Spiceball Park

Today's Canal : Oxford

We started the day by walking through the shopping centre to St Mary's Church on what was originally the principal route through the town, and close to Banbury Cross. A medieval church stood here but was  badly damaged in the Civil War. A replacement, basically the present church, was built at the end of the 18C. It has seen several subsequent alterations to suit changing trend and tastes in worship styles. Today the congregation indicate that they are an 'inclusive' church, meaning that they particularly are open to people who are in the spectrum of LGBTIQ+. Members of the congregation did seem welcoming and tbhioughtful

Its worship style today would generally be considered 'middle of the road' but they do have a strong musical tradition and close adherence to standard liturgy. This morning there were just over 60 people, of all ages, mainly older and noticeably white. (We know someone connected with the People's Church (Baptist) on the opposite side of the road from whom we understand that they have attracted a significantly multi cultural membership, which is a growing feature of Banbury.

Whilst 60 might be considered a reasonable size in many towns,  as the church was designed to accommodate 2000 we did rattle around a bit!

The sun was in the wrong place to be able to get a good picture of the outside - however Christine was especially keen on the trees in the churchyard mostly old and gnarly (like us?)

Afterwards we walked back the way we came except to make a detour from the canalside to call at Lidl, mainly for bread.

Although we then ran the engine to charge the batteries (almost to 90%) we decided to move a short distance to Spiceball Park where there is less likelihood of disturbing other people. Otherwise a quiet afternoon and preparation for tonight's roast gammon dinner.

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