My April 2016 visit to the UK – Brownsea Island & St Tecwyn’s Church, Llandecwyn

The castle on Brownsea Island, as seen from the ferry from Sandbanks © Ricky Yates

Following worship at St. Clement’s on the morning of Sunday 17th April, when I and the congregation bid farewell to Rev’d Dr Karen Moritz, I was away from the Czech Republic for the rest of the month, only returning to Prague on the afternoon of Saturday 30th April, ready to lead worship the following day. It was first a week of annual leave, which was then followed by attending my final ICS Chaplains Conference.

I drove from Prague to the UK over a period of two days, following the almost identical route I described two years ago, when I last made this journey. The only difference this time was that I spent the night of Sunday 17th, staying with the York family in Luxembourg. . . . → Read More: My April 2016 visit to the UK – Brownsea Island & St Tecwyn’s Church, Llandecwyn

The wedding of Adam and Claire

The happy couple in Fringford Churchyard following their wedding © Ricky Yates

Just a week after conducting my first wedding of 2015, on Saturday 6th June I conducted my second of the year. But for the first time in nearly seven years, this wedding was conducted under laws governing marriage in England and Wales.

It was in July last year that my son Phillip’s best friend, Adam, wrote to me, saying that he and his long-standing girlfriend Claire, were planning to be married in late May/early June 2015 and that they would like me to officiate, and asking whether I was willing and able to do so. As I normally travel to the UK for a week, once a year, I replied agreeing to their request, planning for the wedding to be at the centre of my annual UK visit. Adam did . . . → Read More: The wedding of Adam and Claire

A visit to Coventry Cathedral

The foundation stone of Coventry Cathedral © Ricky Yates

My apologies for not publishing anything new here for just over three weeks. There are two main reasons for this.

The first is that I’ve been continuing my promised ‘Summer clean’, now ‘Autumn clean’, of the Chaplaincy Flat – see my answer to question three in this earlier post. The latest place to receive my attention has been the kitchen. Every cupboard has been emptied, shelves and door-fronts cleaned, crockery and glassware which hasn’t been used for a long time, has been put through the dishwasher, and numerous foodstuffs well past their ‘use-by dates’, have been quietly disposed of. And then there was the cooker hood, the oven……

The second reason is that I spent the week from Tuesday 28th October – Monday 3rd November, in the UK, visiting . . . → Read More: A visit to Coventry Cathedral

A little bit of family history

My mother and my aunt © Ricky Yates

I spent the weekend following my attendance at the ICS Chaplains and Families Conference, visiting my two adult children. Then, having met up with my nephew Tim in Leamington, I spent a couple of nights in South Wales, reconnecting with two friends from my time at University in Lampeter during the mid 1970s. I then drove from South Wales to the south coast of England, to spend my last two nights on British soil, staying with my sister June and brother-in-law Garry, at their home in Bournemouth.

On the last stage of my journey, I decided to make a short detour from the the A338 between Salisbury and Bournemouth, to visit the small village of Woodgreen on the edge of the . . . → Read More: A little bit of family history

A Memorial to Czechoslovak heroes of the Second World War

Fountain memorial commemorating the Czechoslovak airmen who assassinated Reinhard Heydrich © Ricky Yates

During my recent visit to the UK, I met up with my nephew Tim in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, so we could have lunch together. Before our lunch, Tim took me on a short walking tour through Jephson Gardens, an attractive park in the town centre, in order to show me this memorial fountain commemorating the seven Czechoslovak airmen responsible for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, one of the most senior figures in the Nazi Third Reich.

In January 1942, Heydrich chaired the infamous Wannsee Conference, which set out plans for the enslavement and murder of 8 million European Jews. The Slavs, according to Heydrich’s plans, would have been next. At the time of his assassination, Heydrich . . . → Read More: A Memorial to Czechoslovak heroes of the Second World War