Spinnaker Revisited

Part of Portsmouth Harbour seen from the Spinnaker Tower

If you follow 'the Anglo-Catholic' you will know there have been some problems (for me) in downloading pictures. There I was, halfway through a fascinating travelogue, only to have the system jam on me again. I hope this blogpost will work, since the views from the Spinnaker Tower are just wonderful.

Here first is the Ordinariate Church of St Agatha, the redbrick building with three lancet windown in the centre of the view. The tower in front of it is part of the Navy's barracks (though I fear the RN has lately adopted the transatlantic jargon and now calls it a "Naval Base") and a little beyond it the grey stone turret is on All Saints, one of the City Centre Anglican Churches.

St John's Catholic Cathedral is also redbrick, and again the turret and dome of another building partly obscure it.

The Anglican Cathedral of St Thomas of Canterbury is just beyond the ferry harbour in this shot, with beyond it the green grass of Southsea Common. Today there was a slight heat haze, and the windows of the Spinnaker have given all the pictures a strange blue glow - but I hope you can discern some of the land and sea-marks.

You should be able to make out HMS Victory, Nelson's flagship, at present awaiting the reinstatement of the top of her masts and rigging - probably for the twentieth time or so since she was put in dry-dock here.


The Narrow Harbour Entrance.

The Isle of Wight in the background







PS: I see there is a post on the Anglo -Catholic site asking for us to vote on what rite we want to use, the new Translation of the Missal or some as yet unseen version of Dr Cranmer's interesting little experiment. Since only 24 have so far voted the result is hardly overwhelming. If you are not completely fedup with the result of voting in Synods and such, do go to the Anglo-Catholic site and add your cross to the ballot paper.

End of a Marathon

Today Her Majesty's Jubilee Tours come to an end - presumably to give room for the Olympics. Over the past months she and the Duke of Edinburgh have visited most corners or the realm. Today, she brings it to a glorious conclusion on the hottest day of the year (remember the cold wet River Pageant?) with a visit to the New Forest Show.

Butcher's delivery cart

We went there yesterday, with grandson, to ensure that everything was ready for the Queen. It is a very Horsey occasion - she will surely enjoy that. There were of course the showjumpers and the dressage horses; I somehow prefer the more workaday animals, dray horses and even the knacker's cart - though at the show they are all polished and perfect.

And being so near the Solent, you could buy boats as well as tack.

I hope the Queen and the Duke enjoyed their day at the Show as much as we did; they were accompanied by this year's president, Alan Titchmarsh - surely Sir Alan before very long? He seems to be there greeting the Queen even more often than Lords Lieutenant. :Last year the President was the Bishop of Winchester, so the Show's Charity this year is Winchester Cathedral. They should do well from it; the crowds seem set to break all records.

I found my perfect niche at the Coop Funeral Service's stand; I am told the hearse with Chinese Dragons is only for display. Shame. What away to go!

Keeping Busy

When an Ordinariate Group is as small as ours - not many more than twenty of us, originally from half a dozen different Anglican churches - we need everyone to pull together. And goodness, they do - often supported by a few longstanding Catholics from neighbouring parishes. So it was last Saturday, when to our astonishment we managed to raise £260 from a two-hour coffee morning. Brian Harrison took the photos, which you will find on our Ordinariate website. http://www.ordinariate.org.uk/bournemouth No sooner was that over than we began planning for our next great moment. Together with members of the Portsmouth & Isle of Wight Group we have the task of arranging the Ordination for our two deacons; John Maunder from Portsmouth and Brian Copus from Bournemouth. That will be on September 22nd, not in either of the churches where our Groups normally worship but in the much larger central church in Bournemouth, Sacred Heart, Richmond Hill - by kind permission of the parish priest, Fr Bruce Barnes. We will update you on this nearer the time; at present we are deciding on musical setting (favourite at present are amended Merbecke for Kyrie and Gloria, and a setting by our own Organist, Peter Cook, for Sanctus and Benedictus and Agnus ... but we have a little way to go yet.
Meanwhile we have a few enquirers who, we hope, will soon become firmly committed to joining the Catholic Church and our Ordinariate Group. Your prayers would be welcome for them and us.