Knitting group adorn bridge with ‘trees’ in aid of church

FIVE colourful crocheted Christmas trees have been attached to street lamps on Whitchurch Bridge.

The trees, which replicate the shape of the spire of St Mary’s Church, encourage drivers to donate at the toll bridge to the Save Our Spire appeal.

The appeal was launched in May to raise £200,000 to repair shingles and other structural components on the 167-year-old Grade II listed building.

Gill Williamson, of the Whitchurch Knit and Stitch group, rallied a team of more than 30 people aged between
11 and 80 to create the trees, which will be on display until Tuesday, January 6.

Each member and their friends and families crocheted a “granny square”. They started the project in January and finished in October.

The idea was floated by Shirley Hutchins’s brother, who took inspiration from the crocheted Christmas tree in Malta. The 10.50m high creation stands in front of the Santa Marija in Ghaxaq and is recognised as the country’s tallest crafted crocheted Christmas tree. Crochet stars were created by Yvette Marshall and felt decorations by Vanessa Pearce and Ali Grey.

Ms Williamson said: “This is the first time we’ve done a Christmas-themed bridge but we’ve done projects like this since 2016. Previously we have put butterflies and bunting on the bridge.

“Members created the five-inch squares using donated wool and we aimed to get the right size but there’s quite a variation between the smallest and the biggest ones. But when we sewed them together, it looked all right.”

The members started to sew squares together in a scarf-like formation in April and the trees were completed by the end of October.

Ms Williamson said: “It took around an hour to sew them into a square and then an hour to sew them next to one another. On average, it would take around 12 hours for one person but, fortunately, we had more than 30 helpers.”

The project brought together the villages of Pangbourne and Whitchurch, which are on either side of the bridge.

Ms Williamson said: “As members are from both villages, it’s nice to bring the two communities together to have a physical representation of that and to make something nice for everyone to look at.”

She thanked the members for their work and dedication to the project, adding: “It’s a wonderful collaborative community project. It’s a big achievement and members, as I am, were very pleased when the trees went up. It has been the men in white vans who’ve been saying how lovely it is most, which I didn’t expect.”

Chris Scoby-Smith, also of the group, created a Christmas card which depicts the church with a colourful crocheted spire. All proceeds from purchasing the card will be donated to the Save Our Spire appeal.

Graeme Pearce, who is organising grant appeals for the campaign, said that it was a “ key moment” in the Save Our Spire project, having submitted a grant application to the National Lottery and members are now waiting for the result.

He said: “Meanwhile, it is fantastic to see the villages getting behind the project with such enthusiasm. We have made fantastic progress so far, but there is still some way to go.

“We are sincerely grateful to all those who have contributed in any way, in time and donations. We need to keep the momentum going. Hopefully, the project will be able to start at some point in the spring.”

To donate, visit givealittle
.co/c/saveourspirewhitchurchon
thames