The Great Egg Shortage

I was in school again today, but just for one day. I had Primary 2, but not the same class as last week.
The day went quite fast.

My car is making an odd noise. Sounds like it might be a wheel bearing. It's booked in for Wednesday morning. Hope it is nothing expensive.
John is in a play at the Citizen's Theatre soon. We'll go and see that.

Nothing much of import today. I was listening to a food programme on the radio. It was recounting the effect of the banning of caged hens on British food manufacturers and shoppers.
It would appear that prices have risen sharply, and that manufacturers who use eggs are struggling to absorb the extra costs as they feel limited in their ability to pass on the additional costs to customers.
The supermarkets are not keen to be seen to be raising prices, and can put pressure on producers not to make price increases.

There has also been a reduction in the supply of cheap foreign eggs, and even the egg producers are unable to buy additional supplies to meet their own customer demands.
Since eggs are an ingredient in much bakery produce, and in ice cream production, we can expect to see some changes in the next few months.

Somebody needs to look at the economic system. Money....designed to make exchanging goods easier instead of barter...has become itself a commodity and subject to speculation.
Every country is in economic turmoil. Each country is trying to reduce imports and increase exports. Anyone see a problem there?
Shops cannot sell todays' production. We are buying today with money we won't have till later. But what about tomorrow's production?
When we save money, we take it out of circulation. It then cannot carry out its purpose...the buying and selling of goods.
When will people realise that as long as banks are allowed to create money...out of nothing....and as a debt....we will stay in this mess. It should be the Country which produces its own money, debt free money, based on its production and resources.
Investigate Social Credit, Christian Money and so on. Wake up!

Looking across to Inverary

Inverary Castle

Saturday 28th April

A beautiful sunny day today, though the hills around us were covered in snow. I had to go out last night around 9pm, and it was sleeting and very cold.
After mass this morning, wife, daughter and I drove down to Helensburgh for some shopping. Well, they shopped, I walked.
Helensburgh is the birthplace of John Logie Baird, the inventor of television, though his system gave way to another.
And Helensburgh's other claim to fame??? is that Britain's nuclear submarine base is about 3 or 4 miles just along the coast.
So as I walked today, I saw 2 things which took me back to the car for my camera. One was a submarine being escorted out of the base, and the other....at the opposite end of the scale, was a black swan.

Helensburgh sea front

Nuclear submarine with armed protection

Black swan

The black swan originates from Australia, and is not natural to Britain, though some have been brought in to ornamental gardens. Their numbers in this country are very small, so it is not often that you will come across this bird.

The Joys of Teaching

I was called out again to teach this last week. I was covering for a teacher who was away with a group of children to a residential week near Hexham.

I had a Primary2 class. I don't really have much experience at that stage, so it took me a few days to get into the way of them. It is just so different from upper school.

The children are smaller. They get everywhere. you have to be careful that you don't stand on anyone because they are under your feet...behind you when you turn....hanging on to your legs. And they talk..............non stop.
They are just so full of energy. In this group of 25, there were some really bright young children. And very neat workers too. They were curious and interested. But boy could they talk.
To be a successful infants teacher, you need to be extremely organised. Unlike upper school, it is a series of shorter lessons. You have to have your worksheets organised, and everything easy to get at. The brighter ones just race through the set work, and of course you have to have meaningful extension work ready for them, while you work with those who find the tasks more challenging.

I have the greatest admiration for Infants teachers. If I had a hat, I would take it off to them. All teachers need dedication, enthusiasm, a sense of humour and endless patience. Even more so in Infants.

But I did in the end enjoy my week. So many different characters! And I even got a compliment.
One mum approached me after school and said her son was loving having a male teacher....and one who was cool!
I might have cracked it. We will see. I am back for one day on Monday. Primary2 again...a different Primary 2.

Saltburn Pier

Saltburn

Scarborough Castle

Filey Sea Front

How will I do?

Still in Yorkshire

There are many places of interest in Yorkshire. There are the great cities like York, with its ancient cathedral, and there are the small towns and villages like Whitby, Egton and so on.
We paid a visit to Pickering. Me to visit the castle and the parish church, the other half to visit...........shops.

The last time we came here, the castle was closed, and this time.....yep...closed again. It does become irritating to make a visit to a place to find the target closed. Once in Wales, we drove 4 miles along tortuous rough lanes to visit a cheese making farm. When we got there...closed.
And on the way home last Friday, we saw a sign to a waterfall and tea room. We drove down the narrow lane, came to a rough car park, had to leave the car there, slip and slide down a rocky path to find the waterfall, but the tea room closed.
There should be a requirement for proprietors to remove roadside adverts if they are not actually open.for the
Back to Pickering. At the time I had not known about the Catholic church, but the parish church was in the town centre. So I went in. It was worth the visit because there are medieval wall paintings on a good state of repair. Photos are here.

Of course, many of these churches were originally catholic till the Reformation. And the great abbey churches which still stand and are in use were catholic too. There are photos of a number of these elsewhere on my blog, when I was off round Britain taking photos for the TFP calendar.

Pickering

Parish Church

central aisle

medieval wall paintings

side altar

We had intended to have a coffee one day at Sandsend, where a little coffee shop sits overlooking the huge bay there just outside Whitby. But we never managed. Not enough time on a 4 day break to do everything.

Blessed Nicholas Postgate

St. Hedda's church in Egton is associated with Blessed Nicholas Postgate.

Fr. Postgate was born in Egton around 1596.

In 1621, he travelled abroad to train for the priesthood at Douay in France. This was where many priests were trained after the Reformation, when it became a crime to be a Catholic priest. Many priests from Britain were trained here, and many died in Britain for their Faith.
He was ordained in 1628.
In 1630, on the feast day of Saints Peter and Paul, when he was about 32, he was sent to the English Mission, and so found himself back in his home land.
He began his work at Kilvington, near Thirsk. He would spend the next 50 years or so wandering around the North Yorkshire moors, saying Mass and administering the Sacraments.
He finally settled about 1630 at Ugthorpe, not that far from his birth place. By that time, anti-catholic sentiments had somewhat declined, but the so called "Popish Plot" to install a catholic monarch in Britain re-ignited the flames. The plot had been dreamt up by one Titus Oates.
A severe persecution of Catholics began again, and once more priests became hunted men. They could find shelter among the faithful, some of whom had hiding places - Priests' Holes - constructed in their houses.
Punishment for those abetting priests was also severe.
Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey was murdered during the upheaval begun by Oates, who promptly blamed Catholics.
Sir Edmund's servant swore to root out Catholic Priests and their supporters. He based himself in Whitby, not far from Ugthorpe, possibly because it was believed that Priests from France landed there.

Fr Postgate, now 82 years of age, was arrested at a house at Little Beck, near Whitby, while performing a baptism.
He was found guilty of treason, and at York was hanged, drawn and quartered. One of his hands was sent to the College at Douay.
His portable altar stone is in St Joseph's church in Pickering.

He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1987.

In St Hedda's church, there is a brief history of Fr. Postgate and a number of relics belonging to him, some of which are pictured here.








M.M.M. (1945), VENERABLE NICHOLAS POSTGATE, MARTYR.New Blackfriars, 2: 102–107. doi: 10.1111/j.1741-2005.1945.tb05966.x

St Hedda's Catholic Church, Egton

While looking for an alternative way to Goathland, we chanced upon the church of St. Hedda. We stopped to see if the church was open so we could pay a visit to the Blessed Sacrament. It was indeed open.
From the outside, the church does not look remarkable, but inside it is a little gem.

Building of the  present church began in 1866 and the church was opened in August 1867. The Parish priest was Fr. Joseph Callebert from Belgium. There was at this time a congregation of around 500.

A German company installed a new altar. The pulpit came from Belgium, the wonderful Stations of the Cross came from Ghent, who also supplied the Rosary reliefs which are on the exterior wall in the Rosary garden.
The church is known as "The Cathedral of the Moors."

St Hedda is believed to have been at Whitby Abbey in the seventh century. The Venerable Bede refers to him as a wise counsellor of Kings.

St Hedda's Church

The Altar

The Crucifixion

Jesus meets the Women of Jerusalem

Rosary Garden

The church is also associated with Blessed Nicholas Postgate, and some relics of him are to be found in the church. More of him in another blog.

Heartbeat

Heartbeat is an innocent little TV programme about a Police Station in the fictional village of Aidensfield, in the 1960s.
We came across it about a year ago, and watch it regularly. It has a small cast of regulars, and is very entertaining. There is background music of the era, and some really good acting.

The village of Goathland is the location of the series, and is a popular destination for fans of the programme. It lies between Whitby and Pickering, and the North Yorkshire Steam Railway passes through the area, and features much in the series.

So, we took a drive up there and spent an hour or so having a look around, and trying to spot the locations used in the series. It is interesting how  difficult it can be to spot some of the locations, because of the camera angles and the altered perception a camera gives.

The Romans were there once too....before Heartbeat of course... and there are some obvious Roman roads.

It is worth a trip if you are in the area, and I recommend a trip on the steam train.

Filey, Saltburn, Barnard Castle and Clydebank

We arrived home from our week's break on Friday evening. Having left Filey at 9am, we drove only as far as Saltburn, via Scarborough and Whitby. The weather was fine and the traffic light.
At Saltburn we stopped for coffee, then while my wife shopped. I took some photographs.

Next we continued our journey home via Barnard Castle. First stop was the Catholic Church there, St.Mary's. The history of the Church features in an earlier blog.
To our delight, Fr Elkin was working in the garden, so we had a brief chat. After a visit to the Church itself, we had a coffee, then made for home. I took the road over the moors towards Brough, where we joined the A66, and from there the M6 back to Scotland, and home to Clydebank by about 7.30pm.

We really enjoyed the short break, and probably would have enjoyed an even longer stay, but we had only booked for 4 nights, and anyway, school called. Tomorrow I will be back in class, Primary 2, for all of next week.

Over the next few days, I'll write about some of the places we visited and post some of the many photographs I took.

Piercebridge Northumberland

We are on a short holiday.

After Mass this morning, we headed south. The weather was beautiful, the roads quite quiet.

We were in no rush.

We stopped for coffee on the motorway, and then continued our journey, arriving here at the George Inn at Piercebridge.

We stayed here once before. It was at one time a coaching inn. It stands beside the River Tees. Just below the hotel lie the remains of a Roman Bridge. On the opposite bank, there are the ruins of a Roman Fort. These lie along the line of Dere Street, a Roman road linking York to Scotland.

We had an interesting meal here. Nice, tasty, but the service was very slow. Nearly 2 hours for a 2 course meal. But we were not in a hurry.

Tomorrow after breakfast, we will continue south to our destination in Filey.

And tomorrow, schools re-open in Scotland.

The Easter Tridium

Last night our Parish Church was quite full with those attending the evening Mass of Holy Thursday.

It is heartening to see so many folk come out in such numbers when there is no compunction.

The Holy Thursday Mass is an important one. It commemorates the institution of the Holy Eucharist and the Priesthood, all of which happened at the Last Supper 2000 years ago.

Father was very strong in his sermon about the dwindling number of priests, and and urged us to pray for vocations. He urged parents in families to nurture vocations by showing respect to the Church and to the priesthood.

At 10pm, a small group returned for the Evening Prayer of the Church.

This morning, a good number were at morning Prayer of the Church, and in the afternoon, the Church was packed for the Good Friday Commemoration of the Crucifixion.

I have only one complaint. Last night, and again this afternoon, people did not leave the Church in silence. Many talked and chatted. All ages seem to have lost the sense of awe in Church. Silence is the exception now rather than the norm.

It seems we have become too familiar with Jesus. My feeling is that Communion in the hand has contributed to this. Last week at the school mass, I had to stop a Primary 5 girl who was walking back to her seat with the Host in her hand.

A couple of weeks ago, a communicant picked up a host that had been dropped and handed it to the priest. Today, Father dropped some hosts. He simply picked them up and consumed them. Once upon a time such an accident would have been treated differently, with careful cleaning.

I am left wondering if I am being too scrupulous? What if there were particles of Host on the carpet unseen? Is it, or is it not the Body and Blood of Jesus? Does it cease to be so once dropped? Is this something that should not trouble me, or is it?

Tomorrow, morning prayer at 10 am, then the Easter Vigil at 8.30pm.

We wait.

Photos were taken at a Una Voce Mass at the ruins of Cambuskenneth Abbey near Stirling, which is the burial place of King James III of Scotland, and his wife, Margaret of Denmark.

It's Winter..........Again!

This time last week, the warmest place in Scotland was Aboyne in Aberdeenshire with 23C.

Today up there, it is same as here, 3C. But they also have deep snow, whereas here we have a biting wind and frequent snow flurries. Hence the Robert Burns poem at the bottom of my blog.

But hey! ... this is Scotland after all....and snow at Easter is not uncommon. It is the warm weather that is uncommon.

We all enjoyed it while it lasted, and now it is gone. Just as the schools closed for Easter.

This is Holy Week. A solemn week of meditating on the sufferings of Jesus as he went towards the Crucifixion. It is nice to see so many people at Church during this week, when attendance is not mandatory.

We had some work done in the garden recently. The storm damaged fence has been replaced with a smaller one with a gap at the bottom to allow the wind to pass under. The hanging baskets have flowered and are looking good. The rhubarb is sprouting too.

At the front, we had some mono-blocking done, and it looks good. We have a rockery where there was once just a slope. I'm pleased with how it looks. The photos were tken today between snow flurries.

Burns Original			Standard English Translation
Chorus Up in the morning's no for me, Up in the morning early! When a' the hills are covered wi' snaw. I'm sure it's winter fairly! 1. Cauld blaws the wind frae east to west, The drift is driving sairly, Sae loud and shrill's I hear the blast - I'm sure it's winter fairly! 2. The birds sit chittering in the thorn, A' day they fare but sparely; And lang's the night frae e'en to morn -- I'm sure it's winter fairly!			Chorus Up in the morning's not for me, Up in the morning early! When all the hills are covered with snow. I am sure it is winter fairly! Cold blows the wind from east to west, The drift is driving sorely, So loud and shrill is I hear the blast - I am sure it is winter fairly! The birds sit shivering in the thorn, All day they fare but sparely; And long is the night from evening to morning - I am sure it is winter fairly!