Eye - 07 June 2024

From Quaker campers to On this day

Quaker campers

Friendly fellowship around the campfire: the Quaker Campers group has been meeting annually since 1979.

As the weather warms and thoughts turn to more outdoor pursuits, James Priestman, of Ealing Meeting and clerk of the Quaker Campers group, told Eye about their 2023 event.

‘We pitched camp between 29 July and 5 August at the Vale of Pickering Camping Park in North Yorkshire… forty adults, seventeen children and seven dogs.

‘Some had been Quaker Campers for more than fifteen years and some were taking part for the first time. The youngest was a year old and some were aged in their seventies. Some came as families… as couples… as friends, and some came on their own. Despite the incessant rain, we had a fantastic time…

‘We met every morning at 9:30am for fifteen minutes of worship and then to say how we planned to use the day. Friends went countryside walking, steam train journeying, museum and church visiting, surfing and swimming in the sea.

‘On the Sunday a number of us attended Pickering Meeting for Worship. Afterwards we stayed on at the Meeting house (built in 1793) for a picnic lunch with local Friends.’

There’s a sweet spot on the week to look forward to as well! ‘It has become a tradition that the night of our AGM is combined with a shared pudding night and the standard of delicacies on offer [in 2023] was high.

‘On the last night we held an entertainments evening at Pickering Meeting House. The programme included poetry, singing, juggling, ventriloquism and a short play.’

2024’s camp will be from 3 to 10 August at Tywyn in Wales. Friends who would like to attend can reach James at quaker.campers@gmail.com

On this day

Authentication, and debunking, of tales took centre stage of regular columnist’s Q.Q.’s piece in the issue of 7th 6th month (7 June) 1940.
‘The tracking down of the truth of the story about the British visitor who gave Dr. Rufus Jones a dollar for cleaning his boots is an example of the difficulties which face all “higher critics”.

‘Now I have had a letter from Rufus Jones direct in which he asserts that the story, as far as Dean Inge is concerned, is wholly apocryphal. “He did visit me on a memorable occasion,” he says, “but the story of the boots is made up. I did black Edward Grubb’s boots and wish I could again, but the story of the dollar is beyond the facts with all my guests.”

‘But this disclaimer happily brings from Rufus Jones what I can surely term an authenticated story of Dr. Inge’s visit. “We were hunting for our hats and coats in the mazes of a great hotel in Philadelphia, after a lecture,” writes Rufus Jones, “and Dr. Inge stopped and said with a smile: ‘Don’t you think we had better get a non-mystical person to guide us?’”’

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