During my life I have many people who have been an inspiration to me. One such was Father Giles Clayton. When I was at Salisbury & Wells Theological College we lived quite close to St. Martin’s Church, an Anglo-Catholic parish, where we used to go to Mass every Sunday. It was always well attended and it was quite a surprise to find that a number of the Lecturers also went there particularly as they were not of an Anglo-Catholic persuasion. Every Sunday during term time we were joined by the girls from a local Girls Public School and for the most part they sat in a side aisle chatting. The vicar, in those days, was Father Giles.
The only time the girls stopped chatting was when Father Giles went into the pulpit and as soon as he finished speaking the chatting started again. When he was in the pulpit preaching, his face became radiant, and seemed to glow. Both Ann and I noticed this independently of each other and we have mentioned this to many people over the years. The only way to describe it was that during that time he was transfigured. His sermons were always well worth listening to and radiated his holiness and the depth of his spirituality. He would often be seen around Salisbury in his cassock and often riding his bicycle. He always wore sandals without socks which he did summer or winter. He was a truly inspiring priest who radiated the love of Christ in his life and in all that he did.
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