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Nuns know how to party

I went to a very special party yesterday afternoon...at a Benedictine nunnery. Very, very sadly the nuns at Stanbrook Abbey in Callow End, Worcestershire, are leaving after being there for 171 years. They're moving to the icy wastes of Wass on the Yorkshire Moors. They shouldn't be leaving and their reasons for doing so or, to put it more bluntly, for they're being put in the awkward position of having to do so, are ridiculous. So the ones now left in charge are making the best of it.

But what a great group they are. I know - and why, you must be asking yourselves, was I invited? - because I used to be an innocent(ish) altar boy there during Sunday mass. Their ranks have included former investment bankers and a spy! Stanbrook, designed by the son of the Pugin who designed the Houses of Parliament, is a place of soothing tranquility, both spiritually and generally. They also do damn fine afternoon teas! And I'll miss those as well as some great people...

posted: 23 Feb 09