Midweek Meeting February 18 2026

Half term this week and we ended up with three in the little kitchen and three online. It was all over within the hour. I spoke on Romans 13:11-14.

10 Famous People Buried in Westminster Abbey

1. Sir Isaac Newton: Buried in 1727 near the quire screen
2. Charles Darwin: Located in the scientists' corner
3. Stephen Hawking: Ashes interred in 2018
4. Ernest Rutherford: Renowned physicist
5. Charles Dickens: Famous novelist
6. Laurence Olivier: Renowned actor
7. George Frideric Handel: Composer
8. David Livingstone: Explorer
9. Aphra Behn: One of the first English women to earn a living from writing
10. William Wilberforce: Politician and abolitionist

10 British Monarchs Buried in Westminster Abbey

1. Edward I, King of England, in 1307
2. Edward III, King of England, in 1377
3. Henry V, King of England, in 1422
4. Henry VII, King of England, in 1509
5. Edward VI, King of England, in 1553
6. Mary I, Queen of England, in 1558
7. Elizabeth I, Queen of England, in 1603
8. James VI and I, King of England and Scotland, in 1625
9. Charles II, King of England and Scotland, in 1685
10. William III, King of England and Scotland, in 1702

(Also, Anne, Queen of Great Britain, in 1714 and George II, King of Great Britain, in 1760)

10 Poets Buried in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey

National Library of Wales, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Bain News Service, publisher, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

1. Geoffrey Chaucer c. 1343 1400 Author and poet
2. Edmund Spenser c. 1552 1599 Poet
3. Abraham Cowley 1618 1667 Poet
4. John Dryden 1631 1700 Poet and playwright
5. Samuel Johnson 1709 1784 Author, poet and lexicographer
6. Alfred, Lord Tennyson 1809 1892 Poet
7. Robert Browning 1812 1889 Poet and playwright
8. Thomas Hardy 1840 1928 Author and poet
9. John Masefield 1878 1967 Poet and author
10. Rudyard Kipling 1865 1936 Author and poet

Lord's Day February 15 2026

Low numbers yesterday due to sickness and perhapss the terrible weather. Local newcomer in the evening showing an interest. Always encouraging. I thought Eternal paradoxes might not be the best subject but he loved it, it seems.

Midweek Meeting February 11 2026

Just a handful huddled in the kitchen again plus two online. We all prayed. We also looked at Romans 13:8-10.

Day Off Week 7 2026

The main feature of this week's day off was a trip with my wife to  lovely restaurant. It was a birthday/Christmas gift from very king friend of ours. The location was the Vincent Rooms Brasserie near Victoria. The set up is connected with the Westmineter College and is staffed by students. We had a very nice three course meal and just enjoyed being out together. I also managed to complete the William Hague biography of Wilberforce that I have been reading and started a biography of Jimi Hendrix. In the evening, it was TV wall to wall as we watched the Apprentice with Owain, which we had missed last week, Silent WItness (just us) and then the news before bed.

Lord's Day February 8 2026

We had a full day last Lord's Day with a meal together after the morning meeting at which I preached on the parable of the minas from Luke 19. In the evening Eddie preached, once again from Luke 15. As usual the morning congregation was much larger than the small evening one. Our Iranian friends were out in force in the morning, despite being distracted by a desire to know what is happening at home. Two younger men who have begun to attend were there, whch was encouraging. 

Thames Path - Next Bits

I was on my own on Saturday and so I thought I woud do the next two sections of the Thames Path. I got myself down to Sloane Square by opublic transport and grabbed a coffee, I then walked to Chelsea Beidge and headed back almost to the Alert Bridge then made my official start. First we passed the Chelsea Physic Garcen and the Royal Hospital. As ever, one is amazed by how much open space London contains. I noted the western oumping station and, on the other side, the pagoda in Battersea Park and the remaining facade of the Bettersea Power Station. Just beyond Grosvenor Railway Bridge I started a seond, less full section, that included Dolphi Square adn St George's Square adn finished with the statue of William Huskinson in a little park area. I walked a little way further until I fond a bus to Victoria and then home. The thing is an education.

Midweek Meeting February 4 2026

Nice and cosy in the kitchen once again, praying and looking at Romans 13:1-7 about honouring the powers that be and paying your taxes.

Day Off Week 6 2026

There was the usual reading today (Hague on Wilberforce) but I also resumed walking the London Thams Path, something I started a little while ago that I seem to have left no record of. I have  abook by David Fathers that divides the walk up into 20 odd north shore and south shore pieces. I did the first part of the north shore with my wife last year and this Tuesday I did the next two parts. For the first part (Fulham) we went down to Putney Bridge Underground and walked west as far as Fulham Palace and then came back east all the way to Wandsworh Bridge, where we had a cuppa. (Sasdly it was very windy and so parts of the Thames Path were closed then). This time I headed to Imperial Wharf Overground where we ended up last time. First, I headed back west as far as the large Sainsbury's near Wandsworth Bridge and then headed east again as far as the end of Cheyne Walk where I caught a bus to Sloane Square and had a coffee in Cote before headingto Five Guys in Victoria and home on a 13. Lots of famous people are connected with Cheyne Walk as you may have noticed in a previous post. I also saw Crosvy Hall, the statue of Thomas Moore, what was Lots Road Power Station and Chelsea Harbour. I'd been to Cheyne Walk before, to Carlyle's House, but before there I hadn't known so it was good to see how the further west fits in to the whole. On the opposite side I saw at one point the impressive St Mary's church where Blake was married. It was a dull wet day but not too cold.

10 Notable People Who Lived in Cheyne Walk, London

4 George Eliot the novelist spent the last three weeks of her life here

10 David Lloyd George the Welsh prime minister

12 Ralph Vaughan Williams the composer 1905-1928 who wrote symphonies there

13 Bertrand Russell the mathematician and philosopher in 1902

16 Dante Gabriel Rossetti the artist 1860-1882. There is a staute nearby.

21 James Mcneill Whistler the artist 1890–92. (He also lived in 72 (until his death there in 1903), 96 (1866–1878) and 101 (1863))

27 Bram Stoker the writer

93 Elizabeth Gaskell the novelist was born here

104 Hilaire Beloc the writer

119 J M W Turner the artist died here in 1851

(Also Thomas Caryle, I K Brunel, Sol Campbell, various members of The Rolling Stones, etc)

Nine Books Read Recently

No Hopeless Future: Expositions on the Book of Ruth?Dale Ralph Davis

It is always good news when a new Dale Ralph Davis volume appears even if it is as brief as these five chapters. This one is a little different to the usual in that these are sermons that have been written down with no footnotes and only minor changes from the spoken versions. The ususal elements - striking illustrations, lightly worn schoarship and rigorous expsiton are there as in the other works. Thank you Christian Focus and Major Burnam (the original transcriber).

Thirty Second Theology: Questions and Answers to Build Your Fait/Sinclair Ferguson

This is a catechism for teeanagers with a modern twist. It covers the beatitudes, the commandments, the Lord's Prayer, etc. Baptists will bristle at some phrases.

The Great Post Office Scandal - the extraordinary story behind the recent ITV drama: The fight to expose a multimillion pound IT disaster which put innocent people in jail/Nick Wallis

This is a very full and thorough account of the terrible way a large number of Post Office Subpostmasters were treated up to around 2022. The problems were caused, it would seem, by errors in the Horizon computer system, errors that the makers Fujitsu and the Post Office who used it have been extremely slow to own up to. It is a lesson in how very wrong things can go when people are less concerned with honesty and kindness than they are with profit and reputation. The book is well written but inevitably a little tedious and drawn out at times. Glad to have got the full story (so far).

Entitled: the rise and fall of the House of York Andrew Lownie

I have also recently read a book called Entitled about Andrew and Fergie. It is rather a depressing book in many ways as it describes, I think fairly accurately, the lives of two once married individuals and the excesses that they have given themselves to down the years. I don't suppose they are very different to the average Jack and Jill but because they have been exposed to so many temptations and have so often given in, we end up with a pretty discouraging state of affairs, to the extent, in Andrew's case, that he appears to be guilty of punishable crimes. Not at any point in the book do they seem to have come under the sound of the gospel and they do not seem to realise the need to repent and find forgiveness in Christ, which is their only hope. We do not know how it will all turn out before they die but it would not be a surprise if more came out. Andrew Lownie has thoroughly researched the story. He presents quite a different version of how the infamous interview with Andrew came together and appears to be quite convinced that Jeffrey Epstein did not kill himself. He is also quite convinced that Andrew is guilty of sex crimes.

The Noble Liar: How and why the BBC distorts the news to promote a liberal agenda Robin Aitken

I was alerted to this book back in 2019 but only got round to reading it more recenty. Aitken is Roman Catholic and very conservative and one would not want to accept everything he says but he makes some good and helpful points with regard to the bias clearly detectable within the BBC. What he has to say about Tommy Robinson is most interesting. Other topics covered include feminism, religion and Islam. Well worth a read.

(These last three I read on kindle)

Christians and slavery Ian F Shaw

This is a book that needed to be written in light of there being so much discussion about this subject at the moment. Dr Shaw has writen very helpfully giving an accurate history of the relevant material and outlining the stance that various Christians took on the subject, people like Dabney and Machen coming out badly and Warfield and the Particualr Baptists much better. The second part of the book deals with some of the questions the history raises such as reparations and so on. It is a very helpful and interesting book.

100 Children's Books: that inspire our world/Colin Salter

Lovely book with two pages per book, one with writing and one with cover art. The books are for all ages and set out chronologically. Of the hundred books, I had read around twenty of them. Also some of the fifty listed as the second tier (eg Tom Brown's Schooldays). Some few books I had never heard of. One or two I thought I might like to try soon.

Then there have been two beautiful books aimed at children, beautifully presented. Beautiful books, aimed at kids I guess but lovely for all. These are

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost with illustrations by P J Lynch

The Fox and the Star by Coralie Bickford-Smith

Lord's Day February 1 2026

Last Lord's Day I preached on Luke 19:1-10 in the morning and then did a further study on paradoxes (The Paradoxical Christ)  in th evening. We began with communion when we were very few. The morning congregation itself was not bad but there were many missing for various reasons. We were about 14 pm.

10 Monarchs who were not first borns

Hans Holbein the Younger, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Luke Fildes, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

1. William Rufus II (108g-1100) third son of William I succeeded him. His oldest brother, Robert, reigned in Normandy and the next brother died in a hunting accident iin 1075.
2. Henry I (1100–1135) fourth and youngest son of William I succeeded his older brother William Rufus, who died in a hunting accident.
3. Richard I (1189-1199) second son of Henry II became heir upon the death of his older brother, Henry the Young King
4. John (1100-1216) fourth son of Henry II became king after the death of his older brother, Richard.
5. Henry VIII (1509–1547) second son of Henry VII became heir after the death of his elder brother, Arthur, Prince of Wales, in 1502.
6. Charles I (1625–1649) second son of James I became heir after the death of his older brother, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales.
7. James II (1685–1688) second surviving son of Charles I succeeded his brother, Charles II.
8. Anne second surviving daughter of James II
9. George V (1910–1936) second son of Edward VII became heir after the sudden death of his elder brother, Prince Albert Victor, in 1892.
10. George VI (1936–1952) second son of George V ascended the throne following the abdication of his elder brother, Edward VIII.