Rayners Lane Baptist Church is a multi-cultural, evangelical church. It was built in 1935 in memory of Janet Ireland Hoare.
In every way Janet was Baptist born, her mother’s father being president of the Scottish Baptist Union and her own father minister of Harrow Baptist Church (1901-1919) and later (1920-1932) of South Harrow Baptist Church. Sent locally to St Margaret’s School, Janet proved a natural scholar who, after further years as a pupil at the famous girls’ school Roedean, had all the qualifications to embark on a career in medicine. With what now seem amazing prescience, however, she appears to have worried about the physical demands of such a career. To her diary she confided that she was not sure if she were strong enough, adding: “If I work a bit harder than usual, I get so headachy, tired and heavy.”
Nevertheless, by 1928 she had not only graduated in medicine from London University, she had also acquired a gold medal in gynaecology. She had set here sights on medical missionary work overseas and applied for a post in India.
Though it may be hard for us to believe today, 70 years ago a journey to India was a much greater undertaking than a fast flight to Delhi so it was no surprise that a vast number of her friends turned up at Euston Station to see her off – so many friends, in fact, that she felt like “Mary Pickford or some other famous person”. In the event, it took her the best part of a month to reach her destination, a women’s hospital at Palwal, some 40 miles south of Delhi.
But in the cruelest fashion, her hopes were soon to be dashed. On April 4, little more than two months after her arrival, Janet complained of a headache but attributed it to eye strain from the Urdu script she was studying (she was obliged to wear spectacles for reading). As her temperature began to rise it was thought she had succumbed to influenza. In fact, she had developed a virulent lung infection and, within days, she lapsed into unconsciousness. Janet died soon afterwards, still in her twenties, still in missionary terms a “bachcha” (beginner). Yet her death was to prove a beginning in a very different sense.
Inspired by her example, Baptists back home in Harrow redoubled their efforts to found a Baptist Church in Rayners Lane and May 1935 saw the laying of the foundation stone of the present church in Imperial Drive. As a plaque on the wall still proudly proclaims, it is dedicated to the undying memory of Janet Ireland Hoare.
On to the sums, at the given coordinates there is a notice board about the church.
Number of letters of the 2nd word on the top line = A
Time of last service of the day = B.CD
Number of letters after @ in the twitter address = E
Now move to the church door. On the left is a stone plaque.
Number of letters on the second line = F
The final cache is a short distance away at N 51 34.(B+1)(A-D)E W 0 21.(2*A)(F-A)(C)
Checksum of the calculated numbers is 33. The final is a nano a short walk away, please re-hide carefully.
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