tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3705825161954545710.post1265230603090612962..comments2023-05-02T12:33:58.182+01:00Comments on Perpetually In Transit: A place apart Perpetuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01214396019726161983noreply@blogger.comBlogger64125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3705825161954545710.post-65819485732993714812022-02-05T15:07:43.528+00:002022-02-05T15:07:43.528+00:00Pondside, I'm so sorry I didn't notice you...Pondside, I'm so sorry I didn't notice your comment back when I wrote this post. I've just reread it and the comments all these years later and found yours. Yes, there are thin places all over the world if we are open to them, but to me Pennant Melangell is one of the thinnest I've experienced.Perpetuahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01214396019726161983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3705825161954545710.post-39227082391829957912014-06-13T18:03:04.879+01:002014-06-13T18:03:04.879+01:00How absolutely beautiful. I love to think of a &#...How absolutely beautiful. I love to think of a 'thin place'. I think I've been to one or two places like that - on Cape Breton, and once in Denmark.Pondsidehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02407539138546412482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3705825161954545710.post-5201784018810510152014-06-13T10:58:58.494+01:002014-06-13T10:58:58.494+01:00|t's good to be able to put a name to it, isn&...|t's good to be able to put a name to it, isn't it? I love the expression and have experienced several thin places.Perpetuahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01214396019726161983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3705825161954545710.post-57488371335734915852014-06-12T22:43:35.869+01:002014-06-12T22:43:35.869+01:00"A thin place" - such a perfect concept..."A thin place" - such a perfect concept that I have experienced but never heard described before. BacktoBodrumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627125508442009313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3705825161954545710.post-72480376538211102772014-06-12T22:41:38.543+01:002014-06-12T22:41:38.543+01:00Apologies, Anny. I didn't mean to stir up your...Apologies, Anny. I didn't mean to stir up your longing to move to Wales yet more. I do hope the retirement plan comes to fruition one day.<br /><br />Yes, I think there is magic in Wales. It's such an old country and there are so many places where its history comes through very strongly. You would love Pennant Melangell, both the church and the setting. It really is a place out of time and the atmosphere of peace is tangible. Perpetuahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01214396019726161983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3705825161954545710.post-91082574577215804832014-06-12T13:18:01.344+01:002014-06-12T13:18:01.344+01:00Oh dear, the call to go west which is always prett...Oh dear, the call to go west which is always pretty strong got very much stronger reading this. There is magic in Wales, I'm certain, I've felt it many times and it comes through even off the screen reading this (I'm not mad honest!). Thank you for putting together such a serene and sensitive post, the atmosphere has moved me. Now I'm going to be nagging the Other Half about retiring to Wales yet again!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3705825161954545710.post-14955478893082887882014-06-10T22:08:08.644+01:002014-06-10T22:08:08.644+01:00I think you're right, Mark. Somehow they are o...I think you're right, Mark. Somehow they are off the beaten track and not visited as they deserve. We made a circular tour, coming into the Tanat valley from Llynclys on the Welshpool - Oswestry road, and then driving home over the Berwyns to Bala and along to Dolgellau, then over Dinas Mawddwy back into Powys. The weather was good and if I'd been the driver I’m afraid I’d have been stopping every few minutes to take photos. Wales is wonderful.Perpetuahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01214396019726161983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3705825161954545710.post-72334112493896965852014-06-10T22:01:41.853+01:002014-06-10T22:01:41.853+01:00I'm so glad you enjoyed the post, Dee, and tha...I'm so glad you enjoyed the post, Dee, and that it brought back so many good and worthwhile memories for you. There is something so very special about a place that has been prayed in for many years. Whether it's a small country church, a convent chapel or a great cathedral, in each case it's as though the stones have been soaked in prayer and the memory of that prayer remains even when the people are long gone. <br /><br />Another church where I'm very aware if this is the lovely parish church where I was curate for many years. Every time I go in I feel the history of the place and am very aware of all the people who had prayed and worshipped there, or been baptised, married or buried there, some of them by me.<br /><br />I think we are very blessed that there are so many places like this.Perpetuahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01214396019726161983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3705825161954545710.post-5913708359518603362014-06-10T21:53:05.606+01:002014-06-10T21:53:05.606+01:00It was wonderful, Linda, and I felt so much better...It was wonderful, Linda, and I felt so much better for it. The journey there and back, a round trip of at least 80 miles, was through some of the most beautiful scenery imaginable, but unfortunately I wasn't driving so couldn't stop to take photos. The little apse has a wonderfully prayerful atmosphere and the kneeler of course shows Melangell's hare.Perpetuahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01214396019726161983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3705825161954545710.post-4883355836795920562014-06-10T18:47:51.619+01:002014-06-10T18:47:51.619+01:00I think the Berwyn valleys are perhaps the most un...I think the Berwyn valleys are perhaps the most underestimated in Wales. I love the drive over the top to Bala, the blind valley to the left, the waterfall cascade on the mountainsideThe bike shedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05195882998271591934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3705825161954545710.post-38563712125338790872014-06-10T17:14:19.575+01:002014-06-10T17:14:19.575+01:00Dear Perpetua, this is a lovely post. Your descrip...Dear Perpetua, this is a lovely post. Your description of the feelings you experienced at the shrine and in the church and the words by T. S. Eliot that you quoted: "prayer has been valid" so reminded me of how I feel when I enter the choir chapel at the convent where I lived for 8 1/2 years and where I went to college for 4 years. <br /><br />It is in the choir chapel that the nuns pray the Divine Office and have now for 150 years. There is truly a sense there of "prayer that is valid." And often while I was in the convent and praying there, I thought, not of the pilgrims as you did, but of all those dedicated women from 1863 on who brought to the Office only themselves. They let go of all that worried and stressed them as they united their voices to pray the Office. <br /><br />It was that part of the convent that first attracted me back in 1957 when, as a junior in college there, I decided to ask if the community would accept me as a postulant. I wanted to pray with others and unite myself in Oneness with them.<br /><br />And when I visited England back in 1976 I can remember going to the church and the graveyard where Harold is buried--some time after his death at Hastings. I felt such a sense of history there. Of the arc of our being. Of being part of all humankind. <br /><br />Thanks so much for sharing your day. It's brought back to me so many memories and so many emotions. Peace.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3705825161954545710.post-71382864876652762042014-06-10T16:00:07.395+01:002014-06-10T16:00:07.395+01:00I'm sure you were refreshed and renewed by you...I'm sure you were refreshed and renewed by your M.U. quiet day set apart in this ancient and holy 'thin place' in a remote valley. The journey there along the track and then back home through the countryside must also have been uplifting. Thank you for sharing your prayer space with us and I noticed the beautiful kneeler - a peaceful atmosphere there.Linda Phttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10634839688042592781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3705825161954545710.post-61021246682692487582014-06-09T20:54:30.851+01:002014-06-09T20:54:30.851+01:00I count my blessings every day, Debra. Wales is ve...I count my blessings every day, Debra. Wales is very beautiful and I'm sure you would love it. The original shrine stones were in fact removed from the stone gate and the church walls in order that the shrine could be rebuilt, but you'd never guess that now. The restoration work has been done very sensitively indeed and all towards the end of the last century. Before that the church was in a very poor state.<br /><br />You really don't have to journey to remote Welsh valleys to find thin places. They can exist in all sorts of locations. A little Spanish mission church or a quiet, contemplative garden can also be very thin places if we open ourselves to their atmosphere.Perpetuahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01214396019726161983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3705825161954545710.post-42309529407630827962014-06-09T16:58:49.903+01:002014-06-09T16:58:49.903+01:00Fortunate indeed, Perpetua! I can almost feel the ...Fortunate indeed, Perpetua! I can almost feel the hush and calm and serenity and prayer! Gorgeous landscape, to be sure, but that stone gate and entry made from the original stones is just fantastic! I would drink in that kind of retreat. I'm so glad you had the opportunity. I also love that phrase 'a thin place' and marvel that God has somehow given that blessing of opportunity, from time to precious time, even in the chaos of where I live. LOL! But I think I could get there a little quicker in the Welsh countryside. :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3705825161954545710.post-59251014671604708062014-06-09T15:32:39.115+01:002014-06-09T15:32:39.115+01:00Isn't it marvellously expressive? It's the...Isn't it marvellously expressive? It's the perfect way to sum up this wonderful site. I imagine that in your ancient landscape you've come across a number of thin places with the same out-of-time stillness and beauty.Perpetuahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01214396019726161983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3705825161954545710.post-70867214856801206922014-06-09T14:21:17.240+01:002014-06-09T14:21:17.240+01:00It's a wonderful expression 'a thin place&...It's a wonderful expression 'a thin place' and so special when you visit one :-) What a super place, beautiful and 'still' in the right way. Niall & Antoinettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12699304108340257145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3705825161954545710.post-70907664583468402742014-06-09T10:06:56.154+01:002014-06-09T10:06:56.154+01:00The Ceiriog Valley is another lovely area and is s...The Ceiriog Valley is another lovely area and is still very Welsh. An old friend of mine was vicar there for a number of years until she retired and she loved the place.Perpetuahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01214396019726161983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3705825161954545710.post-11278378469007365992014-06-09T02:41:07.542+01:002014-06-09T02:41:07.542+01:00My mother was born at Oswestry and I know that I w...My mother was born at Oswestry and I know that I was taken there virtually from birth. One story I was told was that Mum took me back to Lingfield from Oswestry on the day of the first doodlebug. <br /><br />My grandfather was from the Ceiriog Valley and Welsh was his first language.Susan Heatherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14400003572211042194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3705825161954545710.post-44548316834647938052014-06-08T17:32:49.860+01:002014-06-08T17:32:49.860+01:00Lovely to see you, Spindrift, and I'm glad you...Lovely to see you, Spindrift, and I'm glad you enjoyed the post. I was pleased with the photos as taking them has been difficult for years until I got my cataract done and now I seem to be finding my eye again. As you know I've never been to Greece, so your comparison is fascinating. Not much baking heat in Pennant Melangell, but the sense of otherness in this small, austere space is, I think, the same as what you describe. Perpetuahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01214396019726161983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3705825161954545710.post-44112548812404396952014-06-08T17:27:27.380+01:002014-06-08T17:27:27.380+01:00Thank you for coming along with me, Penny, even if...Thank you for coming along with me, Penny, even if only in spirit. I'm sure you must have similar places of special significance, even if it isn't always easy to find time to get away to visit them. Isn't it wonderful that other bloggers can give us these glimpses when we can't quite find them for ourselves?Perpetuahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01214396019726161983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3705825161954545710.post-89301088170512352172014-06-08T17:25:02.545+01:002014-06-08T17:25:02.545+01:00Thanks, DB. It's the kind of place I'm sur...Thanks, DB. It's the kind of place I'm sure you would love, with its tranquil beauty and profound sense of both history and otherness. How interesting that you know of people still using the expression 'thin place' in ordinary conversation. I see it quite often in writings about places of spiritual significance, but have rarely heard it in conversation. That may change as I start to use it more myself...Perpetuahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01214396019726161983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3705825161954545710.post-88996239874943901962014-06-08T17:17:15.340+01:002014-06-08T17:17:15.340+01:00I'm so pleased you liked it, Rian. We were onl...I'm so pleased you liked it, Rian. We were only there for a day, but it would be the prefect place for a longer retreat if the facilities were available. I find the term "a thin place" so expressive and evocative and it fits Pennant Melangell perfectly. Do put it on your list - it's worth the effort of getting there.Perpetuahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01214396019726161983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3705825161954545710.post-70026919762553017532014-06-08T16:05:23.148+01:002014-06-08T16:05:23.148+01:00It's the combination of beauty and history whi...It's the combination of beauty and history which makes this place so magical, Kristie. I too love the expression "thin place" and it's being rediscovered as a way of describing places that seem to be more than just surface-deep. I'm sure we've all been in places like that. Next time you come to Wales (hint, hint) you must take time out to visit Pennant Melangell for yourself.<br /><br />As I said to Jennifer above, we Europeans can be a bit blasé about the age of many of our buildings, until we talk to people from countries with a shorter written history. The oldest bit of our very ordinary Welsh farmhouse predates the American Revolution by several decades and there are houses in our village which are a hundred or more years older than ours. Then we come to the churches....Perpetuahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01214396019726161983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3705825161954545710.post-46636113594589831472014-06-08T15:49:56.747+01:002014-06-08T15:49:56.747+01:00Jennifer, I'm really glad it worked for you, a...Jennifer, I'm really glad it worked for you, as that was what I was hoping to do in this post. I'm afraid that over here in Europe we can tend to take our history for granted. We're so used to having ancient churches and old houses around that we often don't stop to appreciate just how wonderful it is to have buildings which link us with people from so long ago.Perpetuahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01214396019726161983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3705825161954545710.post-83576726979403589982014-06-08T15:32:35.641+01:002014-06-08T15:32:35.641+01:00Thanks, Shirley. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I wr...Thanks, Shirley. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I wrote the post as soon as I could after getting back, while the experience was still vivid in my mind. I wanted to capture it as much for myself as for my readers as memories fade so quickly sometimes.Perpetuahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01214396019726161983noreply@blogger.com