Treasure Hunt 2013

On Friday 12th July a summer treasure hunt was held in Southport.

David writes:-

     "The social programme at St. John's continued with a Treasure hunt on foot, starting at the Pizza Hut on Ocean Plaza.
     The weather was fine and warm and twenty enthusiastic hunters set off at 7.00 p.m. in good spirits.
     

The route was mainly on Lord Street, the Prom and side streets and alleyways between the two.
     There's nothing like a Treasure Hunt to discover the inner delights of your localities.  Who amongst us knew beforehand, the number of names on the war memorial, or that F.J. Hooper was mayor's officer from 1922/55?
     Christine and Stuart, who organised the evening, added a whole new dimension to the event by choosing the evening of Orange Lodge Day.   If the treasure had been hidden inside a discarded ring pull can, it would have been like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
     The answer to the first clue was at the pier entrance.  Most people made their way to the spot via the bridge, as the pier had been declared unsafe.  However, it was pointed out that you needed to be as heavy as the tram to be banned from the pier so all was well.

     Eventually, via the prom, Coronation Walk, Lord Street and Monument Square, everyone ended up searching the memorial inscriptions and inspecting the gargoyles on Christ Church tower before heading back to Pizza Hut for an enjoyable meal together in an area reserved for us.

     Thank you to Christine and Stuart for organising a most enjoyable evening.
     The fact that nobody found any treasure owing to a fiendishly deceptive final clue was of no consequence."

Thank you to David and also to Janette for providing the photos.  It sounds as if you all had an interesting evening!

The Eagles' Sponsored Bicycle Treasure Hunt

On Saturday, 17th July, 2010, the Eagles, noble friends and family gathered in the St. Johns Church Car Park at 1.00 p.m. - ready to embark on the Treasure Hunt. Most of the cyclists had gathered sponsors for the MND Association and were cycling in memory of Jane Crowdey.

In spite of fears to the contrary, it was dry if rather windy as the 21 cyclists, divided into 5 teams, set off at 5 minute intervals.

The route took them from the church Car Park via Carnarvon, Kirklees, Dunbar and Sandon Roads to Waterloo Road. They then travelled up past Hillside Station, Greenbank High School and the Royal Birkdale Golf Club before tuning left, down the cycle route, to the Coastal Road.

They continued along cycle route 62 until they met a marshal at the Weld Road junction.

After turning down Rotten Row they entered Victoria Park.

Leaving the park they crossed the caravan site and passed the Eco Centre before joining another marshal who ensured that they crossed Marine Drive and joined the cycle path on the sea wall.

Fortunately the strong wind was behind them as they cycled all the way along the wall to The Fairway.

Eventually they passed the Municipal Golf Links before finally entering Hesketh Park. Their quest ended outside the Conservatory in the park.

We were exceptionally blessed with the weather as the teams only experienced a sprinkling of rain during the whole 6 mile journey! As they reached their destination the sun came out and shone for the rest of the afternoon.

The results were extremely tight with two teams, "The Penwortham Peddlers" and "The Ryders" tying in first place with a score of 49. "The Wright Stuff" were very close with a score of 48 points. However, as Tim (who did not win) repeatedly pointed out "it was not the winning but the taking part that was important". In this case that adage is particularly true as it was the MND Association that were the real winners that day. The Eagles, their families and supporters will have raised over £1,000 for the charity when all the money has been collected. (If you wish to know any more about The MND Association you can visit their website at www.mndassociation.org)

When everybody had arrived safely we all moved to a grassy area where we were joined by more supporters. At this point some collapsed in the sunshine ,whilst the more energetic played football on the grass.



Added bonuses for the afternoon were the band playing in The Conservatory as everyone arrived and the visit to the Observatory that Dave arranged for us.

Over the last few years the Park has undergone £3 million of improvement works, funded from a variety of sources including the Heritage Lottery Fund. These improvements have included the refurbishment of the Grade 2 listed Fernley Observatory building and the restoration of the telescope.

Dave told us that the observatory opened in 1901. He showed us how the telescope, and the rotating dome, worked. He also explained that, although John Fernley had had the lower, brick, section of the building built the upper wooden section, together with the telescope had actually been donated by the Baxendell family. This occured after the death of Joseph Baxendell who had originally had them in his garden.

Thanks go to all the participants in this event - cyclists, organisers, marshals, supporters who came to the park to offer their encouragement and, perhaps most of all, all the lovely people who have given money to this worthwhile cause. I feel sure that Jane would be, indeed is, proud of you all.

Well done everybody!

P.S. If for any reason you missed out on the chance to sponsor someone it's not too late. Rachel will be delighted to receive a donation from you!

St John's Treasure Hunt 2008

On Friday June 27th a large number of Church members and their friends gathered together to enjoy the annual “Treasure Hunt” which this year fell to Geoffrey Ellis to organise. We left Church at 8pm armed with our instructions and clues (31 in total) . We endeavoured to identify the clues some of which appeared to be quite easy and others which left some minds blank with no possibility of an answer unless a guess was used in the hope of perhaps it was the right answer. Our group of clues led us to a church where we searched the church grounds, the cemetery and the church hall for the various answers needed, whilst we looked we were approached by a rather trendy vicar and asked if we needed help in what ever we were doing, we replied that we did not and explained our reasons for the visit and told him that he should be aware that several other like minded visitors were about to descend for the same reasons . Having completed, as far as we were able, we followed Geoffrey’s instructions and eventually arrived at our destination for supper and the announcement of the winners, the result of which would identify the group who have to arrange the event for 2009!

The buffet supper, which was arranged at very short notice as Geoffrey’s original venue was gutted by fire, was held at The Saracen's Head by the canal. The winners were The Saabs (The Wright Family) second were The Bunnies (Mark, Val and the Boys) and third were D.M.S.W.( DIVORCED-MARRIED-SINGLE-WIDOWED) Jean Beeley, Helen Whitehill & Friends

A very big thank you to Geoffrey, ably assisted by his sister, for a very enjoyable evening

The Infamous Five (Jane, Alan, Donna, Martin & John)

Bicycle Treasure Hunt

A Bicycle treasure Hunt for The Eagles (St John's Youth Group) took place on the evening of Sunday 29th July. Remarkably, it was a fine evening and a good time was had by all participants as they spent a couple of hours weaving their way around Birkdale. The results were close with the winning team, "Bubbles", winning by just one point. When they reached their destination the cyclists were "well fed and watered". (Thanks Jane and Alan)