Hey ya'll from Audrey in England; WHAT IN THE WORLD AM I DOING HERE? Part 2.

I have been here a week now and settling in nicely.  6 weeks are gonna fly by!  

I want to tell you more about this place.  I wasn't prepared for just how beautiful it is.  It's in the middle of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, so  think "Great Smokey Mountains National Park" or "Blue Ridge Parkway" and you get the idea.  There are miles of scenic drives and natural beauty, scatterings of tiny little stone villages like this:

and miles and miles of stone walls like this:

The whole region was formed by old glaciers and movement of water that exposed cliffs of rock (SCARS) and cut deep valleys along the flowing river beds (GILLS), where most of the roads and villages are.  The remainder is divided by rock walls into pasture lands.  And now you know how "Scargill" got its name that sounds so unusual to our American ears.   I will post more photos of the surrounding area later.

Scargill House/ Scargill Movement is on about 90 acres that started as an estate in the 1800's.  It passed through several owners and was gradually updated.  In the late 50's, it was purchased to develop into a Christian conference and retreat center (or centre, is the British spelling) so dorm wings, meeting rooms, and a chapel were added at that time.  It sprawls in all directions, so impossible to take a photo that really captures the entire setting. 
Today, this is the impressive entrance:

...and the approach up the driveway:

(By the way, notice the large pheasant at the bottom right.  He/she lives here.)

 Today, this is the part of the estate that houses the guest rooms, dining, and meeting rooms.

My room is in the wing on the left with the clock tower.  It was originally a barn that dates back 300 years.  The original timbers are still exposed inside.  Really cool. 

The whole place a wonderful mass of old buildings with countless up and down steps, a winding maze of corridors, numerous doors, squeaky floors, drafty widows, funky old plumbing and pipes and repaired leaks...  All part of maintaining a charming old place, that requires tons of maintenance and lots of daily labor to keep it all taped together.  And the community does it wonderfully here so it just flows along seamlessly to the guests.  This place holds a special place in the hearts of many people who come here from all over England.  For us, think of places like Montreat or Lake Junaluska or any old church camps you have been to and you get the picture. 

Plans are being developed to rebuild and remodel much of the complex in the future to bring it up to modern standards with new technology, better insulation, and improved building materials.  But all that requires permission from the National Park, and tons of money, so it is going to be a slow process.  Meanwhile, people who come to this place really treasure it and love to come here.  Not for the buildings, or just for the natural beauty of the area, but because of the special hospitality they receive from the people here.  But more about that next time. 

Until then,
Deep Peace to you,
Audrey

Hey ya'll from Audrey in England! WHAT IN THE WORLD AM I DOING HERE? Part 1.

06/02/2018.  Hi, I am in England for the next 6 weeks, until July 9. This is my first blog post.  I am hoping that blogging will make it easier to journal my thoughts and photos as I go.  At the time of starting this, I am sending to a group of 36 friends and family who are interested in my journey (At least I hope that is the way this works.    I never trust this internet thing very much.  ) While I am here in England, I am working from my laptop and not using my phone for texting or calls, only emails.  So feel free to email me directly.  OK?  

So, what in the world am I doing here?  Its a long story, and my family and friends know bits and pieces of it.  In a nutshell, a couple years ago I found myself beginning a new chapter in my life:  Newly retired, newly single, and faced with a multitude of choices.  I am settling into a rhythm of life as a creative contemplative Christian, with God as my companion, and I am exploring what that means.  Mostly walking through doors that open.  I love to travel, I love the UK, I love nature and quiet retreat places, I love to worship and pray, and I love to be creative.  So  a couple years ago I started looking into travel opportunities to combine all these, and found this place through a series of links on the Internet.  It is called Scargill House, and you can click here and read more about it:        https://scargillmovement.org/

So, I have been following them for the past 20 months on the internet and decided to see if I could come join their community for awhile to see what they are all about.   There was an application process,  and guess what, they said YES! 

So I chose a 6 week window this summer to "give it a go" as they say here.  I arrived in Manchester on Tuesday, (May 29) and a driver was there waiting for me. All good.  We headed north in his car through the English countryside, and the further we traveled away from the city, the prettier it got...the roads got narrower, lined with trees, barns, and miles of stone fences, with beautiful scenes  around each bend.  Finally after almost 2 hours, we turned a corner and we were there, at Scargill House!  I was warmly welcomed and it seems like I slept and walked around in a jet lag fog for a couple days, and gradually eased into the daily rhythm of life here.  

This is my private room. Very British. Its just right; cozy and clean with a beautiful view of the green hills. ( I will send more photos of the place next time.  I think my WiFi here limits the amount I can send at a time)

​

Scargill House is a small Christian conference center where people from all over England come for holiday, retreats, conferences, and meetings.  It is also home to about 24 adults who live here "in community" and work here as volunteers, in exchange for room and board.  So I will be part of that community of workers for the next 6 weeks.  The community is mostly people from England, but there are some temporary volunteers like me from all over the world.  (I am the only American.)  We all work on teams that change from week to week, so I will be rotating through various teams doing everything from hosting and serving tea, to leading hikes, to cleaning guest rooms and bathrooms, to kitchen work.  It should be an interesting experience of learning to work and communicate with teams of people doing all the little jobs that nobody notices unless they don't get done.  Lots of behind-the-scenes work goes into making a place like this tick.  So it's a little like working in a hotel or restaurant (which I have never done before), making guests feel comfortable, and giving them a good experience.  New guests check in and out of here every few days for various conferences, so each week will be different.  Learning about  true hospitality from the heart.  I will work about 5 hours a day, and the other time is my free time.  We have a beautiful chapel here with prayer 3 times daily, and serve 3 meals a day plus tea 4 times daily. (these Brits really do love their tea.)   So even when I am "free" I am busy.  The days will fly by.  

​

I think this is enough for now, I just wanted to thank you for your prayers for me while I am here.  I must say that this place is exactly as I had hoped:   Authentic Christian community,  safe, comfortable, and welcoming surroundings, and a gorgeous setting.  Nothing weird here, so we can all stop worrying about that now.  

All is well and I am going to have the adventure of a lifetime!  More soon, 

until then, Cheerio!  (nobody really says that here)   

Deep peace to you,

Audrey