On Friday Lymington High Street by St Thomas' Church was occupied by a large crowd who sang carols and joined in prayers around the crib which Peter Cooper puts up for us each year. This event was arranged by Lymington Churches Together and the Lymington and Pennington Town Council. The Revd Chris Vivian (URC, nearest the camera) Mrs Linda Lee (St Thomas', far right) and Quaker Mrs Jan Rimbault each read a passage from the Christmas stories in the Gospels, and Town Mayor Mrs Anna Rostand (furthest left, wearing hat) switched on the lights on the large Christmas tree.
The children crowded forward to look more closely at the figures in the crib, although once the ceremony was over their attention was diverted by the arrival of Father Christmas!
Two days later traffic in the High Street was interrupted again, this time after the two services of dedication at St Thomas' Church to remember loved ones and to raise funds to support Oakhaven Hospice to enable it to continue to provide its wonderful specialist services for our community.
Afterwards the packed church emptied out onto the street.
The crowd then made its way to the part of the High Street outside Moore and Blatch where they sang carols, ate mince pies and drank mulled wine, while waiting for the Mayor to switch on more lights.
We were pleased to see that the Police allowed these ceremonies to go ahead, even though they have refused permission for the Good Friday Walk of Witness, which also used to take place in the High Street.
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