westminster Abbey

Yesterday I went to a very different kind of church service at Westminster Abbey in London.

There was a National Scout and Guide service of Celebration and Thanksgiving held there and there were Leaders from all over the country. I went with the Falcon Akela and her husband Duncan who was actually the one invited as he has given over 30 years of service to the Scout Association as a Leader in Hertford District.

We caught the train from Hertford North because there were no trains from Ware, and went to Kings Cross where we met Akela’s mum and dad who were also invited. We travelled on the Underground to Westminster Station, then joined the queue to get into the Abbey. The service was quite short with several hymns, readings, prayers and a talk by the Chaplain to the Speaker to the House of Commons. There were some really nice interviews with Young People who had achieved lots of different things with their time in Scouts or Guides, they had all got their Queens Award, been to Jamborees and tried many different and exciting activities. After the interviews we renewed our Promise again before singing the National Anthem.

 I then visited the Memorial to Lord and Lady Baden-Powell, who were the Founders of both the Scout and Guide Movements and were the World Chief Scout and Guide.

After that we went to a restaurant and had lunch, before going back to Kings Cross. On the way back we visited Platform 9 3/4 and I had my photo taken on Harry Potter’s luggage trolley before we travelled home to Ware.