A Walk in the Park…why ACN-NW loves Birkenhead

Caroline and Bishop Davies

Yesterday morning I got up bright and early to make my way to the Curial Offices of the Diocese of Shrewsbury. Curiously, these are not in fact in Shrewsbury, but in Birkenhead on the Wirral. Personally I am exceptionally grateful for this as Birkenhead is only about fifty miles from Lancaster and Shrewsbury is more than double this. I cannot begin to imagine the complications that this distance must cause for Bishop Davies, but with my ACN-NW hat on, I must admit that Birkenhead suits me just fine! The day started off extremely well as all of my connections were on time and I was deposited at Birkenhead Park station a whole hour and fifteen minutes prior to my appointment. It wasn’t raining (always worth noting in this part of the world!) and with the beautifully landscaped Birkenhead Park standing between me and my destination, I set off into the wilderness to forge a path to the Curial Offices of the Diocese of Shrewsbury.

The Park did not disappoint. It is beautifully kept and obviously beloved by the inhabitants of Birkenhead. It was designed by Joseph Paxton (of Crystal Palace fame) and was opened in 1847. It is full of winding paths and pretty painted footbridges, and it boasts a selection of rather grand gatehouses in various architectural styles. It served as a model for Sefton Park in Liverpool and also influenced Frederick Law Olmsted when he formulated his plans for New York’s Central Park. If that in itself isn’t enough to make you want to drop everything and head immediately to Birkenhead, wait until you hear what happened next…

Rachel in Birkenhead

I emerged from a leafy footpath on to Park Road South and quickly found the Curial Offices. I was thirty minutes early for my meeting with Bishop Mark Davies, so I sat in the reception area and befriended Rachel Buckley, the receptionist. In between handling calls to and from the switchboard, Rachel told me about her various activities with her three (!) parish churches, her various prayer groups and the Legion of Mary. She happily agreed to distribute some of our new prayer cards (for persecuted Christians); I gave her my whole briefcase stash and will need to remember to top up for my next meeting! You’d think that this little serendipitous meeting couldn’t have gone any better, but you would be so very wrong! As it turns out, Rachel knows quite a few premier league-type footballers from the Merseyside area. Many of these are devout Catholics and Rachel feels that I should approach some of them to work with ACN. We discussed a few possibilities, and I left for my meeting with the bishop feeling as if my day just couldn’t really get any better.

Wrong again!  Bishop Mark Davies was very, very welcoming and it was clear from the outset that he is a committed, long-term supporter of ACN and the work that we do. I told him a bit about my new position and the initiatives that I am planning to implement and he just could not have been more helpful. My plea for parish reps within the Diocese of Shrewsbury was countered with an offer to promote this in his next Ad clerum and to set me up to be interviewed for the next edition of the quarterly diocesan magazine. Our primary school campaign for Sister Hanan (get ready for this, Scottish Lorraine!) and our on-line resources for secondary schools were met enthusiastically with a plan to get me in touch with the two independent Heads’ Associations and to try and find a way for me to address them or at least to have a presence at their annual meetings early next year. The suggestion that it would be lovely to introduce the Angelus and a daily prayer for suffering Christians into schools, coupled with a description of our ACN Angelus tradition, resulted in another praying of the Angelus, this time with Bishop Mark Davies. My ACN Angelus prayer card will NEVER leave my handbag; it is coming in very handy at meetings!  

I left the Curial Offices just before 1pm and headed back for the Park. I sat for a few minutes on a bench to recover myself and spend a few minutes being thankful for so much help and support. All of these new avenues to follow up and I didn’t even get around to mentioning my plans about North West Seminarian Challenge (more on this to come…).

Thanks for reading!  Caroline