Today and tomorrow many churches are marking the 100th anniversary of the start of the first World War. We will be doing so in Ashton-under-Lyne. Not celebrating war but recognizing the drastic nature of what happened 100 years ago and continues to happen in our world today. We pray for peace, peace with justice for all.
Yes, we will honour the sacrifice made by many. We will try to understand what happened, we will pray that this will not happen again.
But we know that it does. We see the consequences of our failure to address our differences each time we switch on our televisions, listen to our radios or read our news papers. Our hearts go out to the residents of Gaza under Israeli bombardment and those affected by Hamas rockets. We feel the pain of those Christians in territory controlled by ISIS in Iraq. We are disturbed by the conflict in South Sudan, the war in Afghanistan, the problems in Libya, the ………….. – the list goes on and on.
Today and tomorrow, particularly, we pray for an end to war, for a just peace for all throughout our world and for a change in all our hearts – that we might seek to resolve differences through dialogue and build relationships across our differences.
In Ashton-under-Lyne we have the following services/events taking place:
Sunday 3rd August
St. James, Ashton – 10.30am – Holy Communion and the inauguration of the field of poppies remembering the lives of those who died in the 1914-1918 conflict.
St. Michael’s, Ashton – 3pm – a Civic Commemoration of the start of the conflict.
Albion URC – 5.30pm and 6.30pm – a Churches Together in Ashton Service of Commemoration.
Monday 4th August
St. James viewing of the Field of Poppies – from 12noon. Civic Mayor present at 2pm.
St. Ann’s – Roman Catholic Mass at 7.00pm
St. Michael’s – 10.00pm – a Vigil in the hour approaching 11pm when the ‘lights went out all over Europe’.
Please join us if you can.
The following are links to information about the line which became part of the 
I am reading a book by Bill Laws: “Fifty Railways that Changed the Course of
However, this principle of responsibility for one’s workers was usually ignore by Victorian entrepreneurs and business leaders: “What use had a mill owner for some eight-year-old girl who, through her own carelessness, lost her hand in a machine? Why should a railway company be responsible for a navvy’s family, when the man died, dead drunk, in a tunnel collapse? And why should the shareholder, risking his capital on such a brave enterprise as 
However, “although no railway man was censured over the Wood-
Sunday afternoon, July 13th, was St. Peter’s 46th Pet Service. There were some lovely pictures in the Manchester Evening News and the Tameside Advertiser about the service. 
A listed building that once housed Ashton-under-Lyne’s swimming baths is to have a multi-million pound makeover.
He added: “I have always been of the view that it’s an absolute eyesore on the entrance to our main town until I went inside. The roof is just stunning. The inside is about restoring the brickwork, the ironwork and the wooden beams, but to me the outside of the building needs just as much work doing on it to look as good.”
A once resplendent Victorian arcade will again become a hub of activity following plans to develop it into a state-of-the-art business centre.
Plans to transform Ashton’s historic market square into a modern and vibrant area have been submitted by Tameside Council.
Do you remember the story of Mordechai Vanunu, the Israeli whistle‑blower? In 1986 Vanunu, an Israeli nuclear scientist, publicly exposed Israel’s possession of nuclear weapons. He was arrested, tried in secret and sentenced to eighteen years in prison, eleven of which were spent in solitary confinement. He was released in April 2004, but lived under virtual house arrest in St George’s Cathedral in Jerusalem, having earlier converted to Christianity.
Roger Farnworth 