We are celebrating our patronal festival on St Oswald's Day, Saturday 5th August, with a short service at 4.30pm. There will also be a Benefice Eucharist at 10am on Sunday 6th August.In addition to the services there will an exhibition in church which we are calling 'Farming Life in Lythe & District'. We have collected pictures, artefacts, tools and memories thanks to the generosity and interest of many local people and these will be displayed in the church from 10am until 4pm on Saturday 5th, Sunday 6th (open after the service) and Monday 7th August. Teas will be available to buy on all three days. There is no charge to look around but any and all donations will be gratefully received and will go towards the Restoration Appeal.Another highlight of the weekend will the a concert by the Moorland Ensemble at 7pm on Saturday 5th August with a very attractive programme of music by Mozart, Puccini, Albeniz, Elgar and more. Tickets cost £7 on the door and this includes a complimentary glass of wine or fruit juice.
We decided three years to have a go at clearing all the brambles which had taken over the churchyard and made most of it completely inaccessible. The volunteers spent many hours cutting back and burning brambles and self-seeded sycamores, gradually bringing the whole large area under control.The change was amazing and the impact immediate. Visitors were able to reach family graves that they hadn't seen for years. But the best part has been to see the range of wildflowers which had obviously been hiding under the brambles suddenly take centre stage. We knew that we had a lot of daffodils and primroses in the early spring, but now we can see campion, ground ivy, oxeye daisies and Queen Anne's lace waving in the breeze. Churchwarden Sue Mason has been taking notice while working in the churchyard and has got to just over 50 different varieties!Managing the churchyard to both allow access but allow the flowers to thrive isn't without its challenges. Leaving areas uncut means harder work when it finally is time to cut, but we think it is worth it.
