Foxtrot 2022
The Foxtrot saw 16 kids and seven teachers from five different Quaker schools all come together on a pilgrimage to learn the origins of Quakerism. Sidcot, Sibford, Leighton Park, Friends School Lisburn (Northern Ireland), and Brummana High School (Lebanon).
On day one there was lots of driving. We swapped buses at every stop so we could all get to know each other. We made a group chat and learned lots of Lebanese Arabic words. Our first stop was Clitheroe Meeting House for a talk about the start of Quakerism. We then walked up Pendle Hill, where George Fox had his vision. The weather was awful, and we were in the middle of a cloud. The walk was about as difficult as expected but we made it to the top and took lots of photos together. I’m proud of myself for doing it. We then drove to the hostel, unpacked, made pizzas, and chatted for the whole evening. We learned a very silly song about George Fox and his “shaggy, shaggy locks” and learned who our secret friends for the weekend were going to be.
Day two started with a drive to Brigflats meeting house which is one of the first meeting houses, it was very nice to explore and then we went to Firbank Fell. The weather was too bad for us to spend lots of time there, but it was interesting to go see where George Fox preached about Quakerism. We then went to Kendall Meeting House to see the Quaker tapestries that all had so much detail and story to them. There was a tapestry full of all the original Quaker schools. This was followed by free time in Kendall. We had a lovely wander around and everyone bought Christmas jumpers from a second-hand sale, which we wore later that evening with some tinsel and an advent calendar. We made sure to give the Brummana High School students the true British experience by going to Poundland. In the evening we all took part, in short, let your life speak talks where we spoke about anything that inspired us, motivated us, or something we just wanted to share.
On the last day, we went to Swarthmoor Meeting House. There we had an hour-long meeting for worship which was actually very nice. Many of us were very tired from staying up too late the night before. After meeting for worship, we explored the meeting house and the graveyard next door before heading to Swarthmoor Hall to see where George Fox lived. We then said our goodbyes and started on the long journey home where we spent the whole time singing and reminiscing over our time together.
I would wholeheartedly recommend this trip to anyone who wants to learn more about Quakerism or anyone who just wants to make some incredible lifelong friends.
A huge thanks and lots of love to Dylan, Reuben, Marielle, Joya, Rhea, Shirley, Clara, Julius, Christopher, Millie, Harriet, Rufus, Qi, Ollie, TomTom, Joey, Barley, Mark, Dan, Zoe, Helen, and Jenny.
