Castle Combe church

October 31^st

I nearly didn’t bring my journal to Ash but I’m so glad I did! God has worked in such an amazing way over the last few days that my hand will ache trying to get it all down on paper. Where to start? After finding what seemed the perfect property in Winsley, a stone’s throw from the Co-op and health centre and also set in such beautiful countryside with an accessible train station (well, kind of!) I emailed for a viewing only to receive a phone call from the estate agent saying it had sold that very morning! Our hopes were dashed again which is why I nearly didn’t bring my journal! However Julian had his blood test and we travelled to Brislington. On the Saturday we all drove to Winsley and loved it. We saw the house with the sold board outside and wondered why. It looked even better in real life! Sunday we were due to visit Combe Down chapel. Then 3 significant things happened to change our plans. Firstly we found out the Pastor Jon Ikin wasn’t preaching that day as it was half term. Then Lynsey had a bad night with Raffie and wasn’t up to going to church, and thirdly Steve’s friend Joe had popped in briefly and mentioned he was preaching at a tiny church in Castle Combe, and Steve wanted to go and hear and support him. We have met Joe briefly a few times and quickly agreed. So Sunday saw us setting off in an unexpected and different direction! It was a beautiful ride to Castle Combe; a beautiful arrival in the village on a sunny Autumnal day, and the church was as welcoming as Hertford!! Could there ever be as welcoming a church as Hertford was in those early days?! But to walk in and see Steve and his son getting the communion ready, the relaxed and happy atmosphere with people chatting and so obviously pleased to be there, the quaint old church and lack of formal organisation brought flashbacks of those golden days when we first went to Hertford. It just needed Charles and Tanya there to be perfect! But we know that no church is perfect. The children sang out the front and Joe got up to preach. He said how God is leading us even though we don’t think He is. Words which came back to me time and again this week. He read in Deuteronomy how we will look back and see the way God has led us. How fitting for our situation. And then we had a sweet time of communion, again with memories of those long lost Hertford days. After the service and over a lovely cup of coffee we told people how we were thinking of moving that way and they said “come to us; our church needs more people”! Is that a call too? Incidentally we went to Combe Down chapel in the evening and said the same thing but people just smiled and nodded!! Of the two services the morning was much more memorable and inviting and ‘us’!! So on Monday Julian and I walked around Castle Combe and then drove on into Yatton Keynell, a beautiful little village, more so even than Winsley. And joy of joys, Chippenham just down the road. So much closer to Ben and Jenny. We booked a viewing for a house on Wednesday afternoon, then on Tuesday found one in Yatton Keynell, and booked a viewing there. On Tuesday evening I showed Steve one I had found earlier in the tiny hamlet of Tiddleywink and asked if he thought we should view that too. No harm he said. So I managed to squeeze in a phone call to the agent just before Lynsey called out that dinner was ready. It must have been their closing time but they could fit us in the next morning!

So 10.15 Wednesday saw us at Tiddleywink- and we loved it! After the viewing we parked the car in Yatton Keynell to walk into Tiddleywink to see how easy it was and there we met the owners!! They were so friendly and invited us in for a cup of tea and another viewing! We declined as we didn’t want to trouble them and instead walked on a little way and met the neighbour in number 8 who told us more about the area and then took us round the back and showed us the allotment area and garage which could go with the property! We walked back to Yatton Keynell, looked at Ebenezer chapel where the Castle Combe folks help out on Sunday afternoons, bought some baguettes and cheese in the village shop, and noted the surgery. We also noted how friendly everyone is and bought some fish and chips from the village pub which is highly recommended! We ate them in the car in the sunshine watching some chickens running free range! After viewing a house in Yatton Keynell which immediately felt claustrophobic after Tiddleywink we decided that if there was the opportunity of a 2^nd viewing then we should take it now. So back at Tiddleywink we knocked on the door and the kind owner let us in and explained all the work he had done on the house. The two children arrived back with their Mum and they were so touchingly adorable! Again we were offered tea but we had to cut short our visit as we had our 3^rd viewing to reach. Maybe it was for the best as we would have stayed far too long. And we only just caught them in. They were back for half term but heading down to Bournemouth the next day. God certainly worked in an amazing way and in such detail. I don’t know where it will lead now. In my mind Yatton Keynell is certainly a strong possibility with Castle Combe as our church. Whether this cottage in Tiddleywink is right is for the Lord to tell us. Julian has his chemo now so we are forced to wait and not rush headlong into something that may be wrong. I think this wait is a good thing. And if the cottage sells from beneath our feet then we will know it isn’t the right one for us.

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