Super Saturday Remembrance
What starts with a welcome, the offer of free tea, coffee and cake and leads on to crafts?
It must be Priory Super Saturday!
Hot on the heels of the Messy Church Light Party the evening before, came the latest Super Saturday, fittingly themed around Remembrance, as the church moves into the season of Remembrancetide -All Souls, All Saints, Remembrance Sunday, Armistice Day.
Crafts had been prepared, cakes baked, the trusty urn filled and the usual Great Chair Shift had occurred (thanks to the Custodes). In St Giles Chapel a poignant camouflage net lay draped over a table, awaiting decoration with poppies.
But these were no usual poppies. Each poppy was upcycled from the base of a plastic bottle (the rest of the bottle was recycled), with a black bottle lid in the centre. Visiting children were invited to write the name of one of those on the Priory’s War Memorial onto a poppy leaf and attach it to the net. To mark this act of remembrance, each child stuck a short biography of the person to a certificate, to take home with them.
The camouflage net filled. Visitors watched, reflectively. Adults joined the children in the act of remembrance. 19, 20, 22, 36… the ages of the soldiers who gave their lives in war, ‘Pro Patria Mori’, struck home to those that read them, as they remembered the places where war still rages today.
The children - 79 children - made poppy fields, a wreath of sweet-scented Rosemary foliage and a poppy from cupcake cases, assisted by the pink-tee-shirted Super Saturday helpers. Paper carrier bags filled with their handmade treasures, carried with great care and ready to be displayed at home.
But crafting wasn’t ‘children only’ this time. Rachel, the Priory Vicar’s wife created a ‘slow stitching’ activity for grown-ups, embroidering/applique-ing a poppy onto fabric. With a cup of tea and a slice of cake from the refreshments team, to the soundtrack of visitors enjoying the glorious architecture, grown ups created beautiful poppies in a relaxed and uplifting atmosphere.
The Tower Tours left on the hour, for a trip up to the Ringing Chamber, where the Priory Bellringing Team explained and demonstrated the art of bellringing, with an opportunity for everyone to have a go, themselves.
And in the Priory, Roger the Vicar supplemented the official Guided Tours, run by the Friends, sharing his own expertise on matters Mediaeval with interested visitors. Have you ever noticed that the ‘nameless knight’ who resides on the north side of the altar steps holds a pick, not a sword? Have you ever noticed the straps, minutely and accurately carved in stone, that show how he put on his armour? Take a look next time you visit the Priory.
The next Priory Super Saturday is the Christmas Super Saturday, 22nd November 10-6.30. Come along, see the Christmas Tree Festival, enjoy the free entertainment, the free refreshments, the free children’s crafts, the warmth and ‘Join the Christmas Story’.
