29th November 2020
Dear All,
We began Monday with a
trip to Horningsea Scotsdale’s Garden Centre to make a start on Christmas
shopping – so expect compost and fungicide on your stocking this year! This was
followed by the regular mending of a bike puncture and a walk through the
orchards and allotments where Richard had been ploughing the empty plots. There
was a spectacular sunset.
Sunset
over Swavesey
On Tuesday I received a
report from Burlacu, Moldova where they have been back meeting in the church
and the Hope Centre for “Meal Deal” kids since October. They distributed food
to the poorest families during lockdown and held a camp “at home”. They have
managed to get some playground equipment donated and now have 5 orphans in the
previously empty orphanage.
Playground
Equipment
First
5 Orphans
The U3A “Origins of
Christianity” course covered Roman Emperors and their influence on the early
church. Question: how many Roman Emperors were there? Answer at the end of the
letter.
Later we tuned into a U3A
lecture of “Medieval Diets” – peas pudding hot etc. There were 176 participants
on ZOOM!
On Thursday we had
another walk in uncharted territory (for us) starting at Balsham and walking
via West Wratting to Fleam Dyke. This is one of four parallel defensive ridges
built from the 5th to 7th centuries when Saxon tribes
were fighting each other. It is 7m high in places and as the surrounding soil
is chalk it is very well drained and mud free.
Misty
start towards West Wratting
Six
Mile Bottom Chalk Pit
Fleam
Dyke
“Biographies” subject
this week was “Thomas Telford” a Scottish civil engineer, architect and
stonemason, and road, bridge and canal builder. After establishing himself as
an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous
infrastructure projects in his native Scotland, as well as harbours and tunnels.
He is most famous for Ironbridge and Clifton Suspension bridges. He achieved an
incredible amount in his lifetime but is much less remembered than Brunel,
Stephenson and other engineers.
Thomas
Telford
Clifton
Suspension Bridge
In the afternoon I helped
Adrian dig some more of his garden which is nearly squared up now. Kate
meanwhile was running Lorna around for blood tests and medicine collection and
on Saturday we had to go to Bar Hill for some more.
We are in charge of this
afternoons chapel ZOOM session again this afternoon – so anything could happen!
I had another photo in
the Cambridge News on the topic of rain.
U3A
walkers starting in the rain
With love
Mike & Kate
Answer: 87 Emperors
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