Letters - 14 November 2014
From conscientious objectors to help for a Meeting
Conscientious objectors in Bentham
I was very interested to read in Q-eye (31 October) of conscientious objectors (COs) in Bentham. The duration of the war was not the end of the Ford family’s favour towards COs. In 1930 Charles Ford appointed my father, Robert Forrester, as manager of the silk mill with a view to his taking over when Charles retired. My father had suffered as a CO and after the war he had had difficulty in getting past the job interviews, which, invariably, asked after his war record. Eventually, he found a post teaching chemistry in Friends’ School Lisburn and later in Wigton School. He married his colleague Enid Mann and they settled in Bentham.
The silk mill was prominently advertised on its wall facing the railway: ‘Ford Ayrton & Co, Silk Spinners, Real Silk from the Cocoon’. It was a workers’ cooperative, similar to Scott Bader.
Margaret Peacock
Living eldership
I read Edward Hoare’s review of Living eldership by Jenny Routledge with pleasure (31 October).
Having enjoyed ‘accompanying’ Jenny over the last few years on her ‘journey of discovery’ and ‘rediscovery of eldership’, one point stands out to be mentioned. The point is: you don’t have to be an elder to read and understand. Jenny demystifies, and Living eldership is for any and every Friend interested in deepening the life of their Meeting. To quote: ‘Elders are the ones who remind us that we are all elders.’
Felicity Cox
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