Around a decade ago, at this time of year Mr Kiwi and I were hunting for venues to get married in.
With the legalities being carried out in the beautiful Marylebone Town Hall, a celebration drink in the lovely Landmark hotel and dinner in the restaurant that we were meant to have our first date in, we wanted to find a Lincolnshire church that was close to our hearts.
One of the reasons why I came to the UK was for the ancient architecture – I had a twinkle in my young eye and career aspirations to restore and conserve old, special buildings – and I found myself working and volunteering for The Churches Conservation Trust.
Tying into our story, Rich kindly proposed to me in a beautiful Churches Conservation Trust in Cambridge (and patiently asked me again when I panicked and said no) so we thought that perhaps having the full celebration in a TCCT church would be a lovely note.
Scouring the internet, we discovered a small church about a 20-minute drive from Rich’s parents and close to the country club where we would be having the reception.
St Martin’s overlooks furrowed fields filled with rapeseed plants and corners a small settlement of 3 houses and a curving lane that wriggles through the Lincolnshire countryside.
Once a thriving parish church, now the door is always unlocked, waiting for ramblers to discover the beautiful tiles within.
Sadly the lane up to the Church door was a touch too wild for us to easily navigate in the dewy November frosts, but each time we drive past, we talk about the beautiful little church we almost were married in.
Rich and his family jokingly call it ‘Emma’s Church’, and the last time we were driving through the area, I asked to pop in for 5 minutes.
They were more than happy to stop off and indulge us – and once I managed to open the sticky door with a little persuasion – I wandered down memory lane.
To my utter delight (and slight sadness) we leafed through the visitor’s book and found our original entry from 10 years ago. We were sad because it means that there haven’t been enough visitors to this lovely little spot – something that The Churches Conservation Trust churches suffer with a lot.
Our signatures have changed, but the faces have definitely put on a few wrinkles… I can’t believe that it’s been almost 10 years of anniversaries!
