A tall, heavily decorated tree in the parish church at Royston has become a popular Christmas feature with the congregation and local community. This year’s tree will undoubtedly be a festive hit since it is the largest there has ever been in the church measuring some 25 feet in height and towering into the roof space. It took a week to decorate and has close to 2000 baubles and over 300 metres of lights. It looks quite spectacular particularly in the darkened church. As usual the bottom branches of the tree were left empty so that visitors can place baubles on the tree in memory of loved ones who are not with them at Christmas. These branches are now filling up quite nicely.
The sheer size of this year’s tree did present some difficulties though! The six volunteers marshalled to move it from the churchyard, where it had been dropped off, into the church were completely unable to lift it off the ground. They eventually managed to drag, push and coerce it through the doors. The next challenge was how to manoeuvre it into its stand. This would have been impossible without the assistance of Royston Fire Brigade. Station Commander Rachel Broom, showing true community spirit, kindly offered the services of four firefighters who, through a system of ropes, knowhow and muscle power helped lift the tree into position. Once in position the mammoth task of decoration could begin and the results are stunning!
Do you know of a bigger tree in any other parish church? Is Royston’s a record breaker? Let us know! info@townhousepublishing.co.uk
