As a young man I confess a prize possession was Fr Blagdon-Gamlen’s Church Travellers Directory – or to give it its full title: The Church Travellers Directory: Giving the Names of Anglican Churches in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, where may be found a Daily Celebration of the Holy Communion, a Sung Eucharist on all Sundays, Fixed Times when Confessions may be heard, and continuous Reservation of the Blessed Sacrament.
Thanks to Fr Blagdon-Gamlen I had fun visiting such places as St Silas, Pentonville, The Ascension, Lavender Hill, St Agatha, Sparkbrook, St Alban, Bordesley, St Barnabas, Balsall Heath…
4* (DSCR) was the best accolade for an Anglo Catholic church. Fr B-G didn’t actually use a * rating, but readers often translated the initials after churches to stars.
The directory dates from 1973 and over the years times have changed, and Fr Blagdon-Gamlen’s directory has not been reprinted, for many, understandable, reasons. It has become a resource for nostalgia or history. Neither are bad things in themselves, and so here on my blog I offer the Directory in pdf form.
A reminder of the initials used:
D: Daily Mass (at least 5 weekdays), S: Sunday celebration of Mass / Parish Communion every Sunday at the same time, C: Confessions heard at advertised times, R: Continuous Reservation of the Blessed Sacrament.
The Church Travellers Directory – (pdf files) (2nd Edition 1973)
London Postal District (including the introduction).
English Counties L-Y and Ireland
Please feel free to make a comment below. For example, does a church you know still offer the provision it did in the Directory? See if there is a DSCR church you know in the directory and let us know if it still offers that provision.
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