Anyone living in or visiting the market town of Tring may marvel at the charming St Peter and St Paul’s Church on the High Street, but what they may not realise is that behind the scenes there is a dedicated team working hard to preserve what it has branded ‘the heart of Tring’.
Friends of Tring Church Heritage concentrates on raising funds in order to maintain the church building in the long term, including remedial work to the exterior and interior.
Work already carried out includes the re-gilding of the clock face, repairs to the porch roof and new stainless steel protective grills for the stained glass windows.
Great effort is made to include as many members of the Tring community as possible and the latest project has encouraged interest from the younger generation, with much success.
The recent Open Church Information Project saw youngsters from local schools help research and produce 21 leaflets explaining the church’s different features and facilities. These are available inside the church and offer little-known facts about the town’s place of worship.
Want to find out about the church’s priceless medieval frieze-tile masterpieces that are now on display in the British Museum? Or the story of how a thumb from one of the statues on the Gore Memorial ended up in a pond? The explanations for these secrets and more can be found in the free pamphlets.
The group have also been hard at work organising fundraising events this year, with the annual family fun day and A Very English Garden Party event bringing in nearly £7,000.
Currently it is running a photographic competition to find the snap which perfectly captures the heart of Tring. There is a small entry fee per print which will go directly to the Friends, and there’s the chance to win some desirable prizes such as dinner for two at a Wiltshire hotel.
Entry forms are available from St Peter and St Paul’s and the closing date is September 15.
{http://www.fotch.co.uk/|For more information, visit their website here.}
The Friends’ honorary president Grahame Senior talks about what the group does in more detail in the video above.