Last updated 10:32, Friday, 19 September 2008

I was very pleased to note Jeremy Godwin’s reference to Greystoke College in The Cumberland News (September 12).

Historic interest: Greystoke Church which the Solway History Society enjoyed visiting to learn about its past

In its time, the college was important in the initial training of men for ordination in the Church of England, and deserves to be remembered.

May I, though, inject some precision into what Mr Godwin wrote?

The 20th century Greystoke College was a pre-theological college, that is, men went on from there to mainline theological colleges to continue their training for ordination.

It began its work in the autumn of 1958, and closed in the summer of 1979.

The reason for its closure then was not because it was “non-standard” as Mr Godwin claimed, but because it was superseded by distance-learning procedures called the Aston Scheme (so named because the then Bishop of Aston devised it.)

While at Greystoke College, men worked part-time to earn their keep, not only on local farms, as Mr Godwin said, but also in a wide range of other activities. Some, for example, worked as orderlies in places like the Garlands Hospital in Carlisle and the Blencathra Sanatorium near Keswick.

And their tutors were not only locals, as Mr Godwin said, but men and women from all quarters of the Carlisle diocese, each with some particular expertise to bring to their teaching.

There were also some talented tutors who came from outside the Carlisle diocese to help, not least Eric Graham who, when he retired from being Bishop of Brechin, came to reside in Matterdale Vicarage.

It is 50 years now since Greystoke Pre-Theological College began its work, and I am glad that Mr Godwin’s letter has given the opportunity to remember it with thanksgiving.

CANON BILL KELLY
Upperby Road
Carlisle

• In reply to Mr Godwin’s letter regarding the report for the Solway History Society and the Churches Trail. The society members visited three churches, each reported on as much as possible, but space is restricted and the entire history of the churches or all that the members had gleaned on the day could not possibly be printed.

At Greystoke, the appointed guide did not turn up and consequently I was asked to explain from the only guide book available, which I bought. This gave a good, comprehensive insight into the life of this wonderful church.

As an example of the differences – Mr Godwin writes that the recent college was closed as non-standard by a central order from London. In the guide book it is stated that in 1979 too few men were offering themselves. These two points can be interpreted as the same or totally different, depending on the exact historical circumstances.

The guide book was written by Canon David C Ellis with an update in 1996 by Canon Richard Frank. In it they write about the Medieval College and also the Modern College. There was no reason to question this guide book.

MARY HESLAM
Wigton