Living Memories

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A key part of our permanent exhibition of the chapel's history in the former  vestry drew upon local people's living memories and photographs.

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The chapel's early years from 1810 to 1985 are documented in a “A Light in the Forest” written by Eric Smith.   We spoke to 26 members of the chapel's congregation and those who worked there.

There were recurring themes in these conversations which included:

• Key people and families who had been involved with the church for generations, e.g the Reads, the Kitchers, Uncle Eddie (Idris Williams).

• Sunday school and the Missioners youth group

• Ladies Fellowship

• Messy Breakfast

• Key events on the calendar & importance of the church in local lives – Easter, Harvest Festival and the spectacular displays created, Christmas, Summer Fete

• The challenges of running the church – finding pastors and maintaining numbers in the congregation

• The stories about fundraising and building maintenance using skills from the congregation.

 

This latter theme particularly resonated with us given our recent renovation of the chapel and the generous support and  help we have relied upon from local people.