A lovely day in Cropredy
(Not all blogs are about politics and I am not always grumpy). I loved this place and noticed I was happy there. Something that doesn’t happen all that often, but is wonderful when it does.
It was not only the good ale (I drank Adnams Broadside), the good food, the good music and especially the good companionship, there was something about the atmosphere in the town and at Brasenose Arms itself where I was staying.
Before dinner I took a walk about the town and stopped into St Mary the Virgin, Cropredy’s main Church. I am not much of a church service goer, considering myself a secular Judeopagan who doesn’t need churches, but I love churches and especially ones with old cemeteries - this one went back to 17th century. I said hello to all my dead relatives as I always do when I am in a cemetery - the pagan in me believes all cemeteries are connected; some sort of DeadNet.
This church was the most inviting church I have ever been in, with little signs to the visitor all over the place, even some freshly picked apples for us to munch on. They even had a prayer to be used by Visitors. Now, as a secular Judeopagan I am not much of a Church of England sort of prayer-sayer, but I did read it, which I guess constitutes praying. Not a bad little prayer:
We thank you, Lord, for this place where people have met to worship you throughout the years. Help us to understand their story and the history of this area. We pray for those who continue to meet here in your name today; we ask that you will bless them and use them to serve others in this community and throughout the world, to your honour and glory. amen.
The pagan in me liked this. But more then that, I wondered about the connection between the prayer, the attitudes it came from and the happy little town.
Speaking of the town’s history, Cropredy was the scene of a vicious battle in the English civil war, which is the subject of a Fairport Convention song. So it is good that they found their way to being a lovely little peaceful town.
In terms of peace, while I was in the church they had a note book were visitors could write little prayers. Since I had just heard of Obama’s Peace prize, I wrote “May Obama become worthy of the peace prize he just received.” The nice thing about being pagan is we can pray anywhere, even in someone else’s house of worship. And this is something where a lot of prayer, as well as blind faith, is really needed.
I took an apple and left a contribution for reconstruction of the Church’s Six Bells in the Tower - cast in the 17th century and now in severe need of restoration. Hope to hear those bells sing someday.
Back to the Pub w/B&B:
The food was tasty and healthy and prepared from scratch just for the customer that ordered it - in this case me. I had a mackerel and leek dish prepared just right (though I heard that it was even better for mammal-eaters who also had the chorizo that was designed to come with it). For desert, the cheesecake made with Baileys and with a white chocolate topping was, as they say, to die for, as was my friend’s chocolate mousse that I got to try.
And the music was really good - the Sarah Warren Band was playing and it was a feisty good r’n’b/blues rock band. Even lying in bed right above the stage, toward the end of the second set, I could rock out to the great vocals. The B&B at the back is much quieter - don’t worry - but I liked the room right above the stage - perfect for an ex-old stagehand like myself - where the music comes through loud and clear - a perfect sort of place for someone like me.
This day in the village of Cropredy visiting with friends was a wonderful, though brief, interlude in this perpetual traveler’s life and I want to go back. I plan to use some of my many frquent flyer miles and get myself back there for the Fairport Cropredy Convention next year 12-14 August 2010 which is what the village has become famous for these past years.
