Christ Church Barnston
 1953-1984 

“We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, remembered gate, when the last of earth left to discover is that which was the beginning, at the source of the longest river, the voice of the hidden waterfall, and the children in the apple-tree. 
Not known, because not looked for but heard, half-heard, in the stillness between two waves of the sea.”
TS Eliot Four Quartets (1943)
One of my reasons for developing this website was that I have always thought it sad that when you research your own family history or wander around a graveyard, that the information about the people is so unbelievably brief. Most of the time you have a name and and just two dates. No details at all of who they were, what they looked like, what they were passionate about, where they lived, what they did, who they loved etc.I have also read and heard that for many, as they grew older they developed a sense of disappointment in their parents, I have never felt that way for a second.This website when it's finished is intended to be a tribute to them and to be a foundation stone for future generations to add to and record their story.
I have been very lucky so far that my parents had a large collection of photos and that Dad made some notes on his and Mum's family. The bad news is that, that stops at this point in their story, at their arrival at Barnston. The good news is that 3 years later I arrived (that's not the good news !) and my head is full of memories of the fantastic life we enjoyed living there.I'd like to capture it here...


Can you remember your very first childhood memory ? I can, it was December 1959, I was in the kitchen at Barnston, the view from the window was our drive that wound past the church hall down to Barnston Road. Inside we were preparing excitedly for Christmas, making paper chains to decorate the house.

The house I was born into was the Vicarage in Barnston, my father was the vicar and my mother the vicar's wife.My parents had moved there 3 years before from Handbridge. The Vicarage was the biggest house in the tiny village of Barnston. When they arrived they had enough furniture to fill one room of the seventeen rooms.They travelled to view the house in Dad's best friend's butchers van. The war had only finished 7 years before and there were still 'friend or foe' silhoettes of  German aircraft stuck to the windows in one room.
The whole scene must have been very exciting and daunting. All of the houses my parents lived in up to 1953 would have easily fitted into this one!
My father was charismatic, hard working, straight as a die and first class at connecting with people, in short a leader. There were also times when he was both assertive and 'didn't suffer fools gladly'. My mother was an excellent foil for him, gentle, quietly spoken, warm and shy. Peter Christensen described her rather aptly as an 'uncomplicated woman'. Together they went about building an incredibly strong and diverse church community that continued past their departure in 1984 right upto today under the stewardship of Chris and Imogen Slater. Initially at Barnston, with a Sunday School, Cubs, Scouts, Brownies, a Youth Club, a Thursday evening Fellowship, Mothers Union and Young Wives.This was later followed by building a second church at Pensby. Like his older brother Wheldon, vicar at  Upton near Chester, my father was very proactive and spent a lot of his time visiting houses and meeting new people, supporting them and inviting them to join the community.
In addition to being a parish priest my father always had at least one other role during his career -
  • Chaplain TA 4th Battalion Cheshire’s 1953-1962
  • Chaplain Clatterbridge 1955-1975
  • Rural Dean Wirral North 1967-1975
  • Canon 1972-1975
  • Archdeacon of Chester 1975-1988

Click here to go to Early Days at Barnston
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