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Chris Peel
Churchwarden
I was born in 1936 - the week that the Crystal Palace was burned down! Schooling took place at various establishments due to the Second World War until I went to St. Dunstans College, Catford. My main hobby was birdwatching on the North Kent marshes, Ruxley Gravel pits, Mitcham Common and elsewhere, all reached by bicycle before school and in the holidays. I spent 2 years National service in the RN as a leading stoker and shallow water diver. I then had 3 years working for Spicers the Paper Merchants at Blackfriars before going to St. Peters College, Birmingham to train as a Secondary School teacher of RE and Geography. Subsequently, whilst teaching in Bromley I studied for a B.Sc. in Geography at Birkbeck College, London University.
In 1967 I married Jean, also a teacher, and we lived in West Wickham for 7 years before moving to Halstead in 1973. Our children, Annabel and Rupert went to the village school and later to schools in Tunbridge Wells.
The ministry of Guy King and Herbert Cragg at Christ Church Beckenham were very important in my Christian development during my teens and early twenties. National Service was a very good experience as a younger Christian. I have helped at Christian boys camps at Salcombe and in the Lake District as a climbing and canoeing leader which I very much enjoyed. Jean and I have been involved with St. Margaret's Church since we arrived in Halstead. We have helped with the youth club, Sunday School, study groups, Alpha courses and many different Church events. I have also been Church Warden twice before.
I have always been interested in the natural world and have been fortunate enough to indulge this interest via gardening for work and pleasure. Conservation and working for sustainability and a more equable world are concerns I feel Christians should identify with. In permaculture parlance Christians should welcome frugality and accept the 5 Rs towards sustainability. Refuse, reduce, reuse, repair and recycle. We are aware of recycling but we could make more constructive decisions about the world's resources with a less materialistic outlook.
