Sunday 12 December 2010

Wyke


It was a beautiful day on Wednesday; sunny, crisp, clear and freezing cold! (though not quite so freezing cold as Tuesday), so I grabbed the opportunity to take some snow photos up north, before I headed back down the M1.

This is the church of St Mary the Virgin, in Wyke, which is in the Parish of South Bradford. It's one of three linked churches; the other two being Holy Trinity, Low Moor and St Andrew's, Oakenshaw.

Originally, Wyke was in the Parish of Birstall in the Diocese of Ripon, but in 1844, the Ecclesiastical Commissioners designated Wyke a parish in its own right and three years later, this church was built. In 1850, a school and vicarage were built nearby and much more recently, in 1993, a modern wing was added with a new church hall , community room, offices and kitchen. Part of the new addition can be seen in the photograph below.


The church is very active in the community, with groups meeting on the premises most days of the week (some specifically run by the church and others using the facilities) and services every Sunday. The Monday Club provides lunch and social activities for elderly people in and around Wyke; particularly those who would otherwise be housebound, and there are youth activities and uniformed organisations for the younger people. Once a month, there is also Messy Church, which offers craft and creative activities for all the family and, of course, there are Christmas activities imminent. Sounds like a fun place to belong!

Do you spot the visitor? Also, there are clocks on each of the four sides of this tower and my photos have captured all of them, but do you notice anything?



It's a very photogenic church in an elevated position, so I enjoyed crunching around in the sunshine.  Round the back, it looks like someone from the local housing estate has been having fun too; building a snowman :)

5 comments:

  1. The perspective of that first shot is perfect.

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  2. I also love old buildings, churches, ruins. You were so lucky with the light on Wednesday - what a beautiful, clear blue sky! I did spot the feathered visitor ;) but not sure of the answer to the second question? I did note the variation of 5 mins in the time displayed on one of the clocks? Is that it? Please, do tell, H :)

    Lovely photos once again. It all seemed so tranquil!

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  3. Lovely old church! It is good to know that it is well used in the community. I did notice the time - five minutes difference is that the time it took to walk around the building and take the photos? I see too a sheltering pigeon in one of the photos:)

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  4. There is a five minute time difference, but that's only because of the time it took me to amble. If you look at the first photo though, you can see that the clock is different to the other three. It's also higher up, on the base of the spire itself, not on the tower. The reason, of course, is for visibility over the roofline of the main church.

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  5. Just given myself a pat on the back! Got part of the answer correct ;)

    Now I'm hitting fast forward to view your latest post :)

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