Norman_Conquest
Well-known member
It is looking more likely that this beautiful old church is going to close and will be demolished if the diocese gets its way. I understand that the numbers attending mass have dwindled over the years but keeping it open is not about how many attend the mass, it is about a building that should be preserved for others to love.
St Peter's is the oldest church in the Middlesbrough diocese and was opened in 1905 to serve the local Irish families that had settled in the area. No doubt these people will have also worked and paid for its build and continued to pay for its upkeep over the years.
The church hasn't opened after lockdown and is in desperate need of money spent on it, something the Catholic church has a lot of. We allowed St Mary's Church, Grangetwon (which was more beautiful inside than St Peter's) to be demolished, we should not let it happen to this fine building.
I was once working with young offenders and we took a large group of them to visit London and to a show. During the night, I was awoken by the hotel staff and the YO's were running amock in the hotel. We had to spend the night wandering the corridors to make sure they remained in bed. The next day I was tired and grumpy and my line manager asked what we had planned. Knowing London very well, I told her we would take them sightseeing and walk the legs off them.
I put my plan into operation, and sure enough I was sickening them. We got outside Big Ben and I asked a young South Bank lad what he thought of it. "It's not as good as the Peter's Clock" came back his reply. Only South Bank people would fully understand what he meant and it certainly made me smile.
St Peter's is the oldest church in the Middlesbrough diocese and was opened in 1905 to serve the local Irish families that had settled in the area. No doubt these people will have also worked and paid for its build and continued to pay for its upkeep over the years.
The church hasn't opened after lockdown and is in desperate need of money spent on it, something the Catholic church has a lot of. We allowed St Mary's Church, Grangetwon (which was more beautiful inside than St Peter's) to be demolished, we should not let it happen to this fine building.
I was once working with young offenders and we took a large group of them to visit London and to a show. During the night, I was awoken by the hotel staff and the YO's were running amock in the hotel. We had to spend the night wandering the corridors to make sure they remained in bed. The next day I was tired and grumpy and my line manager asked what we had planned. Knowing London very well, I told her we would take them sightseeing and walk the legs off them.
I put my plan into operation, and sure enough I was sickening them. We got outside Big Ben and I asked a young South Bank lad what he thought of it. "It's not as good as the Peter's Clock" came back his reply. Only South Bank people would fully understand what he meant and it certainly made me smile.
'Closure by stealth' fear as diocese considers future of 'unsafe' church
St Peter's in South Bank, which is the oldest catholic church remaining in Middlesbrough, requires substantial repairs
www.gazettelive.co.uk