessons were learned, and by 1944, plans were underway
for a second invasion – to be known as Operation Overlord, and taking place on
D-Day. Churchill had said that all operation names had to be selected at random
– without suggesting their character, or anything disparaging -
“do not enable any widow or mother to say her son was killed at Operation
Ballyhoo or Bunnyhug”
After Dieppe, the ‘boffins’ had been busy – they had developed two “Mulberry Harbours” – in effect, portable
floating harbours which could be assembled on the beach to facilitate rapid
off-loading of troops and supplies. They had the PLUTO which carried essential
fuel for tanks etc., and all manner of weird and wonderful vehicles known collectively
as “The Funnies” – amphibious Sherman tanks, “The Bobbin Carpet Layer” which
laid matting across soft surfaces to enable vehicles to travel over without
getting bogged down, and the Churchill AVRE – a modified tank which fired 40lb
mortars known as “flying dustbins”By June 30, over 850,000 men, 148,000 vehicles, and 570,000 tons of supplies
had landed on the Normandy shores. Fighting by the brave troops of the allied
forces on the western front, and Russian forces on the eastern front, led to
the defeat of German Nazi forces. On May 7, 1945, German General Alfred Jodl signed
an unconditional surrender. This invasion had helped bring about a swift end to
the War. We had the longest, straightest runway in Europe here at the RAF base
in Swanton Morley, and many planes flew out to support the troops.
Back to the conundrums and crosswords – bizarrely the pipes for PLUTO were
wound on huge steel drums – called conundrums. Even more bizarre, during the
month before D-Day, answers to the Daily Telegraph crossword puzzles included
the words Gold and Sword – then Juno, Utah, Mulberry, Overlord and Neptune. The
first two initially considered a coincidence, but 5 more and MI5 smelled a rat!
The compiler [Leonard Dawe, Head of a boys’ school in Surrey] was arrested and
interrogated. It transpired that the school was next to a US/Canadian camp.
Dawe had asked his pupils to suggest words for his puzzles, and they’d innocently
repeated words they’d heard the soldiers bandying about [security clearly very
lax among the Yanks!] MI5 let Dawe off with a strong caution [he very nearly
lost his job]
In the heart of the city is a shop called Samaritaine. It is the fashion store, and has been for decades
It has not always been easy for French Policemen. During revolutionary periods, they were often executed without trial.
La Route Du The was a lovely shop, and his first holiday souvenir was some "Genghis Khan" which is a type of Russian Caravan Tea.
