How quick can you build a chick?

Not the first question you might expect to be asked in church!

If you happened into St Bartholomew’s Church, Old Whittington over the last weekend of September, you might!

It was the weekend of the annual Lego (oh sorry, no, it has to be called) 'Brick' Festival.

Our Brick Festival is like a flower festival but instead of flower arrangements we have tables of Lego models.

Now if you are thinking that Lego is just for the children, then you are a good few years out of date.

It’s come a long way from the red and white blocks of the ‘60s, which seemed to build houses and little more.

Now there are Star Wars and Harry Potter sets; Marvel, Ninjango, Transformers, and at least a dozen other different series.

During a ‘festival’ weekend we expect periods when the church is not so busy.

I think this year the only time we had a bit of a lull was during the school day on the Friday.

Wows all around

Once school finished, families came straight up to church for a first look.

"Oh wow!" They exclaimed as they spotted the rollercoaster and ferris wheel on the fun fair.

More wows were heard at the detail of the Harry Potter models.

Landmarks from around the world left some puzzled as to where they were.

London was the most obvious.

Many folk returned on Saturday, and some even made it again on Sunday afternoon.

The ladies in the kitchen, running the tombola and managing the raffle, all declared it a great success.

On the Monday, our local primary school walked from school to church, one class at a time, for a look round.

Several children had donated models to display and had their photo taken with them.

Where's Jo?

In addition to looking at the Lego models, people were challenged to ‘Find Rev Jo’ - well her Lego figure at least.

But when you do, sshhh don’t tell anyone else!

She moved around the different displays.

It didn’t matter where she hid, she was found.

She started by operating the roller coaster, she rode in the train, a boat, and the big wheel, she took a wedding, went fishing, watched from the rooftop and finished doing an impression of Rose on the Titanic!

Oh and the chick in question…. this is Rev Jo’s time challenge. Each year we set a simple challenge to see who is ‘the champion builder of the year’.

The youngest to complete it was Jack, who is only five and a half years old.

The top three quickest were: third, Freddy, in a time of 3 minutes 5 seconds; second, Cody, in a time of 2 minutes and 55 seconds; and in first place Alfie in a time of 2 minutes and 50 seconds.  

There is a small prize for Alfie, but the real reward is in setting the challenge for next year.

Next Year? I hear you ask.

Oh yes, by popular demand, there’ll be another Brick Festival next year.