Saturday
12 September 2020, a different walk for different times…
But with all the uncertainty over Covid-19 the day did
still go ahead.
Till this year we’d been ‘greedy for churches’ and
followed a route that meant we could encompass twelve or
thirteen on the day. But that was a route down the
Kettering Road and around the town centre and then back
towards Abington, and there was no way we were going to
follow that route this year. In any event, many of the
churches had decided they could not take part this year,
including our usual ‘first stop’ Kingsley Park
Methodists across the road.
So with avoiding people in mind, we plotted what was
available to us on a map and though we didn’t visit many
churches, we still had a good walk! It was the usual
stalwarts, Mary, Roger and Dorrie, with varying degrees
of leg-power – Roger joining us for about half of the
route, as he normally does. So this year we visited
three new churches; after registering at St Matthew’s,
Mary and Dorrie set off for Holy Trinity, where we were
warmly greeted by two ladies outside a closed church.
This was going to be a walk with plenty of social
distancing, sanitiser, and masks to the fore! We were
socially distancing as we walked, but at least in the
open air we could go mask-free until we got to our
destinations. Dorrie took a pen and registered for us
both, though normally we’d each do it ourselves. At
least we still got to chat to the recorders there.
Turning back, we then walked along Fairway and Kenmuir
Avenue to Broadmead Avenue. Apart from houses, not so
much of interest to look at… We arrived at St Alban’s
and here met up with Roger who was already waiting for
us, and although the door was open, we didn’t actually
go in for a look. That’s what a pandemic does to you!
Mary and Dorrie took photos of each other, so Roger
managed to get in twice…
Just more houses again as we made our way to The
Headlands URC. Having been past this church many times
on the bus home from Silver Screen at The Forum pre-Covid
(ah, those were the good old days…) we had however
approached it from a different angle this time, via
Thirlmere Avenue, and found that Google Maps hadn’t got
it quite in the right spot… Puzzled, Dorrie told the
others to stay where they were while she went ahead to
check – nope, it was actually in the opposite direction.
The recorder there kept well away while Dorrie
registered, and asked her to fill in the walkers’ sheet
too, then he came over and just signed his initial,
keeping well away from the paper!
We sat and had a rest on the perimeter wall for a few
minutes and had a chat, which had not been so easy to do
with three of us socially-distanced while walking.
Roger’s plan now was to return home while Mary and
Dorrie intended to make our way to Abington Park for a
sit and sarnies, but we reached Park Avenue North and
decided to call it a day – we’d done enough! We were
quite tired by this point and it was a hot day, and we’d
had quite a long walk. The original plan had been to
finish off after a lunch break with a visit to St Peter
and Paul’s in the park and then Christchurch, and maybe
St Michael’s at a stretch, but we knew when enough was
enough. We’d left St M’s at 10.10am and this was now
12.20pm.
So we walked back to St Matthew’s; Mary popped in to see
the troops and get Bryan on taxi duty while Dorrie
nipped home, going in later to see how our recorders
Christine and Barbara were faring. It was quiet, but
they’d had quite a few walkers/cyclists visit, even from
Roade and Pattishall. Gary and his Heritage Day team
were there too, though not many people had braved it
this year. It was good to sit and have a chat – all
masked and socially distanced of course. Hats off to
Christine and Barbara, they were on duty from 10am till
4pm when the church closed. We always ask people to
sponsor us all, in a block, and thanks to the generosity
of those who did, we raised even more than last year – a
magnificent amount and a great team effort.
So why did we do it? Ride+Stride is organized by
the county Historic Churches Trust – voluntary
organisations that raise money for the restoration and
maintenance of historic churches and chapels, supported
by the national Churches Trust. It’s an annual event
across most of the country on the second Saturday in
September and funds raised are divided equally between
the Trust and a nominated church (in our case, St
Matthew’s).
Last year’s Ride+Stride enabled 24 churches and chapels
to be removed from the Heritage at Risk Register, 188
church and chapel projects to get funds, and £1.3million
in grants to be awarded for urgent repairs, new
facilities, maintenance and project development.
St Matthew’s itself has benefitted in recent years with
grants from NHCT, including one of £10,000 in 2012 – the
largest grant ever awarded – for our major repair works.
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