The Henson Journals
Fri 31 August 1928
Volume 46, Pages 43 to 44
[43]
Friday, August 31st, 1928.
Return to Auckland Castle.
The parish of Chatton is purely rural with a population of about 800, of whom at least two thirds are Scottish presbyterians. There is a communicant roll of 248. The names of the parochial electors were set out in the porch, & appeared to be largely Scottish. Not more than 30 persons commonly attended the morning service, & not more than 50 the evening. But they all came to the services held at the farms, which were frequent. One great difficulty in pastoral workd came from the system of annual 'hirings', by which the 'hinds' secured their employment. There was no continuity of residence for most of them, &, though their movements were confined to the district, they were rarely limited by the boundaries of the parish. This made oversight of newly confirmed persons almost impossible. Motors & cycles had gone far to destroy Sunday observance. I inquired whether any echoes of the Prayer Book Revision agitation had been audible in the parish, and Canon Long replied in the negative. He found the Presbyterians very friendly. Their Dissent was really no more than an inborn attachment to their hereditary church, more racial than religious.
[44]
We left the Vicarage, Wooler, shortly after 11 a.m. and motored by way of Rothbury & Bellingham to Wark–on–Tyne, where we lunched with the Chelmsfords at Park End. After lunch we continued our journey viâ Hexham & Tow Law, arriving in Auckland Castle about 5 p.m. having motored 97 miles. The weather was delightful up to 3 p.m., when it became thunderous & wet. The end of our journey was effected in a deluge.
We traversed the most beautiful moorland scenes. The heather was in full bloomed, & scented the air while it delighted the eye. Scotland could hardly produce anything better. We encountered very few motors. Indeed, throughout the month, I have been surprised by the fewness of the cars which we met. I suppose there are certain places to which everybody goes, & these are congested. It is stated that, in round numbers, there are now two million vehicles driven by petrol on the roads of this country. Think what numbers of the people must (either as owners, or manufacturers, or shareholders in motor firms, or chauffeurs, or petrol–sellers, or agents of the R.A.A, and A.A.) be interested in motors.