Above: after looking around the village (wide high street) I went to 9.30 Morning Service at the parish church. This building was at the end of a narrow lane, teetering on the edge of the clifftop. The tower you can see is the second constructed on the site - the first one tipped over the edge and crashed down.
Above: I was a little early, so I walked beyond the church to see the point where the road plunged down to the plain. The branches of the trees formed intricate patterns against the blue sky, matching the reticulated tracery in the windows of the church nearby. The whole world seemed fresh and new.
Above: going into the church, there was a lot to see, including this font which had been purchased from the 1862 Great London Exposition. It was in a sort of puginesque baptistry under the tower. There was a fair attendance for the Morning Service.
Above: I was interested to see that the Rood Screen (1911 by Temple Moore) had been linked to the fourteenth-century staircase (you can see the access), and presumably could be used in the medieval style although when I enquired about this I was informed the rood loft was only used to display Christmas trees in December.
Above: baskets of flowers for Mothering Sunday.
Two women priests presided - I knew the senior one slightly (a very formidable woman, academic and Protestant). One of the priests had brought her black labrador into the service and it sat quietly in the chancel apart from a single howl during the intercessionary prayers. Because it was Mothering Sunday baskets of flowers were blessed and then distributed to all of the congregation (this inclusivity on the grounds that we all had mothers who should be honoured).
In England Mothering Sunday is a traditional religious day that occurs during the sombre season of Lent and was designed to venerate family life (workers were given time off to visit their mothers). In America Mothers' Day is a secular and legal event that occurs in May. Over the years various elements of the American festivity have been applied to the English one (although according to some anthropologists the American day was based on European precedents promoted by lobbyist Anna Jarvis).
Above: Tescos and Starbucks have combined to run this Mothers' Day promotion. Starbucks chief executive Howard Schultz has helpfully described Britain as "finished" and is advising investors not to put their money into the United Kingdom economy. In a tiny act of retaliation I have been briefing creatives to use Starbucks coffee as a symbol of the over-priced over-hyped greed and excess that has got the world into such a mess.
Above: the Co-Op's window display advertises chocolates as a Mothers' Day gift.
Above: this window display is slightly more esoteric - I'm sure some mothers must want one of these twee teddies.
Above: the White Hart Hotel was running a lunchtime promotion.
From a marketing perspective, special events and traditional occasions such as Mothers' Day act as a spur and an impetus to the economy, encouraging expenditure and creating a modest "feel good" atmosphere. They are also useful community experiences. Given the importance of public mood on economic activity it is surprising that more is not done to encourage these little holidays (and perhaps revive some forgotten ones - the ritual year is full of them).
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