Busy weekend in the parishes

The early May Bank Holiday weekend was filled with action in both Upton-upon-Severn and Hanley Swan, and both benefited from the lovely weather - so much better than last year! The Upton Folk Festival, as always, included the Festival Service at St Peter and St Paul's Church which is always a joyous occasion led by various participants in the festival, as well as our own organist and choir. We were led in and out of church by the Milltown Cloggies, pictured here dancing and singing outside the West Door.

The service was followed by the traditional procession through the town.

Many generous residents of Hanley Swan opened their gardens in aid of the Hanley Churches for the three days of the long weekend, and a huge number of visitors really enjoyed looking round. They also ate so many cream teas, there had to be a supermarket dash for more scones on Bank Holiday Monday morning! As well as all the gardens, a new piece of public art was opened, providing some very attractive seating by the pond. The project involved pupils from both Hanley Swan Church of England Primary School and Hanley Castle High School, and resulted in some stepping stones created by pupils from the Primary School, and seats carved from ideas offered by young people from the High School.