Eye - 12 September 2014

From remembrance to a reunion

Peace and remembrance

On 3 August Bradford Meeting planted the first tree of a new Peace Garden. Chris Butler, a local Friend, wrote to Eye about the day:

‘Following Meeting for Worship, a cherry tree was planted in the newly cleared garden at the rear of the Meeting house.

‘The tree was planted in remembrance of the American bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945 [respectively]. Over 180,000 people were killed, almost entirely civilians.

‘The tree was also in memory of the declaration of war by Britain against Germany on 4 August 1914, a war which resulted in the deaths of millions of people, men, women and children, soldiers and civilians…

‘The planting was done by John Blamires, a Bradford Quaker, a conscientious objector and a member of the Friends’ Ambulance Unit [FAU]. John brought his log book and other items from the FAU to show us. Chris Butler also brought the medals of his father, a noncombatant in the Field Ambulance of the Royal Army Medical Corps in world war one.

‘The tree planting was supervised by Kevin Holloway, assistant clerk of Bradford Local Meeting and chief tree planter!

‘Members are invited to plant plants in the Peace Garden. Cathy Benson and Tony Byrne, responsible for the Childrens’ Group, will encourage the children to also contribute to the Garden.

‘Make gardens, not war!’

From Somerset to Scotland and back again

Taunton Friends have been reunited with a long-lost piece of their Meeting house.

A sign on their wall once said: ‘Friends Meeting House, 13 Bath Place’… until it mysteriously disappeared one night in the 1970s.

Forty years later it was handed in to Central Edinburgh Meeting and, at Yearly Meeting Gathering in Bath, it was returned to Taunton Friends. The well-travelled sign had done an 800-mile round-trip.

Martin Burnell, of South Edinburgh Meeting, shed some light on its story: ‘It was taken by a soldier who lived at 13 Bath Place in Leith (long since demolished). Struck by the coincidence of the address and being a sociable chap, he liked the idea of having a notice for his home saying “Friends Meeting House”.

‘All these years later, a relative clearing his things decided that it should be given back to Quakers but, being too embarrassed, asked one of her friends to hand it in for her.’

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