What Price For Your Passion?

“What price for your passion” was the title of the talk given by Paul Linnell, who had travelled from Leicester for the MIRTH Main Event presentation on Tuesday October 21st.

The talk coincided with the 500th anniversary of the bible being translated into the English language. Paul told us that the early 16th century was a dangerous time for those who wanted to quote passages of the bible in English. The prevailing languages at the time were Latin and French, with English very much thought of as the language of the common man! The church had a great deal of power and influence in these times and it was difficult to go against Catholic theology. At the time, England was the only country in Europe that didn’t have the bible printed in its native language.

Change was coming, however. The natural order was being challenged. People such as Martin Luther and John Calvin were presenting their own ideas and commentaries.

Into all this came an Englishman, William Tyndale, who had a talent for languages and studied at both Oxford and Cambridge. We were told of Tyndale’s passion for communicating the true meaning of the word of God and going up against the Latin translation of the bible.

Tyndale dedicated his life to his work and paid the ultimate price. He was burnt at the stake as a heretic. His work was not in vain though. He had done enough to get much of the Old & New Testament into print and copies reached the monarch, Henry Vlll.

This was enough for the king to go against the Catholic Church and form what we now know as the Church of England. The king ordered that a bible in English be placed in every church, known as ‘The Great Bible’.

A final thought? Tyndale’s passion can be summed up in the New Testament bible verse
John 3:16 – ‘ For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life’.

Meriden- The centre of England

A damp autumnal walk, the leaves have turned in the last few weeks adding to the beauty of nature as we walked along lanes, across fields and through woodland.

As always it’s the things we find along the way that make our walks interesting. First we encountered some lively dogs. I was glad they were the other side of a fence as they did not seem to want us near them.

As we walked through the woods we came across a fine specimen of a fly agaric mushroom, bright red and must have had a diameter of 20cm.

The next discovery was a field of emus. We stood for a while as they chased each other around the field, they were fast!

All of these delights can be seen in the accompanying pictures.

After four and a half miles we found ourselves back at the Queens Head Meriden just in time for lunch.

MIRTH Curry Night

Friday 3rd October saw the return of our ever-popular Men’s Curry Night. 35 men of all ages booked in for the evening. Gian was not able to attend the evening as he was to be awarded the Freedom of Warwick that night for his service to the community. He still came in earlier and prepared curries for us to enjoy.

The evening was great, new friendships made and old ones strengthened.

After the meal, Steve Kelly shared something of his faith journey and how it was impacted by growing up during the troubles in Northern Ireland.

Surviving as The Man in The Middle

This month on Tuesday September 16th, the MIRTH Main Event welcomed James Shanahan. He was here to give a talk about his experiences as a community Rugby Union referee of 25 years standing.

As James introduced himself, we all noticed a wall of numbers behind him. 20-40-60, 14+2=16, 15, 22 and so on. What did they all mean? We were about to find out!

The talk was set up  in an interactive style with MIRTH members selecting numbers/sets of numbers and trying to guess what they related to.(They were all connected to rugby in some way!). Some of the audience were very knowledgeable, while others fell a little short!

James had a very relaxed but informative style of communicating and revealed that this was part of his style and ethos as a referee. His aim was to be firm but fair while always being clear that he was in charge on the pitch!

The numbers I mentioned earlier? 

15 – number of players in a team

22 – the maximum length in metres allowed between the try line and dead ball line

14+2=16 – the number of flags visible at a rugby match, either as markers or being held by touch judges

20-40-60 – A fitness test including running these distances in metres between certain points. 

At the end of the talk, there were still plenty of numbers left on the board. 

Maybe James can return and let us in on a few more tales of ‘ Surviving As The Man In The Middle’.

I am sure he would have a captive audience!

Binley Woods

10 of us set off on a fine September morning for a walk around the Binley Woods.

As we set off we passed the old Coventry Stadium, former home to dog racing and Coventry Bees speedway team. Today the site is becoming derelict, but they had obviously been notified that MIRTH was coming as security were patrolling with two rather fierce-looking dogs.

Soon, further down the lane, we were making friends with donkeys and a miniature pony. The walk then passed along the back of the stadium along a rubbish-strewn path between a house and a corrugated fence. At this point some of wondered if Richard knew where he was going.

After this rather depressing part of the walk, we were back in open countryside and enjoying the warm early autumn sun. The last part of the walk was through the woods. This path through the ancient woods was as straight as an arrow and lead us back to our cars. After our walk we retired to The Roseycombe for a good lunch.

Join us next month for our next walk.

A walk to the “Dictum of Kenilworth”

This Kenilworth walk had a specific exploratory aim. But before we got to that, our nine walkers were impounded! Yes, we found ourselves in the Kenilworth pound, where stray animals were kept until their owners claimed them – or they were sold off by the pound keeper to pay his expenses.

Once liberated from there, we found ourselves on Parliament Piece Local Nature Reserve, where Henry III is said to have held his parliament in August 1266 in an attempt to bring to an end the Second Barons’ War (1264-67). The baronial forces had fled to Kenilworth Castle after the Battle of Evesham and the death of their leader Simon de Montfort. There they endured a six month siege – reckoned to be one of the longest sieges in Medieval English history. The King’s Parliament had a document drawn up which on 31st October 1266 set out peace terms to end the conflict. This document was known as The Dictum of Kenilworth. The barons eventually surrendered on 14th December 1266 and accepted the terms of The Dictum. Some 758 years later, Tim Martin was inspired by that document – but we’ll come to that later …

As we walked back from the Greenway towards the town, we passed the St Barnabas “tin tabernacle”, built in 1886 and one of very few left standing in England. It is at 145 Albion Street and is part of St Nicholas’ parish. The fellowship is very active and known for their hospitality.

We pulled ourselves away and walked onwards towards our ultimate objective: lunch at The Dictum of Kenilworth – the newly opened Wetherspoons pub at 18-24 The Square, Kenilworth (where Poundland was). Wetherspoons afficionados know that Tim Martin (the owner) likes to name and theme his pubs based on significant local features and/or history. So what a good choice for Kenilworth! And what a good pub too – great staff, amazing range of drinks, good food served really quickly quickly, and excellent location. Well worth a visit (especially now that the crazy crowds of the first week or two have settled down). A number of mirthers and family members have visited already and all have sung its praises. See you there perhaps …?

Walking the Lawfords

It’s always heart warming to rock up at The Old Smithy in Church Lawford to meet up with fellow peripatetic old codgers (9 of us this time).

But this month’s walk was not a normal one in three ways. Firstly a shock to the natural progress of time. Secondly a drop in the MMI. And thirdly a welcome return of a pelagic favourite.

What was the shock you ask? Well for some of us the appearance of Pete C a full six minutes before the scheduled departure time hinted at a break from the natural order of things.

Off we set and already a couple of codgers were thrown by the walk being conducted in a clockwise direction – which they found quite disorienting.
On we walked through the beautiful, sun-blessed fields with their attractively coloured crops – including potato plants which so covered our path at times that they threatened to trip us up.

All went well … until it didn’t. We came to a corner of a field which we knew all too well. And recognised as a clear indication that we had missed a key turn into another field wherein lay our path. Much discussion ensued. Maps were consulted. Runes were read. But no immediate solution was forthcoming. It was at this point that some of us realised that we were suffering a severe drop in the MMI – i.e. the Mirth Memory Index. Eventually order was restored and we found ourselves in that field wherein grouped a small herd of young bullocks – who looked rather too interested in us! Fortunately they did not come too close and let us go on our way.

Which took us to lunch in The Old Smithy. Which was where we had the joy of seeing Terry’s face light up as he welcomed his old oceanic friend Moby Dick – and proceeded to eat one of the largest fish & chips in Warwickshire. A very satisfying end to another excellent walk – with thanks as ever to Richard.

Exploring Lichfield

At 9.01am on Tuesday, 17th June, our luxury coach pulled away from St Paul’s for the start of a great day out. The coach was filled with 36 guests, many of which had never been to the Staffordshire city of Lichfield before. Conversations broke out with people catching up with friends. The most common theme was on what people hoped to get out of the day. At just after 10 am we disembarked into bright sunshine in the city centre.

A Private guided tour of the Cathedral was booked for 1.30pm so most people set out to boost the local economy in various coffee shops, restaurants, ice cream vans, shops and pubs. The Samual Johnstone and Toy museums were popular morning destinations.

When the various groups started to congregate at the Cathedral ready for the tour an atmosphere of relaxed joy was discernible. John and Neil were excellent guides that brought to life the Cathedrals history and architecture.

Once the tour was complete the Erasmus Darwin museum proved very popular as did the Ice Cream parlour in the park!

On the return journey to St Paul’s the coach was filled with animated and joyful conversation as people recounted the many highlights of the day. The sun shone and we all had a great day in Lichfield.

Visit To The Midlands Air Museum

The Mirth Main Event for May was a trip to the above museum, located near Baginton, just outside Coventry.

After a very convivial lunch at the Baginton Oak nearby, some twenty Mirthers enjoyed a tour of the museum, with its extensive collection of aircraft, engines, artifacts and memorabilia. Our two tour guides were very friendly and knowledgeable, fielding a wide range of questions.

Many of the group were sufficiently intrepid to brave the difficult climb into the cramped cockpit of the mighty Vulcan bomber, to learn about its role in the Cold War and to learn about its systems and equipment, even where you stored your hot drinks!

The Museum highlights the many links with local industry, and several members of Mirth had connections to the aircraft industry during their own working careers.

There was so much to see and learn about, that several of the attendees were still looking around at closing time. We even learnt what a “Jesus Nut” is!”

A walk in the Warwickshire Countryside

Ten men gathered on the outskirts of Wappenbury for the start of a beautiful walk. The sky was blue and cloudless and the temperature was soon well over 20 degrees. The walk was along country lanes and public footpaths that weaved through the villages of Wappenbury, Eathorpe and Hunningham. Richard paused the walk on a few occasions to enlighten us with information on historic sites and characters including the founder of Jaguar Cars who lived in Wapenbury.

Many of the fields were planted with beans and potatoes that looked like they really need some significant rain. The group also came across sheep, cattle horse and a sheep dog that had more energy than the entire group.

By noon the walk was over and it was onto the Rugby Tavern for a good lunch and drink. Three additional MIRTHers joined for the meal and conversation. Several people commented on how the walk, conversation and meal had lifted their spirits.