Following a convivial lunch at The Flying Standard in Broadgate, Coventry, fifteen Mirthers set off for a tour of Coventry Cathedral.
The very friendly and knowledgeable guides gave us a comprehensive tour of both the old and new Cathedrals with some fascinating anecdotes: the pennies set in the floor are to help the choir walk in a straight line, and the impressive St Michael and the Devil sculpture on the wall bears the likeness of the designer on the face of the Devil!
We were able to get very close to the magnificent tapestry of Christ In Glory, which is the size of a tennis court and weighs over a ton.
The splendid glass West Wall has rows of figures actually engraved into the glass, and has Old and New Testament figures, other historical figures, and a selection of angels. Elijah even has a Raven at his feet!
We met at the Queens Head, Meriden; some of us having passed through the extensive HS2 works alongside the A452. The walk was on country roads, field paths and through woods. Bluebells in bloom were still evident but we could not decide if they were native, Spanish or hybrid; probably a mixture. Lunch was enjoyed at the Queens Head; a traditional pub with good food and drinks at modest prices! One of our walkers was still celebrating Coventry’s promotion to the premiership.
11 MIRTH members met at TenPin Leamington for a few games of Bowling. Some of us were reliving our teenage years; one of our members regaled us with stories of Bowling on Southend Pier. None of us were particularly skilled, but we enjoyed our games and conversations. No injuries, but I am sure that there were a few aches the next day.
It was good to be walking out in the Warwickshire countryside again. The paths were not too muddy as the weather has been reasonably dry over the last few weeks. We set off from the Fleur de Lys and up a track. Soon we passed an old bridge parapet for a railway that once ran through the area; the Lapworth to Henley railway opened in 1884 and closed in 1915 for passengers and 1917 for all traffic. ( more info on the railway can be found at https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/lapworth-henley-branch.htm ).
Soon after this, we were walking past a woodland carpeted with bluebells and through a pine plantation. We continued, and as we were running a little behind schedule, we attempted a shortcut. We found ourselves on the wrong side of the canal, and as we did not want to lose any MIRTH members in the canal, we decided to retrace our steps back to the road and returned through the village to the Fleur de Lys for a well-earned lunch.
On Tuesday March 17th, we welcomed Timon Robins from Betel UK. He was here to talk about the work they do as a Christian charity, which helps men, women and families overcome the problems of social exclusion, such as homelessness, drug and alcohol abuse and long term unemployment. They transform lives through faith, community and meaningful work.
Timon explained that Betel UK evolved from the work that WEC missionaries were doing on the streets of Spain to becoming a global enterprise spanning 17 nations including Mexico, Brazil and India, in more than 100 cities.
Betel UK was established in 1996 and currently helps around 270 people at 14 residential placements in 11 UK urban areas.
He went on to say that there are many aspects to their work including Praise & Worship nights, as well as landscape gardening, a restoration shed and furniture sales business, clearance shops, cafes and also the hiring out of soft play areas and a convention venue.
Timon rounded off the talk by giving his own personal journey. His life had become unstable at 16 with drug abuse. He served prison time in his early 20s for drug dealing and his whole lifestyle existed around the taking of heroin and crack cocaine for 20 years until he was in his early 40s. Only after hitting rock bottom and contacting Betel UK was he able to turn his life around.
He has been happily married for 15 years and has worked extensively throughout Betel UK’s national operation.
Over the last few years there has been a lot of house building around Leamington. This week we took a walk through one of these developments.
Setting off from the Royal Horse we walked past the industrial estates of Tachbrook Park before crossing Europe way. This led us into the new housing developments.
We walked through the development, we found ancient trees that had been protected, ponds and newly planted shrubs and daffodils blooming.
Only a few years ago this was farmland, now it is home to hundreds of people with a new primary school. There is still more development planned in the area as evidenced by the groundworks. I also came across a new phrase, the “show house” seemed to have been replaced with a “customer experience suite”, sounds much more exciting!
After our walk we returned to the Royal Horse for lunch.
Life On The Fiddle? Was our guest speaker less than honest? Were the DWP interested in his financial affairs? Thankfully not! Jeremy Sampson, accomplished musician and member of many noted ensembles, was here to take us on a journey through a most interesting life. By way of introduction, he performed the Prelude from JS Bach’s Partita no.3.
Jeremy is from a musical family, as both his mother and sister played piano to a high standard. An interest in playing both piano and violin took hold at an early age, although the first instrument with which he engaged was a ukulele, a surprise gift from his grandmother!
He made steady progress through choir school at Lichfield and a music scholarship at Oundle School. Jeremy’s parents were both Christians, and it was at this stage of his life that the Christian faith became prominent. (There was a brief period in his 20s where doubt crept in but this soon passed).
Next in his life was a four year stay at The Royal College of Music where he got his degree. While there, he experienced performing at the Royal Albert Hall for the first time and found it quite illuminating.
We were privy to a number of anecdotes in relation to his early career, including a ‘sliding doors’ moment when applying for one of his first jobs. There were tales of brushing shoulders with the great and the good, such as Felicity Kendal and Mick Jagger (who was mainly recognisable by his lips!) and an encounter with a Foreign Office diplomat which eventually led to an impromptu busking session on the River Rhine!
The latter part of the talk saw Jeremy reflecting on his preference for playing with smaller groups and ensembles, as the performances were more meaningful, as well as comparing how much better international musicians were treated in comparison with their UK counterparts!
Overall, Jeremy appeared content with the musical experiences of his life, and we were privileged to hear a few pieces on the violin to round off his talk.
It seems that ‘ A Life On The Fiddle isn’t too bad after all!
The weather has been very wet recently, many footpaths are very waterlogged and muddy. This month 11 of us walked around Whitnash.
We crossed through the Leamington cemetery, this is full of interesting monuments. Some of these prompt interesting questions such as how did a Commander in the U.S. Navy come to be buried in Leamington, as far from the sea as you can get in England. We continued on our way past Whitnash Church and old cottages from the time Whitnash was a more substantial settlement than Leamington.
The last part of the walk took us along the canal finally passing back through the cemetery.
This brought us back to The Windmill just in time for lunch. As always we enjoyed our lunch and our conversations.
This was the first main mirth event of 2026. Twenty-nine of us gathered. We enjoyed our lunch and catching up with friends, old and new.
To kick off the new year, David Harkness came to talk to us about the 400 years between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament. It was a time of empires, double-crossing leaders and paranoid Kings. We learned about Alexander the Great, the Maccabees, and King Herod, among others. David entertained us and, at the same time, taught us new things about that period, which helped us understand the modern world a bit better.
Despite the weather forecast for rain 8 of us gathered to enjoy a walk through the Thwaites Estate. We exchanged “Hello’s” with a few walkers as we progressed. This is a popular walk in the winter; most of the time, you are on the estate roads. These are closed to public traffic. Except for the occasional farm vehicle, they are quiet. As we walked, the first Snowdrops of the year were spotted just beginning to bud.
Not sure how Richard organises the weather, but as we returned to our cars, the first spots of rain fell, and the afternoon’s rain started. This was our cue to retire to The Heathcote for Lunch.
MIRTH 