Hallelujah

Helen Shapiro was very taken with the word Hallelujah so this is the meaning:-

Hallelujah, Halleluyah and the Latin form Alleluia are transliterations of the Hebrew word הללויה (Standard Halleluya, Tiberian Halləlûyāh) meaning "Praise Yah" (from the first two letters of the name of God, YHWH, written JHVH in Latin). Hallelujah is found primarily in the book of Psalms. The word is used in Judaism as part of the Hallel prayers, and in Christian prayer. It has been accepted into the English language and has a similar pronunciation in many other languages.

Helen Shapiro

Tonight i went to see Helen Shapiro Gospel Outreach at Docking Church, it was a lovely informative evening, and she of course sang her famous song 'Walking Back to Happiness'.   Sandy gave me and Grace Shaw a lift.

WALKING BACK TO HAPPINESS

By Helen Shapiro

I was raised in a warm, musical, traditional Jewish family in the heart of a large Jewish community in Hackney, in the East End of London. Our extended family, although not a very orthodox group, was nevertheless totally Jewish in identity and heritage. My first recollections include wonderful annual festivals such as Passover, plus traditional rituals such as the lighting of candles on a Friday evening to welcome Shobbes (Shabbat).

I suppose I believed in God from my earliest days. I took His existence for granted. The State school I attended taught the Bible and I loved the Bible stories very much. However, because my school had a Jewish Headmaster and a large Jewish contingency among the pupils, we Jewish kids had separate R.E. (religious education) classes and assemblies. As a consequence, I never heard of a New Testament or a Jesus until I was around six years of age. One day, a non-Jewish girl came up to me in the playground in quite some distress and blurted out, "You killed Jesus Christ!". I was devastated and confused by this accusation. I had never killed anyone in my life, and who was this person with the strange name, Jesus Christ?

At 14, while still at school, I had my first hit record. That led me to go into show business, travelling the world, singing at many famous venues and having more hit songs, including 'Walking Back to Happiness'. I was carried along by all the fame, meeting celebrities and royalty and didn't give much thought to spiritual things until the late sixties. At that time, it seemed that everyone was searching for the "meaning of life". It was the 'hippie' era. Thankfully, I did not become involved with drugs or cults. However, members of my family had taken to visiting mediums, clairvoyants and other such folk to make contact (as they thought) with relatives who had died. Having always had a curiosity with life-after-death issues, this fascinated me. I began to visit such people myself, on occasion. I also started to read books and magazines about spiritism, Buddhism and all kinds of psychic phenomena. I developed a system of beliefs, over the years, which incorporated a little bit of this, a little bit of that - a smorgasbord of 'isms' which, these days, would be called 'New Age'. To my own way of thinking, I was not remotely involved in anything evil or sinister. I associated everything I believed in with God.

EMPTINESS

For quite a number of years, I was comforted by what I had discovered. It seemed to fill a void in my life - until I turned 40. A few months after this milestone birthday, I woke up one morning and, to my own great surprise, I found I no longer believed in any of my 'New Age' ideas. It's hard to explain, but my belief in the supernatural had vanished overnight. Try as I might, I could not believe in any of my 'isms' any more. This presented a dilemma for me as I had always equated all my beliefs with God. Did this mean that there was no God? I found the whole thing very depressing. For the first time in my life, I had nothing to believe in. My Jazz and Pop career was going well. I was in a relationship with the man who is now my husband. I was successful, but inside I was empty. Looking back, I can see that this was God's hand.

In those days, my musical director was a man called Bob Cranham. He was a Christian and more than once he had spoken of what his 'Lord' had done in his life. These were wonderful things, but I couldn't consider them for myself because I am Jewish. This was the Gentile God blessing His people. In the midst of my turmoil, I called in at his house one day, to pick up some music. Now, neither Bob nor his wife knew anything of my inner struggle. Nobody did.

Bob dropped a bombshell that day. He said, "I'm thinking of giving up the music business." I asked him why. He said, "Because I believe God wants me to be a preacher." I thought to myself, "Oh dear. He thinks he's hearing from God." Here was a professional, sane and sensible top-quality musician, composer, song-writer, producer - and he's talking about giving up everything. Nothing I could say would sway him. He seemed so calm and sure and so willing to take this drastic step, if, as he believed, God wanted it. I found myself becoming more and more impressed by how real and sincere his faith must be if he could surrender all that for his 'Lord'. I went home and told my boyfriend John how much I envied Bob. I had many opinions, but Bob had real convictions. I wanted what he had! I guess I was 'provoked to jealousy'.

I started to think about this Jesus constantly. I couldn't get Him out of my mind. Finally, I lay awake one night and felt that I had nothing to lose. I whispered, "Jesus…?" I didn't know if I was going to be struck by lightning. "Are you really there? Are you really the Messiah? If you are, I want to know. Please show me." ( I might as well mention that I had always believed that Jesus existed historically and that he was a Jew. I had never been able to equate the Jewish Jesus with the very un-Jewish artistic depictions of him - blond hair, blue eyes, etc.) Nothing seemed to happen in my room that night, but in the weeks that followed, it seemed that everywhere I went, I was bumping into things and people connected with this Jesus.

While all this was going on, my band and I came back from doing a concert in Germany. When we arrived at the airport and were saying our farewells until the next gig, Bob, my musical director, handed me a book. I was surprised to see that the cover was a picture of a Menorah (a seven-branched lampstand). The title of the book was, "Betrayed", written by Stan Telchin. The sub-title, in effect, said "How would you feel as a successful 50-year-old, Jewish businessman if your daughter one day told you she believed in Jesus!" "How did Bob know I was searching?!", I thought to myself. Of course, he didn't know. Nobody knew.

The book was a total shock. I had heard about the odd Jewish person believing in Jesus, but I had dismissed them all as weirdoes and cranks. Here was a book by a normal, successful Jewish businessman who believed in Jesus and I couldn't ignore it. Outwardly, I showed no emotion. "OK, I'll read it", I said casually. My heart was thumping inside. I couldn't wait to read it. I found out later that Bob had wanted to give me the book for over a year, but the time had never seemed right - until now. How timely that book was.

It took me only a couple of hours to finish it. Stan Telchin was a pillar of the Jewish community in Washington D.C., successful in insurance, and a member of different Jewish organisations and committees. One day his daughter announced that she had accepted Jesus as her Messiah. After his initial shock and anger wore off, he set out to prove her wrong. He spent months talking to Rabbis, pastors, Jewish believers, Gentile believers, reading the Old and New Testaments, Church history, Jewish history, you name it! After all that, he ended up becoming a believer in Jesus, as did every member of his family, who went off to search for themselves.

I learned a great deal from reading this book. Most fascinating of all were the Messianic prophecies he listed. These are prophecies about the Messiah which are found in the Old Testament; the Tenach. I had never heard of them before. Now I learned that in the Law, the Prophets and the Writings there were dozens of specific predictions about a coming Messiah. I had known and loved the 'hit' stories in the Old Testament about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Daniel, etc. And I knew that we, the Jewish people, had been promised the Messiah, but I never knew about these many, specific written prophecies.

For example, Stan spoke about Isaiah 9:6, where it's written "unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given". I had always thought that verse was in the New Testament as I'd only ever seen it on Christmas cards. But there it was in Isaiah! One of ours! This verse goes on to say that this child would be called "wonderful, counsellor, mighty God, everlasting Father, prince of peace." Mighty God! Is the prophet saying that the Messiah has to be God, somehow?

Then Stan quotes Isaiah 7:14, which states that the Messiah would be born of a virgin. I had always thought that talk of a virgin birth was most un-Jewish, but there it was in Isaiah, the Jewish prophet.

He also listed Micah 5:2, a verse from one of the so-called 'minor prophets', which speaks of the Messiah being born in Bethlehem, even though he was also from eternity.

This was amazing enough until I read Psalm 22. It begins with the words "Eli, Eli, lama azavtani", which means, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" I had seen enough films about Jesus to know that He cried these words out when He hung on the cross. What I didn't know was that the rest of the Psalm follows on to say "they have pierced my hands and my feet…I can count all my bones…they have divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing". It seemed to be a picture of the crucifixion of Jesus. But how could it be? This Psalm was written 1000 years before Jesus and before crucifixion was even invented!

Finally, I came face to face with Isaiah 53, the whole of which chapter speaks about one who is to come and take upon himself our sins and our punishment. "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement for our peace was upon Him and with His stripes we are healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray, each one of us has turned to his own way and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." It seemed to be speaking about Jesus!

All of these prophecies seemed to be painting a picture that I wasn't sure I wanted to see. How come nobody ever showed me these things before? How come all I got was 'You Killed Jesus Christ!'?

I had to find out if these things were really in the Bible. I had to go and buy one. Where do you go to buy a Bible? W.H. Smith's, of course! I went into their 'religious' section and was confronted with row upon row of Bibles! All shapes and sizes and types. Which one should I buy? There were so many to choose from. Why were there so many? After a long, careful search, I finally selected what seemed to be a straightforward choice - it was called 'The Bible'.

I took it home, opened up to the Old Testament, and there they were: prophecies about the Messiah! Dozens of them, speaking of him coming both as suffering servant and victorious king. They all pointed, it seemed to me, to Jesus. Could it really be true? I had come this far - I couldn't go back now. I had to go on. With trepidation, I opened, for the first time in my life, that forbidden book: The New Testament.

I didn't know what to expect. Would it be full of anti-Semitic poison? After all, look at what has been done against the Jews over the centuries in the name of Christ, by those claiming to be Christians. We figure they must get it from 'their book'.

Imagine my surprise when I opened up the New Testament and was greeted by the most Jewish thing I had seen outside of the Old Testament: the genealogy of Jesus. Not only was I unexpectedly greeted by a list of familiar names, but while reading Stan's book, I had learned that the Messiah had to be descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, had to be from the tribe of Judah and of the royal house of David. That was just for starters. All these names were there, and many, many more, in this impeccable lineage of Jesus.

I discovered that the writers of the New Testament were Jewish too. I had always thought that James, Peter and John and co. were Englishmen. To my mind, they couldn't be anything else, with names like that! But I discovered that James was, in fact, Jacob; John was Yochanan; Mary was Miriam; Matthew was Mattityahu; Jesus is Yeshua, which means 'Salvation'! The New Testament is Jewish!

Greatly comforted, I began reading about these people, living in the Land of Israel, according to the Law of Moses. There was a Temple and a priesthood - it was a continuation of the Old Testament. I didn't expect it to be like that. And then, there was Jesus. He seemed to rise up out of the pages to me. I was drawn to Him: His words, His compassion, His miracles, His fulfilment of prophecy, his arrest and trial, His crucifixion and resurrection. I finished the Gospel of Matthew and had read halfway through the Gospel of Mark when the thought struck me that I was being too gullible and easily persuaded. It all seemed too perfect. This Bible, including the Old Testament was, after all, translated by Christians. Maybe they had slanted it towards their way of thinking. I had to be sure. I had to get a 'proper' Bible - a Jewish Bible.

I went to a little Jewish shop in Ilford that sold Judaica in the form of books, cards, religious clothing, etc. I was confronted yet again by wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling books. I stood there for what seemed an age, unable to find what I was looking for. The shopkeeper finally came over to me and asked, "May I help you?" "Yes." I replied, "I'd like an Old Testament, please." "How Old?" he asked. How embarrassed I felt! I realised my mistake: you don't go into a Jewish shop and ask for an Old Testament. There is no such thing as an Old Testament because there is no such thing as a New Testament. "You know what I mean!" I said. Of course he did. He reached up to a top shelf and brought down a book. "This is what you're looking for," he said.

It was a copy of the Tenach, The Holy Scriptures. I got it home and compared it with the Old Testament in my other Bible from W.H. Smiths - and it was the same. I was so relieved. I was hoping it would be so.

I continued reading the New Testament. By the time I had read all four Gospels, I knew that Jesus was the fulfilment of all the Messianic prophecies. Jesus was and is the Messiah! This was the most wonderful realisation! But what do I do? This was controversial!

I telephoned Bob and said, "I think I'm on the verge of becoming a believer." He and his wife asked me over. I had so many questions. One of my main questions was to do with all my old smorgasbord of beliefs: where does God fit in with them? The answer is: He doesn't. Bob showed me from Deuteronomy, right through to Revelation that all those things are an abomination to God and come under the heading of Occult. I learned that I had to repent of and renounce all of those practices.

I told Bob and his wife that I believed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God and God the Son. I believed that He died on the cross, was buried and rose from the dead on the third day. I believed, but I still needed to understand Why?

They showed me in the Bible, particularly in the letter to the Hebrews, how Jesus was the fulfilment of the sacrificial system, instituted by God when He brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. Whenever God's Law was broken, He graciously provided that atonement could be made by the shedding of the blood of an innocent substitute. We have all, Jews and Gentiles, broken God's law and are under His condemnation and are deserving of His punishment. He still requires the shedding of blood. None of our good works or religious rituals can make us right with God.

Thankfully, we don't have to slaughter animals for sacrifice anymore because all of those sacrifices were fulfilled in the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. He was the perfect Lamb of God. The moment He died on the cross, when He called out, "It is finished", the curtain in the Temple that divided the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies was torn in half, from top to bottom. Jesus has paid the penalty for sin and all those who repent and believe in Him can come into the presence of God as a cleansed and forgiven worshipper.

They explained that I needed to repent - to turn from my sin back to God. I learned that I was a sinner. We all are. Bob asked me if I would like to respond by praying and asking God to forgive me on the basis of what Jesus has done. Only He can forgive me and only the Blood of Jesus can atone for me. I could then commit my life to Him as my Lord and Saviour.

This I joyfully did on August 26th, 1987 at 10:30 pm. Even though there were no thunderbolts or flashes of lightning, I knew that my prayer was answered. I can't explain how I knew - I just did. It was all so real and true.

During my search, I had begun to wonder: if I accepted the claims of Jesus and became His follower, would I still be Jewish? Along the way, I had written to Stan Telchin along these lines. He assured me that I would be fulfilling my Jewishness by believing in Jesus, the Messiah of Israel and that I would be coming back to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

What he said was true. The very reason that God created the Jewish nation was to point to the Messiah. This is the purpose of every Jew. I, along with many others, are fulfilling that very purpose by receiving Jesus as Messiah, Lord and Saviour.

Since repenting of my sins and receiving Yeshua - Jesus - I know that I have come out from under the condemnation of the Law: eternal separation from God and eternal punishment. We have all, Jew and Gentile, broken the 10 Commandments and are all guilty. Only by faith in the perfect sacrifice of Messiah Jesus can we be saved. I urge you to search the Scriptures and find out for yourself.

Royal Wedding

The Marriage of Prince William of Wales with Miss Catherine Middleton was solemnised in Westminster Abbey this morning.
The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, with other Members of the Royal Family, drove to Westminster Abbey and were received at the Great West Door of the Abbey by the Dean and Chapter of Westminster.
A procession was formed and Her Majesty and Their Royal Highnesses were conducted to their places.
The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, The Duke of York, Princess Beatrice of York, Princess Eugenie of York, The Earl and Countess of Wessex, The Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence, The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, The Duke and Duchess of Kent, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, Princess Alexandra, the Hon. Lady Ogilvy, Mr. and Mrs. Peter Phillips, Miss Zara Phillips and Mr. Michael Tindall, Viscount and Viscountess Linley, The Hon. Charles Armstrong-Jones, The Lady Sarah and Mr. Daniel Chatto, Master Samuel Chatto, Master Arthur Chatto, Earl and Countess of Ulster, The Lady Davina and Mr. Gary Lewis, The Lady Rose and Mr. George Gilman, Earl and Countess of St. Andrews, Lord Downpatrick, The Lady Marina-Charlotte Windsor, The Lady Amelia Windsor, The Lord and Lady Nicholas Windsor, The Lady Helen and Mr. Timothy Taylor, The Lord and Lady Frederick Windsor, The Lady Gabriella Windsor, Mr. and Mrs. James Ogilvy, The Lady Saltoun and Members of Foreign Royal Families were present in the Abbey.
Prince William of Wales, with Prince Henry of Wales, drove to Westminster Abbey and was received at the Great West Door by the Dean and Chapter of Westminster.
Mr. Michael Middleton and Miss Catherine Middleton drove to Westminster Abbey and were received at the Great West Door by the Dean and Chapter.
Miss Catherine Middleton was joined at the Abbey by Miss Philippa Middleton, The Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, The Hon. Margarita Armstrong-Jones, Miss Grace van Cutsem and Miss Eliza Lopes (Bridesmaids) and Master William Lowther-Pinkerton and Master Thomas Pettifer (Pages).

The Service was conducted by the Dean of Westminster and the Marriage was solemnised by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Lesson was read by Mr. James Middleton.
The Address was given by the Bishop of London.
At the conclusion of the Service the Registers were signed at the Shrine of St. Edward the Confessor.
The Bride and Bridegroom, with Prince Henry of Wales, the Bridesmaids and Pages, were conducted to their carriages and, escorted by a Captain's Escort of the Household Cavalry, under the command of Major Nicholas van Cutsem (The Life Guards), drove to Buckingham Palace.
The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, with The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall and Mr. and Mrs. Michael Middleton, proceeded to Buckingham Palace in a carriage procession, escorted by a Sovereign's Escort of the Household Cavalry, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Hughes (The Blues and Royals, Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons).
The path from the Great West Door to the West Gate was lined by Twenty Four members of the Armed Forces.
Her Majesty's Body Guard of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms was on duty in the Lantern of Westminster Abbey.
The Queen's Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard was on duty in the Nave of the Abbey.
The route of the procession was lined by detachments of the Armed Forces.
A Guard of Honour, found by 1st Battalion Welsh Guards under the command of Major David Bevan (Welsh Guards), with The Queen's Colour and accompanied by the Band of the Regiment and the Corps of Drums of the Battalion, was mounted in the Forecourt of Buckingham Palace.
Silver Stick in Waiting (Colonel Stuart Cowen, The Blues and Royals, Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons) and the Field Officer in Brigade Waiting (Colonel Alastair Mathewson, formerly Scots Guards) were present.
Her Majesty and Their Royal Highnesses, from Buckingham Palace, witnessed a fly-past by aircraft of the Royal Air Force and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.
The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh afterwards gave a Reception in honour of the Bride and Bridegroom.
The Bride and Bridegroom subsequently left the Palace for Clarence House, before returning to Buckingham Palace this evening for a Dance.

Without a Trace - Revelations

Series 2 Episode 2

A priest from a poor area of town goes missing after a car accident in the city. He needs to be found quickly because he is in need of a liver transplant, and a donor liver has just become available but can't wait for long.

	Anthony LaPaglia	...	Jack Malone
	Poppy Montgomery	...	Samantha Spade
	Marianne Jean-Baptiste	...	Vivian Johnson
	Enrique Murciano	...	Danny Taylor
	Eric Close	...	Martin Fitzgerald
	Hector Elizondo	...	Father Henry Stevens

War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave ( 2008)

Two years after the Martian invasion, George Herbert's worst fears are realized: The Aliens have returned. As a second wave of Martian walkers lay waste to what's left of Earth, an alliance of military forces prepares a daring attack on the Red Planet itself. Once again, the future of mankind hangs in the balance.

	C. Thomas Howell	...	George Herbert
	Christopher Reid	...	Pete
	Kim Little	...	Victoria
	Jonathan Levit	...	Gorman
	Danna Brady	...	Sissy
	Fred Griffith	...	Major Kramer

THE ROYAL WEDDING WEEKEND

We were closed this morning due to the marriage of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, we opened about 1pm.
 
During the weekend of celebrations, we had a 1942 wedding dress on display which is Ivory and belonged to a Mr and Mrs Thomas Murray who married on 10th January 1942, on display with lace and a bouquet

Mr and Mrs Thomas Murray 10th January 1942

We had Wedding Day display of photos of the Jackson Family.

Founders George and Kate Jackson 16th April 1938

Mavis and Ken 1957

Dawn and Bob 1977

 Debbie and Jon 1990

Steven had a CupCake stall outside on Friday and Saturday, they were delicious, out of 128 boxes he had 6 boxes left.

We Had a £1 stall

Wedding Pavillion

I certainly wouldn't say trade was brilliant, Friday waste of time opening, saturday wasn't brilliant, but the stalls did bring loads of people around, so the people were there.

NCIS - The Truth Is Out There

Series 1 Episode 17

A body falls out of the ceiling during a rave party. The victim was dressed after he was killed.

	Mark Harmon	...	Special Agent Jethro Gibbs
	Sasha Alexander	...	Agent Caitlin Todd
	Michael Weatherly	...	Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo
	Pauley Perrette	...	Abby Sciuto
	David McCallum	...	Dr. Donald Mallard

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation -Turn On, Tune In, Drop Dead

Series 11 Episode 16

When two people who were thought to be dead come back to life, the evidence leads CSI back to a discredited ex-professor who conducted bizarre death-related experiments in the 1970s.

	Laurence Fishburne	...	Dr. Raymond Langston
	Marg Helgenberger	...	Catherine Willows
	George Eads	...	Nick Stokes
	Jorja Fox	...	Sara Sidle
	Eric Szmanda	...	Greg Sanders

Atomic Twister (TV 2002)

One of the better 'B' Movies, pretty good, had me in tears at the end.

When tornadoes hit a nuclear power plant, critically damaging the plant's cooling system, the results could be catastrophic. Atomic Twister, a countdown to disaster, traces an extraordinary day in the lives of small town citizens who unexpectedly find themselves facing the possibility of mass destruction.

	Sharon Lawrence	...	Corrine Maguire
	Mark-Paul Gosselaar	...	Deputy Jake Hannah
	Carl Lewis	...	Securityman Stu
	Jonathan Blick	...	Potter (as Johnny Blick)
	Daniel Costello	...	Campbell Maguire

Sex, Murder and a Double Latte by Kyra Davis

Debbie got this book and loaned it to me well, i had to read this book because my Granddaughters name is Kira Davies, it was a slow starter, but it did improve as it went on, not bad at all.

When a mystery writer cries bloody murder, everyone blames her overactive imagination..

Thriller scribe Sophie Katz is as hard-boiled as a woman who drinks grande caramel brownie frappuccinos can be—maybe it's from a lifetime of fielding dumb comments about her half-black, half-Jewish ethnicity. ("My sister married a Polynesian! I just love your culture!") So Sophie knows it's not paranoia or post-divorce, living-alone-again jitters, when she becomes convinced that a crazed reader is sneaking into her apartment to reenact scenes from her books. The police, however, can't tell a good plot from an unmarked grave.

When a filmmaker friend is brutally murdered in the manner of a death scene in one of his movies, Sophie becomes convinced that a copycat killer is on the loose—and that she's the next target. If she doesn't solve the mystery, her own bestseller will spell out her doom, cursing her grisly imagination (Why, oh, why did she have to pick the axe?), Sophie engages in some real-life gumshoe tactics. The man who swoops in to save her in dark alleys at night is mysterious new love interest Anatoly Darinsky. Of course, if this were fiction, Anatoly would be her prime suspect....

Sepulchre

sepulchre US, sepulcher [ˈsɛpəlkə]

n

1. a burial vault, tomb, or grave

2. (Fine Arts & Visual Arts / Architecture) Also called Easter sepulchre a separate alcove in some medieval churches in which the Eucharistic elements were kept from Good Friday until the Easter ceremonies

The Patriot Games (1992)

Jack Ryan, the hero of Tom Clancy's techno-thriller series, returns in the sequel to _The Hunt for Red October_. Ryan is on vacation in England when he spoils an assassination attempt on an important member of the Royal Family. Ryan gets drawn back into the CIA when the same splinter faction of the IRA targets him and his family.

	Harrison Ford	...	Jack Ryan
	Anne Archer	...	Dr. Caroline "Cathy" Ryan
	Patrick Bergin	...	Kevin O'Donnell
	Sean Bean	...	Sean Miller
	Thora Birch	...	Sally Ryan

Snettisham Railway Station 1862 - 1969

From 1971 - 2001, Ken and Mavis Leeson lived in Snettisham Disused railway station in West Norfolk. Interesting snippet i just found out it actually closed on the 5th May 1969, Mavis's Birthday.

Snettisham was a railway station on the King's Lynn to Hunstanton line which served the village of Snettisham, a few miles north of King's Lynn in North Norfolk, England. Opened in 1862, the station closed along with the line in 1969.

History

Although essentially a minor passing place on the King's Lynn to Hunstanton line, when the proposal for a railway line between King's Lynn and Hunstanton had been first mooted, the possibility of building a new harbour at Snettisham had been discussed. This, it was said, would provide a safe haven for trading and fishing vessels on the eastern side of The Wash, enabling the local mussels to be brought in there rather than King's Lynn or Boston. However, the coming of the railway actually put pay to these ideas by eroding the local coasting trade which was hit by severe gales in the 1870s.^[2]
Snettisham station was equipped with up and down platforms and its platform buildings were constructed out of the local Carstone. Four sidings diverged from the main line to the north of the main station, serving respectively a small goods yard, a goods shed, the local coal merchants and Messrs Vynne & Everitt's granary. Goods traffic consisted of mainly coal and agricultural produce such as grain, bagged manure and vegetables.^[3] On the up side of the line was an 18-lever standard Great Eastern signal box. Snettisham was initially considered important enough to boast its own stationmaster, but this post was later abolished leaving the station with a staff of 4/5; in the station's later years one of the signalmen, Gerry Kendall, created a topiary on the up platform which marked out the station's name.^[4]
In 1962 the poet laureate John Betjeman visited Snettisham station as part of a 10 minute documentary film detailing the journey from Kings Lynn to Hunstanton. The film was a collaboration between BBC East Anglia and British Transport Films.

Preceding station	Disused railways			Following station
Dersingham		British Rail Eastern Region King's Lynn to Hunstanton branch		Heacham

Present day

Engine shed in 2006.

Following closure in 1969, the main station building became a private residence, while the adjacent engine shed and granary are used by a furniture dealer. In the garden of nearby "Granary Cottage" stands the buffer stop which was originally at the end of Vynne & Everitt's siding.^[4] In 2004, the signal box was moved to Hardingham on the Mid-Norfolk Railway.^[5]

Snettisham
Location
Place	Snettisham
Area	King's Lynn and West Norfolk, Norfolk
Grid reference	TF677334
Operations
Pre-grouping	Lynn & Hunstanton Railway Great Eastern Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway Eastern Region of British Railways
Platforms	2
History
3 October 1862	Opened
5 May 1969	Closed[1]

Hear the Pennies Dropping

This is the song the children at Junior Church sing during their own offering.

Hear the Pennies Dropping
Listen while they fall
Every one for Jesus
He shall have them all

Dropping, dropping, dropping
dropping
Hear the Pennies Fall
Every one for Jesus
He shall have them all

Dawn Davies Baptism

On Sunday 13th March 2011, i woke up a bag of nerves, i only wish my children would be there with me, oh well this is to be as expected that they couldn't be bothered, but it still hurts.

I arrived at Church to a lovely warm atmosphere, there at my invitation was Mum, Bob, Jan and Holly Wiegand and Hilary Letch, and Janet Lawrence and yes, Jen, Andy and the children actually turned up.

Also present was Elaine and Richard Bird and Mayor Elect Carol Bower.

Bob has been helping to set up the sound system, as they have had problems, so went off to do that.

 It started off with the hymn 689 Thine be the Glory then the prayer and offering, the reading was Romans 6 v 1-12.

Then David read out the message.

Then it was my Hymn choice 133 Father I place into your hands here i fell apart and started crying, then i plucked up courage to go and read my Testimony, and i dont think i did too badly.

Then it was Joanna Forts turn her choice of hymn was 37 As the deer pants, followed by her testimony.

Then it was Sandys turn her choice was hymn 857 I the Lord of Sea and Sky followed by Sandys testimony.

Then came Carols Hymn choice Hymn 41 At the Name of Jesus, Carol didn't feel able to do a Testimony.

Then Janet Groom did the Prayers for all of us being baptised.

Then it was the time for the Baptisms

1st Carol, followed by the Chorus of 367 Jesus is Lord

Then it was my turn it was very moving, although i paniced when i was underwater, then Sophie held the towel as i got out and Bob came to help me, then the Chorus of 220 He is Lord was sung, afterwards i wrapped in a towel i went to join Carol and we had a hug.

Then it was Joannas turn followed by verse 1 of Hymn 281 I lift my eyes.

Then it was Sandys turn who was the only one of us who elected to be baptised backwards followed by Chorus of 367 Jesus is Lord.

We then went into the toilet to get dry and changed and afterwards came back out. Bernard had been telling a messaged and then the Hymn 708 To God be the Glory.

 When we came out Fergus present all of us with certificates.

Finishing with the Hymn 501 O Jesus i have promised.

It was a wonderful service, and people came upto me afterwards and hugged and kissed me and gave me loads of card altogether i had 21 Cards.  I was also given a bunch of flowers from the Church. It was beautiful and moving. An amazing Day.