Chapel of no rest

SOMEWHERE in the hymn Love Divine, All Loves Excelling, sung with great gusto last Sunday evening, there's a line about "Fix in us thine humble dwelling." It could almost have been a reference to Harmby Methodist Chapel, celebrating its 150th anniversary this weekend.

It's an unpretentious but clearly cared for little church, to which porch and school room were added in 1920 at a cost of £347 but which still might not be called grand, soaring or over- elaborate.

Yet so far as the good folk of Harmby are concerned - and as the 19th century American playwright J H Payne almost observed - be it ever so humble, there really is no place like it.

The chapel not only survives but thrives. Numbers, down to four or five a few years ago, have swollen to around 20. Four hundred per cent increase sounds better.

"It just seems to have taken off since Christmas," says local builder George Tunstall, one of the stewards. "Nearly every Sunday there just seem to be one or two more."

Harmby's a very pleasant little place just east of Leyburn, in Wensleydale, dipping beneath Pen Hill in the April evening sunshine and usually linked with Spennithorne, a couple of fields away.

Nothing much happens, of course, though legend has it that a chap who lived in the old manor house was hanged, drawn and quartered - "No-one knows why, but he must have done summat," says Margaret Hobbs, the organist.

The Northern Echo's cuttings library, a bit more reliable, records a more recent crime spree in 1979, the spate of burglaries particularly embarrassing because North Yorkshire's chief constable was among the residents.

The constabulary never caught up with them, but gave someone who'd been broken into four times a retired police dog in an attempt to deter a fifth.

The chapel clock, near the pulpit so that a good Methodist hour may meticulously be measured, was given in 1929 in memory of villager Tom Watkinson, killed by a bull.

This weekend's celebrations, and others throughout the year, were preceded on Sunday by what officially was a Songs of Praise service - a wonderful, Old Rugged Cross sort of an evening which effectively was an ecclesiastical Old Time Music Hall.

But most of all...

The yellow painted chapel was full, every seat taken and extra hymn books dusted down from the depths. "There must have been nine-tenths of Harmby in there," said a chap in the Pheasant afterwards.

"If the turnout's that good at the general election, William Hague will get in no problem."

It began with All Creatures That on Earth Do Dwell, number one in the book, so that fleetingly we all wondered if it might be an attempt to sing Hymns and Psalms from beginning to end before expiring, exhausted, at number 888.

"I don't want you raising the roof mind, we've just had it painted," said Norma Conder, the other steward.

We sang And Can It Be, How Great Thou Art, Nearer My God To Thee, O For a Thousand Tongues - "We have to have that one," said Allen Dinsdale, the Wensleydale local preacher who led the service - and To God Be the Glory.

While Charles Wesley might have wished for another 950 tongues, the 50 or so present gave handsome voice, nonetheless, the hills alive with the sound of music.

The hymn boards wholly incapable of containing so great a cornucopia, announcements were left to Mr Dinsdale - a delightful, deep voiced dalesman who's been a highly regarded preacher for 40 years but who could never supplement his earnings as a bingo caller.

Sometimes he forgot altogether, on other occasions got the numbers the wrong way round. The congregation, full house, didn't mind a bit.

Irene and Andy Souter, familiar Dales duettists, had squeezed in with their accordion, too. As she has done for 50 years, Margaret Hobbs offered accompaniment.

"More really, but we'll call it 50," said Margaret, who began on an old harmonium - "Mind I did some pedalling on that, legs like I don't know what" - continued on a second hand Yamaha ("not very successful"), wishes she'd practised harder but is universally admired.

Margaret recalled the struggle to keep the chapel going, told how much she loved the village, rejoiced at fresh shoots and sesquicentennial. Alan Thexton supposed that credit for the revival must also go to Richard Harris, Wensleydale's Methodist minister. "He must never be at home, it's great," said Alan, though Mrs Harris - who's Swaledale's minister - may not entirely agree.

They've also produced a splendidly illustrated anniversary booklet, each copy taking an hour and a quarter to print on Wilson Ingleby's personal computer. "He'll likely need more than that," said George Tunstall.

The Rev Graham Carter, the Darlington district chairman, is up there tomorrow (6.30pm) to lead the anniversary service, so many expected that, while there'll be a memorabilia exhibition in the chapel, the service will be in the village hall.

Perhaps on that occasion, they'll also sing Tell Out My Soul, with the line about the hungry fed and the humble lifted high. Harmby, 150 years on, is no less on the up.

l An anniversary concert with Leyburn Ladies Choir takes place in Harmby village hall at 7.30pm tonight, the main anniversary service in the village hall at 6.30pm tomorrow. Other events include a Victorian tea and memorabilia exhibition (3-5pm) on May 2 and an Ascension Day service in chapel at 7.30pm on Thursday, May 5.

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