wendy house

Church of England (C of E) Bishops taught me everything I know about upstanding moral behaviour.  Hoorah!  In this season of Jesus-birthday-induced-bravado things are wont to go a wee bit astray.  The Bish’ of Southwark (pronounced suth-ark) was reputedly in high spirits….

The BBC reports that the Bishop of Sothwark got a tad tiddly when out drinking with the Irish.  What a suprise.

Excerpt from witness at the scene:

Paul Sumpter was playing pool in a bar on, ironically, Crucifix Lane, in Bermondsey, when he heard his car alarm sound.  ”I rushed out there and I saw an old looking guy with his legs hanging out the back of my car,” said the property developer. “My baby’s toys were in the back seat and I could see him chucking them all about the place.”  There was even a Ruth Rendell novel — that was title End in Tears — which was quite ironic. After “dragging” him away, the man initially revealed himself as the Bishop of Woolwich before falling on the pavement and knocking his head which left him unconscious for about five minutes.

Excerpt from Bishop’s perspective:

“I told the police I arrived home without my briefcase and with bruising on my face and a gash on the back of my head. I went to the doctor the next day and was told my injuries were consistent with a blow to the head, so I assumed I had been mugged, but that’s a supposition. I am hoping the police will be able to be clearer.”

This photograph was taken in Soutwark Cathedral on my last UK tour, March 2005. It is the tomb of the Bishop of Soutwark who coordinated the writing of the King James Bible, completed 1611: