2012-04

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Mothers’ Union
A message from St Chad’s Mothers’
Union:
“It is with some sadness that we have
to announce the closure of the Mothers’
Union at St Chad’s. The branch has been
in existence for 90 years but lately it has
been difficult to find new members, and had
it not been for the wonderful leadership of
Barbara Fox as Enrolling Member/Secretary
and Ann Brown as Treasurer, we would have
found it even harder to continue. However,
at our recent meetings it was decided that
now was the time to close. Those members
who are able will attend the Mothers’ Union
meetings at St Oswald’s Church and those
unable to travel are welcome to meet
together informally at 57 Abbey Lane on the
fourth Wednesday of the month at 2.15pm to
continue the love and friendship which has
been formed over the years.
Our thanks must go to Barbara for the
sterling work she has done, and to the
Rev Toby Hole, our Vicar, the Rev Canon
Peter Wright and Yvonne Smith for taking
Communion Services before our meetings.
Before I finish, I must mention that we have
one wonderful lady, Mary Spalding, who is 93
years old and has been in the Mothers’ Union
for 72 years. Two other members are in their
nineties and the rest of us are creeping up!
Looking at these statistics, I think we can be
proud of our perseverance and fellowship so
far.
Members of the Mothers’ Union send loving
greetings to all our friends at St Chad’s.”
Sybil Wintle
For many years I was involved
in the travel arrangements for
crews of large merchant ships.
One company I dealt with operated
a round-the-world container service
that had, as one of its ports of call,
Manaus in the Amazon. I was
interested in this because I could not
understand how a city 1,000 miles
inland could take such large ships.
Manaus is a “one off” city. It is the
capital of the Amazon region with
a population of about 1.5 million.
Developed in the heyday of the
rubber industry by the Portuguese
(including an amazing opera house
which is a replica of the Grand Opera
in Paris) it sits at the confluence of
two rivers, the Amazon and the Negro
(so called because of its black water)
The Amazon at that point is five miles
wide!
I had the opportunity to visit
Manaus during a ten-day business
trip to Brazil and finally appreciated
how large ships could get there.
Where the two rivers meet is one of
the most incredible sights. The water
of the Amazon is fairly orange due to
the sediment and travels faster than
the black water of the Negro so the
waters do not mix. For three miles
after the junction there is orange
water on one side and black water on
the other with a very distinct line in
between.
One night our group were told to
meet at the docks at midnight. We
were ushered into a what really was
an overgrown canoe with an outboard
engine and off we went to the other
side of the river. After about an hour
the lights of Manaus has vanished
and in the pitch dark all we could hear
was the sound of the jungle at night.
Our guide switched off the engine
and got into the water and pushed us
silently along.
He was shining his torch around
and picking out pairs of yellow eyes
in the water looking at us. After a
splashing noise he returned to the
canoe with a crocodile!
It was fairly small, about three foot
long. After showing us, very clearly,
how to hold it, we each had to hold
it and stroke it. I expected it to be
wet and maybe slimy but is was silky
smooth, a bit like a handbag!
Brazil and Amazon is truly a
wonderful place.
Simon Hole
• The opera house in Manaus
The Amazon
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St Chad’s St Chads Church, Linden Avenue, Woodseats
email: email: office@stchads.org
St Chad’s Church, Linden Avenue, Woodseats
Church Church Office: Offices: 9 Linden 15 Camping Avenue, Lane, Sheffield Sheffield S8 0GA S8 0GB Page Page 318 website: website: www.stchads.org
Church Office: 9 Linden Avenue, Sheffield S8 0GA
Page 19
Tel: Tel: (0114) (0114) 274 274 5086 5086
Tel: (0114) 274 5086
email: office@stchads.org
website: www.stchads.org