The stars were just fading when the doors of Okehampton Parish Church were opened on the morning of Saturday, September 14 for the church open day, writes Ruth Cartlidge.

Soon an excited queue of people were ready to climb the 115 steps of the fifteenth century church to the top of the tower to witness a spectacular sunrise.

On their descent they were able to indulge in well earned bacon and sausage rolls and freshly brewed coffee, and the tone was set for a full day of food and fun.

The morning was geared around families with children, and several dozen intrepid teddy bears and other furry friends braved a zip wire from the top of the tower after undergoing a stringent medical check. 

The oldest participant was 110-year-old Edward bear who passed his fitness test with flying colours. 

The zip wire was supervised by the town’s air cadets who also helped organise flying paper aeroplanes from the pulpit. 

This event was ‘launched’ by town mayor Cllr Allenton Fisher using his professional expertise as a former Royal Navy flight deck officer; unfortunately his plane crashed on take off! There were however some spectacularly successful flights.

Throughout the day there were further opportunities to ascend the tower and also to explore the belfry and ringing chamber under the guidance of some of the regular ringing team. 

In the afternoon the church organist gave a talk about the splendid organ and illustrated its capabilities. There was an exhibition of church artefacts and registers and a fascinating talk was given by a former curate at the church, the Rev Paul Fitzpatrick, highlighting some of the history of the building. 

The church’s own craft group were busily engaged spinning and knitting and there was a demonstration of flower arranging with the chance to make arrangements to decorate the church for the next day’s service. At lunchtime there was music provided by the Wellbeing Singers and people enjoying a cream tea in the afternoon were serenaded by a string quartet.

The day concluded with an open mic evening with bar, ably compered by Bill Murray, and the doors were finally closed at 11pm.

The day raised the magnificent sum of £1,560 towards church funds (it costs £1,000 a week to keep the church open). Equally importantly gave the people of Okehampton the chance to explore this beautiful building on the hill.