There are two features you associate with churches in the UK – hymns and flowers.

Some of us remember (if somewhat hazily) late nights in Welsh pubs when someone decided to start a somewhat discordant rendition of Cwm Rhondda.

You don’t have to be Welsh though. Many of us have a favourite hymn, perhaps sung at our wedding or requested for our funeral. As for flowers – well imagine going into a church without flowers to be seen. Very unusual.

I recall visiting a small but ancient church in Lincolnshire, accessible only by footpaths. As the door creaked open I could smell what was a most beautiful display of bright colours left over from the previous Sunday. What dedication, what love.

So, to Holy Trinity Church in Exmouth, celebrating 200 years of service to the town. In the programme of events the organisers decided to put hymns and flowers together around themes. For example, can you think of a hymn that mentions cats? Personally I can’t, but some themes are easier to represent florally – walking as in ‘One More Step Along the Road I Go’ and an anchor, appropriate locally, as in ‘Will Your Anchor Hold in the Storms of Life?’

The 21 arrangements were put together by a wide range of local organisations and individuals including Exmouth Inner Wheel, A la Ronde, the Memory Café and The Beacon School. Exmouth Rainbows chose, unsurprisingly, ‘Who Put the Colour in the Rainbow?’ and the Holy Trinity Choir ‘Angel Voices Ever singing’. As I walked round the hymns displayed were played so that words and flowers blended together and made sense in the displays.

(Image: Mark Williamson) While I studied a wine rack (not the usual piece of furniture in a church) together with its contents I heard wine mentioned in the lovely hymn ‘Songs of Thankfulness and Praise’ recalling when Jesus was said to have turned water into wine at a wedding. Hopefully those who used so much brain power developing the ideas and worked so hard to express them in the spectacular and beautiful displays will enjoy a tipple when the Holy Trinity 200 Festival is over.

Special thanks must be paid to the church’s Flower Guild and to those who organized this event. All are enthusiastic but skilled amateurs, not professional florists, and their dedication has given the town a very special and enjoyable experience.