Hundreds and hundreds of knitted and crocheted flowers hanging on church wall a big feature of Walsham Open Gardens Weekend

One of the big attractions at the Walsham Open Gardens Weekend at the end of August is the Flower Power Project with hundreds and hundreds of knitted and crocheted flowers hanging over and on the church wall.

The initiative was conceived from a chance post in a thread on a local social media group in July 2023.

The post depicted a photograph of a village church tower with a cascade of colourful crocheted flowers on a netting support, dropping from the top of the tower to the churchyard below.

Someone commented on the thread: “Wouldn’t this be a lovely project for St Mary’s in our village of Walsham le Willows, to accompany the Open Gardens Weekend?”

The post generated a long thread of positive comments, enthusiastically discussing possible ways of decorating the church, as part of the weekend of celebrations.

It was suspected that there were many talented people in the village but it wasn’t evident just how many and how far a reach the future project would encompass.  

As a keen crocheter and local artist Cate Hadley was nominated to lead and facilitate the project which grew quickly within a few weeks to 70 members and aptly named The Flower Power Project. This number has since increased with non-online members swelling the group to over 100.

The newly formed group wanted to include other neighbouring villages and “makers” from further afield. It welcomed newcomers to the village and brought the “yarners” together.

It is a diverse and inclusive group, capturing the imagination of a wide age group.

Ruby the youngest member to join last year was then aged 16 and taught herself to crochet during lockdown. The most senior member, avid knitter Joyce, also affectionately known as “The Queen of Walsham”, is aged 95. 

The project both promotes the Walsham Open Gardens Weekend and formed a platform for making new friendships, connections and sharing personal skills and expertise.

There was initial concern for the care of the church tower where it was perceived that the hanging of a large textile would double in weight in inclement weather.

In the light of this potential hazard, it was decided to decorate the ancient flint wall abounding the churchyard with flower panels.

They started making flowers in earnest around August last year and by May 2024 there were around 3,000 pieces completed with each flower taking an average of an hour to make, using both knitting and crochet techniques, which will be on display during the weekend of August 25 and 26.