Middleton Parish Church is in bloom for Jubilee

Middleton Parish Church is in bloom for Jubilee

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Middleton Band entertained the Middleton Parish Church in the latest in a series of events celebrating both the Queen’s Jubilee and the church’s 600th anniversary.

The brass band were supposed to be playing in Jubilee Park, but bad weather caused them to seek refuge indoors.

The church proved to be the perfect setting, after playing host this week to a Flower Festival, which runs until 5 June.

Flower arrangements were displayed around the church, having been prepared by members of the Middleton Floral Art Club and flower arrangers from St Leonard’s.

Christine Grime, secretary of the Middleton Heritage and Conservation Group, was pleased with the success of the weekend’s events. She said: “It’s the 600th anniversary of Cardinal Langley rebuilding the Norman church in 1412. We noticed that the two anniversaries overlapped so we decided to group the events together, as there’s a royal connection – Cardinal Langley was the Chancellor of England during the reign of Henry IV, V and VI. During that period he was the most powerful man in the land after the king.

"The band were meant to be playing in the Jubilee Park bandstand. It would have been nice to be in the park because of the Jubilee connections but the weather is too bad, so everybody squeezed into the church instead. We’ve seen a very good turnout over the weekend – we’ve had to go out and print more programmes!”

The church’s Jubilee events draw to a close today (Monday 4 June) with a Medieval Pageant, in which children of Middleton re-enact the life of Cardinal Langley.