THE recent “Wedding Memories” exhibition held over three days at Upton Pyne Church was a tremendous success, with refreshments in the Village Hall, which was decorated as a Wedding Reception.

The church was the setting for around 40 wedding dresses, including the one with a very unique train, worn by Lady Katherine Courtney, daughter of the 17th Earl of Devon, at her wedding in 1966 to Mr Anthony Watney of Powderham.

Dresses had come from all over, with names of who wore them and details of their weddings and where they were wed. These included the wedding of Sylvia and David Thomas at the Church of HMS Heron, Yeovilton Air Base.

Sylvia bought the material in Plymouth and made the dress in the Wren’s quarters of HMS Drake at Plymouth.

A number of the dresses were home-made, including the one worn by Denise Cannon with the help of her grandmother back in 1979.

Another belonged to Iona Bush who was born in Burma but with her family, they fled for their lives when the Japanese invaded Burma in 194. They went to India, but in 1947 Iona again had to flee to Pakistan.

She then came to London and had to re-qualify as a nurse. Many years later, whilst on holiday in Bournemouth, she met a Cornish farmer and they were married in 1972.

The stories with the dresses made fascinating reading. A truly wonderful event.

Also in the hall were more dresses on the stage and memorabilia on tables, including photographs and stories of weddings and residents of the village some years ago.

Co-ordinator of the event, Linda Findlay, expressed her thanks to everyone who had loaned dresses, helped at the event and to the many visitors who went along, including some from France, adding that the event raised £1,300 for the Church Maintenance funds.

Their next event will be held on Sunday, June 25, when the Friends of Upton Pyne will be providing light refreshments at an Open Gardens at Pynes (near Cowley), from 1pm to 5pm, as part of the National Gardens Scheme.