St John The Baptist Church, Woodhurst Thought Tree, (l-r) Keith Bryan-Harris, Shirley Firth, and Ron Pinder

Thought tree in Woodhurst for lost loved ones over New Year

Story by: ANDREW PAPWORTH Saturday, January 5, 2013
8:00 AM

A THOUGHT tree was set up in Woodhurst so people could leave messages for lost loved ones during the Christmas and New Year season.

St John the Baptist Church put up the tree outside its main 12th century church building in the village for people to leave notes during the festive period.

“The tree was there for anyone who has lost someone during the year or has got someone they want to pay their respects to,” said Shirley Firth, secretary of the church’s parish council.

“People just wrote on a piece of wood and tied it on with a piece of string.”

The church put its main Christmas tree inside the building, making way for the thought tree outside.

St John’s has just benefited from £20,000 of grants to repair a wall of the church which crumbled due to drought.