When we did our walk back in January around Salisbury I saw an advert for the cathedral flower festival and we thought it sounded lovely. Five months passed and we forgot all about it until yesterday when I suddenly remembered and lo and behold it was this week. We bought tickets and headed off and we were so NOT disappointed.
The cathedral is lovely in itself and so add the stunning floral creations in the mix and you pretty much have perfection. I think Salisbury is my favourite cathedral of all and I feel a great affinity to it. I also have a couple of really special memories of there. In 2000 they held a millennium service and each school in the diocese, of which we were one, were allowed to take 3 junior age pupils to a special millennium service, so I took 3 girls and we had an amazing day. Our prayer was featured in the diocesan prayer book, a spaceman led the service and after the service the spaceman and the bishop left from cathedral close in a hot air balloon! Our beloved godson Jim was also confirmed there and it was an evening service and part of it was just in candlelight and they had Gregorian chanting as part of the service. It was utterly incredible and so moving.
The cathedral, boasting the tallest steeple in the country, was completed in 1258 though the spire was another 50 years later. It is a truly stunning building and we spent a fair bit of time just sitting and marvelling at the architecture and remembering all of it, the intricate stonework, the carving, the structure, everything was built by hand. We thoroughly enjoyed the cathedral, the floral displays, the trip out and we were thrilled to spend time chatting to one of the stewards before we went in and she was one of the main flower team and had worked on many items but also on the centre piece the coronation robe. Groups from all over the diocese had made displays so it was a real community feel.
So if you have come here for scrapping, that's in the previous post. This, well this is photo heavy! Enjoy.
In one cloister they had displays of the liturgical year. I haven't included photos of all of them but just a selection
(out in the quad was a natural display and we were so thrilled as they had Buckley (yes the exact same stag) and his mate. It has convinced us we do need to get his mate.
In the other cloister they had floral displays of upcycled items and they were amazing but the light was int he wrong direction to capture them but they had things like a beach display using buckets and spades and coastal flowers, Wimbledon with planting in trainers, hiking again using trainers and a baseball cap, a wonderful burst from a quality street box, crisp packets as vases etc and even the refectory tables had little floral displays on of wildflowers
Much of the focus was celebrating our Majesty and her 70 year reign. One of the first exhibits inside was the Royal Nursery. The baby Princess Elizabeth had a nursery decorated in yellow and the way they had created this tableau and made the bed with flowers was incredible.
The nave focus was celebrating romance with three broken arches, traditional floral displays and community project hearts all in pinks and it was stunning.
and in the centre of course is the breathtaking font, a piece of amazing water sculpture which looks like glass reflecting the vaulted ceiling but is of course water.
In the side aisles were displays celebrating British Culture
and there was a gorgeous arch for Key Workers and for Inclusion
and there was a lovely section called Mothers Meadows and Martyrs which was beautiful and the sound of birds singing and bees buzzing was playing. Our friendly steward had also made the bee hives.
It was then up through the choir to the centrepiece of the festival, Celebrating the Coronation. The coronation robe was made from pampas and lagurus grasses with gilded ruscus, helichrysum and ferns and the replicas of the crown orb and mace were all made of natural plant materials. And against the backdrop of the altar, it was utterly breathtaking
This focused on building the cathedral
The first one is obviously not floral but a stunning embroidery
and the other side aisles
a cheeky selfie
Echoes of the water meadows - some close ups later
The water meadows with the glass acting as the water and reflecting the dozens of small vases holding flowers
There was a harpist playing so beautifully whilst there were demonstrations of flower arranging
one of the water meadow hanging vases
The medieval clock dating back to the late 1300s
and outside Unfurling the Future with 4 giant rolls of flowers and finally... waffles
It was a terrific day and I was so pleased we went.
Today I am thankful for
- the beauty we saw today
- the skills of so many many people including the builders of the cathedral, the artisans, the thinkers, the do-ers, the florists, the volunteers
