Micklepage - inside the Farmhouse

It was about 1965 that Sheila and I first became aware of Micklepage. We were establishing the Lee Abbey International Students Club in London and receiving invaluable help and encouragement from Lt Col George Grimshaw, the Overseas Secretary of CMS. His concern was to help the Church face up to its responsibilities to the crowds of young students from all over the world, flooding into London.

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At that time he had been, as he describes, led to the discovery of Micklepage as the perfect place for groups of student nurses to find rest, refreshment and support, and also to see another side of life in England through the farm and countryside.

MICKLEPAGE MEMORIES	International Community by Gordon & Sheila Mayo

It was about 1965 that Sheila and I first became aware of Micklepage. We were establishing the Lee Abbey International Students Club in London and receiving invaluable help and encouragement from Lt Col George Grimshaw, the Overseas Secretary of CMS. His concern was to help the Church face up to its responsibilities to the crowds of young students from all over the world, flooding into London. [back] At that time he had been, as he describes, led to the discovery of Micklepage as the perfect place for groups of student nurses to find rest, refreshment and support, and also to see another side of life in England through the farm and countryside.

When the Trustees sold the farm, Micklepage found itself surrounded by three new neighbours. One of them was John Fortune, who, as a local architect, was to prove of tremendous help in the development of the Barn. Those of us who led groups to Micklepage used to meet in London, and, with the disappearance of the hostel accom-modation, it was decided to convert the Barn. In this work the West London University Chaplaincy played a lead part, as David Ashforth has vividly described. For Sheila and me, moving on from student work into parish and diocesan responsibilities, the opportunities to use Micklepage continued.		More and more varied groups came to discover for themselves the value of the resources that House, Barn and Chapel have to offer, from Group 64 Young People's Theatre in Putney to a painting and art group from Kew. It is some years now since the London Management Group and Trustees combined to form the Micklepage Council, and our member¬ship has continued to reflect the needs of users and of the local community. St Andrew's, Nuthurst PCC has a representative on the Council - Maud Fortune - and through our regular Open Days and Seasonal Workshops both local and wider networks are being built up.

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