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If You Ask Me... On Holiday

Wednesday, 8 September 2021 06:00

By Flo Whitaker

These are the highlights from Flo Whitaker’s holiday diary, having recently returned from a short break with her friend, a fellow Medieval history geek

The dynamic duo dashed around the Welsh borders on a crazy ‘If-it’s-old-it’s-probably-worth-a-look’ tour and visited 14 churches in five days, accidentally gate-crashing a wedding and a christening in the process, as detailed below…

Saturday: Our heartfelt shouts of “Congratulations!” failed to defrost the wedding party. Everyone looked like they’d rather be somewhere else, while the photographer, his two assistants and the make-up artist loudly expressed their annoyance at the prospect of two sweaty, gurning strangers photobombing the pictures. As if we would…

Sunday: A noisy, friendly bunch casually posed for pictures after wetting the head of babe number three. An aunt, who’d just got a smartphone and didn’t have a clue how to work it, had (bizarrely) been nominated ‘Official Photographer.’ The proud parents were clearly still enamoured with one another and were considering getting married. The Vicar, smiling indulgently, declared it would be “An honour” to officiate, whilst doubtless thinking, “About time!” as he’d been ‘Master of Ceremonies’ and ‘Official Dunker’ for all three children. He offered us refreshments, which was extremely kind, as I later realised I’d been wearing a Black Sabbath t-shirt. I guess he’d quickly decided we were genuinely interested in his church, shared his delight that the 12th century font was still in demand and in full working order, (they built things to last in those days) and, as I didn’t try to tempt him over to ‘The Dark Side’ were probably harmless. If you’re reading this – thanks for the cuppa, Rev. Tim, the church needs more people like you.

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