In celebration of the 250th birthday of Hugh Bourne at Cloud, we began with a walk via some of the farmhouses where Hugh Bourne preached before Cloud chapel was built. Along the route we visited an old Baptist burial area, predating the Primitive Methodists.
Children and adults enjoyed listening to interesting information about the farming families who opened their homes to Hugh Bourne. Those families included the Dakin/Deakin family. We heard about one occasion when a funeral was held at Woodhouse Green Farm, so many people crowded into the farmhouse parlour that the floor collapsed and they all found themselves in the cellar!
Revd David Leese, secretary of the Wesleyan Historical Society, visited Cloud. He is descended from the Dakin family. Revd David shared a wealth of information relating to early Primitive Methodism and Cloud Chapel. It was interesting to hear that Hugh Bourne encouraged ‘spiritual sisters’, hence Primitive Methodism had some of the first female preachers, including Elizabeth Dakin.
A big thank you to Revd David and to all the kind folk who supported our Hugh Bourne birthday celebrations.
[Adapted from an article in Contact magazine by Linda Ashbrook]