Projects

From time to time I embark on a new project. I like to start things but I am not very good a finishing them....

My latest is “Places of Worship”

A while ago I noticed that some chapels were now being used for other things and took a few pictures. Recently I have taken a few more – they might end up in an A/V. Here is what I have got so far.

 
bethel

This was Bethel Chapel in Bell Hill Road, incidentally, where I was christened and my wife later went to youth club. No longer a chapel it is a fitness centre where it could be said people worship their bodies.

 

Just up the road from Bethel was Clouds Hill chapel where they now make double glazing and conservatories—for people who worship their houses?

 
clouds hill
hindu temple

Church Road St George. Once a Congregational Church; now a Hindu Temple. People still worship a god.

 

My first thought was that maybe this decline in Christian Worship in these chapels might be linked to the what some people see as the decline in moral standing of society. Then I realised that this must be far from the case as some chapels have revitalised themselves and some have even been established in previously non-religious premises. The truth is obviously much more involved that my simple mind can comprehend.

 
zion

Zion Methodist, where I was a boy scout

 
hanham

Hanham Methodist—where I go to camera club.

 
eastville park methodist

Eastville Park Methodist, re-established in old shop premises.

 

There are other examples. The Regal cinema in Staple Hill is now a “modern” church. Crofts End Mission in Whitehall where my mother went to “Women’s Bright Hour” still thrives with a Brass Band; my cousin played the tenor horn, my son the cornet and my wife’s grandfather played the Bb-flat bass. The chapels played a part in many peoples lives—there is a story in there somewhere—and I might be able to tell it if I work at it hard enough.