Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

Alban should be the patron saint of anyone who impulsively offers to help a stranger in need… and finds their own life turned upside down as a result. The story goes that Alban was a Roman citizen quietly living in England in the third century.  Then, miles away in Rome, the emperor, Diocletian ordered a...

Canon David Winter considers the first British martyr…. Alban was the very first Christian martyr in Britain – or at least the first we know of. A ‘martyr’ is someone who has died for the faith – the word literally means ‘witness’. He was probably killed during the persecution under the emperor Diocletian in the...

On June 22nd the Church remembers St Alban, who was put to death on that day in 250AD, on the site of the town in Hertfordshire that now bears his name and  has a splendid cathedral which houses his shrine. Christianity was struggling to survive in third century Britain under Roman rule. In the middle...

John the Baptist is famous for baptising Jesus, and for losing his head to a woman. He was born to Zechariah, a Temple priest, and Elizabeth, who was a cousin of Mary, the mother of Jesus.  John was born when his mother was advanced in years, and after the foretelling of his birth and the...

The two most famous apostles are remembered this month, for they share a feast day. St Peter (d. c. 64AD) St Peter (d. c. 64AD), originally called Simon, was a married fisherman from Bethsaida, near the Sea of Galilee.  He met Jesus through his brother, Andrew.  Jesus gave him the name of Cephas (Peter) which...

All in the month of JUNE It was: 200 years ago, on 17th June 1818 that Charles Gounod was born.  This French composer is best known for the well-loved Ave Maria and his operas, notably Faust. 175 years ago, on 26th June 1843 that the Treaty of Nanking came into effect following the First Opium...

Diary of a Momentous Year:   June 1918 An interesting piece from the archives of the Church Times a few weeks ago vividly illustrates the way the war on the western front changed in 1918. For years the Church Army, like the Salvation Army, had run what they called ‘huts’, close behind the trenches, where soldiers...

Emmeline Pankhurst – leader of the suffragettes Emmeline Pankhurst, leader of the British suffragette movement, died 90 years ago, on 14th June 1928. Less than a month later, women were given equal voting rights with men. Born in Moss Side, Manchester, in 1858, she helped found the militant Women’s Social and Political Union in 1903,...

Get on your bike! It seems that cycling is great for keeping old age at bay, and it also rejuvenates the immune system. A recent study has found that cyclists do better at preserving their muscle mass and strength with age, while maintaining stable levels of body fat and cholesterol.  The study was done at...

No need to cut the grass weekly How often should you cut your grass?  That depends on how much you want to help the bees.  It seems that the ideal ‘gap’ is two weeks.  This helps improve the habitat for the pollinating plants that need bees to survive.  Cutting the grass more often than every...

THE WAY I SEE IT – what is triggering the violence? The first four months of this year were full of news reports of stabbings, and even killings, among young people in north London. Almost all of the victims and perpetrators were teen-agers, some as young as thirteen. My grand-daughter, who teaches at a comprehensive...

The Windrush Exhibition – a tribute to the migrants This month (June) marks 70 years since the Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury Docks carrying hundreds of migrants from the Caribbean. The British Library opens its special Windrush Exhibition this month (1st June to 21st October).  Key exhibits in the Windrush Exhibition include ER Braithwaite’s original...