Molly Snow

Kerren Simmonds (2's 57-66), Chair of the Old Girls Association until it was subsumed into the CH Club, writes:

MONDAY of this week (9th November) saw the funeral in West Sussex of Molly Snow, née Florence Maria Eccles, 5's 22-28, and mother of two Old Blues, daughter Rosemarie (now Varley) and cricketer son John - who features elsewhere on this blog.

Molly died in a nursing home in Littlehampton two weeks ago, and the writer of this contribution to the blog has been in contact with/visiting Molly for the last 20 years, since we attended the same church in Rustington.

Molly was 98 when she died, and all through her life lived out and fulfilled her Charge. Two of her grandsons (Simon and Nick Varley) are also Old Blues. Simon is a consultant anaesthetist and Nick is a secondary school teacher.

What an Old Blue family - and what an example to the rest of us!

Molly Snow memorial page

Philosophy & literature

BRYAN MAGEE talks to Iris Murdoch in a programme from his 1978 TV series Men of Ideas, presented here in five parts of between five and ten minutes each:

Land's End to John O' Groats Fundraising for Motor Neurone

Transcribed from LongCrendon.com:

ANDREW ORMANROYD of 77 Giffard Way is about to tackle the gruelling route from Land's End to John O'Groats by bike. It is something he has planned to do for some time, but the knowledge that 2009 would see his 63rd birthday encouraged him to start training in earnest, while he still had the legs for it!

Despite covering over 2000 miles since the New Year in preparation, the unknown factor remains his ability to maintain his daily mileage over the 4 weeks he has allowed himself for the journey.

Although he has chosen to undertake the challenge alone for the first 3 weeks, he will be visiting friends and family along the route, and will be joined for the last 8 days by his wife Liz, who will provide invaluable back-up and encouragement for the final run-in. His determination to succeed will also be bolstered by his desire to raise as much money as possible for his chosen charity, the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

Anyone wishing to make a donation simply has to log in to Andrew's JustGiving account, where all money pledged is guaranteed to be received in full by the charity. The account name is: www.justgiving.com/Andrew-Ormanroyd.

UPDATE #1
I have just completed my 7th day (present mileage from Land's End 228).

Tomorrrow's stage takes me from Bristol over the old Severn Bridge and up to Monmouth.

Glad to have Cornwall behind me - beautiful but gruelling!

UPDATE #2
Andrew now has 780 miles behind him (and 366 to go) and by tomorrow should be in Irvine in Ayrshire.

He is in very good spirits, largely due to the generosity and good wishes of all those who have supported his attempt to raise money for The Motor Neurone Disease Association and would like to thank them all. He really has been overwhelmed by so much good will.

If everyone would continue to send good thoughts for the successful completion of his odyssey, I know he will be very grateful.

UPDATE #3
Andrew Ormanroyd finally reached John O'Groats on schedule after 1246 miles, including many detours both planned and unintentional.

Both the kindness of those he met en route and the generosity of people in the village who were adding to his sponsorship total daily kept his spirits and energy levels high, but by the time he was joined by his wife Liz for the final 250 miles he was grateful for the company and the direct support.

All in all a truly memorable experience. Andrew would again like to thank all those who supported him and to let them know that after Gift Aid has been factored in, the final sponsorship total should reach the £2500 mark.

The wealth she gave away

From a sermon preached at Great Malvern Priory by the Revd Ian Spencer:

I spent nearly all of last week working with Revd Judith Thompson, one of the two full-time hospital chaplains that we have in Worcester. Hospital chaplains do not earn big-bucks, and I'm sure Judith wouldn't mind me telling you that her car had holes in it that were certainly not part of the original build. But she showed me riches beyond compare last week, an opulence and glory that no amount of personal wealth could come close to matching.

Judith spent wealth, but the wealth she gave away was her time, her patience, her empathy, her love, her faith. And she'd be the first to say that all of this treasure came not from her, but from God, ministered through her, to those in need. It was hard work, exhausting work, giving away self, for love of God and neighbour requires true grit, but the grit is diamond. "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also - do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth, but store up for yourselves treasure in heaven".

Read the full sermon here