Walking in Radcliffe, Manchester

There is a church that I have seen on each visit to Manchester (2001, 2002, 2007) and today on my walk I found it. The church itself would have looked amazing in its day but the 2001 renovations seem to have been to add barbed wire! It was very disappointing to find that up close it was dirty and the ground was covered in litter and broken glass. The only identification of the church, that I could see, were 2 small monuments to the original graveyard of the church of St. Thomas - so I am guessing that the Church was called St. Thomas! According to my online research, it was first built in 1819 but demolished and rebuilt in 1862-64 (no reason was given). The tower was added in 1870.

In Melbourne, the big, elaborate churches are mostly in the city. With the exception of the major country towns like Bendigo and Bairnsdale which have a large cathedral-like church, most of the old country churches I have seen are small, wooden buildings. Our suburbian churches are somewhere in between. In England, most places seem to have a big church. Just looking out the window I can see 2, maybe 3, huge spires and I am in the northern suburbs of Manchester. I am still surprised when driving through the countryside to all of a sudden see a huge tower or spire, and evenutally, a large, old, stone church - often the size of a small cathedral. I guess when the history of the area (and Manchester dates back to 79 AD) is so ancient, the population large, and the churches built during periods when the church was an immensely important and powerful social institution, it makes sense that the buildings are large and imposing.

On the way home, I crossed a river with some really pretty bridges. I was delighted when looking downriver (or was it up?) to see what I would stereotype as a typical old-industrial style England. I have decided that my mild obsession with historical novels is a good thing. Margaret and I must have read over 20 Audrey Howard novels, often set in industrial towns where cotton mills were busy or in the lake district, further north (I don't know if I will get there this trip but I would love to walk through the lake district some day).When I look at the rolling hills outside my bedroom window I can almost see the landscape and imagine the people who lived here during the industrial revolution and cotton mill days. Not a lifestyle to aspire to but they had no idea that they were the beginning of a huge period of change, where common people gained rights and power over their own lives, and that the momentum would carry us, in less than 200 years, to electricty, trains, cars, computers, plane travel and the luxury of long holidays both near home and overseas.