Sunday 8 April 2012

Noson Lawen Caerwys style

Last night the local appeal committee for the Denbigh National Eisteddfod held a Noson Lawen in Bethal Chapel, Caerwys. The evening was a sell-out and proved to be a tremendous success by raising around half of the target amount in one go. It is many years since I had been in Bethel Chapel and in the school-room I came across a number of photographs and images that I would certainly have included in the book 'Caerwys since Victorian Times'.

The historical treasure trove that is the school-room at Bethel Chapel.

 The first was a group photograph of the Sunday school class from around 1912:

Bethel Chapel Sunday school class c1912.
 The other image on the wall of the school-room is even more remarkable. According to one of the elders of the chapel (he is in his 80s) this painting has been on the wall for a long as he could remember. My digital photograph is rather poor quality, but it shows clearly Jesus kindly watching over the white missionaries treating (presumably) native Africans. It made me recall Kipling's famous poem entitled 'The White Man's Burden', and especially the third stanza with the line: 'Take up the White Man's Burden, The savage wars of peace....' .

The chapel view of empire?



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