This is the second year that St. John the Baptist, Parish Church of Henley in Arden, Warwickshire (to give it its proper title) has held its Christmas Tree Festival.
Christmas tree festivals are becoming increasingly popular in the U.K. I believe we may have imported the idea from the U.S. Certainly we saw our first C.T. F. at the Powel Crosley Estate, Sarasota, Florida. It was a very grand affair.
My wife saw an article in our local newspaper which mentioned the St. John's C.T.F. Because Henley in Arden is not very far away from where we live we decided that we would visit the Christmas Tree display.
We went on Wednesday 3rd December, it was a gloriously sunny day but quite cold with the temperature around six degrees centigrade (c.42F).
I have known the St. John's Church since childhood when my uncle, who owned a car, still quite a rare thing in the early 1950's, used to take us to have one of the famed Henley in Arden Ice Creams. The shop which sold them is still in existence and my wife and I make a pilgrimage at least once a year. it's no hardship I can assure you :-).
However, this was the first time in all those years, that I had actually been inside St. Johns.
I had admired its ancient (C15) architecture and its somewhat strange position in the centre of the town, right on the edge of the busy Stratford Road. It can be truly counted as a treasure of England and of Warwickshire in particular. I can say that with even greater conviction now that I have been inside and seen the magnificent and a little unusual, stained glass windows.
As regards the Christmas tree display: I will have to say that when I first cast my eyes upon the trees, arranged along the walls of the Church, my hearts dropped. I still carry in my mind the images from the display that we saw in Sarasota. I have also seen photographs taken at similar events in the U.K. and generally they have been similar to the American ones.
The main reason that I was initially (I would emphasis the word initially - see below) disappointed in the St. John's display was because of the size of the trees used. They were universally 3ft. high whereas the American ones and the ones that i have seen photographs of in the U.K. were around 6ft. They were therefore, even in their undecorated state, much more imposing.
However, once the knowledgeable and amusing lady, who was acting as the the welcoming guide that morning, had encouraged us to examine the trees closely and to take cognisance of who had decorated them, any disappointment fell away completely.
Incidentally, 3Ft. trees was the standard set down by the organisers. This rule created fairness and also kept the cost down. Both laudable objectives.
We were totally charmed by the theming of each tree and the obvious care and creativity that had gone into decorating them. In walking around looking at the trees I was also able to take in the magnificence of the building itself.
I found myself thinking of all the people who had worshiped there over the centuries; how they had looked forward to this time of year and in what style they would have decorated their church.
Here are some photographs that I took: -
Christmas tree festivals are becoming increasingly popular in the U.K. I believe we may have imported the idea from the U.S. Certainly we saw our first C.T. F. at the Powel Crosley Estate, Sarasota, Florida. It was a very grand affair.
My wife saw an article in our local newspaper which mentioned the St. John's C.T.F. Because Henley in Arden is not very far away from where we live we decided that we would visit the Christmas Tree display.
We went on Wednesday 3rd December, it was a gloriously sunny day but quite cold with the temperature around six degrees centigrade (c.42F).
I have known the St. John's Church since childhood when my uncle, who owned a car, still quite a rare thing in the early 1950's, used to take us to have one of the famed Henley in Arden Ice Creams. The shop which sold them is still in existence and my wife and I make a pilgrimage at least once a year. it's no hardship I can assure you :-).
However, this was the first time in all those years, that I had actually been inside St. Johns.
I had admired its ancient (C15) architecture and its somewhat strange position in the centre of the town, right on the edge of the busy Stratford Road. It can be truly counted as a treasure of England and of Warwickshire in particular. I can say that with even greater conviction now that I have been inside and seen the magnificent and a little unusual, stained glass windows.
As regards the Christmas tree display: I will have to say that when I first cast my eyes upon the trees, arranged along the walls of the Church, my hearts dropped. I still carry in my mind the images from the display that we saw in Sarasota. I have also seen photographs taken at similar events in the U.K. and generally they have been similar to the American ones.
The main reason that I was initially (I would emphasis the word initially - see below) disappointed in the St. John's display was because of the size of the trees used. They were universally 3ft. high whereas the American ones and the ones that i have seen photographs of in the U.K. were around 6ft. They were therefore, even in their undecorated state, much more imposing.
However, once the knowledgeable and amusing lady, who was acting as the the welcoming guide that morning, had encouraged us to examine the trees closely and to take cognisance of who had decorated them, any disappointment fell away completely.
Incidentally, 3Ft. trees was the standard set down by the organisers. This rule created fairness and also kept the cost down. Both laudable objectives.
We were totally charmed by the theming of each tree and the obvious care and creativity that had gone into decorating them. In walking around looking at the trees I was also able to take in the magnificence of the building itself.
I found myself thinking of all the people who had worshiped there over the centuries; how they had looked forward to this time of year and in what style they would have decorated their church.
Here are some photographs that I took: -
The Trees
The Church Windows
The Nativity (above the Entrance)
The Millennium Window (South Wall)
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| Enthroned Christ with His Disciples (East Wall) |
Nick
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