Little Gidding

I first found out about Little Gidding in 1980 /81, 34 years ago. It was the title of one of the poems I studied for my English A level. One of the sections of the poem really stood out for me because it tells the story of a journey to a little chapel or church in Cambridgeshire where the narrator - the poet T. S. Eliot - came to pray and describes a mystical encounter with God. As I came to know the poem over a period of months I realised that the poem was telling my own story of a discovery of a church close to where I lived in Harrow, where I felt that I had had a mystical encounter with God.

I've read that poem again and again over the years. I've performed it in public and I've preached about it twice in my own church in New Malden. But it never really occurred to me that I could actually visit the little church at Little Gidding.

But this weekend we did visit the church and stayed the night in Ferrar House - named after Nicholas Ferrar the 17th century son of a merchant, who restored the church and built several houses close by to create a Christian community. The church of St John the Evangelist is situated in the grounds - or garden of Ferrar House. The house is a Christian retreat centre and is open to individuals and small groups to stay.

It was an incredible visit. Both my wife and me can barely believe that we actually spent a couple of hours in the church on Friday and then spent the night next door in Ferrar House where we were looked after very well. And then the following day we spent a few hours in the library of the house and then a final visit to the church before heading off.

Click here for a link to an article about Little Gidding.

Click here for a link to the Ferrar House website

Click here for a link to a printed extract of the poem

Here is Eliot reading the whole of Little Gidding. He first visited it in 1936. The poem was published in 1942

And here is my reading of the first section of Little Gidding

Beyond the Border 2016

The dates for Beyond the Border 2016- The Wales International Storytelling festival have been announced. The festival dates are Friday 1 - to Saturday 3 July 2016.

Click here for a link to the BtB website.

I expect we'll be going and it would be great to see you there as well.

At the Summer Exhibition 2015 Royal Academy

Here are a few highlights and impressions of the Summer Exhibition this summer. I've reproduced the work here out of sheer awe and wonder at the work of these artists in the hope that others will appreciate and support them. 

flat platted river

slowly flows

into vast Atlantic blue

(c) David Loffman

This is Mississippi River Blues by Richard Long RA. It's in the Summer Exhibition.

Click here for a link to Richard Long's Official Website and click here for a link to the Summer Exhibition 2015

Through woven sunlight and rainfall

I'm looking down at butterflies

(c) David Loffman

This is Rainfall by Ermioni Avramidou. It's in the Summer Exhibition.

Click here for Ermioni's facebook page and click here for a link to the Summer Exhibition where you can see the real work

A smudged line

between sea and sky.

Earth dissolving.

(c) David Loffman

This is Uist by Jock McFadyen. It's in the Summer Exhibition.

Click here for a link to Jock McFadyen's website and click here for a link to the Summer Exhibition where you can see the real work

We move among the metal forest
where the nymphs are departed
and only our fractured shadows remain.

(c) David Loffman


This is The Dappled Light of the Sun by Conrad Shawcross. It's in the courtyard at the Royal Academy as part of the Summer Exhibition. The photograph also contains an image of the artist.

Click here for a link to Conrad Shawcross's website and click here for a link to the Summer Exhibition.

Gannets and vast jigsaw pieces of rock

(c) David Loffman

This is Gannets on Flannon by Norman Ackroyd RA. You can see this at the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy.

Click here for a link to Norman Ackroyd's website and click here for a link to the Summer Exhibition

And finally click here for a review of the exhibition from the Telegraph. It's the closest review to my own thoughts about the SE. And besides it gives Norman Ackroyd's work a positive mention.

* Text in italics is my responses to the work. The copyright is mine.