The
Day we went to Bushey
Monday, 23rd July, 2012 – a long day but a
rewarding one. It was, of course, the day that Fr
Neil Kelley, who left us a month before but was
technically still vicar of St Faith’s and St
Mary’s, actually became Rector of Bushey, in the
Diocese of St Albans, Hertfordshire, and his
installation was compassed about by a great cloud
of northern witnesses.
We have a long tradition of coach-loads of our
people venturing to distant parts, and especially to
inductions of ex-vicars, but this day matched them
all. There were about 47 of our congregations on the
coach, a goodly number who came down by car, another
goodly number of Neil’s friends and relations, a
cross-section of Liverpool Diocesan clergy and a
gathering of Mirfield ordinands and priests. All in
all, there must have been 70 or 80 of ‘our folk’ in
St James, Bushey by the time the service began.
It was a long haul south for the coach stalwarts, in
increasingly hot weather. Our planned stop at Hilton
Park was frustrated by a flood which had closed the
facilities, so it was legs crossed until we could
change drivers and move on to Corley, blessedly open
for business. For this relief, much thanks – and on
with the next leg of the journey, to spend an hour
or so at St Albans.
This magnificent Abbey shrine deserved a day to
itself, and we explored its cool and splendid
interior and wandered round to the grave of Lord
Runcie, St Faith’s most distinguished old boy, who
was bishop there before moving on to Canterbury.
Poignantly, it was bereft of decoration and
headstone, as the latter was away to be engraved
with the name of Robert Runcie’s wife, Rosalind,
following her death some months ago.
From here it was a few miles’ run (although long and
slow in the interminable traffic and the heat) to
reach Bushey and the lovely ancient church set back
on a beautiful village green. Both in its setting
its architecture and general ambience, it reminded
me of a large and lavishly-appointed village rather
than a London outlier – definitely more ‘Dibley’
than I had expected! We were warmly greeted by the
almost-Rector, as he ambled down from his rectory,
and treated to tea, cake and biscuits in the
adjacent hall – the welcome, clerical, lay and
gastronomic, more than compensated for the seven
hours it took us to penetrate this southern
fastness.
There was time to soak up the atmosphere of the
church green, the duck-pond, the lush greenery and
the early evening sunshine - never has the
north-south divide seemed so real! - before
wandering over to the church and forming a solid
phalanx of support in the pews, gazing round at the
wonderful ancient fixtures and fittings and
listening to the choir rehearse. We watched as
Neil’s guests came in and the locals found seats. It
was hard to estimate numbers, but our Bushey
battalions may well have matched the numbers from
Bushey parish.
The service, starting at 7.00 pm, was broadly
familiar to those of us who have sat through many
such occasions at St Faith’s and elsewhere. There
were processions, anthems, and the established
actions of institution and installation. The process
was known as a Collation. This writer and his
friends had thought this was what one did to a
magazine, or with a plate of meats, but apparently
it had to do with the patron being a bishop - the
good old C. of E. specialises in such arcane titles
and splendid solemn rituals. Fr Neil took the
statutory oaths of obedience and allegiance, the
Bishop preached over us, the Archdeacon, looking
every inch a proper Archdeacon, did what
proper Archdeacons do on such occasions, the
Area Dean did likewise, and there was the usual
succession of local worthies to greet their new
incumbent. At one stage, Fr Neil was taken to the
back of the church, where he tolled the bell to
signify his arrival. A dubious tradition has it that
incumbents stay as many years as they ring the bell
at their institution. Bushey can therefore expect
ten (or was it eleven?) years of their new rector!
Finally they all processed out into the sunshine and
we strolled in the lovely warm evening past the
Conservative Club and some promising-looking
hostelries down the main street and along to the
local R.C. Church hall for the bun fight. There it
was time to satisfy hunger and thirst after
righteousness, to meet and greet and indulge in
photography. Just after 9.30 pm we got back on the
coach, said our last goodbyes and set out for the
distant north. Back in Crosby somewhere before 2
a.m. we could reflect on a day to remember, and what
could be described as a glimpse of how the other
half lives. Fr Neil has sent messages saying how
much he appreciated our mass turn-out – and we were
only too happy to provide it for him. We wish him
every happiness and blessing as he starts this new
phase of his ministry. By the time we got to bed, we
may not have been exactly bright-eyed and
Bushey-tailed – but we are sure that he was, and
will continue to be!
Chris
Price
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