St Mary’s, Belford Branch

Tiree comes to Belford!

Diana Higham went to Tiree with her husband, Bob, when he took up the post of Minister in the Church of Scotland there. And she brought the culture, poignancy and humour of the island to Belford for the Mothers’ Union November meeting.

We sometimes think we’re remote here in north Northumberland, but Tiree is a 4 hour sail from Oban, measures just 30 miles by 9 at its thickest and has just 800 residents. Still, the newspapers arrive within a day or so of publication – unless there’s a funeral and the plane takes passengers instead of goods – and the boats bring produce when ever the weather allows – a entire Beaufort scale can be experienced in a quite a short space of time. Its true – people listen to the shipping rather than the weather forecasts! Gardening is difficult with shallow soils, but there’s a local show every year with people proudly exhibiting their vegetables. The anemometer set up to measure wind speeds fared less well and was blown over!

Branch leader Sue Smith said: “What a brilliant way to start my time as branch leader – Diana is one of the best speakers we've heard. She entertained and informed us at the same time. Here’s hoping all our speakers can engage us as well as she has.”

The MU December meeting will be a celebration of Christmas, with songs, poems and favourite hymns together with a shared supper. And members will be bringing contributions to add a seasonal element to donations to the Food Bank. All welcome.