A VIEW FROM ‘There are other places,’ wrote T S Eliot, ‘which also are at the world’s end, but this FRIENDS OF is the nearest in place and time, now and in .’ If Little Gidding seemed like the world’s end to Eliot in 1936, how much more so must it have appeared to LITTLE GIDDING the Ferrars three centuries earlier, when they arrived at the old house and ruined NEWSLETTER church where Nicholas was destined to bring his cherished dream to fruition. Even as recently as the occasion of Eliot’s visit, the Great North Road was a narrow, January 2009 winding, single lane and the road through Glatton, beset with right-angle bends, regularly disappeared under two feet of water at the foot of Glatton Folly. That is GOODBYE … … AND HELLO how I remember it still. Eliot recalls ‘a midwinter Spring and a short day, bright During the autumn we said our ‘good- with frost and fi re.’ But when on a January day some nine years later, my father was bye’ to Tony and Judith Hodgson. Tony buried just a few yards from Nicholas’s tomb – a privilege he was allowed because and Judith returned to Little Gidding of his descent from the Ferrar line – the December snow had turned the land into a as Wardens in 2005, and their warm sea of mud. At that time the only access to the church was through the farmyard gate and generous hospitality has been a and thence through an entrance, long since obliterated, into the churchyard. signifi cant factor in re-establishing The cattle were most interested when people used this path and to this day Little Little Gidding as a centre of pilgrim- Gidding and mud are closely associated in my mind. During one short lifetime the age and spiritual discovery for many rural Church has changed almost beyond recognition. In my younger days most people. We wish them well as they country parishes had their own incumbent and the Giddings were a sole charge. It move to nearby Oundle, and expect to was common for clergy to stay for many years and to be valued and loved both as continue to see plenty of them at Little pastors and as members of the village community. I don’t really long for those days Gidding. to return (in any case, they never will) but I do remember them with affection. The new warden at Ferrar House is the At this time of rapid change and general uncertainty about the future of the Revd Catherine Lack. She fi rst came Church, I believe that Little Gidding is an important place: it represents continuity across Little Gidding whilst a student with a golden age of , the age of , Lancelot Andrewes, at Clare College, , Nicho- , John Donne, Richard Hooker and others like them, who embodied las Ferrar’s college, and she is also what was best in worship, spirituality and scholarship in both the Protestant and an Eliot person. A musician, she has Catholic traditions. The Ferrars breathed the same air that they breathed and it brought a grand piano with her, as was in that atmosphere that Little Gidding blossomed and fl ourished. Through well as her dog, Foxy. She has held a this holy place Nicholas speaks to us across the centuries, for ‘the communication variety of posts, including ten years of the dead is tongued with fi re beyond the language of the living.’ as Chaplain at Keele University and, Because it is anchored in such a tradition it is no wonder that Little Gidding most recently, at Yarl’s Wood Immi- has become a centre of pilgrimage, inspiration and hospitality, or that in recent gration Centre in Bedfordshire. years especially, so many dedicated people have considered it worth pouring out Catherine is settling in and making their souls in its service. It may even make history again: for as the light fails on her presence felt in all sorts of ways and a winter’s afternoon, in a secluded chapel, ‘history is now and England.’ we look forward to her contribution to Bob Torrens life at Little Gidding. Welcome!

12 1 THE T S ELIOT FESTIVAL 2008 For further details about any event, This Newsletter is published by the Friends to book a place or to book your own of Little Gidding. Charles Bennett attended the Eliot Festival event, please contact The Society of the Friends of Little Gidding The Revd Catherine Lack, last May and wrote this review of the day, is a registered charity, number 1102857, which like previous years was held in poor Ferrar House, Ferrar House, Little Gidding, , weather! Little Gidding, pe28 5rj. Huntingdon, It was raining as I drove up the undu- , The Friends of Little Gidding was lating lanes to Little Gidding. A mild pe28 5rj founded in 1946 by Alan Maycock, and gentle rain, exactly the kind of with T S Eliot as patron. The Society rain George Herbert might have telephone: 01832 293 383 was reconstituted in 2003 and seeks known. It’s tempting to imagine him email: [email protected] to celebrate the life and memory of walking up to see his friend Nicholas www.ferrarhouse.co.uk to talk about C Day Lewis and then, and those who in the Ferrar at Little Gidding. And tempting seventeenth century formed the fi rst in conclusion, three religious poets: too, to imagine a meeting out of time For an updated calendar and diary see Little Gidding community, making Blake, Milton and Dante. between Herbert and T S Eliot. www.ferrarhouse.co.uk/fhwebpages/ it a holy place; to help maintain the The mention of Dante was perfectly Such meetings between poets were fhevents.html fabric of Little Gidding Church; to apposite, as a theme began to emerge the focus of the third T S Eliot Festi- assist Ferrar House; and to celebrate which gently insinuated the events of val, held at Little Gidding in May (to the connection between Eliot and the day. After tea, Rosamond Richard- mark Eliot’s visit in May 1936). The Little Gidding. son delivered a seriously delightful Festival is a The main income of the Society is cross between subscriptions and donations from a village fête, a its members – people who love Little wedding and Gidding, whether for its history, its a vicarage tea air of spirituality, its peaceful beauty, party. It’s held its place as the inspiration for one for the most of the twentieth century’s greatest part in a mar- pieces of English poetry – or for the quee, where wonderful hospitality provided at we sit on wob- Ferrar House! bly chairs and Please help to support the Friends in hear the patter their work by visiting and by encour- of rain during aging friends and groups to visit, the fi rst speak- perhaps as pilgrims, for a quiet time, er’s event. Peter Stanford promises to or for an organized retreat or confer- talk about poetry and religion. But this ence; and by encouraging them to is too vast a topic, and in thoroughly consider joining the Friends of Little entertaining manner, he settles down Gidding.

2 11 LITTLE GIDDING CALENDAR 2009 and genuinely thought-provoking talk which imagined a meeting of Poetry evenings are held at 7.30pm on the 13th of each month. Eliot and Dante (both stroking a cat). Friday 13 February John Keats This was a powerful and really absorb- Friday 13 March A E Housman ing talk, delivered with moments of Monday 13 April Geoffrey Hill humour but searing with academic Wednesday 13 May Dietrich Bonhoeffer insight. There was a good deal of talk about fi re, and being redeemed from A Day of Prayer will usually follow the Poetry Evenings, often on the same, or fi re by fi re, which only made me shiver similar, theme. These are held from 10am to 4pm on either the 14th of the and turn up my collar. I wished I had month, or the second Sunday. worn warmer clothing. Not to men- ones to manage the mood perfectly. Sunday 8 February Day of Prayer tion waterproof shoes. He read some wet poems to begin After a spot of delicious supper, with, from The Drowned Book, which Quiet Days led by Ken and Guinette Davies thoughtfully prepared and served to really suited the atmosphere. He then the accompaniment of a jazz quartet, read some of his translations of Dan- Saturday 18 April ‘Post-Resurrection Encounters’ we returned to listen to Sean O’Brien, te’s Inferno – which completed the day Wednesday 1 July ‘Life’s Journey’ winner of the T S Eliot Prize in 2007. perfectly. Saturday 19 September ‘Recognising Pride and Learning Humility’ O’Brien is a marvellous poet and a As I drove away to the sound of a Wednesday 2 December ‘Behold the King’ really commanding but gentle and robin, a late Beethoven string quartet jovial character. His reading was the could be heard drifting into the evening Regular services at Little Gidding best I’ve ever heard, and he balanced from a recording being played in Fer- Sunday 29 March 3pm at Little Gidding longer dark poems with short witty rar House. It was a charming and very Sunday 31 May 6pm Pentecost Evensong at Little Gidding good day. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Next year I’ll wear my walking boots Other Meetings and Events and a fl eece! Wednesday 18 February 9pm to Sunday 22 February 12.30pm (depart by 2pm) Dr Charles Bennett is Programme Leader ‘Enlightenment Intensive’ for the BA in Creative Writing, University Cost £375, £75 non-refundable deposit. of Northampton, former Director of the Led- For further details contact Sally Dearman-Cummings at: [email protected] bury Poetry Festival Saturday 14 March 2pm AGM of T S Eliot Society Saturday 25 April 10.30am ‘Eliot’s Little Gidding’ Day Illustrated: facing page Peter Stanford and Rosamond Richardson; this page Sean Saturday 27 June T S Eliot Festival O’Brien and (above) Giles de la Mare, who Sunday 28 June visit of T S Eliot Summer School read an unpublished Eliot poem about his Saturday 11 July Annual Little Gidding Pilgrimage grandfather Walter. Saturday 5 December 11am AGM of the Friends of Little Gidding Pictures by Tom Ambrose.

10 3 LITTLE GIDDING PILGRIMAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN T S ELIOT FESTIVAL 2009 Miriam Payne tells how she came to join in Wood (this part of Cambridgeshire Dear Friends This year’s annual Eliot Festival at the Pilgrimage, and what it was like. isn’t fl at) about two miles away. The Little Gidding will be the fourth. Prep- I fi rst visited Little Gidding in 1986 weather was perfect for walking and arations are well under way, and the and joined the Friends a couple of Originally I had not intended to go on there was lively conversation as we programme is being fi nalized, and we years later. The intervening years have the Pilgrimage but just to attend the walked up hill towards Salome Wood. will bring you full details in the next brought plenty of changes here, but Holy Communion service at St Mary’s We gathered by the side of the road Newsletter. However, there will be the sterling work by many people over the Church, . It was which cut through the wood for the usual mix of speakers and poetry, and last few years has revived the hospi- a lovely service led by the Revd Jackie second set of readings, Acts 5.12–16 a live musical event in the evening in tality of Ferrar House, and the Friends Duck, with well-known hymns by and ‘Caring for the sick and needy at Steeple Gidding Church – lots to look have resumed their supporting role. George Herbert being sung as the sun Little Gidding’. forward to. Now we move to the next stage with streamed through the tall windows of We continued to walk, at a gen- For now, please make a note of the a new Warden at Ferrar House. With a fl ower-bedecked church. After the tle pace, through the lovely, peaceful date in your diary. The Festival will be your support we can build on the service those attending walked along countryside until we reached The Vil- held on The Avenue to the ‘Green Man’ where lage Hall at : a distance from work already accomplished. with fellow pilgrims we enjoyed a light Salome Wood of about another two I look forward to meeting as Saturday 27 June many of you as possible in the com- lunch of delicious soup and cheese. As miles. Jackie Duck was there to greet We are hoping that the later date will ing year, perhaps at the Eliot Festival my friend Jan was intending to walk I us and we were pleased to be able to sit improve the chances of warmer and in June or the Pilgrimage in July, or at decided that I would join her. down for a rest, while Judith Hodgson drier weather! some other event; do please feel free The Pilgrimage began at the Hun- kindly offered water with lime cordial On the next day, Sunday 28 June, to write to me with your comments dred Stone which is situated just added if required (very refreshing). the Festival will be followed by a day and ideas, either by post, care of outside the church in Leighton. At 1pm After a short rest we gathered out- visit of members of the inaugural Ferrar House, or by email to chair@ we gathered around for the fi rst set of side the village hall for the third pair International T S Eliot Summer School, littlegidding.org.uk. readings, 1 Samuel 3.1–11 and ‘an epi- of readings, Philippians 4.4–7 and which is taking place at the Univer- sode from the childhood of Nicholas ‘the life of prayer at Little Gidding’. With best wishes, sity of London for a week beginning Ferrar’. We left walking down the hill We proceeded out of Hamerton on the on Monday 29 June. The School is Simon Kershaw out of Leighton Bromswold to Salome road to but as we neared the organizing a programme of talks for Hamerton Wildlife Park we turned left (continued from opposite) the Sunday and Friends and others onto a wide track which led across the The numerous sightings of wildlife, are very welcome to attend. Sunday’s fi elds to Steeple Gidding. Again the including foxes, Woodcock, Red Kite, programme will conclude with tea scenery was lovely and the conversa- a family of moorhens at the bird-table at Ferrar House and Evensong in the tion very enjoyable. Before reaching (along with woodpeckers). Church. Steeple Gidding Church we had to Reading and praying some of the contribu- For more details of the Summer cross a fi eld which contained a herd tions to our Prayer book in church – people School see http://ies.sas.ac.uk/events/ of cattle. The Pilgrims had spread out speak from the heart, to God, asking for our TSE. (The Summer School is not run by this time and I was walking beside prayers. by the Friends, Ferrar House or other a gentleman. All of a sudden the cattle Catherine Lack Little Gidding based group.)

4 9 2009 PILGRIMAGE began to run towards us very quickly, singing with music and anthems from it seemed like a stampede! We stood the time of the Ferrars, and for me a The Little Gidding Pilgrimage this year will be on Saturday 11 July. It will be led still and at the last moment the cattle ‘Now’ word given by Hugh McCurdy by Bishop John Flack, presently an assistant bishop in the diocese of Peterbor- veered off, running up the hill to the which was very inspirational. ough, shouldering much of the episcopal work during the illness of Bishop Ian far end of the fi eld. We reached Stee- The whole day was rounded off Cundy (who himself led the Pilgrimage a few years ago). Before his retirement, ple Gidding safely but all the time with a delicious tea and enjoyable con- Bishop John was Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome, and the Archbishop whilst in that fi eld I kept a keen eye on versation. For me, who had not been of Canterbury’s envoy to the Vatican, and he was earlier Bishop of Huntingdon the cattle. to Little Gidding before, the whole in the diocese of Ely. So he is well-known to many on either side of the diocesan Steeple Gidding Church is lovely experience was truly uplifting. I was boundary which runs alongside the Giddings. and I was able to sit in a pew and have so pleased that I made the decision It is expected that the Pilgrimage will take a form similar to last year’s, in a time of quiet contemplation before to be part of the Pilgrimage. The Pil- which Holy Communion was celebrated in Leighton Bromswold Church, and we assembled for the fourth readings, grimage gave one the opportunity to after lunch pilgrims walked the fi ve miles to Little Gidding, with stations for Ecclesiasticus 39.6–11 and ‘Study and walk with and talk to so many other prayer and readings, rest and refreshment. Evensong at Little Gidding Church Teaching at Little Gidding’. pilgrims, and everyone was so wel- was followed by the essential ritual of Tea at Ferrar House. The next part of the Pilgrim- coming and friendly which added to a More details will be in the next Newsletter, but please put the date in your age was truly amazing – we walked great day. diary now: Saturday 11 July: Little Gidding Pilgrimage. We hope to see you there, together almost two by two and sang Would I go on a Pilgrimage again? and do encourage your friends to come as well. the Litany. This was something that I The answer is a resounding ‘Yes’. I 1½ WARDENS, 18 TONS IN A FIELD, GOOD FOOD hadn’t done before; what a wonder- hope there is another next year. ful experience walking through the A truly memorable day. My thanks Catherine lists some highlights (and lowlights) of her fi rst three months. countryside singing and praising God to all who made this experience The ½-warden relates to my assistant, who has four legs, a loud bark, and lots in the midst of his wonderful crea- possible. of enthusiasm. She also loves chasing her second cousins (the foxes) through tion. We arrived at Little Gidding and the fi elds. She has nearly as much to learn as I do. proceeded to St John’s Church with 18 tons in a fi eld relates to the Pickfords van which, when delivering my furniture (includ- the tomb of Nicholas Ferrar imme- ing the grand piano), decided to come via Steeple Gidding, and slid into the fi eld. Three diately in front of the entrance to the hours later the same thing happened to the rescue vehicle … church. Here we gathered for the fi nal readings, John 12.24–26 and ‘the last Lots of good food – Mary, the cook, ensures that we are well-sustained here. days of Nicholas Ferrar’. Before going Feeling like the foolish virgin when the whole house ran out of oil on one of the biggest days into the church the Venerable Hugh of the year – Nicholas Ferrar Day. McCurdy, Archdeacon of Huntingdon Introducing myself at a church a little way away, as the Warden of Ferrar House, and Wisbech, laid a wreath of fl owers ‘The only warden I know of is in Trollope’. on the tomb of Nicholas Ferrar. Learning how to stand ( fairly) safely on pews, to light the candelabrum in the church. Evensong followed and brought a Doing battle with the fi re alarm system. wonderful end to the Pilgrimage with beautiful singing from the choir, the Having a wonderful Evensong by candlelight in the church, when a group from St Paul’s Hurstingstone Singers, leading the Cathedral arrived rather late. (continued opposite)

8 5 NEWS FROM FERRAR HOUSE NICHOLAS FERRAR DAY AND THE FRIENDS’ AGM Little Gidding is a wonderful place. The atmosphere, the people, the round of The feast day of Nicholas Ferrar was her enthusiasm and love of Little Gid- prayer, the endless washing-up, the Poetry evenings, the variety of people who celebrated on Thursday 4 December. ding, and for her hard work. Susanna share the dinner table is very special, and surely unique. The Revd Tony Hodgson presided at also remains a Committee member. ‘… You are not here to verify, instruct yourself or inform curiosity, or carry Holy Communion in a bitterly cold As Secretary we were pleased to elect report, you are here to kneel where prayer has been valid …’ I’m quite sure that church, followed by lunch in Ferrar Judith Hodgson – we are delighted that every person reading this will be familiar with those words, but they bear repeating House which was almost as cold as Judith will retain a formal place in the for what they say to each person who comes here. We are part of the living stream the church because the heating oil had workings of Little Gidding after her of history here, making it as we go. I write this on the day after Barack Obama’s not been delivered. Still, the food and and Tony’s retirement as Wardens. Inauguration – made the more special for me by the presence at Ferrar House of the company were good and warming. John Newman agreed to continue Annah, a Ugandan volunteer, who is so excited about what is happening. Two days later, on Saturday 6 as Treasurer but will stand down in I have inherited a going concern, and the volunteers currently here are very December, many of the same peo- the spring when the Committee will special people: Annah, who has been here most of the past year; and Hannah, ple reassembled for the AGM of the appoint a new Treasurer. who (re-)joined a few weeks after me. I am now exploring, with others, where Friends. The Revd Tom Gillum pre- Following this reshuffl e among Ferrar House is going. I was appointed temporarily, but am now planning to sided at Holy Communion, and the the offi cers, the remaining committee stay longer, so the way is open. Some ideas include: AGM followed. members were re-elected: Tony Hodg- • Musical evenings: to complement the Poetry evenings Tom Gillum stood down as Chair- son, Mark Mills-Powell, Canon Paul • Training: it’s an excellent venue man after three years and Simon Rose, and Bob Torrens, together with • Spiritual direction: continuing what I’ve done in previous ministry Kershaw was elected in his place. We Tom and Susanna. (In addition, Rich- • Quiet Days: it’s such a special place are very grateful to Tom for his hard ard Scott remains as the nominee of • Between the front door and the church is a nearly empty (weeded) bed – work as Chairman, and for the ben- the Little Gidding Trust and Michael ready for the gardeners among you who cannot bear to throw out cuttings, efi t of his experience and wisdom. Keck has been nominated by the Gid- spare plants etc: our gardeners will then decide where to plant them fi nally. Tom remains on the Committee, so dings PCC; Catherine Lack is ex offi cio Please do tell me what you would like to happen – I’d love to hear your ideas. we shall not lose this. Susanna Ferrar a committee member as Warden.) I am convinced that the prime purpose of our being here is to pray, so that also decided not to seek re-election Below, members of the Friends gather in the will remain at the heart of all we do. To that end, we maintain the round of prayer as Secretary. Again we are grateful for Eliot Room at Ferrar House for the AGM at 10.00, 12.00 and sundown each day, so far as we are able (usually Wed–Sat).

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