Credit

On the train again. Much better than car, if not so good as bike. On the way to Church House for a meeting of the directors of the Churches’ Credit Union. We are fortunate in having some highly skilled and experienced people who can guide us through the very complex technical issues of finance and compliance. If all goes well it should start up later this year.

Yesterday evening to a talk on Imber church and its unique bus service. Imber is a village in the middle of Salisbury Plain evacuated in 1943 to prepare for D Day and never again inhabited.

An old school friend has set up a real bus company that runs a timetabled service to take passengers to this isolated village when the army take a rest from exercises. He just happens to own a London Transport Routemaster, and has the licence to drive it.

He gave a fascinating talk in aid of the Churches’ Conservation Trust.

Imber’s church of St Giles is the only village building still in good condition. There are services a few times a year.

The church receives 10000 visitors a year perhaps because it is difficult to get there, and usually impossible. It’s a strange metaphor for current ideas of God: distant, isolated and only contactable very occasionally.