"I would rather be in the
mountains thinking about God than in church thinking about the
mountains." So said the American ecological thinker
and religious prophet, John Muir.
WE MAY NOT HAVE MOUNTAINS, BUT FOR MANY YEARS LOCAL FOLK HAVE GATHERED AT 'THE PRAYING HOLE' - A NATURAL CATHEDRAL IN FOSTER WOOD, COLDEN CLOUGH (RAGLEY) ON THE FIRST SUNDAY IN MAY AT 8 AM FOR THE 'MAY MORNING SERVICE' .
THEY'VE MET IN ALL KINDS OF WEATHER FOR A SHORT OUTDOOR SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE LED IN TURN BY THE HILLTOP CHURCHES.
THE 'MAY MORNING SERVICE (first Sunday of May each year, 8 am) '
It is said that when Dissenters / Non-Conformists were banned from churches and forced to meet in the open air, the location of the May Morning Service was a closely-guarded secret.....
But no longer! SInce the May Morning tradition was revived many years ago it has become a popular springtime event, a kind of informal 'Forest Church' to which people bring their dogs, their children and sometimes their breakfast.
DIRECTIONSIf you want to join us next year, come to just about where the "d" is at the end of "Foster Wood" on the map below, just to the left of where the path turns back on itself on the map. There's a big natural hollow in the wood with a cave above it, and a large stone which was reputedly once used as a pulpit.
You can park either at Jack Bridge or by Popples Common and walk to the wood. The shortest walk is from Popples Common, where from the common you go down Slater Ing Lane to Lower Slater Ing and then follow the clear footpath down into the woods, bearing right when you are into the trees. From Jack Bridge or Blackshaw Head drop down to the clapper bridge at Hebble Hole (on the Pennine Way) cross Colden Water and follow either the upper or lower path downstream until you reach the Praying Hole.
