Many of you will know that a Medical Care Centre is being built on the site of the former Presbytery of Corpus Christi Church; it is for the care of elderly and infirm Jesuits. At long last it is due to open shortly. The lovely Presbytery garden is still a building site. The current Presbytery is 9, Harvey Road, but the semi detached premises in St. James's Square, which are adjacent to the path leading to the church, have been bought, to be the home and offices of the Parish Priest Fr Denis Blackledge SJ.

We are fortunate to have Father Michael Flannery SJ and Father Peter Hackett SJ too. The latter enjoys coming into the Reunion to talk with contemporaries, who remember him and his family.

We have received our eagerly awaited `thank you' letter from SISTER PATRICIA MACKENZIE, at the Carmelite Convent in Yorkshire. There is so much of interest in the letters that I have difficulty in selecting extracts for you.

Those of you who contribute to the Christmas Hamper Fund will have enjoyed the letter in full; this year we have sent each one their own letter so it does not have to be passed on. I shall put out some copies at the Reunion for those who wish to read it.

" Carmelite Monastery, Trip Lane, Linton, Wetherby, Yorkshire. LS22 4HZ. January 2007.

Dear Everyone,

I knew that Margaret Simpson was planning to order your Christmas gift to us, from a discreet `phone call as to the number of Sisters currently here. However I wondered what would happen as Christmas Eve fell on a Sunday and I did not know Morrisons would be working then. That shows how out of touch I am !.... The same two women, smartly uniformed, arrived in a van packed to the hilt and staggered into the entrance passage with mounds of supplies 1'm stumped as to how to express our thanks to you for your generosity, munificence, liberality, bounteousness ?

Yes, I'm addicted to crosswords and still enjoy playing with words! Joking apart, we found everything we could want was there, from the seasonal fare to the pot of pink chrysanthemums for the passage, and all the fruits we cannot grow, plus salad vegetables so desirable for suppers. Our favourite mushrooms too... : some of our waistbands were having to be loosened !

I can only regret that our thanks to you can only be in the form of prayers. We are well aware how much you, your families and friends need them in these distressing times. Now I'll try to give you a resume of events here in `06. Last January a group of stalwart and hardworking tree planters came, led by Fr. Anthony Storey ( an authority on trees and shrubs ), restocking our woodland with a variety of saplings.

These were carefully fenced round against the deer and rabbits, potential destroyers. Our wood is officially recognised as an "ancient wood/and," so in need of protection. " Ancient" is not surprising since William the Conqueror gave the first Wood Hall to a vassal of his I It was then a hunting lodge. I remember we once found the remains o1 an ice-house in our grounds, dating from times when meat etc. had to be preserved without modern `fridges etc. ...

Spring is traditionally the time for cleaning. Naturally all the indoor jobs were done, but the biggesl one was tackling the carpentry shed. It took us a whole day to get everything out and a week to sari it out and get it back in, all neatly cleaned, labelled and junk free. As three cats live there they were, to put it mildly, and literally, put out, but soon adapted to the apple-pie order -spreading themselves out on every flat surface.

Of course, the felines believed the shed was only spring-cleaned and reordered to provide more comfort for them - especially a new sheep fleece bed !.... In May we were asked to organise an evening here on the Carmelite tradition of prayer. This was part of the renewal process taking place in the Leeds Diocese. This was a"first " for us and we feli nervous about it.

However fifty people turned up and much appreciated all we had to share or Prayer, our Carmelite Saints' teaching, Lectio Divina,and how prayer permeates our life as it is livec out day by day. Those taking part found it a help to spend a prolonged period with us in silent prayer.

Also in May we welcomed Hilary into our community as a postulant Before entering here Hilary was working in a Plymouth Hospice, where Dr. Sheila Cassidy was acting as a psychotherapist. We know Sheila, having met her here and heard talks she gave at a meeting for the centenary of St. There-se some years ago. I think most people will recall her book, "Audacity to Believe," in which she related her experiences as a young doctor in Pinochet's Chile, arrested and tortured electrically in attempts to make her reveal the whereabouts of a wounded `rebel' she had treated

As usual we had some good conferences during the year. There was one on Interfaith Dialogue, another on St. Mark's Gospel. A priest whom we have known very well, since his early days at the old Wood Hall Pastoral Centre as a young convert with long golden locks, returned (after a gap of some years ) to tell us of his experiences of life in inner city Bradford parish. Alas !

He is almost bald and far from being the slim youth ! Yet he is bubbling over with energy and good humour, When he was in another parish he used to keep a goat and take it for walks on a leash, as it proved to be a good talking point, attracting inquirersl Bradford however is fast becoming an Asian city so goats might end up as meat ! Now the neighbourhood is tough with drug-pushers and their victims, and gangs jostling for power, Fr John prefers to keep dogs as a deterrent to break ins. Though he does not think they will do much more than yap!...

In September and then October - November we had two wonderful preached retreats. We have yet another attempted burglary to report ! The local police tend to say, " Not those nuns again," when we ring for their help. This time it was more unusual. One Summer evening, when we were all in chapel, the intruder climbed into three of the ground floor cells. A Sister, who was not well, was in her cell resting and heard a lot of noise...

She went to the window to investigate and came face to face with the intruder, her cell being next in line! Taken aback, she said the first thing that came into her head: " Can I help you ?" ( Will she ever live down being twitted about this by the rest of us?)

A very surprised young man clad in shorts bolted off through the garden ! A frustrating experience for him, as Carmelites do not keep money, jewellery etc. in their cells !.... The good weather produced wonderful crops this year and our " barns are full to overflowing" with seasonable vegetables of every kind and a large crop of apples and soft fruit.

The grape crop, (one outdoor white and one greenhouse black variety) was too large for us to eat. Of course grapes do not keep for long so your Christmas ones were very welcome. We placed some of the Summer crop in a huge bowl, put polythene bags on our feet and trod them out in the traditional method. Thinking they would not ferment we enjoyed them as delicious ice-cold grape juice.

Now we are told that grapes do ferment when trodden. We will know better next time how to deal with them! The ibiquitous badgers were delighted with the plum crop, since many fell to the ground. These did ferment, before they could be safely gathered in or picked from the trees. We had the unusual experience of watching tipsy badgers coming close to us in the dusk

In late November we had three accidents, which could have been nasty but turned out well. Sr. Philomena, the Prioress, ...was at work on the lawn when the awkward foot disappeared down a rabbit hole... She was persuaded to go to the Accident & Emergency part of Harrogate Hospital. X-rays fortunately showed no breaks but heavy bruising.... Accident no. 2 was.. Sr. Marie, typically rushing upstairs with both hands full, tripped and fell face down.

She was dazed and cut just above her right eye. ..So off she was driven to Casualty, same Hospital.. Stitches were not used but " a human form of Super glue I".. A few days later I had an accident which I class as a near -miss. In the evening of my " hermit day" when the others were all at Office, I opened a cupboard in the kitchen.

This must have dislodged a large cast -iron bread mixer badly placed above it. Imagine a helmet for Goliath and you will have some idea of the size and weight ! As it plummeted down to crown me I jerked aside in a split second, though the rim struck me on the right temple. It would be an understatement to say it hurt but I have great faith in the magical healing qualities of arnica in coping with bruises.

Accordingly I rushed off and slathered myself in it. Amazingly there was no sign of a mark in the morning and all pain had gone. Nor was the " Hoby" bread-mixer the worse for wear. I consider a third visit to the A.& E Dept, would have been one too many!...

I should mention the Sisters of Christ when writing to you. Of course, I was sad to hear of the closure of Bedhampton, particularly for Sr. Ruth's sake, though she will be welcome in Springhill, as will Sr. Joan. I still hear from Srs. May and Marguerite, also news of Cameroon.

A friend of mine from Harrogate met CATHERINE BOBBET (married name AVERY-JONES), .. Catherine asked Barbara Still to remember her to me. Yes, I certainly remember Catherine ! Just room to say I wrote to JEAN WALSH re. 90th birthday and being the original organiser of our Christmas Hamper.

Much love and many prayers to you all.

Sr. Patricia.