25 May 2012
"John Wesley" comes home on Wesley Day
At a ceremony at Methodist Church House in London yesterday, the
Revd Dr Leslie Griffiths, The Lord Griffiths of Burry Port,
unveiled the nameplate "John Wesley" from a High Speed Train (HST)
power car.
24 May is celebrated in the Methodist Church as "Wesley Day" in
commemoration of 24 May 1738 when John Wesley realised that God's
love was for all people. On that basis, Wesley began to preach
across the country and founded the Methodist movement.
The nameplate had previously been unveiled on a locomotive at St
Pancras Station on 24 May 1988 by Dame Thora Hird. It was attached
to British Rail HST power car No 43103 from 1988 to 1994. The power
car is still in service with Cross-Country trains as No 43303 and
has now travelled about 20 million miles. Power car No 43118 was
named Charles Wesley (after John's younger brother and famous
hymn-writer) at the same time.
The Revd Dr Leslie Griffiths, the minister of Wesley's Chapel in
London and a former President of the Methodist Conference, said:
"John Wesley travelled over 250,000 miles in England on horseback -
more than anyone else, until the coming of the railways forty years
after his death. The nameplate has travelled many miles and I'm so
pleased that it has now reached a home where it will remind staff
and visitors of the itinerant origins of Methodism."
The nameplate was found in a scrap bin in Edinburgh. It was
acquired by Mr Derek Brown and sold to Dr Ian Harrison, a prominent
Methodist and Chairman of the South of England Group of the Friends
of the National Railway Museum. The Group has been given the task
of raising £35,000 to fund the cosmetic restoration of the Museum's
steam locomotive "Winston Churchill". Mr Brown generously donated
the purchase price to the restoration fund.
The nameplate will be on display at Methodist Church House for at
least the next five years. Ruth Pickles, The Vice-President of
Conference, was also at the unveiling ceremony yesterday.
See images
here.