Jubilee Weekend

The Jubilee weekend was a busy one in the West Hereford Team, with services and socials taking place to mark the special occasion.

There were, necessarily, lots of preparations to do before the festivities began. Both the hall and the churches were beautifully decorated by a host of volunteers. There were reams of bunting, and the tables at the hall looked very smart, whilst the church was be-decked in red, white and blue flowers. Thank you to all those who turned out to decorate the hall, as well as the flower guilds who so beautifully decorated our churches.

The weekend then got off to a good start with lovely weather – and I’m sure that many people enjoyed watching the broadcasts of events such as the Trooping of the Colour.

On Saturday, Breinton Coffee Morning was well attended. Marshalled by Gill Rivers, Ann Chapman and Anne Powell, the tables were laden with Jubilee cakes, memorabilia and patriotic flower arrangements – including a crown! There were activities for the children, supervised by Jenny Watkins, and at least one (toy) Corgi made an appearance. Beyond the usual coffee morning hot drinks, there were glasses of bubbly (courtesy of the Bagleys) on hand to toast to Her Majesty – the first of several!

If browsing the memorabilia and perusing the specially written poems wasn’t sufficient entertainment, then there was also a Royal Jubilee Quiz to get stuck into, prepared by the Sherfields.

Phil Chapman was on hand to take plenty of photos, although you might have to hunt through the magazine to find them!

After a quieter afternoon (Did anyone  need a lie down? Or perhaps they explored other events throughout the city), the celebrations picked up again on Sunday morning.

There was a West Hereford Team service at St Michael’s Breinton. This had been optimistically scheduled as an outside service. Sadly, the weather proved typical of an English bank holiday weekend, with on Saturday leaving the ground too wet to sit out and the threat of rain continuing into Sunday.

The service was hastily moved into the church (which had already been amply and faithfully decorated) and was no less jolly for the change of scene. Members of all four churches joined together to worship and lead the service. The Rev’d Lois Beynon preached an excellent sermon, and she and the Rev’d Ruth Hulse were joined at the front of church by several young servers.

Following the service there was a picnic lunch at the Village Hall, with another chance to enjoy the memorabilia and activities.

Over at St Nicholas’ Church, there was a Jubilee tea in the afternoon, which was followed by a special evensong. There was plenty more cake to share, and they also celebrated a significant birthday for a member of the congregation (although it’s rude to tell a lady’s age!) The choir, led by Paul Tompkins, did an excellent job, as always, in leading the evensong. This brought our Jubilee celebrations to a fitting end – rooting our celebrations in that faith which has been such a source of strength to Her Majesty.