The churchyard of St Ecgwin’s in Honeybourne has been decorated with a beautiful display of poppies and black bands, made by members of the village.
Knitted poppies and bands have been wrapped around each tree that forms the avenue leading up to the church, and a striking ‘poppy swoosh’, made for last year’s Remembrance Day, extends from the church porch.
“We had lots of positive feedback from the ‘poppy swoosh’ last year,” said Paula Staples, St Ecgwin’s PCC member and a member of the fabric team. “The fabric team wanted to do something again this year, and we’ve always admired the lovely avenue of trees leading to the porch. Someone suggested knitting bands around each tree on the avenue, and it just took off.”
The ‘Avenue of Remembrance’ was finished in time for the village’s Remembrance service, taking place at 3pm on Sunday 9 November this year.
“I put a notice in the May newsletter asking people to make poppies and black bands. I shared a pattern for people to use if they wished, but I said to everyone to design them however they liked. Some followed the pattern; others came up with their own ideas – one person even used the bottom of a lemonade bottle, painted red with a black button in the middle. It looked like a perfect poppy,” Paula said.
The villagers dropped off their finished poppies and bands at the church, and members of the church’s fabric team assembled the display last Tuesday. Barbara Laing did a lot of stitching of poppies onto bands, while Kath Sillence made several bands and helped out with attaching the bands to the trees. Ian Humphreys, Peter Nava, Phil Mole and Paul Sillence did the necessary repairs on last year’s swoosh, and safely and carefully put it in place over the porch. Janet Mole (Phil’s wife) also joined the team on site to help with attaching the bands to the trees.
“We were blessed with bands that absolutely fitted the trees. I couldn’t believe it. They were all different sizes, but then so are the trees. It was just one of those miracles. Everything fitted perfectly,” Paula said.
The project reflects a wider effort to bring people into the life of the church.
“We need a lot of work done on the building. It’s a medieval, grade 1 listed building. We’re trying to engage the community more with the church, not just from a religious point of view, but more because it’s a wonderful, beautiful village asset that needs love to stay. We’ve held plant sales, organ recitals and other events to encourage people to come and see how beautiful it is. The poppy display is just another example.
“We have been careful not to do anything that detracts from the War Memorial or the headstones. We want things to be tasteful and appropriate. People walk through the churchyard all the time, and everyone I meet says how lovely it looks. It’s been very warmly received in the village.”
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