St Thomas and St Edmunds Church Events - Past 09

We were greeted at the gate by two policemen who waved us on up the drive. When we arrived at the Orchard Room, which is the public face of the house, our identity documents were scrutinised and we were shown a video of the Prince explaining his reasons for opening his estate and talking about his charities to which our contributions would be sent.

With our guide, we then set out on a walk round the several acres of grounds. The estate is divided up into widely differing areas. For instance, there is farmland where some sheep (Scottish Soay breed) were grazing; a sub-tropical plantation featuring tree ferns, banana and other exotic plants; a garden with a small building to which the Prince goes when he wants a bit of peace and quiet; another area where he has made a memorial to his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother; a kitchen garden which is currently in the process of being dug over to try and rid the soil of ground elder and, close to the house, a more formal conventional garden surrounded with a tall yew hedge where there are sculpted heads of the Prince in small niches in the hedge itself. En route, the guide pointed out some of the many hundreds of gifts which the Prince has been given on his travels and which are used in the design of the whole estate. There are bits of ecclesiastical masonry from cathedrals and churches, roots of gnarled old trees, and many other quirky examples of how to make good use of items which most people would simply throw out.

This is only a small sample of what we saw and heard. It was sad (but understandable) that no cameras are allowed but the guide book (which is available from the estate web site) would describe the huge range of plants that are cultivated on the estate.

We finished our visit by having a cup of tea in the Orchard Room before getting our coach to Tetbury where we called in for a little retail therapy at the Highgrove shop. We managed to get about half our travellers together to record our visit. The photographer had to dodge the traffic in order to take the picture which, given the circumstances, has provided quite a memory of our day.

Rose Petal Sunday and Pennant Blessing on 5th July

Sunday 5th July 2009 was a special day for the Parish. Not only was it the Patronal Festival when the patron saint, St Thomas was celebrated, but the new church pennant was officially blessed by Rev’d David Linaker, priest in charge. He was ably assisted by members of the 3rd St Thomas’s Brownie pack and children from the church choir. The pennant has various symbols – the sun represents St Edmund of Abingdon, the chough bird represents St Thomas Becket, the blue and yellow colours show the links with the city and the red cross represents England.

After the service we gathered outside in the Square to witness the annual tradition of rose petals being scattered from our church tower, representing God’s blessings showering down upon our city. Then, as is so often the case at St Thomas’s we share a celebratory cake, coffee and conversation either in the garden of St. Thomas’s House or in the People’s Vestry.