Ghost story writer, biographer, magazine columnist, Canon John Barnes, who is about to retire after 10 years as parish priest at St Felix RC Church in Felixstowe and more than 50 years as a clergyman, is a natural communicator.

Somehow, in spite of a hectic schedule caring for his flock at various churches over the decades, Fr John has found time to write a number of books, which include a powerful memoir about his conversion 30 years ago from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism, a book of spine-chilling ghostly tales and a biography of Anglican priest George Ratcliffe Woodward, who wrote the lyrics for the carol "Ding Dong Merrily on High". 

Latterly, Fr John has been a popular columnist for the free magazines in Felixstowe, articles which have been admired across the religious spectrum. 

Fr John, who will turn 80 next year, is looking forward to a new era in his life and admits he has been feeling tired. Unlike many men who retire in their sixties, he has continued to work, partly as a result of a lack of younger priests coming through.

He will leave in early September and move to his small cottage by the quayside in Wells-next-the-Sea to enjoy hobbies of sketching, walking and reading.

"To my parishioners I say thank you for your kindness and good humour and putting up with me. I have done my best to serve but am aware of my failings," says Fr John, who believes his yet to be announced successor could be the last full-time parish priest in Felixstowe for quite a while.

Fr John was born into a strongly Anglican family in Chester and after his degree from the University of Wales and an MA from Durham he spent a year teaching at a prep school in the Malvern Hills, which helped boost his abilities as a public speaker.

He then trained in Oxford to be an Anglican cleric and served in Newcastle upon Tyne and at St Asaph Cathedral in north Wales. His next appointment was as vicar of Walsingham where he remained for 12 years before being named as vicar of Wymondham where his relationship with the Church of England began to fray. The ordination of women was a major stumbling block.

He recalls: There were great changes in the Church of England at the time which were not justified by the Gospels. I realised that the Church founded by Jesus should have Peter's successor at its head. I came to realise that Roman Catholicism was the most authentic manifestation of Christianity, the Rolls-Royce, if you like."

"I grew up in an intensely Anglican family but had always been interested in Roman Catholicism without knowing much about it. I believe the Holy Spirit was at work and I was drawn towards the faith. Thankfully, there was no bad feeling at Wymondham Abbey when I left!"

In 1994, after a short spell at a Catholic seminary, he was appointed as curate in Lowestoft before moving as parish priest for five years to Bury St Edmunds and then 13 years in Dereham, transferring to Felixstowe in 2014.

Fr John says: "I have been very happy. In most parishes there are usually one or two difficult parishioners but here there have been none! I love the [Grade II listed] church building and my 'coffin-shaped' house. I will miss the town." He will also miss the prisoners at Hollesley Bay and Warren Hill jails where he has been a regular visitor to say Mass.

He believes the main challenges facing the Church are to enthuse the faithful, encourage lapsed Catholics to have a change of heart and then to increase evangelisation. But it is now up to his successors to tackle those challenges while he takes a well deserved rest.

"I am just as enthusiastic being a Catholic as I was 30 years ago. It is wonderful being a priest. I love it," he says.