Keld URC Chapel

On Pentecost Sunday, 24^th May 2015, LYRA, a vocal ensemble of four choir members from St Petersburg Cathedral visited Keld United Reformed Church for the Swaledale Festival Service. Their voices really filled the Chapel with great depth and harmony. They sang three times during the service to the delight of the congregation of sixty people filling the ground floor of the Chapel.

An ecumenical congregation, it included people from other local churches some of which had closed their own services so that people could attend. Others came from various parts of the country, here to support the Swaledale Festival. Our guests from St Petersburg were not the only international visitors for the service. Among the congregation there were also visitors from California and New Zealand – a truly eclectic congregation joining together for the purpose of worship. The volume in the singing was amazing, as was the atmosphere throughout, and most stayed for further fellowship over light refreshments in Keld Public Hall.

The Swaledale Festival is an annual two-week long festival of Music, Arts and Walking in the Yorkshire Dales. This year it runs until 6^th June with a varied programme of concerts and events in different venues in Swaledale and Wensleydale. For information and tickets, visit www.swaledale-festival.org.uk

There is now, in a wall of the Wellbeing Garden beside the churchyard, a memorial stone to Rev. Gillian Bobbett. She was the minister at Keld and Low Row URC chapels from 1996 to 2004. She died suddenly on 27th October 2010. She was an indefatigable worker who took on many roles within the church and the wider world. She is still sorely missed.