In the bleak midwinter? Pete Ramshaw has an alternative Christmas Day

‘Farfield Meeting House may seem a strange companion to Stonehenge and Canterbury Cathedral.’

Christmas is a celebration for most: a time for Christians to mark Christ’s birth, and a time to spend lots of money and overindulge for maybe too many.

I tend to have an alternative Christmas. I am not a great socialiser, and can find December quite unsettling. In the week prior to Christmas, on my way to work, I had seen huge queues of cars trying to get into Tesco at eight in the morning. It was even worse at 5pm when I finished. I usually take a shortcut and cycle through the supermarket car park, but that week there was gridlock, despite the best efforts of Tesco staff. Car horns were beeped, tempers were frayed, and the queue backed up, blocking the junction, frustrating those workers trying to get home.

One evening I left it until after 9pm to go shopping as I could not face the crowds. It was relatively quiet and I talked to two young sales assistants who looked slightly frazzled after a long day on the shop floor. They told me about the shopper who had bought £550 from the food hall. The only problem was that the credit card was declined. Ouch.

I have often spent my Christmas days indulging myself. Not by overeating, but by indulging my passion for mountains. On previous Christmas days I have sought relatively-remote places such as Bleaklow, Kinder Scout, Holme Moss, or the middle of the Yorkshire Dales. Recently, however, my health has restricted my mountain activities. For 2022 I was not sure where to go. I wanted to go somewhere with a spiritual background (I often go to Mow Cop, the birthplace of Primitive Methodism).

On Christmas Eve I got on my computer and did a search, looking for spiritual places. I was led to the Historic England website, which suggested ‘a history of England in 100 places’. The ‘Faith and Belief’ section gave ten sites that were judged to be important in this theme:

• Stonehenge and its landscape, Amesbury, Salisbury
• Holy Island of Lindisfarne, Northumberland
• Brick Lane Mosque, Spitalfields, London
• St Andrew’s Church, Ongar, Essex
• Canterbury Cathedral and St Martin’s Church
• Jewish Cemetery, Penryn, Falmouth, Cornwall
• Lady’s Well, Northumberland
• Guru Nanak Gurdwara, near Birmingham
• Farfield Quaker Meeting House, West Yorkshire
• Fountains Abbey, Ripon, North Yorkshire1.

Number nine on the list, Farfield Quaker Meeting House, is in Wharfedale near to Bolton Abbey. I decided to visit on Christmas Day.
On an ideal Christmas Day the sun shines, and the snow is white and crisp below a clear blue sky. On this particular Christmas Day there was only one cloud in the sky. Unfortunately, it went from horizon to horizon, grey and damp.

I drove up a surprisingly-busy M6 to Bolton Abbey in the hope of finding a parking space. Nope. Bolton Abbey, normally a very busy tourist spot, with a massive car park, was shut. All the parking places by Bolton Bridge were taken by walkers and pub-goers. Fortunately, Fairfield Meeting House has parking spaces for two cars adjacent to the building.

It was pouring with rain. I grabbed my jacket and walked around the building – a small, very simple, structure. I took photos as best I could in the overcast conditions. I felt gloomy. I peered inside and it was very dark. I could make out pews, but very little else. The building is now owned by the Historic Chapels Trust. I tried the door and was surprised that it was open (in contrast to the closed Bolton Abbey).

I sat at the back. I was hoping for some revelation or great insight, but I was just cold. I sat a while longer.

Then I heard voices. Not a vision, but three walkers coming in from the cold and damp. Ah well, better make conversation. I asked where they were from, and if they knew of the historic importance of the building. I was slightly embarrassed as I found they were Friends from Roundhay Meeting. They were out for a Christmas Day walk. They told me how to get to the Dales Way walk alongside the River Wharfe, wished me well, and left to grant me silence.

I decided to drive east to Addingham so I could walk back along the riverside. The clouds started to disappear. I accessed the Dales Way on the south bank of the Wharfe. The sun started to shine, the sky turned blue, the river was flowing, and the birds were singing. The walk follows a simple path through fields, and I could absorb the clean air, the soothing sounds of water flowing downstream, and the unconcerned nature of sheep grazing in the fields.

I walked back up to Farfield Meeting House. Earlier in the day my mind had been full of thoughts. This time I sat down and gave thanks. What a beautiful day. What a peaceful place. What a wonderful place to just be. Earlier I had hoped for some revelation as to which direction I should take in life. I realised that life will come to be, and I will be guided as and when the time is right.

I felt refreshed and strolled back down the path and enjoyed the drive back home.

Farfield Meeting Room may seem a strange companion to Stonehenge, Canterbury Cathedral and the other buildings on that list. It is, however, a seminal point in the spiritual journey of England. A mark in time for non-conformist beliefs. It was 1689 when the building was first used as a Meeting house. What a privilege it had been to sit in the same place as many Friends had done before me, and to enjoy the silence but also to listen to the voice within.

1) https://historicengland.org.uk/campaigns/100-places/faith-belief

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