The King and Lisa Simpson fly in for summer church trail
The King, a Norfolk fungi expert, Lisa Simpson and a womble are starring in a trail of ‘eco-angels’ linking 10 Norfolk country churches this summer.
His Majesty, sculpted from recycled newspaper, card and clothing, is one of the stars of a trail of ecological heroes, most of them created by schoolchildren from Aylsham and nearby villages. While King Charles welcomes visitors to Weston Longville church, Greta Thunberg, also crafted from recycled materials, will be at All Saints Church, Marsham, and a womble made of newspaper, wool and old carpet tiles will join the famous carved medieval angels at St Agnes Church, Cawston.
Most of the real and fictional environmental champions were chosen and created from recycled or repurposed materials by children at local schools to pay tribute to people and characters who have helped to make the world a better place.
Twelve eco-angels will be on display in the churches from July 14 to September 30, with a pilgrim trail linking them all.
The trail was launched by the Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Rev Graham Usher, who said: “In the Bible we find angels giving us messages from God. We have an angel announcing the birth of Jesus. Sometimes they bring joyful messages, sometimes a warning.
“These eco-angels are carrying a message about how we look after this planet home that we have been given to share with all creation.”
He said the trail was a chance to explore some of our ‘treasure trove’ of Norfolk churches and talked of his ‘hope and prayer’ that ‘we who have been responsible for so much damage in the world might hear the message of these 12 angels.’
The launch event in the Bishop’s garden was attended by some of the children who made the eco-angels, as well as the model of Greta. Seven-year-old Lavinia Hurst of Great Witchingham Primary Academy helped make the model of King Charles III and explained that his cloak is made from pictures of animals and plants, drawn by every child in the school. Ten-year-old Hannah Turk of Lyng Primary Academy said: “It was a lot of fun making our model. We used hundreds of shrunken crisp packets.”
The trail was co-ordinated by churches in the Ingworth and Sparham Deanery, in partnership with Scrapbox, the Reepham-based re-use charity which gives waste products a second life by selling them on to people and organisations at bargain prices.
See:
Cartoon character Lisa Simpson at St Peter’s church Easton, made from plastic bottles, cardboard and old clothes by the children of St Peter’s Primary Easton.
Robot film character WALL-E, who cleans up the rubbish on a future deserted and uninhabitable Earth, made from cardboard boxes by children from Hockering Primary Academy, and on display at St Michael’s, Hockering.
King Charles III in All Saints, Weston Longville. His Majesty was made by the children of Great Witchingham Primary Academy, who chose him in honour of his work for the environment.
A model made of crisp packets, of Lyng Primary Academy teaching assistant Julie Warnes, honoured at St Margaret’s, Lyng, by her pupils for her work ranging from recycling crisp packets to running a gardening club.
A Womble made of newspaper, wool and old carpet tiles by the children of Cawston Primary Academy, in St Agnes, Cawston.
Inspirational fungi expert Dr Tony Leech in St Mary’s, Itteringham. He has been very involved in the work of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists Society and Norfolk Wildlife Trust and was modelled in recycled plastic, paper and wood by people at the Mannington estate.
Conservationist and television presenter Chris Packham, created in recycled and natural materials from the school grounds by pupils of Aldborough Primary School, and displayed in St Mary’s, Aldborough.
Greta Thunberg made of recycled material from Norfolk’s craft recycling specialists Scrapbox, at All Saints, Marsham, by Crispin Clark and the Buxton Church Family.
Norfolk naturalist Ted Ellis at All Saints Church, Horstead, made in willow by Horstead Centre staff and visitors.
And at Aylsham church there will be three eco-angels:
Pupils of St Michael’s Primary School and Nursery, Aylsham, created author and conservationist Gerald Durrell and Elizabeth Wanjiru Wathuti who encourages young people to love the natural world and founded a charity in Kenya which has planted more than 30,000 trees.
The children of John of Gaunt Infant and Nursery School, Aylsham, made models of fish and ocean environmentalist Sylvia Earle.
Pick up a copy of the trail from one of the churches, Norwich Cathedral, the tourist information centre in Hoveton, Bure Valley Railway stations at Wroxham and Aylsham, Mannington Hall and the Horstead Centre or download from www.ecoangels.uk
