As part of Holy Trinity keeping connected, we are trying something new! Whilst we still connect online via our live services we can miss the chats as over a cuppa, in the pew, entering and leaving church. Alongside our Blether with HTD Facebook group we’d love to get to know you (the congregation) making friends and connections old and new through our new Friends of HTD questionnaire.
Next up Audrey Ricks who joined us almost a year ago after visiting us a few years ago.
Below are some things you may know or may find surprising to continue building friendships in our Holy Trinity community, even during lockdown.
Name? my name is Audrey Ricks and am a comparative newcomer to Holy Trinity – it seems impossible that I have been here almost 11 months. People are always curious about new people but feel they shouldn’t ask too many questions so doing this will tell you more about me.
Where are you from? Until I moved to Dalgety Bay last summer I had spent all my life, except for my years as a student in Birmingham, in Gloucestershire. I grew up in the Stroud valleys and moved to a village called Churchdown, halfway between Gloucester and Cheltenham, in 1977. Churchdown, apart from not having the Firth of Forth, is very similar to Dalgety Bay. What was a small village grew as a dormitory for its larger neighbours after World War II and now has about 12000 inhabitants but still remains a village.
What is/was your occupation? I qualified as a librarian. When I first left college I ran a local library in a village north of Cheltenham for a few years. I enjoyed the work I did with children there and moved to a post in the School Library Service and spent the rest of my career in various roles there. For over 30 years I was paid to visit and help schools whilst travelling around the beautiful Cotswolds and Forest of Dean – great in the summer but sometimes challenging in winter but not as bad, I realise, as travelling in the Scottish Highlands in bad weather. Working with children accompanying authors and storytellers on schools book week visits. I became interested in storytelling myself and did that as a sideline for many years.
Explain a little about what faith is to you? I was a cradle Christian but events in my life and people who influenced me means that my faith is the foundation of what I am and what I do. I enclose a picture of the church which I attended for much of my life.
Favourite pastime/hobby? For 28 years I was a Parish Councillor (the equivalent of a Community Councillor in Scotland) and for 12 of those years I was a Borough (District) Councillor and this left little time for pastimes! I enjoy birdwatching – I can now do that from my window – and music. I now spend a lot of time knitting for my grandchildren.
What’s your connection to HTD? My first visit to Holy Trinity was Christmas Eve 2016. I came to spend Christmas with my son and his family in Dalgety Bay and sought a church where there was a Midnight Eucharist. We attended that service and discovered what a friendly place it was. Among those who spoke to us was Linda Brownlie. I noticed her Mothers’ Union badge and we discovered we had a mutual Mothers’ Union friend – a tiny world. When I moved here I did look online to see what other Episcopal Churches there were nearby and felt Holy Trinity was the one for me. My welcome has been wonderful and I feel very at home with you all
Tell us about your family? I have one son. His then girlfriend, now wife, came to Edinburgh in 2006 to do her PhD. Rob was then working for Flybe and got a transfer to Edinburgh a year later and they lived in a flat in the city. Among the friends they made were a couple who were living in the Bay. After their marriage they decided to buy a house in the Bay. They now have 3 small daughters of 7, 4 and 18 months.
Favourite place you have visited? Difficult to choose a favourite place because I love them for different reasons. If I must choose it is the Sea of Galilee.
Favourite TV show? Most of the television shows I enjoy are natural history and documentaries but I am an Archers’ addict.
A piece of advice you would give? My advice to anyone is just to trust. We make lots of plans in our lives but if God has a purpose for you he will prevail.
Favourite hymn? I love many hymns – if I have to choose it must be Thine be the Glory
Favourite colour? A friend once forbad me to buy yet another blue dress!
Do you have a favourite sport and/or sports team? was never keen on taking part in sport apart from a lazy game of Tennis but I’m a Gloucestershire lass and Rugby, especially Gloucester Rugby, is in my genes. My son went to a Catholic High School in the City – we always said Rugby came first and the church second.
Favourite treat to eat? I love chocolate cake!
If you were to go to a deserted island what 3 things would you take? I’d take binoculars (to watch the birds) a long book and writing paper to a desert island.
What’s top of your bucket list? I have a friend in Japan and my goddaughter now lives in Australia – I would love to visit both of them. Nearer to hand now I’m in Scotland I am determined to visit the Northern isles.
An interesting fact about you that might surprise me? An interesting fact is that I was almost born in a castle! A wing of Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire was used during the Second World War as a safe place for pregnant women. Sadly my mother got to the hospital in Cheltenham in time for me to be born there.
