On This Day, 7 April 1917

Birmingham Daily Post

Saturday 7 April 1917

GOOD FRIDAY

 A QUIET DAY IN BIRMINGHAM

The third Good Friday under war conditions was remarkable, so far as Birmingham was concerned, for activity in land cultivations. Falling later than usual this, the first break in the year’s routine, was characterised by a backwardness in the season rare for many years. Rain fell on Thursday night followed by a light downfall of snow. The latter, however, soon disappeared under the influence of a bright sun, and with the exception of a somewhat low temperature, the weather conditions were favourable for getting about. The land, however, was on the wet side, so that gardening operations did not make the progress which otherwise would have been the case, although so far as one could judge there was no diminution either in energy or enthusiasm on the part of allotment holders.

This year, as before, Good Friday meant only a holiday for limited sections of the community. Munition workers and factory hands generally continued working as usual, and heavy motor wagons whizzed along the streets transporting material and goods to and fro. Business of a non-essential character was mostly suspended, and the shops, of course, were closed, that a large number people enjoyed a day’s freedom. In the absence of facilities to travel, the day was mostly spent quietly at home; even had they existed, the disposition to make holiday was absent. War anxieties were probably the cause of the Good Friday services in most of the places of worship being better attended than in other days. Something of an innovation was made by the Rector of the Cathedral Church, Birmingham, arranging for an open-air service yesterday afternoon. It was conducted in the churchyard, at the west end. A procession, headed by the choir, and including Bishop Hamilton Baynes and Canon Adderley, proceeded there from the vestry. Behind came the limited congregation that had assembled in the Cathedral for evensong. The service was short one, consisting the singing of hymns, the special prayers by the Church for our sailors and soldiers and for the nation, and an address by Canon Adderley, who emphasised the significance of Good Friday.