THE Crediton Flag Project has started early this year so that the flags are ready to decorate the town for the Coronation weekend.

At least 60 different flags, all handmade by a small team of volunteers, went up all along Crediton’s main road from East Street to St Lawrence Green during Sunday morning, April 30.

Members of the Rotary Club of Crediton Boniface did the work, two trailers collecting the handmade flag poles and the flags and ladders from Crediton Arts Centre on East Street.

Two teams did the job, each taking one side of the road.  The flags had been loaded and the teams briefed at the Arts Centre by flags co-ordinator Rosemary Stephenson.  

Most of the flags represented the shops they flew over such as that for Four Seasons, the fruit and vegetable shop with a lot of local produce.

The flag for organisations such as CODS (Crediton Operatic and Dramatic Society) who have no High Street base, hangs over outfitters A E Lee. 

Rosemary said: “People think the flags are factory-made, they are not.  Each is made by hand and can take three days to sew.  We make some new ones each year.

“We have a team of six or seven volunteers who do the sewing, led by local artist Charlotte Turner.  This is a Town Team project, funded mainly by Crediton Town Council.”