Manchester

[jukel123 8,367]

I did an OU course years back. The enclosed poem just about sums up what you lads have been writing about. I too love churches, hate religions.

The Poetry Hour

WWW.THEPOETRYHOUR.COM

 

Edited July 3, 2023 by jukel123

[jukel123 8,367]

13 hours ago, NEWKID said:

I'm exactly the same, most places we go we'll go in the church or cathedrals, I'm blown away by the architecture the commitment to building these amazing places thats built on pure faith.. I love the history of them... like you I dont practice religion and I don't think I have any faith as such, but find a real draw to churches, cathedrals etc.. 

We were in the sacre coeur in Paris many years ago and as we walked in the nuns were singing, the place is beautiful and with the singing my Mrs started crying, I've got to admit it was a strange/spiritual feeling... beautiful to be honest...

Kids innocently  singing  Silent Night at Christmas really cracks me up.

[WILF 47,351]

47 minutes ago, jukel123 said:

Kids innocently  singing  Silent Night at Christmas really cracks me up.

I thought it would last my time—

The sense that, beyond the town,

There would always be fields and farms,

Where the village louts could climb

Such trees as were not cut down;

I knew there’d be false alarms

 

In the papers about old streets

And split level shopping, but some

Have always been left so far;

And when the old part retreats

As the bleak high-risers come

We can always escape in the car.

 

Things are tougher than we are, just

As earth will always respond

However we mess it about;

Chuck filth in the sea, if you must:

The tides will be clean beyond.

—But what do I feel now? Doubt?

 

Or age, simply? The crowd

Is young in the M1 cafe;

Their kids are screaming for more—

More houses, more parking allowed,

More caravan sites, more pay.

On the Business Page, a score

 

Of spectacled grins approve

Some takeover bid that entails

Five per cent profit (and ten

Per cent more in the estuaries): move

Your works to the unspoilt dales

(Grey area grants)! And when

 

You try to get near the sea

In summer . . .

       It seems, just now,

To be happening so very fast;

Despite all the land left free

For the first time I feel somehow

That it isn’t going to last,

 

That before I snuff it, the whole

Boiling will be bricked in

Except for the tourist parts—

First slum of Europe: a role

It won’t be hard to win,

With a cast of crooks and tarts.

 

And that will be England gone,

The shadows, the meadows, the lanes,

The guildhalls, the carved choirs.

There’ll be books; it will linger on

In galleries; but all that remains

For us will be concrete and tyres.

 

Most things are never meant.

This won’t be, most likely; but greeds

And garbage are too thick-strewn

To be swept up now, or invent

Excuses that make them all needs.

I just think it will happen, soon

[jukel123 8,367]

Inexpensive Progress poem - John Betjeman

WWW.BEST-POEMS.NET

---

Encase your legs in nylons, Bestride your hills with pylons O age without a soul; Away with gentle willows And all the elmy billows That through your valleys roll...

 

[mackem 26,982]

Just deleting some pics from my phone,found these from the local cemetery,interesting stone.

 

[jukel123 8,367]

Mark Twain:" I would love to live in Manchester. The transition between Manchester and death would be unnoticeable" Lol

[DIDO.1 22,844]

11 hours ago, jegegom said:

I discover myself drawn to these quaint ancient churches. While I've consistently desired to discover faith within them, I frequently feel a strong aversion towards organized religion and its proponents. The allure might possibly stem from the past of those who constructed these churches and sought solace within their walls throughout the years. Alternatively, it could be the stark contrast they present with the irreligious or ethically compromised world that envelops them nowadays.

Presenting St. Anne's Church, where several aged gravestones rest against its exterior. The stained glass windows, as ever, never fail to capture my attention.

You some proof reading bot?

[paulus 26]

5 minutes ago, DIDO.1 said:

You some proof reading bot?

Dont worry about it, there gone. 

[DIDO.1 22,844]

[jukel123 8,367]

20 minutes ago, DIDO.1 said:

What just happened?

[DIDO.1 22,844]

14 hours ago, jukel123 said:

What just happened?

A spammer of some description 

Edited August 20, 2023 by DIDO.1