Scargill by Sue Russell

It is all too often the case that when my turn to contribute to the blog looms I can find nothing to say. What do I know about Christianity or writing that hasn't been said before, that might amuse, inform, move, challenge, provoke?  Such questions to myself normally result in pitiful blankness. So this month I am going to cheat.
 I and a host of others have just come home from the ACW writers' weekend at Scargill House in the Yorkshire Dales, so the credentials of Christianity and writing can hardly be faulted, and our return coincides very happily (for me) with my date on the calendar.

It was my first time at Scargill, but I hope not the last. The weather was kind, the landscape inspiring, the hosts a delight, and the company unparalleled. It is a rare joy to be with so many people at one time with whom one has at least two major things in common - as above, Christianity and writing! I met people whom I had previously known only on social media; new connections were generated, older ones cemented, in an atmosphere of warmth and acceptance., and there was a free sharing of thoughts and skills.

I shall add a few photographs in the hope that if you haven't been before, you will consider going next year. You'll be glad you did, I suspect.
                                                                 
Above, Scargill from the other side of the dale, a view of the dale, the house and chapel. Left, the door to the beautiful walled garden, where two of us met one afternoon to try to beat a plot into shape.