Open House Weekend
We got off to a slow start on Saturday morning and began to wonder if it had all been a huge mistake. Last year, with so much locked down and no one feeling safe to travel, people came because they were just so glad to find anything open, but now we had competition. Thankfully it picked up in the afternoon and by the end of the day we had welcomed a very respectable 69 adults, one dog and one not very interested baby.
Sunday afternoon was much better. Tea outside drew visitors who hadn’t had any intention of visiting a church but who can resist home made cake? And at such reasonable prices! 64 adults came in during the afternoon, plus an indeterminate number of children (but no dogs).
So what did they see? Well, the gallery was open, that’s always a draw, even the congregation don’t often have a chance to get up close to the gallery windows and memorials.
Then there was Sue Kirby’s display from the Archives. Sue has a nose for interesting items and a determination to seek them out however daunting the storage. Plans of what might have been – I’m quite glad some of the designs for the 1878 extension were rejected! – and pictures of how the church looked in earlier years.
Then there was the Lady Chapel with the lovely Fulleylove window and the new Steevens memorial. We even had gentle organ music on Sunday which all added to the atmosphere.
How many of the visitors were “doing” Open House? Difficult to say. I rather regret the demise of the catalogue – obvious to everyone what you were doing: “How many have you done?” “Have you found……..?” “is it worth visiting…….?” Much more fun.
I’m most grateful to everyone who gave their time over the weekend to make it all possible.
Now on to the Book Sale!
