Parish Churches

[Cyril Haearn]

When may one tick off a church, does one have to go inside or attend a service? I like to circumnavigate the building and picnic outside. This will keep you busy for a while, +1

I like to investigate the inside of churches as that is where the secrets and treasures tend to be

I have attended services, but mainly in error!

Typical was one small country church at the end of a footpath.

It looked quiet, but when I opened the door, an elderly lady thrust the Order of Service for a funeral in my hand and guided me in.

Even though hardly dressed for the event, It would have been churlish to have backed out so I attended the Funeral of what appeared to be a lovely elderly man, who had coincidentally served in the Navy at one point

Plus One for attending church services, I should do it more often*
It is a bit like a free concert, one may admire the building at leisure, let ones thoughts wander, enjoy the biblical language. Some pulpits have egg-timers to stop the preacher -pontificating- too long

* actually I attended an open-air service yesterday
In Plattdeutsch ("low German"), +1

[Cunobelin]

When may one tick off a church, does one have to go inside or attend a service? I like to circumnavigate the building and picnic outside. This will keep you busy for a while, +1

I like to investigate the inside of churches as that is where the secrets and treasures tend to be

I have attended services, but mainly in error!

Typical was one small country church at the end of a footpath.

It looked quiet, but when I opened the door, an elderly lady thrust the Order of Service for a funeral in my hand and guided me in.

Even though hardly dressed for the event, It would have been churlish to have backed out so I attended the Funeral of what appeared to be a lovely elderly man, who had coincidentally served in the Navy at one point

Plus One for attending church services, I should do it more often*
It is a bit like a free concert, one may admire the building at leisure, let ones thoughts wander, enjoy the biblical language. Some pulpits have egg-timers to stop the preacher -pontificating- too long

* actually I attended an open-air service yesterday
In Plattdeutsch ("low German"), +1

On the other hand, my Nemesis is Whitchurch Canonicorum.

I have cycled there 3 times and each time there has been a wedding or funeral(s) that have prevented me getting in

That is the other inconvenience on Saturdays and Sundays as ell as the occasional week day

What do these people think they are playing at?

I mean to say local Church congregations using the local church for religious reasons..... what is the world coming to?

[Cyril Haearn]

Plus One

[francovendee]

A mate of mine suggested that I should visit all the parish churches in Cornwall .................now that I've done all the 79 bridges over the A30 Exeter to LE, and I'm well on my way to doing all the roads in Cornwall too.

He reckoned I needed a new challenge.

I found a list of all the civil parishes in Cornwall and with a bit of research maybe I could find out where the parish churches are. It appears there's 218 civil parishes.
Wolf Rock isn't strictly a parish, and I don't think there's a road on it!

Here's the list in pdf format so you can see the task ahead of me.
Cornwall Parishes.jpg
Yet to do more research of course, and I know that many of the roads I've already done, and many (if not all) of the villages I've done too, but it's a new challenge ................ and I like challenges.

What comes after the roads, bridges and churches? All the boozers in Cornwall?

[Cyril Haearn]

I do love ascending church towers, went up the highest one in the world at Ulm Germany, it is a spire actually and one gets quite near the top
768 steps

[thirdcrank]

Why not visit the lot to identify which is which and publish a list, to act as a guide for anybody thinking of visiting all the parish churches in Cornwall?

[Vorpal]

Slightly OT, but there is a sponsored "bike and hike" event widely held on the second Saturday in September, whereby one cycles or walks, ticking off participating churches (C of E, Catholic, Methodist,no doubt others) as one goes, the idea being to be sponsored on a per church basis. I've often done it, in later years with my children, usually making a donation rather than pestering people for sponsorship. If you like tea and cake, it's great.

I just googled the Herts and Beds version to check; September the 8th.

The Essex Churches Trust version used to be called 'Ride & Stride'. I'm not sure if it still is.

There is also an annual pedal round historic churches in Suffolk & Essex that I don't recall the name of. I think one of the cycling clubs do it in conjunction with their local parish church to raise money for the church. I never went on either, but have freinds who do them.

[Richard Fairhurst]

And for a particularly entertaining challenge... Rutland is the one county where you could, in theory, visit all its (64) churches during the course of the Ride & Stride. I think I managed 40 in my teenage years (when I lived in Oakham) but bonked somewhere on the road out to Cottesmore.

https://www.stamfordmercury.co.uk/news/ ... 1-8130564/

[Cunobelin]

And for a particularly entertaining challenge... Rutland is the one county where you could, in theory, visit all its (64) churches during the course of the Ride & Stride. I think I managed 40 in my teenage years (when I lived in Oakham) but bonked somewhere on the road out to Cottesmore.

https://www.stamfordmercury.co.uk/news/ ... 1-8130564/

My Father was part of the team that designed and built Rutland Water

[Mick F]

Why not visit the lot to identify which is which and publish a list, to act as a guide for anybody thinking of visiting all the parish churches in Cornwall?

I was hoping someone had already done this.
Looks like it might be up to me then.

What comes after the roads, bridges and churches? All the boozers in Cornwall?

Don't tempt me!

[Cyril Haearn]

Graveyards and cemeteries even without churches are interesting too, they are beautifully cared for quiet parks with lots of nature
Someone claimed that a cemetery was the most alive place in the city

[Mick F]

There's a disused Victorian Cemetery in Tavistock on Dolvin Road.
Been past it millions of times, but we always say we should visit it.
Been living here since summer 1985 and still never done it despite being in the town two or three times a week.

This gravestone is one I always see as I pass on the bike as it's visible from the road. I wonder who she was. Martha Hodge.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/140 ... rtha-hodge

https://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/r ... 4QPWy3MxE4

[foxyrider]

What comes after the roads, bridges and churches? All the boozers in Cornwall?

Don't tempt me!

All the Maccy D's - some are housed in very interesting buildings after all, might struggle with Costa outlets though How about all the tin mines?

[Si]

Visiting all of a county's parish churches seems a noble undertaking to me. It's nice to have a theme to motivate you to do something different. And visiting churches, for some reason, speaks to me of the golden age of cycle touring (when they no-doubt did brass rubbings at each). Of course, not being around during the golden age of cycle touring, I'm probably making all of this up...rose tinted do-dars etc.

I've just been working in Wiltshire, on my day off I did a little loop around the area and photographed all the churches I found (didn't go in as it was Sunday morning and they were in mid-throng) including a C13th ruined chapel on top of a IA hill fort which I stumbled on by accident (and which involved doing some gravel biking on a brommie...fun, fun, fun).

[Mick F]

How about all the tin mines?

Grief!

Tin mines?
What about copper, silver, arsenic and tungsten?

There's a copper mine on the Devon bank almost visible from our front window. Devon Great Consols was once the largest copper mine in the world.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devon_Great_Consols

Up the road - where we used to live - there's Drakewalls Mine.
http://www.cornwallinfocus.co.uk/mining/drakewalls.php
An addit runs underneath here, and we've been in it a few times.