Bob Warwicker's blog

Towards the end of Janet’s walk today there was this miners’ memorial in Kirkconnel…

… these people were heroes – but did it have to be like this? In any case, what they did and what these communities suffered is now vanishing from the landscape. Deep mining of coal is long gone from here, and the opencast workings have been unused for two years… rightly so, because we don’t want to ruin the world’s climate. And these communities now suffer in different ways.

The heroism is not for nothing though. It is woven into the story of the place. It will long be remembered.

God of glory, we thank you
for the courage and love of people
whose ways, whose causes have been left behind
as the stream of life flows on. 
In your mind and ours
let them never be forgotten. 
We thank you for Jesus,
for his courage, his love,
for being the one who was killed, 
and yet is alive among us. 

Janet delayed the start of today’s walking, to miss the rain, so first we went to Wanlockhead and the lead mining museum: could there ever have been an industrial revolution without appalling working conditions and child labour?

Here telecommunications seem to have been take over by the printed word…

This is by what used to be a chapel. Much as I like the Wizard of Oz, it doesn’t have the same guts as Jesus….

But it was comforting in the wet and gloomy weather to be surrounded by hills…

Once we did get going, in the gentle drizzle, Janet found a better route in and out of the Riverside woods, and she found this orchid..

Janet’s quote of the day… “Oh, it’s beautiful now, look, the rain: look, it’s all silvery.”

Today was a long day for Janet, putting in some extra miles, so she doesn’t have to do so much when she’s dodging the rain tomorrow.

On the way, Janet saw this bit of cycling history…

On Wednesday, we have to go from Kirkconnel to New Cumnock, and unfortunately for part of the way, because of the Lagrae opencast workings, there’s no alternative to the A76.

God bless all who travel the roads,
by bike, by car, taxi, on foot, 
by bus, driving lorries and white vans:
bring them safe to their destinations. 

A day of tiresome roads for the restart, and not all the drivers gave Janet consideration. There appear to be some stretches of path along the Nith for the next couple of days – but the maps are contradictory and getting to the Nith is a big commitment.

Kirkton was a good resting place, but better than that, the red tin chapel of the Dalswinton estate was wonderful. It now hosts non-denominational services and has a thoughtful journey garden. We had lunch there.

Sadly for Janet, we didn’t find any ice cream today.

Sunset from the digs…

Here is a blessing for you…

A great rest day with Janet, visiting Whithorn. Here she is, near St Ninian’s Cave…

A quick glance at Sunday’s lectionary, and I noticed this, from Galatians…

“3:28 There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”

Of course this is part of a long argument, and shouldn’t be read in isolation – but OTOH don’t you just sometimes want to say, this is important, don’t let us forget it?

The roads are now getting quieter on the whole, and this is good. There are many straight roads today, as there were yesterday…

…but now they are going more north again. We have left behind the Solway shore and the distant presence of what may or may not be Skiddaw, a reminder of England, that blighted, third rate little nation, and the one I love.

Janet continues to walk well and deal well with impatient me, hoping to get done before the showers build up. I met Janet in the midlle of her morning’s walk, at the excellent Drummuir ice cream farm. One of us (I’ll not say who) has now had five scoops of ice cream in 24 hours.

Janet is much heartened by the news that the hand cyclist she saw a couple of days ago has now completed her journey in record time.

We have a day off tomorrow, and the break will be welcome.

God bless all who walk the roads of earth,
going to work, looking for work, 
seeing family, saving family from persecution,
walking for fun, walking to achieve, walking in pain. 
Walk with us, as we walk with Christ. 

Nice cumulus I just saw…

A quieter day for the walker, mostly on back roads, with less wind and more sun. This dog rose was one of many (and different coloured) ones by the back road near the Solway shore.

There were some highlights – the ice cream farm at the end of the day, but above all the Savings Banks Museum (yes) in Ruthwell, which Janet visited as she walked through. The welcome was warm, the story informative and the central character inspiring.

The central character was Henry Duncan, a Presbyterian minister, who set up the first savings bank, to make what we now call financial services available to people of limited means. He also saved a historic cross which may have been one of many marking a pilgrim route from Whithorn to Lindisfarne (we saw this later – it was huge). And he was the first person in Britain to recognise a dinosaur footprint in sandstone. And the list goes on… He was quite a character, who was more than ready to speak his mind, and what struck me above all was that he was a whole gospel Christian. His faith was about ‘religion’, but it was also about social justice. Add in his thirst for knowledge, and he was quite a hero.

The cross was not your normal Celtic cross – it had the salvation story carved on it in the form of Bible scenes, and is thought to have been carved by Italian stonemasons.

Museum s facebook post here… https://www.facebook.com/410973318939413/posts/2274313189272074/?sfnsn=mo

God help us to be whole gospel Christians;
to claim justice for all people,
whatever their social standing;
to show love for people in poverty, 
as you do;
to respect people
who are completely unlike ourselves;
and to keep our faith alive. 

Today was one of those cold-hot days, with sunny periods and a brisk unhelpful wind. Such days are often quite hard for the walker. The traffic on the straight sections of the B road was also unhelpful. But Janet made it through Annan and out the other side, heading towards the valley of the Nith as a route north westwards. Some of the local footpaths were flooded, although this part of the island didn’t see the worst of the recent rains.

Yesterday, in the car, we made a brief visit to Robert the Bruce’s cave….

Supposedly a spider taught him the value of perseverance. And this cave is one of several that lay claim to be the site of this revelation. Anyway, maybe perseverance is overrated – for instance some churches may have to find new cultural forms in which to live as the “body of Christ”, rather than doing the same old thing all the time.

This is Janet, crossing the border, 
bringing the map and a bottle of water:
the wind is blowing, but she’s just fine:
she grits her teeth and makes good time. 

(… with apologies)

On the road round the east end of the Solway Firth, a lot of end to end routes converge. Soon they will diverge again. But Janet has met lots of LEJoGers and JoGLErs today. Just as many routes have come together, so have many motivations; explorations, honouring a memory, raising money for charity, finding out about oneself. There was a handcycle athlete heading for a world record… and so on.

Sometimes the motives are complex and mixed. FWIW I think my motivations in lots of areas are more complex than I’d like to admit: but if it works, it works.

O God of love, 
help us to believe right, we pray. 
But better than that, 
help us to do right. 

We sit here in the dry, as the rain beats on our pod, thankful to have got in the car before it really started. Outside it is grey, the trees are wet, the grass is damp, and the Belted Galloways are hiding in a distant part of the field. God is creator of rain and sun.

News websites are full of conflict and unhappiness. Normally (not always) happy times pass secretly, without a lot of media attention. On this campsite yesterday, someone had a happy 75th party. I believe Jesus suffers with those who suffer, rejoices with those who are happy, and can bring people/communities to a happier place. God shares in tears and happiness.

Some people go on and on about the amazing deeds of the Spirit of God: but I also see her at work in the prosaic. God works in the ordinary and the extraordinary.

Above all, God is just… God.

And just now, here in the campsite, now the weekenders have gone, it is a bit wet, a bit ordinary, a bit sad and a bit happy. The sadness is the rain, the happiness is a nice meal, Janet here, and her solid walking. The job is 55% done. Tomorrow, we hope, she crosses the border.

God, one God, wonderful God, 
God in Trinity, 
open us up to know you
in the ordinary things of life, 
in the road beneath our feet, 
in friends, 
in jobs done, 
in relationships healed
and hurt overcome,
in the sound of a kettle.