A Child of the 1950's

Chapter Eighteen

Church

My family went to Easton Road Methodist church, which was an old Victorian building and I loved it. It was built for the coal miners in 1879 as Easton was then a thriving coal mining area.  Whilst I was at the church, from birth until aged 13 years, there was no one minister in charge of the church as far as I can recall. I think different lay preachers came to take the services. These were always men, I never saw a woman take a service. There was a morning service, which I loved the best and an evening service. The afternoons were set aside for Sunday School for the children, which I attended from the age of four.

In the 1970's a Pub was built called The Pit Pony in remembrance of the ponies used to transport the coal in the 1800's. That Pub was later pulled down, possibly due to subsidence and flats built in it's place.

I have believed in the Christian God all my life from being a small child. The older I get the more I believe. I know there are always things to make us doubt and questions we cannot answer, but to me the basic laws of God are well worth keeping and the spiritual truths are real, breathing truths. People of all different nationalities feel the power of these truths in the same way and people all across the centuries. They feel the need of God in the same way and their prayers are answered in the same way. A person living in 1500 would have the same experience of God as those living now. This is because God does not change and his love is for all of his children, throughout the ages, whatever country they come from. Although, God does treat each of us as individuals.  God is our loving Father and we are his children.

My mother told me that when I was born a friend said to her 'She's come to the right house' which was a complimentary thing to say. I certainly did have a very loving family. I was taken to church as a baby and baptised into the Methodist church and it played an important part in my life as I grew up.

Easton Road Methodist church was quite an imposing building, built in a Gothic style with two small towers at the front either side and an apex roof over the large, wooden front door. It was not as large as some other buildings built at a similar time, but it was big enough to seat approximately 300 people I should imagine. There was no upper gallery with seating around the edge like in other churches, just the main body of the church. This was quite unusual in itself. It was quite a stylish, pretty building, not too plain and it was always full of light, even on a dark day; the walls were painted cream. The heating was by water filled radiators and there was a large boiler in the basement, fed by coal. The lighting was electricity, originally it would have been gas.

It was strange in that it had a huge (approximately 15 feet) tall retaining wall all around three sides of it creating a dark, scary alleyway. It was like a prison wall one might imagine in an old black and white film! I think on the other side of these walls were factories and industrial units, but on the left hand side of the church was a row of terraced houses. Through a metal gate on the right hand side of the church about sixteen, broken, chipped stone steps led down into the alleyway and we went just a few yards along, on the left, into the side door of the basement where Sunday school was held.

The basement held a large social area. On the back wall was a stage two steps high, surrounded by red velvet curtains. There were two rooms, one was very small and dark, painted brown, which is where I first went to the baby class. The chairs were small for small children and there was a piano. The second room was larger. One interior wall was a folding, concertina wall made of glass and wood. This room had windows at the back and down the sides, facing the outside alleyway and was painted cream. There were wooden forms to sit on. These forms had a bottom and a back, the backs could be moved (on a hinge each end) so that the seats could face the other way, without physically moving the forms. There was a piano against the folding, concertina wall at the front, a small table near it and behind that a gas fire.

At the front of the church a small wall with railings ran along the pavement. In the middle of those railings was a metal gate. Entering through the metal gate, there was a small paved area with a couple of shrubs and privet hedging. Four or five wide stone steps led up to a large wooden door (always painted brown), which opened onto a small hallway or 'vestibule' as we called it. The facing wall of this hallway was a glass screen, in front of which were shelves on which brown hymn books were placed, ready to be handed out to people as they entered. Under the shelves were cupboards where the hymn books were kept. The floor was covered with orangy/brown tiles in a criss cross pattern and I think there was some dark green along the edges. There was always a smile at the door!

Either side of the 'vestibule' were doors into the left and right hand side of the church. These doors had old, dark brown velvet curtains hanging over them, I suppose to keep out the draught. Inside the church were three sets of wooden pews. A short set, to seat about four people on the left and far right. No one ever sat there as the congregation was not very big. In the middle were longer set of pews which were divided down the middle with a wooden partition. So there were, in effect, two aisles. One on the left and one on the right.  We always used the left hand one.

The very tall windows, which ran the length of the church, were arched and went right up to the high, wooden beamed ceiling with a concrete roundel at the top. The glass was a greenish colour. As they were so high up long wooden poles, with metal hooks on the end, were used to open the top windows to let in air during the summer.

Several of the pews near the back had bright red velvet cushions, the length of the pews. We always sat on the back pew on the left hand side. I was allowed to stand on the pew cushion, (minus my shoes) when I was young, so when the organ played the hymns I used to stand up and sing my heart out. My mother had a nice singing voice and I loved to sing with her. I still have favourite hymns from that time which were possibly only sang in the Methodist Church. If I hear them now I cry my eyes out! Ha, ha. I remember dad being with us sometimes, but he was a church organist and often played at another church.  My mum used to let me draw on a piece of paper, my little childish drawings whilst the preacher was talking, to keep me amused.  This was one of the reasons we sat in the back row.  I remember it all so well.

At the front of the church across the top of the arched wall was a beautiful, blue, wavy banner in the shape of a scroll with gold lettering, which read 'Suffer the children to come unto me.' I always thought what a lovely thing it was.   It means in proper English, 'Allow the children to come to me' which is it's true meaning. It is the words of Jesus, saying he welcomes children. The word 'suffer' having a completely different meaning nowadays to the  old, harsh Victorian word.

As Methodist churches were so plain and had no colour in them, especially when they were newly built, I think the red cushions on the pews and the red curtains downstairs in the basement around the small stage, must have been part of a renovation when perhaps the church reached it's 50th anniversary. This would have been in the 1930's. I also think that of the blue and gold scroll which was at the front of the church, high up on the wall. If this is the case, I really would love to know who painted it and when. I will have to do some research.

At the front on the left was an elegantly engraved black, wooden pulpit with steps up to it and a black railing. There were always flowers at the front of the church on a little wooden table. Tiered choir stalls, also with red velvet cushions were against the back wall and the wooden organ on the right. Unfortunately, there was no choir at that time. In front of the choir stalls there was one step up to a small narrow platform, also carpeted with red carpet and in the middle of it was the lectern where the notices were read during each service. These were to inform everyone of what was happening in the church that week.

Mostly, nice kind preachers came and told encouraging words from the pulpit, but now and then a horrible preacher came shouting at us, shaking his fists, telling us we were all sinners and generally making us feel completely unfit for anything, let alone God! Talk about a 'Hell Fire' preacher! (I wonder whose grandfather he was? I'm so glad he wasn't mine!) Nobody liked it and I know for a fact my Grandad did not preach like that, I am happy to say! It was enough to put you off going to church. It would be funny, if it wasn't so unlike the way Jesus himself preached and treated people. My mother grumbled every time that preacher visited and we all went home feeling dejected. Ha, ha! Not a pleasant experience.

When I was a young teen, I often imagined the church when it was first built, full of people and a choir singing and it made me feel sad that there were only twenty or so people attending it then. It must have been beautiful when it was new.

Behind the pulpit a door led to a small room where the preacher used to prepare and where the vases for the flowers were stored. I expect there was a small gas fire in the room, I can't remember. A small sink provided running water. There was just one toilet with a brown wooden seat, to service the whole of the chapel. A winding, wooden staircase led down from there to underground rooms and a boiler room which was concrete and dusty and dark and always scared me to death! There was a door from the boiler room into the dark, gloomy alleyway outside, which ran around the building. It was very creepy to me!

A door next to the boiler room led into the room where I first went to Sunday school when I was very small, possibly 3 years old. I think Sunday School began at 3 pm and ended at 4 pm. My mother used to take the class. There was a gas fire here, with a large metal fire guard around it. There was a piano in the room and someone played it for us to sing. I can remember singing 'Pitter Patter Raindrops' and 'Jesus wants me for a sunbeam' and the prayer we often said before we went home which was:-

Lord Keep Us Safe This Night

Secure From All Our Fears

May Angels Guard Us While We Sleep

'Til Morning Light Appears.

Amen

I still say it now sometimes at bedtime. It says it all, doesn't it? I always enjoyed Sunday school and felt very much at home there. Church was a place of peace, joy and safety for me, where I truly belonged.

My mother didn't teach Sunday school for very long, I can't remember her being there after that. I then moved up into a larger room which had a dividing door which could be opened up like a concertina into the larger social area where the wooden stage stood. It looked the worse for wear then, but it still had red velvet curtains and I imagined it when it was new and wondered what concerts or shows were performed on that stage? I would love to know. We would stand on the stage and pretend to act sometimes, when we had a moment to spare before or after Sunday school.

When we were small we used to have 'socials' downstairs which were parties with lots of food and games. They were fun times and the whole family enjoyed it. We used to play spin the plate, you had to spin the plate and then someone else had to come up to carry on spinning it when you called their name. I think we played musical chairs and pass the parcel. We played a game where a long, long piece of string had a brass ring running along on it. People playing were sat in a circle and each person had to pass the ring onto the next and someone in the middle had to guess who had the ring in their hand. If they thought you had the ring, you had to open your hand. Often the ring was not where the person guessing thought it was. It was quite funny. People sat holding the string would pretend to give the ring to their neighbour, when they didn't have it at all. I can't remember the other games, but there were lots of them; very old Victorian games I should imagine! Father Christmas always came, of course, if it was a Christmas party and gave us all a present.

We celebrated Easter and Harvest Festival. I loved all of the harvest hymns. We used to bring tins of food, vegetables and fruit and bring it to the front of the church alongside the small platform. Someone always made beautiful weaved plaits of bread loaves, quite large they were, beautifully crafted and golden brown. They were always displayed in the middle. I believe all the offerings of food were given to the poor. I often wondered as a small child who these poor people were.

There was always a harvest supper. A long table was laid out down stairs in the basement rooms and we had things like ham and potatoes and apple pie. It was a great social event when all the congregation could get together to celebrate and be thankful to God for his goodness. It was always a special time. I think I liked it as much as Christmas. I liked Easter too, but it was always tinged with sadness because Jesus was crucified.

When the church anniversary came, a prize giving day was held up in the church on an afternoon, when the children would receive a prize for good attendance in Sunday School. This was always a book. I treasured these books, which were girls novels for me and boys novels for the boys. The last prize I received was a J B Phillips translation of the New Testament which is the nearest and best translation of it. I still have the copy. I think I can remember singing something at one of these prize giving afternoons, with my friend Pauline. I really enjoyed it. although it was a bit scary.

Once a year, a coach was hired and we took a trip to the seaside for a day out. I can remember when we went to Weston Super Mare to what was then the Marine Lake. It has changed since then, of course. There were swing boats, I loved that and we paddled in the water and played on the sand and ate picnics and ice creams and candy floss. I expect it rained, it often did on any special day out! What's new?

The people at the church were kind and gentle and were the 'salt of the earth.' They were all hardworking, honest, working class people. I remember them all with fondness and am grateful for their example. I can't remember any arguments or bad feeling ever at the church. Everyone was friendly with everyone else. Of course, no one is perfect, but if arguments did happen they would have gone over my head.

I can remember most of the children and their parents, but they came and went and eventually there was only a tiny few of us and everything fell apart and the church closed down. Sunday school continued for a few months more, however, and I stayed until the end. I think I was 14 years old.

I am sorry to say the church was demolished in the late 1970's and a block of flats was built on the ground. I felt incredibly sad about it at the time and it makes me feel a bit wistful even now. I can find only one black and white picture of it on the internet. I wish I had some photographs, but I don't. I really wish I could have been married in that church.

I've just remembered that the church was placed opposite the pub which is still there and called The Queen's Head. Wherever there is a church there is a pub very close by in the UK. Although now lots of the very old pubs have closed down because the licensing laws have changed. It seems very sad that a way of life is dying out. Of course, being a coal mining area in the 1800's the miners would have needed beer to wash the dust out of their throats.

In just a short distance there was The Plough Public House around the corner from The City Mission. Then along Easton Road a little way was All Hallows Church and on the corner the pub called The Hit Or Miss. Then my church, Easton Road Methodist with The Queens Head opposite. All three pubs are still there and in use, which is remarkable. All Hallows Church is still there, but the City Mission now belongs to another religion and sadly, my childhood church is no more.

Thankfully, I have my very happy memories and looking back, it feels just like yesterday.