According to Wikipedia, “Nonington is a civil parish and village in east Kent, halfway between the historic city of Canterbury and the channel port town of Dover”. Although it might not be well known outside local circles, it’s a venue familiar to our members at it lies near the home of PP Philip Abbott and his wife, Cindy. We’ve held other events in Nonington in the past – such as the Shakespeare evening we held last year.
A forecast of cooler evening weather and the potential of light drizzle led Philip to move our planned outdoor picnic into the Church. There, we sat at prearranged tables and enjoyed our picnics over light chit chat. Philip also spent a few minutes telling us a little bit about the Church’s history and his own involvement in helping to get it restored when he served as church warden some years ago.
Philip described some of the changes made during the refurbishment; for instance, the church floor in one area was made of recycled wood from an old clothing store, and a whole new tea station that can be closed off was built. The current lighting setup was designed by Philip; he pointed out how subtle things like the use of a warm white LED lighting source gives a nicer atmosphere than a bright white one.
We also learnt other various facts about the church (St Mary the Virgin) and nearby graves. For instance, we learned the church was heated by an old-fashioned, oil-fired boiler, and we heard how the church organ had been shifted from where the tea/coffee machine now stands centrally. There had been a wedding lately (hence the pretty flowers when we were there).
Interestingly, the electoral roll for the Church is quite small. Despite this, there’s a fairly active “friends” group that puts on fundraising events etc. One event, for example, was a successful production of “Murder in the Cathedral”. Philip also told us, with some amusement, that “Whatever we put on in Nonington that involves food usually proves popular”! Well, our members could certainly vouch for the Church being an interesting venue for our little evening picnic!
You can find out more about the church here, here and here, and about the village of Nonington here and here.
Picture: Phillip tells us a bit about the church where we were sitting. Picture credit: Rotary Club of Canterbury.
