I’ve just come back from a week in Cumbria and the Lake District. I’m exhausted from all the walking so I thought I’d sit down and put some of my thoughts into my blog.

I stayed at Thornleigh, which is a Christian hotel that offers a wide range of special interest weeks. Ours was a week with Jonathen Veira and his lovely wife Sue. They are ably supported by their girl-Friday come tech-crew, Rachel. Between them they make exquisite music, video and song as well as telling some very heart-warming or funny stories. Jonathen is a wonderful bass baritone singer with 35 years experience in world class opera performances as well as a brilliant raconteur. Apart from all this we also had some fabulous trips out by car or coach and on foot.

One highlight for me was a day in Kendal. Having never been there I just headed for the river walk to see where it led. Not very far as it happens as they are rebuilding the wooden bridge that was washed away in the floods! So I followed a sign instead. A Quaker museum might not be to everyone’s taste but it was a revelation for me. The museum takes you on a journey through the influence of the Quakers on the modern world through the Industrial revolution, developments in science, medicine, social reform, the abolition of slavery, astronomy, ecology and more. The museum houses everything I could want, photography, history and craftwork, and most importantly, the Quaker Tapestry. This is a modern masterpiece in embroidery. It took 4000 men, women and children from 15 countries to create it as a celebration of 350 years of Quaker life and experience.

Do click on the link to the tapestry to see all 77 wonderful panels. Here are two that I found particularly interesting.

I especially love the Botanist one as the quote says, “…the universe is always singing, and that man must learn to listen, so that his heart may join the universal chorus”. This panel remembers 11 Quakers who were known for their knowledge and interest in plants. Some suggested that gardening encouraged peaceful contemplation. They obviously had better soil than I have in my garden which promotes mainly back ache and frustration. However the universe always singing is such a beautiful thought and I do find that peace and contemplation in beautifully tended gardens or the countryside.

The second one was a revelation to me as I have travelled to Russia several times and been amazed by St Petersburg. This panel relates how Daniel Wheeler was engaged in 1818 by Czar Alexander 1 to clear and drain 105,700 acres of the marshes that the city is built on. It took him 14 years to complete the work then he asked for a ship to sail the seas so he could spread the Quaker message. Daniel Wheeler said, ” God’s love enableth me to call every country my country and every man my brother”. Something amazing happened during one of Daniel Wheeler’s voyages~during a spell of really bad weather a storm blew up endangering the ship. But a pod of large fish surrounded his ship and broke the force of the waves until their was calm. Isn’t that a beautiful image and a sign of his grace? I really enjoyed my day in Kendal and my next post will be about a day in Barrow in Furness.