Meet a multitude of cute knitted mice in six Brecks churches – including six versions of the Revd Vanessa Layfield!
The Adventures of the Church Mice festival, from Friday September 4 to Sunday September 7, will see a thousand knitted mice scampering through the Wayland group of churches (Breckles, Caston, Great Hockham, Griston, Stow Bedon and Thompson.)
The fabulously turned-out mice have been created by a group of 36 talented knitters to raise money for the churches.
Each church has a different mousy theme.
Find mice from the musicals in St Margaret’s, Breckles. See Phantom of the Opera, Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music presented by 15cm high mice. And look out for John, Paul, George and Ringo in mouse-form too.
In Holy Cross church, Caston, harvest mice will be celebrating village life, including a school, pub, village hall and a harvest festival.
It is Christmas at St Peter and St Paul, Griston, with a Nativity Story, and the 12 days of Christmas from a mouse in a pear tree all the way to 12 mice a-drumming.
At Holy Trinity church, Great Hockham, the mice are in nostalgic and patriotic mode with historical re-enactments ranging from Henry VIII and his six wives to Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations. There will also be scenes from Dad’s Army and VE Day, staged by a cast of knitted mice.
At St Botolph’s, Stow Bedon, see a high society mouse marriage with the male mice in top hats (and extra long tails) and the females in knitted frocks. And don’t miss the mice morris dancers in the summer fete tableau.
At St Martin’s, Thompson, see the mice poised for action in Disney films, nursery rhymes and bible stories, plus craft activities for their human visitors.
And for a game of cat and mouse – four of the churches will also have a hidden knitted church cat.
Lois Gill, the moustermind behind the festival said: “The original idea of Adventures of the Church Mice was inspired by the books written by Graham Oakley. Also, when I read about other church mice festivals, I thought, ‘How can we capture the idea and put our own stamp upon it? We can do it bigger and better!’
Lois previously created the hugely popular Blossom and Yarn, and Petal and Purl, knit-based festivals in the churches.
Knitting began in January, by talented craftswomen from the six congregations, Caston WI, and their friends.
And the mice, from a single mini-model to an entire tableau, can be bought during the festival, for collection the following week, with the money going to the churches. Many of the tableaux have also been sponsored by local businesses.
For more about the mice see the September issue of Norfolk magazine.
The festival will be opened by the Bishop of Lynn at a ticketed preview evening on Thursday September 4 at Griston Church and end with a Songs of Praise service led by the Bishop of Thetford at 6.30pm on Sunday September 7 in Thompson Church.
See Adventures of the Church Mice in the churches of Breckles, Caston, Great Hockham, Griston, Stow Bedon and Thompson from Friday September 4 to Sunday September 7, 10am-4pm. Tickets to cover all six churches are £8 in advance and £10 on the day. Refreshments will be available at each church.
