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Moving this resolution Mr Mann said, "The
building has gone but the church remains", and that became more or less the
motto of the church for the next 16 years. At every annual church meeting this
statement was read out and re-affirmed by the church.
For some time Redland Park and Trinity held
joint services each Sunday, taken by the two ministers alternately. Mr Thompson
and the Rev L Babb MC, each following the order of service they were accustomed
to use, and in all this the two choirs combined.
One joint effort by the two churches was a
canteen for soldiers billeted in Bristol. This was in the schoolroom under
Trinity Church, a big hall with a large well-equipped kitchen adjoining, so it
was possible to serve hot meals or snacks as well as tea or coffee. It was open
seven days a week, manned by members of both churches and was much appreciated.
At one time over a thousand meals were served every week and by the time it was
closed it was estimated that it had served 293,834 meals, and 400,000 hot
drinks. There were table tennis facilities and the piano was often strummed by
one person or another, with what result to the piano one cannot say, and a
concert was held once a week.
Travelling home in the blackout at 11 pm after
one's stint at the canteen was quite an experience, though in those days the
fear of mugging did not exist. The few cars still on the road (with petrol
severely rationed) moved at a steady pace with masked lights. The only fear was
of air raids. Many humorous stories were told such as when the author apologised
to a lamp post (unlit of course) with which she had collided.
In May, 1941, the hall was de-requisitioned,
but we could not use it until it had been made habitable and cleaned up. Then,
in September, 1941, thanking our kind hosts at Trinity, we moved over the road
to have our services in our own building. The choir sat on the platform which
had a low dais in front for the communion table. Some woodwork, furniture and
floor covering were loaned by our friends at Christchurch Congregational Church,
Sneyd Park (closed in 1962) which made
the hall look more like a church and saved considerable expense.
For the rest of the war and beyond, services
were accompanied by a piano, until 1950, when a small pipe organ, a two-manual
Father Willis, was purchased and installed in the gallery. This did wonders for
the music of the services.
Worship continued in the hall for the rest of
the war, and indeed until 1957, as permission to re-build was slow in coming.
Homes had to have priority over public buildings with building materials scarce.
A reconstruction fund had been started almost
on the day the church was destroyed. At first Redland Park's target was £3,000.
This was raised to £4,000 and then £5,000, which was eventually reached. Later
the Congregational Union of England and Wales opened a nation-wide fund "New
Advance" into which we put our money. We wanted some of our funds to help
re-build other churches, smaller or poorer than ourselves, which had been
damaged.
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