Photo Diary

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DSC_0002.JPG, originally uploaded by michael_jecks.

It is rare indeed to go to a church which is still as beautiful, if simple, as the Church of the Holy Cross and the Mother of Him who died Thereon at Crediton. My family’s enormously lucky to know the rector there, and he and his family have been wonderful hosts at several events. Best of all, we join them each year for the Christingle service in Crediton, and catch up afterwards.
This scene is one that I really like. It shows the different periods of the church. The window with the simple stone work, which illuminates the two warriors left of centre. They are part of the memorial to one of Britain’s noted Victorians, Redvers Buller VC. An enormously brave soldier, he fought with great distinction in a number of colonial wars. However, his success was in strict inverse proportion to his rank, sadly. The higher up the staff he rose, the more effective was his proof of the Peter Principle: every employee in a company will rise to his own level of incompetence.
Such was the case with Redvers Buller, it has been said.
However, he was a career soldier in very tough times, when the whole concept of war and warfare was changing. He made mistakes, certainly, but he also had forty six years of enormously successful service before that. And there is no doubt that his fellows in Crediton respected him hugely. There are statues to him in Exeter, roads named after him, and this magnificent memorial to him in the church in which he was buried.
There is much else to see at the church, though. It’s one of the recommended sites to visit on the Jecks tour of the West Country!

Happy New Year!

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