Daily prayer in the Kingdom Season: 15, Friday 15 November 2024

‘Just as it was in the days of Noah, so too it will be in the days of the Son of Man’ (Luke 17: 26) … ‘Noah and the Dove’ (2006), a sculpture by Simon Manby in the courtyard of Saint John’s Hospital, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Patrick Comerford

We are in the Kingdom Season, the time between All Saints and Advent, and this week began with the Third Sunday before Advent, which was also Remembrance Sunday.

Before today begins, I am taking some quiet time early this morning to give thanks, and for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a short reflection;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.

‘There will be two women grinding meal together (Luke 17: 35) … one of the millstones at Bradwell Windmill in Milton Keynes (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 17: 26-37 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so too it will be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 They were eating and drinking, and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed all of them. 28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29 but on the day that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and sulphur from heaven and destroyed all of them 30 – it will be like that on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, anyone on the housetop who has belongings in the house must not come down to take them away; and likewise anyone in the field must not turn back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife. 33 Those who try to make their life secure will lose it, but those who lose their life will keep it. 34 I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 There will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken and the other left.’ 37 Then they asked him, ‘Where, Lord?’ He said to them, ‘Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.’

‘Likewise anyone in the field must not turn back’ (Luke 17: 31) … harvest fields south of Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Today’s reflection:

The Gospel reading at the Eucharist today (Luke 17: 26-37) is one of the stories about preparing for the kingdom of God and the arrival of the Son of God on earth, not only as the incarnate Christ Child at Christmas in nativity story or in a decorative crib, but also as Christ the King.

As we prepare for the Feast of Christ the King in nine days’ time (Sunday 24 November) and for Advent, we should expect many of our readings to have apocalyptic themes, looking forward to that Coming of Christ the King at his second coming.

The apocalyptic images in today’s Gospel reading anticipate some of these themes, looking back at unexpected terrors in the past and with apocalyptic warnings about what the future may hold.

TS Eliot’s poem East Coker, the second of his Four Quartets, is set in late November and ends:

In my end is my beginning.

But it opens:

In my beginning is my end.

The radical author, professor and preacher, the Revd Robin Meyers, once described by the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu as ‘scholarly, pastoral, prophetic, and eloquent,’ has written: ‘Life itself passes daily judgment on the idea that [God is in control], that good deeds and righteous living exempt us from mindless tragedy, or that the meek will inherit anything other than a crushing debt and a dead planet.’

But in a sermon some years ago in the First [Congregational] Church in Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts, on the First Sunday of Advent, his colleague, the church historian, the Revd Dr J Mary Luti, of Andover Newton Theological School, responded: ‘Nonetheless, and hoping against hope, today’s scriptures emphatically encourage us to stand firm, to refuse to throw in the towel. God really is in charge, they assert, and one day you won’t have to take that on faith.’

She says: ‘Advent intends to make a pre-emptive strike on despair as the Church sets out on another year of following Christ from manger to grave, and beyond.’

As we approach Advent, we find ourselves in a unique position, standing both at the beginning and at the end, at the turning–point of the liturgical year. This peculiar experience of living within a paradox is a characteristic of the Christian faith. However, perhaps the greatest paradox of Advent, we shall find, is the tension between the joyous anticipation of the birth of Jesus and the inevitability of the cross.

In a true sense, Advent does not end at Christmas. The nativity, the Incarnation, cannot be separated from the crucifixion, the Atonement and the Resurrection. The purpose of Christ’s coming into the world, of the ‘Word made flesh’ and dwelling among us, is to reveal God and his grace to the world through Jesus’ life and teaching, but also through his suffering, death, and resurrection.

So, at the beginning of things, we think about the end of things. The Gospel reading today reflects this emphasis on Christ’s second coming and include themes of accountability, judgment, but also prompts us to renew our hope of eternal life. In the words of TS Eliot,

What we call the beginning is often the end
and to make an end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from. (TS Eliot, Little Gidding)

‘On that day, anyone on the housetop who has belongings in the house must not come down to take them away’ (Luke 17: 31) … the rooftops of Saint Mark’s Basilica and Venice (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Friday 15 November 2024):

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘A Look at Education in the Church of the Province of Myanmar’. This theme was introduced on Sunday with a Programme Update by Nadia Sanchez, Regional Programme Coordinator, USPG.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Friday 15 November 2024) invites us to pray:

We pray for clergy and lay people within churches who are always looking outward for ways in which they can serve those around them.

The Collect:

Almighty Father,
whose will is to restore all things
in your beloved Son, the King of all:
govern the hearts and minds of those in authority,
and bring the families of the nations,
divided and torn apart by the ravages of sin,
to be subject to his just and gentle rule;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion Prayer:

God of peace,
whose Son Jesus Christ proclaimed the kingdom
and restored the broken to wholeness of life:
look with compassion on the anguish of the world,
and by your healing power
make whole both people and nations;
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Additional Collect:

God, our refuge and strength,
bring near the day when wars shall cease
and poverty and pain shall end,
that earth may know the peace of heaven
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

‘I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other left’ (Luke 17: 34) … a corner bedroom in Ballybur Castle, once the home of the Comerford family in Co Kilkenny (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

Why Bradwell Windmill is one of the most distinctive landmarks in Milton Keynes

Bradwell Windmill, one of the most distinctive landmarks in Milton Keynes, dates from around 1817 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Patrick Comerford

Last weekend, two of us walked from Wolverton to Bradwell to visit Bradwell Windmill, one of the most distinctive landmarks in Milton Keynes. This is believed to be the second windmill built in the parish, replacing an earlier post mill that once stood on the site of Summerfield School. It is also thought to be the oldest tower mill in Buckinghamshire.

Bradwell Windmill is just off the V6 Grafton Street. It is a stone tower mill built of locally quarried limestone. It has a pair of common sails, on which a sailcloth can be spread, and a pair of spring sails. The wooden cap can be turned so that the sails always face into the wind.

The windmill has three floors above ground level, the stone floor, the bin floor and, at the top, the dust floor. On the stone floor, two pairs of millstones are set in timber vats, one pair of Derbyshire Peak stones, used for grinding animal feed, and one pair of French burrs, for grinding flour for human consumption.

An unusual feature of the windmill is a fireplace on the ground floor. This would have been very risky as flour dust is highly explosive.

Before 1800, the milling needs of the local community were served by the many watermills on the River Ouse and Bradwell Brook. The opening of the Grand Junction Canal, which linked London to the Midlands, opened up the possibility of serving a wider market.

Samuel Holman acquired an acre of land from Henry Wilman, close to the newly opened canal, with the hope of erecting a tower mill. It is not known when the building was completed, but a reference was made to it being ‘newly erected’ in 1817. The cost of the windmill was thought to be around £500, a considerable sum in those days.

Holman operated the windmill until he died in 1825, when it was inherited by his wife and son.

The mill was owned by Elizabeth Curtis by 1846 and was run by William Carr, whose name was carved into a tentering beam in the mill. Over the next few years, the ownership of the mill passed to the children of the Curtis family.

The mill was bought by Robert Adams of Bradwell Abbey in 1857. He planned to set up his ward, John Abbott, in business at the mill. However, Abbott showed no interest in the business. Instead, Robert Adams persuaded his son, also Robert Adams, to move from Manor Farm to the mill cottage to get the business up and running, in the hope that Abbott would take over at a later date.

Robert Adams established a profitable business in farming and milling. He used a steam plough engine at the mill on days when there was little wind in order to provide additional turning power.

John Abbot sold his interest in the business at Boughton Green Fair in 1871. Robert Adams junior then moved to Carr’s watermill in Haversham and a new miller, Robert Saxby, took over the business for a short time.

By this time, large, steam-powered, rolling mills were developing, milling grain that had been imported from America, and the distribution of flour was much more efficient due to the extensive rail network. At the same time, arable farming was in decline in north Buckinghamshire. The windmill could no longer run at a profit, and it ceased operating around 1876.

Bradwell Windmill remains one of the most distinctive landmarks in Milton Keynes. Following a major refurbishment, Bradwell Windmill reopened to visitors on Sundays throughout the summer months, although when we visited last weekend it was fenced off once again and seemed to be undergoing further refurbishments.

One of the millstones at Bradwell Windmill (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Afternoon walks by the old mill and millrace in Stony Stratford

The mill race and the site of the former mill by the Ouse River in Stony Stratford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Patrick Comerford

In recent days I have taken a number of walks from Market Square in Stony Stratford, passing Stratford House and along Mill Lane to the Mill Field and the site of the Old Mill by the banks of the Ouse River.

A corn mill stood on the River Ouse on the Calverton side of Stony Stratford from early days, although it is not certain whether this mill dated back to the mediaeval period.

There is a reference in Domesday to a mill at Calverton Manor and there is mention of two mills at Calverton in 1331 and three along the course of the river Ouse in 1586. But the documentary evidence is unclear about whether these mills were at Stony Stratford, which was then part of Calverton Parish.

A mill stream or leet comes in from the south east, while the main river passes around Mill Field on the west, and there are references to a Milnmede in the 15th century. From the evidence available, it seems probable that a mill was established there by the late Middle Ages.

Penn House on Mill Lane recalls the name of the Penn family (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The first proper documented reference to a mill at Stony Stratford dates from 1581, when John Penn bought the corn mill from Thomas Piggott. John Penn seems to be from the same Penn family who included Admiral Sir William Penn (1621-1670); his son, William Penn (1644-1718), the Quaker who was involved in the foundation of Pennsylvania; and John Penn (1729-1795), the last governor of colonial Pennsylvania.

After buying the mill and land at Stony Stratford, the Penn family diverted the river and established a water mill on the corner of the river. The Millrace is a channel of the Ouse River that was used to take water to the wheel of the mill.

Over the years, alterations were made to the mill, most notably by the Stony Stratford architect Edward Swinfen Harris (1841-1924), whose works can be seen throughout the town. However, the Old Mill burned down in a fire in 1985, and has been replaced by housing and apartments.

The Penn family is remembered in the name of Penn House on Mill Lane. The family was also involved in the tanning industry in Stony Stratford, and established a tannery in 1600 at Stratford House on the corner of Market Square.

Stratford House on Mill Lane … some of the tan pits still exist within the walled garden (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The earliest records are non-existent, but in 1712 Robert Onely of Leicester mortgaged to John Ward of Castlethorpe ‘all the messuage or tenement commonly called the Tannhouse and the Tanyard’ and the orchard there.

Robert Onely sold the tannery in 1720 to Thomas Harris, Cordwainer, of Stony Stratford, who in turn sold it in 1790 to Mr Warren, a leather seller in Church Street. Leather and tanning continued at Church Street into the 19th and early 20th centuries. Some of the tan pits still exist within the walled garden at Stratford House.

From Mill Lane I have walked in the afternoon evening sunshine into the fields and pastures along the banks of the Ouse River, or along the Millrace, which remains as a quiet, tree-lined backwater behind Mill Lane.

The Millrace remains as a quiet, tree-lined backwater behind Mill Lane (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Visiting two old mills and a lovers’ seat on a bridge near Creeves and Askeaton

The former Nutgrove Flour Mill, also known as Donovan’s Mill, near Creeves, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Patrick Comerford

In recent weeks I have visited two well-preserved remains of formr mills within easy reach of Askeaton in west Limerick: the former Nutgrove Flour Mill, which was also known to older generations as Mullagh Mills or Donovan’s Mills; and Altavilla Mill, which was built by the Bateman family in the late 18th century.

Creeves is the name given to the five crossroads, and means branches. It is on the main road between Rathkeale and Foynes. The roads also lead to Askeaton to the north, Newcastle West to the south, Rathkeale to the east, and two roads lead to Shanagolden in the west.

The Nutgrove Mill or Donovan’s Mill is just west of Creeves Crossroads, in the townland of Mullagh, off the road between Askeaton and Shanagolden.

The mill was operated by an overshot wheel (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

The Donovan family, who gave their name to the mill they owned at Nutgrove, lived nearby at Millview House.

The mill was built close by the banks of a millstream and was operated by an overshot wheel.

The stream was diverted from the Ahacroonane River (Áth a’ Chrónáin). Frome there, the river flows north, under the main Limerick-Kerry road, and into the Roberstown Creek.

The mills at Donovan’s Mills near Creeves, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

The men who worked in the mill in the early 19th century travelled long distances to work on foot, and they were paid a wage of three pence a day.

It is said a man in the Donovan family met his death in the mill due to a floor collapsing, although some local people suspected he had been killed deliberately.

The former Nutgrove National School is now a family home (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Close to the mill, the former Nutgrove National School is typical in form and size to the many national schools built at this time in Ireland. These schools were often single-storey in design, with separate entrances for girls and boys, and in Nutgrove there are two entrances in the porch.

The former school is built in simple style with regular form, a pitched roof, end chimney-stacks and tall windows.

There are two inscribed plaques: the plaque at the front reads, ‘Nutgrove National School 1869’; a second plaque reads, ‘Erected 1870 Very Rev J Synan.’

The school closed in the 1960s or 1970s, and is now a private, family home.

The post box at Creeves with Queen Victoria’s monogram (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

A little further east, at the crossroads in Creeves, an attractive wall-mounted cast-iron post box has a motif with a crown and Queen Victoria’s monogram ‘VR’ and crown motif.

This post box dates from ca 1880, and it is mounted in a rendered wall with a brick surround.

Altavilla Mill … built in 1790 and was working until 1928 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Further east, Altavilla is off the main road between Askeaton and Rathkeale. Altavilla Mill, with its striking splayed form, was built ca 1790 by John Bateman and was a working mill until a century ago, when the mill wheel ground to a halt in 1928. The building is large in scale and forms an imposing feature on the River Deel.

The mill is associated with Altavilla House, once the seat of the Bateman family and later the home of the Griffin family.

This multiple-bay splayed U-plan former corn and tuck mill has an eight-bay, two-storey centre block, a six-bay, three-storey block to the west and a six-bay, two-storey block to the east. Some of the square-headed windows have timber lintels, and some of the square-headed door openings have timber battened doors.

Interesting features at the mill include an elliptical-headed carriage arch in the east block, and a round-headed carriage arch in the centre bay, and square-profile roughly dressed limestone piers with double-leaf cast-iron gates.

The four-arch, humpback bridge over the River Deel at Altavilla was built in 1747 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

The four-arch, limestone humpback bridge over the River Deel at Altavilla was built in 1747. It is interesting because of the skill displayed in its design and the high-quality craftsmanship seen in its building. It has an attractive balanced arrangement of arches that which contribute to a well-proportioned overall appearance.

The pedestrian refuge on the south side of the bridge is known locally as the ‘lovers’ seat.’ The date stone reads: ‘This bridge was built by a presentment from the county George Greene and John Bateman Esq appointed overseers finished by Mr John Murphy in the year 1747.’

The former creamery at Altavilla (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Nearby, the former creamery at Altavilla was built ca 1840 and still retains much of its original form, including the timber sash windows.

The three-bay, two-storey building is simply designed and evenly proportioned. It is strategically located on a road next to a river, bridge and former mill, with easy access for creamery carts.

The creamery was an important structure in the area, and also served as a meeting place and a social centre.

The pedestrian refuge on the south side of the bridge at Altavilla is known locally as the ‘lovers’ seat’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)