Where you sit in church may influence what you think about our hassocks. If you sit in the centre aisle you may marvel at the organisation and skill that went into the creating of the designs and then matching them up across a wide band of workers. If you sit in the north aisle you might be aware of the slight variations that crept in – you will know that they aren’t all quite as uniform as the people in the centre aisle think. But if you sit in the south aisle you will experience the full glory of all those free spirits who simply couldn’t stick to the general scheme.
Here are the people who used green instead of blue or red; who interpreted the designs to suit themselves and delight the eye of the non-conformist; who abandoned the patterns altogether and made up their own, who went for fleur-de-lys and fish [bit of a challenge to find this one as it’s swimming upside down!]
I wonder what the people who masterminded the scheme thought – did they rejoice in originality or groan inwardly as each fresh creation was handed in. Did they hang them all in that aisle or have they gravitated there by themselves [Barbara Thomson and Wendy Trewin opened their book on Church Kneelers with the suggestion that they do, indeed, get up and swap places at night]. Could it have anything to do with the fact that the children seem mainly to congregate in the south aisle? Whatever the reason one day why not have a change? Sit in the south aisle and look about you and say a prayer for all those free spirits who lighten up our lives.
Your Favourite Hassock