In 2018 our community in Middlezoy came together to consider how best to commemorate the anniversary of the end of WW1. A beautiful musical called ‘Home’ was created and performed in Holy Cross church, set against a backdrop of perspex figures representing the service men and women who never returned home.
The community’s creativity was put on hold during the pandemic, but once that was over, local lady Pam Jamieson suggested we knit and crochet red poppies to make a cascade of poppies for the pulpit. This was installed in 2023, and seeing how beautiful it looked, our craft group was determined to increase the display. They raised the money necessary to buy additional materials by selling handmade Christmas decorations and then got to work!
In 2024, with the help of many people from the village, we decorated the church using hundreds of red poppies. We had a small display to remember the animals who lost their lives and decided to enhance that element of the display for 2025. Moura Pilkington enlisted the help of retired art teacher Richard Horsham, who drew the outline of the horse with the help of Brian Denny, and together they created the base for 350 purple poppies.
As you can see, our wonderful purple horse is now taking pride of place within our Church’s porch.
This whole project would never have been possible without the help of the community, and our congregation is truly grateful for all the help we receive. Another great example of our community pulling together is our Wild Middlezoy project. This could not have moved forward without the help of the village, and we are proud to have obtained our Silver Eco award and also acquired a community allotment. If you visit the allotment you can regularly see around ten to twelve people beavering away and enjoying the company of others while drinking coffee and eating cake. And what church event can be called successful without cake!
For further information about anything in this article, please contact Jean Campbell