Take a dip in holy water
QUESTION To what unusual uses have former churches been put?
The Repton Park estate, overlooking Claybury Park in Woodford Green, east London, is a gated community of redbrick Victorian buildings. It began life as Claybury hospital, an asylum for the clinically insane.
The chapel, with its high arches and stained glass, has been converted into a swimming pool. It’s supposedly haunted by the ghosts of former inmates.
Terry Lewis, Romford, Essex. FeRndoWn Primitive Methodist church was built in the 1920s. In 1940, following a drastic drop in the congregation, it was converted into a fire station.
It is still in use. The top of the church window was retained at the front over the double appliance bays.
Peter Wren, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts. I’Ve always found it bizarre that the 17th-century Baptist chapel, eastgate
hall in Chichester, West Sussex, became a betting shop in 2006.
From ‘Give us this day our daily bread’ to ‘Give us this day our daily bet’.
James Gibson-Wynes, Edenbridge, Kent. I hAd a haircut, followed by a latte, and nearly bought a book in The Land of Green Ginger. This is a collection of upmarket shops in a former Congregational church in Tynemouth, newcastle.
J. F. Smith, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warks. noRWICh once had a church for every week of the year and more. Most were medieval, the legacy of the wealth of the city in those times. The buildings have been put to good use now they are no longer required as places of worship.
one is a fantastic music venue, norwich Arts Centre. others are used for antique shops, art galleries, cafes and a Christian hospitality centre.
Linda Johnson, Norwich, Norfolk.
QUESTION Prince Philip was Earl of Merioneth. What is the history of this title?
In The summer of 1946, Prince Philip of Greece and denmark asked George VI for his daughter elizabeth’s hand in marriage. The King agreed, provided that a formal engagement was delayed until elizabeth’s 21st birthday.
To prepare the ground for the announcement of the engagement on July 10, 1947, Philip became a naturalised British subject and adopted the surname Mountbatten from his mother’s family.
There were concerns that there would be a negative public reaction to a foreign consort. So, it was stressed that Philip’s great-great-grandmother was Queen Victoria, he had served with distinction in the Royal navy during the war and had formally renounced his claim to the thrones of Greece and denmark.
To emphasise the British nature of the monarchy, Philip was granted the titles Royal highness, Baron Greenwich, earl
of Merioneth and duke of edinburgh by Letters Patent from the King.
While Baron Greenwich and duke of edinburgh were existing titles, the earldom of Merioneth was a new creation.
Merioneth is one of the 13 historic counties of Wales. It was created following the defeat of the Kingdom of Gwynedd by edward I in 1284.
Prince Philip took a keen interest in all aspects of Welsh life. he was given the Welsh bardic title Philip Meirionnydd by the Archdruid of Wales at the national eisteddfod in Cardiff in 1960.
Diane Rees, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion.
QUESTION Did the RAF bomb Berlin during the Blitz?
The Blitz began on September 7, 1940, and continued until May 11, 1941. The term refers to the large-scale attacks on all British cities during that time, not just London. There was a switch in strategy by the Luftwaffe, bombing London rather than concentrating on defeating Fighter Command to allow for the seaborne invasion of the British Isles.
This led to the RAF in southern england remaining operational and winning the Battle of Britain. operation Sea Lion, the German invasion, was postponed.
The switch in strategy was probably a consequence of the first bombing of Berlin by the RAF.
In a speech given to the Luftwaffe in 1939, shortly after the outbreak of World War II, hermann Göring had said: ‘no enemy bomber can reach the Ruhr [Germany’s industrial heartland]. If one reaches the Ruhr, my name is not Göring. You can call me Meyer.’
Meyer was a common Jewish name in Germany and to call a nazi by it would have been seen as an insult.
The RAF carried out its first bombing raid on Berlin on August 25/26, 1940, with the main target being the city’s Tempelhof airport.
This was in retaliation for the bombing of London by a single Luftwaffe aircraft on August 24. That had probably been a mistake, with the crew jettisoning their bombs before returning to their base.
After the British raids, the Göring quote was revived in everyday gossip in Germany, with Berlin replacing the Ruhr as the target. This would have been seen as a criticism of the nazi leadership and may have contributed to the switch in tactics to begin the large-scale bombing of London and other British cities.
At 590 miles, Berlin was at the extreme range of British bombers, such as the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley and the Avro Manchester (a forerunner of the Lancaster). The introduction of the handley Page halifax, with a range of
1,800 miles, in november 1940, made the city a more viable target.
Problems with navigating over such a distance meant raids on Berlin decreased in the autumn and winter of 1940/41.
Most of the attacks did little damage and came at a heavy cost to Bomber Command, but were justified by Chief of the Air Staff, Sir Charles Portal, due to the disruption caused to Berliners.
The Luftwaffe operated out of airfields in occupied France, Belgium and the netherlands, putting Britain’s cities in much easier reach. Robert Sutherland, Northampton.
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