Adrian and Jill Chatfield's Christmas letter 2021

The year started a little inauspiciously, as Jill had broken her knee in a freak bicycle accident in late November 2020. She was given the choice of surgery or natural recovery, and opted for the latter. We have nothing but praise for the NHS – the Royal Derby Hospital in particular – who looked after her in the difficult circumstances of last winter’s COVID spikes. Since then, she has regained all the mobility she had before, and we now are back to regular 8 or 9 mile walks, as long as the hills aren’t too steep!

While going to a church three miles away, we have found ourselves helping to cover a very long vacancy in our own town, at Christ Church Cotmanhay and Shipley. Effectively, we have taken two services there each month and three in November, as the other main helper had a bit of a funny turn at the Remembrance Day Parade. We have just heard that the diocese has given permission for the vacancy to be advertised, so at some point next year, that chapter will come to a close.

Our daughter Rachel and her family live ½ an hour away from us, so we keep in touch with them regularly. The additional joy over the past couple of years is that Michael’s eldest, Hannah, chose to read Global Politics and International Relations at Nottingham Uni, so we have seen a lot of her even when that meant wintry outdoor walks. She stayed with us for 8 weeks in August/September while looking for and buying her first house, and we have been clearing the jungle of an erstwhile garden while the weather allowed. Hannah should have been doing her third year at Waseda University in Tokyo, but in the event has been attending classes online at home at unsociable hours. On top of that, she’s working part-time as a Care Assistant going into people’s homes – we don’t know how she packs it all in!

All four of our granddaughters have had their education impacted: Naomi, Hannah’s sister, did her A Levels with predicted grades rather than exams. She has a place at Durham to read Engi-neering, but taking a gap year working with a sailing charity and getting her sailing certificates. Charlotte, Rachel’s elder daughter, did GCSEs in the same way and is now at Nottingham Col-lege doing English, History and Psychology A Levels while building up her finances working at McDonald’s. Lucy does GCSEs in 2023, so fingers crossed that she might actually get to take exams.

Rachel’s work as a Senior Occupational Therapist and Dave’s as a District Council electrician have continued throughout, though with the usual constraints. After ten years as a chaplain in the Royal Air Force, Michael is now a chaplain in the Royal Navy, based in Portsmouth and working in teaching and hospital environments. In some ways he’s the jammy one as this winter he’s flown to the Falklands and currently on board HMS Protector heading for the Antarctic. He has presided at the centenary service for Shackleton’s death and is rapidly increasing his birding list. Helen meanwhile continues to work as Youth Pastor in the North Hampshire Downs team and to do astounding things both online and now face to face with young people in rural environments.

Jill and I, being technically retired, are privileged to be able to up and off more or less when we want, and the caravan has given us much freedom: Sandringham, Ashbourne, Windermere, Cerne Abbas. Additionally, we’ve had a city break in London and been to the Phantom of the Opera. Most recently, we’ve managed to negotiate COVID testing and spend a wonderful week in Barcelona, which is a glorious city with some astonishing (and occasionally freaky) architecture.

Understandably, we’ve not had many invitations to do church things in the current climate, but Adrian managed to do one parish weekend ‘at home’ just north of London. Next March, we’re delighted that we’ll be sharing in leading the Launde Abbey Lent retreat one of our favourite places. Otherwise, Adrian keeps himself occupied with offering spiritual direction and a little teaching and consultancy work. Both of us are very grateful to have been spared COVID up to this point, and try to keep fit, Jill in the gym and the pool, Adrian running and cycling. The high-light of the year for him was joining 16 other cyclists to link up the two remaining iron railway bridges in the UK (Meldon near Okehampton and Bennerley, just a mile away from us). 300 miles in 5 days was a wonderful experience, quite exhilarating. Our viaduct is just about to reo-pen as a public footpath and cycleway: Jill is recording secretary for the Friends of Bennerley Viaduct Trustees, and Adrian is the Membership Secretary for the Friends, so that gives us a community point of contact.

As we come to the end of another challenging year, in which news of wars, rumours of wars, natural disasters and political horrors dominates, we find our hope not in the schemes and fu-tures of this world, but in the gift of God’s Son Jesus Christ to us, Saviour, Lord and eternal Friend. Our prayer for you is that as you share in that hope with us, you find courage, solace and strength for whatever may lie ahead.

Many blessings, a peaceful Christmas and a joyful 2022.

Jill and Adrian