Summer in Salisbury Songs of Praise

Salisbury in the summer.

I've come to explore this beautiful cathedral city

and to enjoy some peace and quiet in the surrounding countryside.

But all is not quite what it seems.

Take cover!

This week, I discover the amazing story

of the church on the battlefield

and I come across flower power on a spectacular scale.

There's glorious music from Hayley Westenra

and don't miss the latest news about our Songs Of Praise

50th birthday celebration.

Strolling through Salisbury on a summer's day,

it's easy to see why it's often called the city in the countryside.

Green spaces all around offer breathtaking views

of that soaring spire

and the vast plateau of Salisbury Plain

stretches for 300 square miles from the edge of the city.

Many thousands of visitors come here every year

to see the mysterious megaliths of Stonehenge.

But some residents of the Plain manage to keep a lower profile.

Once hunted to extinction in Britain,

the Great Bustard has been successfully reintroduced here

and now even graces the Wiltshire county flag.

And at the heart of Salisbury is the cathedral

where there has been worship every day

for more than seven-and-a-half centuries.

And it's still a thriving community today and a place of prayer,

so it's the perfect setting for our music this week

as church and choir members from across the Salisbury area

join the cathedral congregation for our Songs Of Praise.

But what I love most about summer

are the smells and the colours of the flowers,

so when I heard that they were having a flower festival

at Salisbury Cathedral, I had to come along.

I've even made my own little floral contribution.

More enthusiastic than skilful but, you know, every little helps.

Something tells me they won't need my little posy.

I've never seen anything on this scale.

Whatever made you come up with the whole concept of such a huge event?

Three years ago, we had a flower festival

to celebrate the 750th anniversary of the completion of the cathedral,

and the Dean and Chapter said they would like another one.

How many blooms have you got, do you think?

Well, over 39,000 stems,

plus all the things that people have brought from their gardens,

plus the foliage - it must be well over 100,000 stems.

And an army of people to make it all happen.

We've had 500 arrangers from all over the diocese

who have arranged the displays you see.

But the building itself lends so much, doesn't it?

When you think what's gone on for seven-and-a-half centuries,

does it add a certain something?

You couldn't really wish for a better canvas.

The beautiful stone here in the cathedral

and the majestic pillars

offset any flowers you put against them and any style of design.

Now, how many visitors, then, are you hoping for?

Just under 4,000 visitors every day for six days.

-And it's just about opening time?

-It is. I think they're queuing outside, Pam, as we speak.

One of the big things about the cathedral is the size

and when you look at something,

perhaps you've cut it thinking, "That's going to be huge."

You walk in the door of the cathedral and suddenly it's shrunk.

It is one of those places where you can,

although it's very, very big, it can enwrap you

and make you feel very, very close,

feel the presence of God and very, very still.

Well, we've come all the way from Philadelphia in the United States.

So, what do you guys think? Do you like the flowers?

They're really pretty and they smell good.

Magnificent, I think.

You've got to say, you know, a lot of hard work.

I'm just getting lovely ideas and, um,

some of those will appear in another church

in the not too distant future.

First thing that struck me was the subtleness of the colours.

-We're talking about blue and the hues of the colours.

-Blues and purples.

It wasn't, sort of, a mad extravaganza.

And what would you say, then, to the army of flower arrangers

in churches up and down the country?

The value that flowers make into worship is considerable,

and brings great enjoyment and a deeper sense to everyone.

It's an act of worship and an act of prayer.

They do say if you want to see the best of this area,

there's only one mode of transport, so here goes.

And I'm new to this so be kind to me.

I've come to an outdoor therapy centre

just a few miles from Salisbury called God Unlimited.

So, I know how to start,

does he know how to stop?

On my trusty steed, I caught up with Stephanie,

one of the team, to find out more.

It's terribly therapeutic for people just to be around nature

and we find that quite a lot of our activities call for the outdoors anyway,

but the therapy seems to be augmented by the nature

and the being in nature.

So, what is the range of activities that you do here?

We have a huge variety.

We do all sorts of outdoor activities such as climbing

and walking and cycling, kayaking.

We obviously do quite a lot with the horses

simply because we've got that resource to tap into

and that includes things like parties and riding lessons

as well as equine assisted therapy and lower back pain therapy.

What we provide is tailored towards therapy,

so we actually have to build up the relationship

and mend some of the underlying problems, not just the physical ones.

-How did this all start?

-Three families out of the four

that have actually started up God Unlimited

were going to an Anglican church.

The parents were praying and they all heard

the same part of the Bible, or the same verse

about Elijah moving to the plain.

We all managed to end up in the same village

because God obviously wanted us to be together

in the same place at the same time, with the same purpose.

As well as having the outdoor therapy centre,

we're a Celtic community which is what we officially call ourselves.

We walk outside, we pray outside, we worship outside, we sing outside.

# We come to take our stand Hear our cry

# Hear our cry... #

We felt that it was easier to connect with God, potentially,

in God's creation than in a building made by man,

so that's why we do it outside.

Our personal walks with Jesus have just rocketed and we always pray.

We're finding so many small miracles

and God has been massively gracious to us.

Hidden in the countryside just a few miles from Salisbury,

life in the village of Imber had carried on quietly

for over 1,000 years.

But that all changed one day in 1943.

As the Second World War raged on, the allies needed somewhere

for troops to practise street fighting.

The people of Imber were evicted and dutifully left their homes

expecting to return as soon as the war was won.

They never came back.

For Ken Mitchell, Imber had been home.

It was the beginning of November, 1943,

when they were told that they would have to leave their homes.

They'd have to move away by the 17th of December,

just before Christmas, which...

..when you think about it,

it was a bit of a shock.

The onset of winter and you've got to get out and leave your home.

We didn't have a furniture van, we had a cattle wagon

and my mother wasn't going to allow her belongings, her furniture,

to go into a cattle lorry.

It was awful.

She made a statement then, and she said,

"Do you know, we get no respect,

"we're treated the same as the animals, aren't we?"

Leaving Imber was even harder for the older generation,

for people like Ken's grandad Albert,

who was the village blacksmith.

I think, first off, his reaction was that he just wouldn't go.

I think he did say,

"They'll have to shoot me if they want me," or something like that.

He took it really badly and he was really desperate.

It meant everything to him. It was his life and that was it.

His wife Martha, my gran, she said to me,

"I don't know what I'm going to do. He won't eat."

He lost the will to live

and I think he had his wish when he died

on the 21st of January, 1944.

-So, just weeks after he'd left, he died?

-He died, yes.

-Where was he buried?

-Here.

His grave is only 50 yards from where we are now.

-So, in the churchyard?

-Here, in the churchyard.

Yeah.

People hear the story, they say, "Well, you know, what did they have to worry about?

"There was lots of people that were suffering far more."

"The Imber people, at least they survived."

But that was the action of our own government

that their hardship came from.

What happened to Ken's grandad

and all the people here was a real tragedy.

But St Giles Church is still standing

and looking very good today

so was it the end of the story of Imber in the 1940s?

We'll find our after we've heard this lovely piece

from the choristers back at Salisbury Cathedral.

# Hail, true body

# Born of Mary

# Spotless Virgin's

# Virgin birth

# Thou who truly

# Hangest weary

# On the cross

# For sons of earth

# Thou whose sacred side

# Was riven

# Whence the water flowed

# And blood

# O may'st thou

# Dear Lord, be given

# At death's hour

# To be our food

# Amen

# Amen. #

After all the residents were evacuated in 1943,

Imber village was used for important military exercises.

Public access has always been strictly limited,

but Neil Skelton still remembers the first day

he came here as a teenager.

It was on Whit Monday, 1964,

when I cycled all the way from Salisbury

and one, as now, was not supposed to leave the metalled road

but I did come up to the church track and I peered through the fence

and got inside the churchyard to get some photographs.

And I cycled back home and I suppose the memory of Imber lingered on.

Little did Neil know that decades later,

he would be instrumental in saving and restoring St Giles

through his work with the Churches Conservation Trust.

And now, as voluntary custodian of the church,

he opens to the public whenever he can.

We have a very good relationship with the Ministry Of Defence,

and we do get up to 50 days public access a year.

So, what happens on those days? How many people come?

Well, at Easter, we had it open on the four days

and we averaged about 1,000 people each day.

We served refreshments and we had bell-ringers coming here.

I think people find a certain peace and tranquillity here.

I know it's in the middle of a battle training area,

but not when we have the church open so I think people do enjoy that.

I think it's important that the church remains.

After all, it is the only building in the village remaining intact

and it does stand for 1,000 years of worship on this one site

and also, it is a monument to the community

and the villagers of Imber who made that sacrifice in 1943

by giving up their homes for the defence of the country.

Now, the name of Imber will endure.

Here, at this church, is a symbol.

Not as a... I was going to say a monument,

but a monument is a dead object.

This is not dead. This church is living.

Lord of all creation,

we thank you for the beauty of your world.

Open our eyes that we may always see your glory

in the splendour of flower and field,

in the love of a community and in the creativity of every person.

And though the world around us may change,

help us always to hold our hope in you.

Amen.

# Whispers in a dream

# The world is quiet and waiting

# And all around the air is still

# And sings the angel

# When all has come to pass

# The storm has breathed its last

# And the rain

# Has washed their fears away

# The people

# Whispers in the wind

# The clouds part to let the light in

# And all around the air is still

# And sings the angel

# When all has come to pass

# The storm has breathed its last

# And the rain

# Has washed their fears away

# The people

# Would not sigh

# And we can smile again. #

Isn't that the image of Salisbury

that people will remember after their visit?

But for me, what I'll recall most of all,

are the people I've met.

The way they want to live out their faiths in the service of others,

the beauty they create,

their sense of history and belonging.

And in many ways, that hasn't changed all that much

in this community throughout all the years that this great cathedral

has stood here as a symbol of God's enduring love.

So, from Salisbury and me, goodbye.

Next week, Sally is in the beautiful Kingdom of Fife.

We'll visit the home town of the real Robinson Crusoe,

and hear a new translation of the Bible into Scots.

And our hymns are from Dunfermline Abbey

and St Andrews University.

And now, here's Aled with news of a very special event.

Thank you very much, Pam.

Later this year, Songs Of Praise will turn 50,

and we're planning a celebration which could include you.

We're marking this milestone with a spectacular concert

and sing-along with superstar guests including Katherine Jenkins,

and Andrea Bocelli.

Plus, one or two exciting birthday surprises.

Now, the recording takes place on Sunday the 25th of September

at one of the most iconic venues in television history,

Alexandra Palace in London.

If you'd like to be in the audience,

you can buy tickets at £12 each by calling this number...

Standard geographic charges apply. Calls from mobiles may be higher.

You can also apply online...

Hope you can come and join the party,

because we're going all out to celebrate our big 5-0.

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