The Parish Church of St John-at-Hampstead

Day-trip by Eurostar to Brussels, Saturday 14th May

‘What could be more agreeable…….. (as Lord Clark of ‘Civilization’ always used to preface his famous television programmes)……… than to sit at a pavement café of the bustling, cobblestone square of the Grand Place in Brussels, sipping a ‘café chaud viennois’, and contemplating the passing crowds against a backdrop of that architectural masterpiece, the Town Hall, and the harmonious unity of the Flemish Renaissance buildings which make up the historical and commercial heart of the city?

On an unseasonably cool Saturday morning in May, 22 of us gathered at the Eurostar terminal at Waterloo Station to catch the 08.39 express, via Lille, to Brussels. The trip was in part a celebration of the thirtieth anniversary of the founding of the Study Centre at Hampstead Parish Church, and also, among much else, to visit Father Bob Eccles at the Dominican Priory in Brussels, to partake of a most hospitable lunch, and learn more about his life there as a Prison Chaplain.

After the relatively decorous pace of the Eurostar through the Kentish countryside, the train emerged from the Channel Tunnel at a brisk 300 kms an hour, and in no time at all we were clambering into six taxis at the Central Station in Brussels en route for our first port of call, the Dominican Priory. Any notion that Father Bob spent his entire days in other-worldly meditation could not have been further from the truth. His graphic account of the life of a hands-on Prison Chaplain in Brussels, where 50% of the prisoners are foreigners (many from North Africa) was arresting, and highlighted the invaluable role that a prison chaplain (who is answerable to God, not to princes, potentates or political preferment) can play. Our second guest speaker was Martina Weiss, a former member of the Hampstead Quakers, who, since 2002, has been working in Brussels for the Quaker Council for European Affairs. In a well- informed talk, she described the means by which the Council works to further its aims of peace, human rights and economic justice, a daunting challenge which involves enlisting the support of very well-stipended MEPs whose priorities are not always contiguous with those of the Quakers!

Father Bob then escorted us on a tour of the Priory church and its well-stocked library, where copies of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s ‘Le Contrat Social’ are much in evidence above the counter, and Hergé’s adventures of Tintin beneath it!

One of the highlights of our visit was that it afforded each of us, according to our tastes, three hours in which to pursue our own interests. Some of us went on to visit the Quaker Headquarters, and others of us, including your correspondent, took the Metro Viennois into Central Brussels to inspect some of the main tourist attractions. The Cathedral of Sts. Michel and Gudule is well worth a visit. It is the national Church of Belgium although it was only granted Cathedral status in 1962. It is the finest surviving example of Brabant Gothic architecture, and having been fully restored and cleaned in the 1990s, is a magnificent treasure- house of carved pulpits, plaster statues, stained-glass windows and, above all, freshness and light. As this was my first visit to Brussels, I also visited the tiny statue of Mannekin Pis which is, to Brussels, what the Trevi Fountain is to Rome, or the Lions in Trafalgar Square to London. This unlikely attraction of a young boy barely 1ft high relieving himself into a small pool is a Belgian landmark! Some of us went shopping in the splendid arcades and bought local cheese and wine as a memento.

At 1800 hrs. we all gathered in an upper room in the well-appointed ‘Chez Léon’ restaurant for a most convivial farewell dinner. Tongues of fire there may not have been, nor even a rushing mighty wind, but we were fortified by very appetising Belgian cuisine accompanied by discriminating wines. Then, in a glow of acquiescence and slightly unsteady on our pins, we proceeded to the Central Station for the return trip to London.
This account would not be complete without a heartfelt ‘thank-you’ to Father Bob in Brussels, and to Mary Shakeshaft, the organising guru in London, ably assisted by Doris Asher and Mary Barnes. The Duke of Wellington once observed that ‘time spent on reconnaissance is seldom wasted’, and Mary Shakeshaft observed the Iron Duke’s advice to the letter! We all arrived safely back after a most stimulating and enjoyable day.