In the spring of this year a team of twelve volunteers led by our member John Arnell spent ten days on the Holy Mountain attempting to put this project into action. Based at the monastery of Vatopedi, their brief was to assess the size of the task, to undertake a modest amount of path clearance, and to plan a programme of future action. The Prince of Wales gave up a day to work with the team and was able to see for himself what progress had been made on the project that he instigated. Work was confined to the area surrounding Vatopedi: a total of 5 km of path were cleared to a good standard and a further 26 km were surveyed. A full account will appear in this year’s Annual Report and there will be an opportunity to discuss the results at the next meeting of the society in the spring.

Meanwhile a team is being assembled for next year’s expedition which is scheduled to go out for the ten days following Orthodox Easter (5 May). The project is supported by a number of organizations including the Latsis Foundation, the Alliance of Religions and Conservation, St James’s Palace, and the Friends of Mount Athos, who between them cover all expenses. The British Trust for Conservation Volunteers provided the initial advice that enabled a plan to be prepared and the experienced team leaders whose practical guidance ensured that real progress was made. Members of the Friends who wish to volunteer their services are encouraged to contact John Arnell, Jersey Farm, Little London, Berden, nr Bishops Stortford, Herts CM23 1BD (John@thearnells.org).

The Executive Committee invites members of the Friends (and their families and friends) to participate in a four-day pilgrimage to the two monastic dependencies of Simonopetra in southern France. The event, to take place from Friday 14 June to Monday 17 June 2002, will include visits to the male community of St Antony the Great at St-Laurent-en-Royans near Grenoble and to the convent of the Holy Protection near Avignon.

St Antony’s, located in the Dauphiné in a deep and very beautiful valley of the Vercours, is built on the remains of an eleventh-century priory and its site resembles the abrupt and barren slopes of the Meteora. Recently the monastery’s newly frescoed katholikon was consecrated to the memory of St Silouan the Athonite. Père Placide, the abbot, leads a community of 15 monks of different nationalities and backgrounds and is also the founder and spiritual father of the convent.

Holy Protection Monastery, at present comprising 20 nuns under Abbess Ipantia, was once the site of a seventeenth-century Benedictine house in Mas de Solan in the Gard region. It includes a large agricultural domain (20 hectares) and forest (40 hectares) where ‘agrobiotic farming’ — organic cultivation based on traditional farming methods — is practised. Assisted by ‘The Friends of Solan’, an association that gathers people of different backgrounds and religious traditions who are interested in what is being achieved at the monastery, the sisters produce jams, cheeses, olive oil, vegetables, and prize-winning wines.

The total cost, including air fares (from the UK) and bus transportation (in France), guides, accommodation, and food (lunches and dinners in the monastic refectories), will be within the range of £300 to £350. Twenty places are being reserved and early notification of interest will allow us to find the least expensive air fare. Applications with a £50 non-refundable deposit (cheques should be made payable to Dr Dimitri Conomos) should be sent no later than 15 Fenruary 2002 to Dimitri Conomos, 5 Moreton Road, Oxford OX2 7AX (dimitri.ec@btinternet.com).

Applications are invited from suitably qualified graduate students working for a higher degree or diploma at institutions of higher learning in the UK for the Friends of Mount Athos Travel Bursary for 2002. Applicants may be drawn from any discipline but should be already engaged in or willing to become engaged in a project with a specifically Athonite context. The value of the award is £300. Applications, accompanied by the names and addresses of two referees, should be addressed to the Secretary, Dr Graham Speake, Ironstone Farmhouse, Milton, Banbury OX15 4HH (graham.speake@pgen.net). The attention of applicants is drawn to the fact that women are never admitted to Mount Athos.

Membership certificates are at last available and will be supplied to joining members from now on. Any existing member who would like to have one is invited to write to the Secretary, and in the case of North American members to the North American Membership Secretary, Professor Robert W. Allison, Dept of Philosophy and Religion, Bates College, Lewiston, ME 04240, USA (rallison@abacus.bates.edu).

We are planning to hold a residential conference/study weekend at Madingley Hall near Cambridge over the weekend of 28 February-2 March 2003. The event will be convened jointly by the Friends of Mount Athos and the Institute of Orthodox Christian Studies in Cambridge and will be devoted to the theme of ‘The Spirituality of Mount Athos’. Reservations will be invited nearer the time, but it would be helpful if those who might be interested in coming were to send their names to the Secretary now, without obligation but simply as a guide to likely numbers. Ideas for sponsorship would also be welcome. Assuming sponsors can be found, it is hoped to keep the cost for a full-board package (Friday evening to Sunday afternoon) to a maximum of £150 per person. The programme will include a distinguished panel of speakers and will be built around a liturgical framework.

Subscriptions for 2002 are due on 1 January. A form for renewal of membership is enclosed with the mailed paper copy of this newsletter. Members are urged to respond promptly to this request and, where possible (not applicable for those outside of the UK and the European Community), to sign a banker’s order and a Gift Aid form. The former makes life simpler for all of us; the latter enriches the society at no extra cost to you. If you are a life member or have already signed a banker’s order form or if you joined in the last quarter of 2001, you may safely ignore the renewal notice.

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