A Favourite Poem
Adapted from Henry Smetham's Tribute to a Friend:
Oh gratitude! Thou Angel part!
Thou chiefest good in erring man!
Wake all the music of my heart
To pay such homage as it can.

That which is good is not for death;
That which is true is true for aye;
Though but the trembling of a breath
Truth lifts us higher day by day.

Thy faith was deeds, - words did not tell
What self-denying life was thine!
For others thou "didst all things well,"
Bright doth the golden record shine.

Another's good ne'er passed thee by
But thou didst all a friend could do,
Thy nature great, thy honour high,
And thou both good and kind and true.

Yes; Bernard Smetham; we bow the head
In grateful love and thanks to thee,
Thou liv'st among us still - tho' dead!
Years cannot dim thy Memory.

What a crowd there used to be for the St Nicholas Strood Sunday School outing. Sadly Wannock Gardens now long gone, along with the old joke they used to tell: Have you seen our water otter? Pull up the rope in the well....which revealed an old kettle. Organising was hard work but great fun and enjoyed by so many.