Digital leader: Helen Johnson on worship at Woodbrooke

‘It’s different. It’s its own experience.’

by Helen Johnson 24th March 2023

Few Friends would have been surprised by the news about the closure of Woodbrooke’s building. But all would have been saddened. After all, Woodbrooke is part of most Quakers’ experience and so, of course, we’ve all got our memories. I remember going there over fifty years ago: getting off the bus, walking through the gates into a quiet and anxiety-reducing haven, where Quakerspeak was the lingua franca. It was and is ten acres of calming gardens, ponds and trees, with a building that is a Grade 2-listed property that has been an important place of Quaker learning since 1903. The whole site seems to be a part of Quaker worship in itself.