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FROM BABEWYNS TO HUNKY PUNKSJune Graveson, Head of Church Trails, is constantly surprised by the things she fi nds on Church Trails. “My NADFAS journey has taken me all over the UK, from Wessex to Dumbartonshire and from Herefordshire to East Anglia,” she says. “It began with my involvement in the East Midlands Young Arts project – “Take One Book” – The Luttrell Psalter. This medieval book of Psalms, now in the British Library, was commissioned in the 14th century by Sir Geoffrey Luttrell, Lord of the Manor in Irnham, Lincolnshire. “For many years it has provided historians with information about rural life in the Middle Ages and is an absolute visual delight. In 2006, the Folio Society and the British Library produced a magnifi cent facsimile edition of the Psalter. I have taken a copy into primary schools in the East Midlands as well as to many Societies. Both children and adults have been fascinated to learn about this very special treasure and are intrigued by the hundreds of Babewyns (medieval grotesque hybrid creatures, such as the one recreated by a child, below right) they discovered on its pages.“This led me to making a NADFAS Church Trail for Children at Irnham Church and got me hooked on this absorbing volunteering activity. Churches have many features in common, but they all have their own special treasures too. Recently I have been introduced to Hunky Punks, which I learnt, is a Somerset term for the carved grotesques on the outside of churches. Unlike bosses (which conceal the joints of a vaulted ceiling), gargoyles (water spouts) or corbels (supports for stonework), Hunky Punks do not have a function; they are purely decorative. They are carved into all forms of hybrid creatures, and I believe must surely be close relatives of the Babewyns from the Luttrell Psalter. “There is never a dull moment when making a Church Trail. Even if you don’t meet the Hunky Punks, I’m sure you will fi nd many other treasures and surprises.” ■• If you’d like to get involved in making one for a local church, ask your Society and Church Trails Area Representative. fi ve West Midlands Societies which had already completed three Trails. Guy Hordern supported Florian’s request to the Faith Leaders of Birmingham, and Bhai Sahib Bhai Mohinder Singh, the Chairman of Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha (GNNSJ), a Sikh gurdwara, responded with enthusiasm. After research, receiving advice on etiquette and careful liaison, the team was overwhelmed with the welcome it received from devotees at the gurdwara, all volunteers. “Ideally we should like to see our Trails in the context of a wider programme of follow-up activities for teachers and accompanying adults: art and crafts, music, poetry and calligraphy,” says Liz. But currently, the team is concentrating on the central task: designing a Trail that retains the hallmarks of a NADFAS Trail, but can be integrated into established practice in the place of worship. The team at GNNSJ is working collaboratively with Ranjit Dhanda, Leader for Faith Inclusion at the Nishkam School Trust. “We are working outside our comfort zone. The project has not only enriched my life, it has changed it forever,” says Liz. “I see the 24 dispositions, which 400 Birmingham schools have adopted, as a means of guiding children through this complex world. Our Trails are just a small tool to be used to enable children to appreciate beauty, to be explorative, curious and refl ective. For children to step inside the place of worship and to experience the atmosphere is a very different experience from seeing artefacts in a museum.” A Trail for Singers Hill synagogue is under way and Trails for a mosque and Hindu temple will be completed over the next two years. A Trail at St Augustine’s is already in use. Liz says: “It is hoped that by enjoying doing a Trail in the gurdwara, mosque, synagogue, temple and church we are enabling children to live comfortably with diversity. The danger of wishing everyone would be the same is swept away with the celebration of difference.” ■NADFAS volunteers have so far created over 260 Church TrailsGurdwara image: Piers Wolf.CHURCH TRAILSTHE ART OF GIVING — 09