Angels in the Architecture

                                                                Gloria-in Excelsis

St Nicholas' Chapel in town is in need of a bit of a face-lift. After all, it is 600 years old. Although no longer a parish church, it remains consecrated. Twenty years ago it was purchased by the Churches Conservation Trust, and supports a wide and varied programme which includes music, poetry and art exhibitions.In order to conduct a 'repair-in-time programme', and update the facitlites -including lighting to show off the beautiful carved angels in the roof trusses, the Trust needs to match funding to secure a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £1.5 million. This weekend saw The Festival of Angels, an exhibition of ....well, angels, in all kinds of media. I was encouraged by the gals in Stitch & Bitch to enter my felted wool angel, and I knew Yvonne was hard at it finishing her 'Recycled Rosie' to exhibit.

Yvonne and I were allocated space to the right of the altar, which included the old anchor which is dropping rust all over the place. I hadn't realised how HUGE this is, and it provided a good resting place for Gloria...she looks almost like a figure-head, doesn't she?

Gloria was made in felt and felted wool at a Madeline Millington workshop a few years ago. Obviously this is  one of Madeline's designs, so she is not for sale..though I have had several offers for her...but I love working with wool and have been creating some designs of my own.

Yvonne made Rosie from recycled sweet papers....Roses, of course, and 'found' fabric. Despite the  theme of being a 'second-hand-rose', it wasn't until she had finished setting up that Yvonne realised the wings were covered in a rose design, although you can't see in the photo because of reflected glimmer. Of course, all the spectators assumed it was meant to be!

There were  hand-crafted angels from a variety of 81 local businesses, clubs and societies. Yvonne and I were demonstrating crafts on the the Saturday, there were also a few stalls with pottery, picture framing and woven willow angels. Not to mention the refreshment tables!

     We enjoyed listening to some 17th century music played from here by a local brass band.

                          You had no idea Yvonne was musical, did you? Or angelic......

Yvonne was standing on tip-toe for this shot which is why she is looking so....uplifted! And I think the Restoration Committee will be feeling uplifted this morning as there were around 2,000 visitors over the two days. Hopefully this will go a long way to providing those much needed funds. We were amazed at the numbers through the gate, and both Yvonne and I met up with dozens and dozens of folk we knew from our various 'lives' - neighbours, friends, old colleagues, ex patients/clients, fellow textile lovers; we kept trying to find a quiet time to eat our sandwiches but the stream of visitors never stopped. A Celestial Success, I'd say!