Thursday 2nd January 2020

Nearly time to return to normal and work. But, as I worked on the last Sunday of the working year, driving to the New Forest, I thought I should take a day off in lieu. I am my own manager, and I told myself I had worked hard and deserved it.

I was right, of course.

Jools, sadly, had no such choice and had to go back, but as she now has Fridays off, she was to return for just one day. So, come Friday I would be back at work and forher the weekend would stat at the end of Thursday.

So it goes, so it goes.

The alarm goes off at half five, and so the madness begins for another year.

I get up and dressed, as I am to have the car for the day, as I have plans. Jools made coffee and then I take her to Hythe to the factory. Mostly a quiet drive but with the odd idiot speeding to get to work, I mean, I would speed to get home.....

I drop her off along the seafront so she can get some walking in, and i drive back to Folkestone then to Dover and home.

After breakfast I check and doublecheck my cameras, and all is set for some New Year churchcrawling.

A couple of months ago, a friend posted outside shots of a church on Thanet, St Peter, and one I had been previously unaware of. So the thought had been bubbling away, and before Christmas I dropped them a mail, and I was assured after the Christmas rush, it would be open daily from 09:00 each day. So, why not?

Thanet is where I used to work back in the day when I was a minion, and so the drive now over is a pleasure rather than a reminder of work. It was a grey day, but with good lighting inside the church, shouldn't make too much of an issue.

I set the sat nav, and it takes me through Westward Cross and the constant urban sprawl leading from Ramsgate to Broadstairs almost to Margate. St Peter proclaims itself a village. Village this, village that. Now, not too sure about that, but it is much older than Broadstairs which St Peter was once the main parish church and centre of population of. Now Broadstairs is a seaside resort with a wide sandy bay and all the trappings of the English seaside.

I park outside the parish office and after introducing myself, I am assured the church was open, just had to find which one of the half dozen doors into it was the one unlocked. Needless to say, it wasn't the main one in the porch. I let myself in and scare the life out of a warden who was watering the fine flower display.

I introduce myself again, and give her my card.

She is happy, and tells me some interesting stuff, and I go about the job in hand. It is a fine heavily Victorianised church, but done to a very high standard, and the chancel is highly panted and looked stunning. The church also, so she claimed, has the longest churchyard in England. I have no idea if this is true, but it does back a long way, and has a fine dounle row of pollarded trees leading down the middle of the churchyard.

I take over a hundred shots, and so am very happy with that, it was a fine and large church, full of interest.

Next up was a third visit to Ham and Mr. Lennox.

Mr Lennox lives in a church, a church he converted himself to his house, and a fine job he did, though now it is a little uncared for, it would make a fine place to live.

This I now know after two visits here and lengthy conversations with Mr Lennox.

I knock at his door, the door of the porch, and he comes a minute later, smiled when he saw it was me, as I had promised him a bottle of sloe port. And I remembered.

Inside the simple two cell church, he had converted the west end of the chancel to his living space with an office on a mezzanine level and a bedroom above that in the eaves of the roof. The rest of the church his open, with huge bookshelves, chairs and tables.

He has made it a unique home himself from scratch, and preserved the church at the same time. I take shots of the windows, memorials and a couple of the nave and chancel, but being respectful of this gentleman's home.

I take my leave, and he is disappointed I am going, he thought I would take far longer to get my shots. BUt I show hme some of the shots I have of the memorials, taken in nearly total darkness, and they are OK. He is impressed. Its all the camera I assure him.

I drive home for lunch of cheese toasties and a huge strong brew.

That's better.

I watch Only Connect and do some computer work, and soon the afternoon has slipped away and I must go and pick up Jools.

At least its not a normal evening rush hour, it is quieter, so I got to the factory dead on time, just as Jools had finished, meaning we could drive back home. And on the way back, the usual late turners at the Hawkinge turn were nowhere near as bad as usual, meaning we got home without drama.

After dinner we watch more of The Expanse, but being a school night, we go to bed at a sensible time, just before ten.

Back to reality in the morning.