Autumn festival in bid to save historic Flamstead church

The Friends of St Leonard's Church organised the event after its annual Flamstead Scarecrow Festival was cancelled last month, following a murder in the village.

Organisers wanted to pay respects to resident Christine Ford, 71, who was found dead inside a property on High Street in July.

The Flamstead Autumn Fayre is supporting the village's Heritage Lottery Funding bid to save the church, which needs a £1million injection to secure its future.

Mark Jenkin, chairman of the Friends of St Leonard’s, said: “We were very sad to have cancelled the Scarecrow Festival over the summer, but it was the best decision to make at the time.

"We still wanted to run an event this year which shows off the best of our village community to those living outside of the village, and which also supports our bid for Heritage Lottery Funding for our Church through participation from the general public.”

The Flamstead Autumn Fayre will showcase displays of farm machinery through the ages as well as a selection of the Village’s scarecrows from the Scarecrow Festival.

There will also be Heritage-based activities including a church heritage trail quiz, scarecrow stonemasons in period costume and a young people’ puppet theatre.

Mark added: “Flamstead is a fantastic village to visit throughout the year, not just over the Scarecrow Festival weekend, and so we very much hope that those who would typically visit our village in August, will come and support the Flamstead Autumn Fayre too.”

Visitors will also enjoy cream teas, attractions, and village stallholders over the weekend.

The event will be taking place between 12pm and 5pm on both Saturday, September 28, and Sunday, September 29.

For more information visit: https://www.facebook.com/events/384843419106796/