Flag Fest returns in June
Flag Fest returns in June
Last August, our flagpoles (thankfully, not the flags) went up in smoke. We picked ourselves up and set about replacing them. It made me think how we take support for granted until that support is no longer there.
Our original 130 poles, handmade by Chrissy and Owen Kebble when they lived in Stewart Woods, held particular stories, as do our flags. With Covid 19 raging, and insurance to cover costs, Owen began again the process of hand-making making new ones with coppiced sycamore from Pullabrook. Thanks to him and the Woodland Trust. We could have just bought new poles, but that’s not the point.
When Veronica Gould and I hatched the idea of an Annual Flag Festival in 2010, we had no idea how the town would take them to its heart. They are all made (and repaired annually) by people in the town. The Flag Festival sits beneath the wing of Green Hill Arts, the ‘arty’ part of Moretonhampstead Development Trust. We held the first festival in 2011. This year will be our tenth anniversary - we fully intend to fly our flags again, reminding us how we cherish this place and its people.
Andrea Foxwell