"The race is not to the swift......

...nor the battle to the strong,.."  Eccel 9:11
With the walls clad and most of the ceiling installed there is colour once again inside the Cathedral.

There is a lot of work still left to do. Life is a marathon not a sprint.  As we pass the five year mark on this endeavour, we are reminded that the Restoration of St. John's Cathedral will be a marathon as well.

Floor paving

The Sanctuary floor and more than half of the aisles have been paved.

Sanctuary Floor

South Transept Floor

Brass Candelabrum - New Arms

With the generous help of Mr. Robert Chelsom and company we are restoring the Candelabrum to its former glory.  The Candelabrum was modified for oil lamps in 1886 and some of the arms were removed.  Over time many were lost and we are recasting the missing ones. Here are pictures of that process.

Messages from the Past part 2

Unfortunately the message from the past(Messages from the past) is a mundane one.  The pieces were opened and the full message could now be read.  It reads, "This chandelier was taken in pieces and cleaned by John Parker Maw February 27^th 1886 a native of Thornton le Dale, near Pickering Yorkshire, arrived in Antigua April 26^th 1883."

 We are still however moved by this message that connects us to our ancestors.  We can only wonder and speculate if they could have ever imagined a world like ours today when their message was read.  We wonder what the world will look like 129 years from now.

The New Cathedral Ceiling

Our progress so far.

Messages from the past

We have begun to restore the brass candelabrum.

Our restorers in the UK, Mr. Robert Chelsom (Chelsom) inserted a small remote camera into the main body of the candelabrum in order to better understand the assembly.  He found some folded up pieces of paper that have been in there for 129 years.

Judging from the date we suspect that these are the four people who worked on the conversion of the candelabrum from candle to oil lamp.  The other pieces are cracking apart as they are opened so Mr. Chelsom and company will be seeking some expert advice on how best to do this.  Our minds are reeling as to what might be on those pieces of paper once they are opened.  It could be mundane, it could be profound.  Either way our ancestors have left us messages from the past.  Perhaps we should do the same.
 

Patrick B. Nanton

The Restoration of St. John's Cathedral honours today the life of Patrick B. Nanton and others who fell in the Second World War.

Caribbean aircrew in the RAF during WW2

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Patrick Nanton was reported missing believed killed on 4 November 1942. He was conducting operations against enemy shipping over the Aegean Sea. He flew the Wellington Mk VIII torpedo carrying bomber.

Wellington Mk VIII

Here is a YouTube video that shows the kind of action in which he and his crew were engaged.

Interior Wood Work

Most of the interior wood covering over the walls has been installed.