The Church of the Divine Unity took part in its final Heritage Open Days in its present, original condition before the sale of the building and refurbishment goes through. We were open for three days during the festival. On the Friday and Saturday we were open from 10am until 4pm. On the Sunday we were open from 12.30 till 4pm, as we had the service in the morning. We welcomed nineteen people and a pigeon on the Friday! The pigeon was not a welcome guest, it refused to leave and settled itself in the main church hall beside the organ, but at least it didn’t require a cup of tea.

On the Saturday we saw our busiest day, with thirty people visiting our lovely church. Visitors were astonished that a place so beautiful and so close to the city centre could remain hidden for so long. I explained that the building was built with a cloaking device that we have yet been able to deactivate. I’m hoping that the church buyer manages to switch it off and make the building visible again, otherwise he will have a very quiet business hub and performing arts venue on his hands. On the Sunday we were quite quiet, with just fourteen people visiting our church. All in all, the attendance at the festival was about half what we have enjoyed in previous years. I imagine that the virus had put a lot of people off going out and about, even though the weather was mostly good.

It was nice to see some families with children taking part in the Heritage Open Days, as it has tended to be mostly older people and a few artistic types like me. We provided lots of cake and cups of tea and coffee. One couple visited us all the way from North Yorkshire, and when they arrived they had spent nearly an hour walking around trying to find the building. They were in need of emergency tea and cake, to say the least! I was just relieved that the Heritage Open Days didn’t coincide with the Great North Run, as it has in most previous years.

Big thank you to all our volunteers who helped with the Heritage Open Days. All of the church committee were in attendance at various points of the weekend and we had a few volunteers from the congregation. Thank you so much to everyone who helped. We couldn’t have done it without you, and having shown sixty-three people around our building in three days, we have hopefully left a lasting impression.

Ben MacLeod