Barrow Farm Carol Service
10th December 2016This very special carol service is held by the Riding for the Disabled charity at Barrow Farm in Essex and our invite is courtesty of its Chairman, our Past Master, John Adler who lives but a few miles away. For reasons unexplained it's alway colder inside than out at this place and tonight was no exception - arriving in steady rain, it was still quite warm outside, but when one settled down within, one was glad of a scarf! Most of the local luminaries support this event and so I was pleased to meet Bishop Stephen of Chelmsford, the Lord Mayor of Chelmsford and the Lord Lieutenant beforehand. We started at 7pm and the traditional story of Mary and Joseph was told on decorated horses who were the model of patience, narrated by the children and sung by a choir and of course us. We were told not to clap (in cased it startled the animals) so waved our hands from side to side to show appreciation. At the end Bishop Stephen held a prayer, and then John Adler made a short speech during which he received a donation from a young local girl who had been moved to make it her charity after visiting last year. After this, we repaired back to John's house where Hilary had prepared a delicious and warming repast and I was allowed to see John's terrific pipe collection - all perfect as I could see. Thank you John and Hilary, and to Fiona who led the way through the back streets of Chelmsford in driving rain!