The Muses traditionally were legendry Greek Goddesses who ruled over the arts and sciences. They did not teach, they did not require to be worshipped, but they were a source of inspiration which enabled people to do something above the ordinary. In this modern day and age however, most people are influenced by someone or something a little bit more tangible.
The Wakefield District is home to some very special and amazing people who are committed to making a difference. We asked some of them to tell us about their own ‘Muse’, a person or a special memory that has remained with them throughout their life.
“ People remember you not by what you say, not by what you do, but the way you make them feel”.

Artists impression of the proposed re-development of the nave. Image courtesy of Steve Simpson

The Very Revd Dean George Nairn-Briggs
My mother was a very committed church goer and I went to Church on a regular basis from a very early age. When I reached my teenage years, like a lot of teenagers, I became crushingly bored with the church and didn’t want to go any more.
When I was in my late teens, every April, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) marched from Aldermaston in Berkshire [where the Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Research Establishment was based] to London, The march used to pass through Slough, where I lived, and for several years, I joined the march.
It was whilst on these marches, that I met a priest who happened to be in the next parish to the one that I lived in. His name was Father Sidney Hicks and he was quite a remarkable man. He had great integrity and was very good at talking about the things in life that really matter in an engaging way. The church in the parish I lived in was Evangelical, whereas Father Sidney’s Church was High Church. So, I started going to Church again and I just loved the liturgy and colour, the smell of incense and the order of serving. It was Father Sidney Hicks who really began to make me think that I might have a vocation to be a Priest.
It was like having God tapping me on the shoulder.
One of the things that Father Sidney conveyed to me was you could be a Christian, but also be passionately concerned with social matters, not just with personal salvation. Another was that being a Christian was fun. You could really enjoy yourself, not frivolously, but in terms of “living life to the full”. And it was this text, from St John’s Gospel, that I preached on when I was installed in Wakefield as Dean. A lot of people basically don’t believe they’re lovable, but God says, “Even when you’re most unlovable, I still love you.” Once this actually registers with you, that becomes a real bedrock. I’ve never failed to believe in God or in Jesus. I’m a simple soul really, I’ve never struggled with unbelief and I think it’s probably because I have a fairly simple understanding of what Christianity is about. What is also very important for me is that being a Christian is it’s a corporate activity. The Church uses the model of being the Body of Christ about itself. This means that although every individual is important, we are an entity, and we need each other. When I’m feeling low, I know the people who can support me and hopefully vice versa, so the sense of the Corporate is very important to me.
The other thing about Sidney was that he was a one issue person. The whole nuclear disarmament issue was his total life really, and I think I’ve learned to be cautious of one issue people. Certainly, I have discovered that if you become totally obsessed with one issue, it distorts the lens through which you look at life. You need a broader view of life to be balanced. But, it is interesting how people can teach you by their behaviour, how not to be!
Those who want to be unkind might say of me that I have a gad-fly brain and that I don’t stay with anything very long. I must admit, I do have a very low boredom threshold, and I tend to move from one activity to another, but that does enable me to actually sustain a very long day because I’m constantly refocusing. It’s also about maintaining the balance between dealing with pretty big issues and yet remembering that every individual person is important.
Whilst I was working in South London, it was the then Archdeacon of Halifax, who I knew from General Synod, who suggested that I apply for the new post of Bishop’s Adviser for Social Responsibility, here in Wakefield. I had been involved in social action and had done a lot in the Southwark Diocese on homelessness and other social issues. I came to Wakefield, with Candi, my wife, to be interviewed and was offered the job.
It’s important to deal with people so they don’t feel you’re constantly looking over their shoulder for someone more interesting to talk to or at your watch. I always remember my first boss when I was ordained, said to me, “You may be doing the seventh funeral of the day for you, but for that family, it’s the only one.”
I’ve been very fortunate. I’ve actually had some wonderful work to do, but I do work hard and I enjoy that, I enjoy preaching and also teaching. At the moment, I’m Chairing a marriage revision measure for the church where we’re thinking of broadening out where people can get married. It’s good to discuss and share ideas with other people.
The Dean is ultimately the person with whom the buck stops at the Cathedral. I think for me, the Dean’s job, is a bit like being Ben-Hur. You’re driving a chariot with loads of horses and to get safely round the circuit, you’ve got to make sure that all the horses point in the right direction and are running roughly at the same speed, and its my responsibility to do that.
I hope that what I can do is develop, with the help of colleagues, what we’re doing here at the Cathedral, so that when I retire, whoever comes after me will feel they’ve inherited something worthwhile.
It’s my tenth anniversary this year. It’s been a very happy time for me and I’ve been privileged to work with some very gifted and special people.

Dean George Nairn-Briggs was appointed Dean of Wakefield in 1997, having come to Wakefield in 1987 to take up the post of Bishop’s Advisor for Social Responsibility. Dean George was born in Slough, Berkshire, and his first job was Government Press Officer in Whitehall. After three years at Kings College, London, he was ordained in 1969 and spent seventeen years in South London in parish life.
He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of West Yorkshire in 2006. He is a Church Commissioner, and represents the Northern Deans on the General Synod of the Church of England; Independent Chairman of Wakefield MDC Standards Committee; President of the Yorkshire Scouts Association and trustee of various cultural bodies and charities.