East Tytherton, Wiltshire - Feb 2026
I begin my news from a chilly East Tytherton, bathed in winter sunshine reflecting on our first sprinkling of snow, by wishing you all a very happy and healthy 2026.
Looking back at 2025 it seems very much like previous years, however it has been a positive one for us in which we welcomed five new members, some of whom have been friends of the church for some years but felt ready for a new commitment.
Sr Jane was in America over Easter, so I led the early Easter Liturgy in the burial ground, accompanied by bird song, on a bright and thankfully dry day.
Thank you to Father Benji for taking our Harvest Festival service this year. As always fresh produce was sold, and tins were taken to Door Way Foodbank.
Our ever-popular soup lunches continue with increasing numbers. It’s good to be serving soup and cake to the sound of chatter and laughter. It really has become a great community gathering.
Our Craft and Chat sessions continue on the last Friday of the month. In October we set up a mini ‘production line’ with East Tytherton WI to make dental health bags to help the homeless and we ended the year making Christmas wreaths, encouraged with glasses of mulled wine and mince pies!
We were blessed once again with a sunny day for our annual Cream Tea on the lawn. A huge thank you to Pat Holtham for donating once again 150 of her lovely scones and to all who came from near and far to join us. This year we set up a game of croquet on the lawn with useful advice on rules from an English Croquet Champion, living in the village!
In December our beautifully decorated church was full on two occasions. The first, our Village Carols and Christingles. Thanks as always to Nic Pillow for organising the programme, bringing a wonderful choir and enthusiasm as we sang familiar carols and listened to the choir perform less well-known ones. We even had an experiment: in the Bleak Mid-Winter sung to the tune of Onward Christian Soldiers ... interesting. This received a mixed reaction! The second was our Lessons, Carols and Christingle service when we welcomed a very special visitor, Vino, a miniature therapy horse from Happy Hooves in the village. Laura has several miniature horses some of which she shows and others are therapy horses who regularly visit hospitals and retirement homes bringing hope, love and happiness. So on a cold, sunny, day Vino and Laura welcomed people at the door. We couldn’t believe the response as the church began filling with adults and children (around 60 in all). Vino joined us in the church for the service, and the children were invited to meet her at the end. A big and sincere thank you to Vino (and Laura) for lighting up the church and for bringing her magic and joy to both young and old. A special and memorable event.
As always, a big thank you to those who help me with the grounds, Lynda for playing the organ for us and all her hard work, to Jane for her continued encouragement and for keeping us on course.
Sr Anne Mellowes Waldron
