* I was called at short notice to conduct a wedding in a neighbouring parish. At the rehearsal I learned that the couple had chosen JERUSALEM as one of their hymns. But they didn’t look like a couple who would sing that piece, nor could I find out how they thought it fitted the occasion. So that evening, by way of trying to come to terms with what seemed to me a strange situation, I attempted an alternative to ‘Jerusalem’, and called it ‘Blakelove’.

Fifteen years later I developed the text so that it is now suitable for wedding or partnership anniversaries, as well as for weddings. The developed version follows on the original.