2020 marked the 750 anniversary
of the building of St John's Church.
There were to be a succession of events throughout the year, but these had to be cancelled due to the covid19 pandemic.
Although we had to postpone our celebrations until 2021, Chris & Edmund Prideaux have a souvenir we can buy now. See below:
Souvenir of Keynsham 750
We were into 2020. We had enjoyed the “Launch Service” and the “Curry Evening” and we were looking at the other events planned for “Keynsham 750”.
Christine’s eyes fell on the Gala Fete .... “What are we going to do for the fete?” A few days later she suggested that we design a tea towel to celebrate the special year.
The search was on, not only for a design but for a printer as well.
Not being artists we looked for images already in production, after searching, we opted for the picture of St. John’s drawn by Tony Nicholson as the centre piece with pictures of the four other churches in the corners. The designs for these had been drawn in the 1990’s by David Wall for the “Friends” (at that time the Bridges Society).
These had been made into a set of place mats. Thankfully David gifted his designs to the” Friends”.
When we tried to put in some special parts of St.John’s, drawings seemed to work out better than photographs. Jim Allen had drawn the weathercock and the numbered buttress but photographs did work for the Bridges Font and the small window of St. John the Baptist. The main chandelier proved quite difficult as the background arches gave such contrast. Thankfully Fiona Edwards came to the rescue with her light box and produced a fine picture.
We decided to use Countryside Art for the production of the tea towel and we opted for one of their "flora” designs for the border. The churches and drawings are all named. The colour we chose is Racing Green onto the light cream back ground of the premium cotton.
Our thanks to the “Friends” who have provided the initial outlay and through whom the finances are organised. Also thank you to those who have commented and encouraged us in this.
Lockdown at the printers came the day after we received the first look at the completed design. They are now working with a small work force. However production is under way and the tea towels should be with us in early July. We really hope you like what you see and will buy some (or one!).
They cost £5 each and can be ordered from us on 01179862755
Payment by cash or cheques payable to “The Friends of St John the Baptist Church”Keynsham.
Edmund and Christine Prideaux
