TWO Forest flower arrangers had a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to showcase their skills at Westminster Abbey.

Alwyn Page of Tutshill and Mary Court of Aylburton were invited to be part of the team decorating the Abbey for the 400th anniversary service for Alleyn’s School.

The National Association of Flower Arranging Societies (NAFAS) puts out periodic calls for volunteers to help at the country’s most prestigious church.

Alwyn and Mary were asked to create two pedestal designs at the end of the quire.

Alwyn said: “Just before Christmas I had an e-mail from NAFAS area chairman Katherine Kear – it was an invitation to be part of the team at Westminster Abbey on January 17.

“I was asked to select another member of the Lydney and Severnside Flower Club and I immediately thought of Mary.”

Mary was one of Alwyn’s first students on the full flower arranging qualifications course at the Royal Forest of Dean in the early 1990s – and she is also a member of the team at Gloucester Cathedral.

A few days before going to London, the friends, armed with long-arm loppers, were in Mary’s garden gathering foliage for the display.

When they got to the Abbey it was straight to work and there was no time to admire the amazing building which Alwyn had not previously visited.

She said: “The brief also mentioned that access to our plinths, on which we were to create our pedestals, was a bit difficult.

“We soon realised what was meant by ‘difficult access’ – our plinths were four feet high including the large bowl of floral foam on raised areas of about five feet square, and three feet above the main floor.

“These were reached via a small flight of steps on one side, with a soaring Abbey pillar on the other. At the back was the opening to the upper Quire stalls and, to the front, was a low railing – all that was stopping us from falling into the tourists below.

“There was simply no room to step back to check shape and size and had to keep to our brief.

As an experienced flower arranger, I have every confidence in my skills having created many large pedestals for competitions, festivals and weddings, often with time constraints, but this was a real challenge.

“I am now a less-than-fit 74 year old, with a lot less stamina and agility these days!. Mary is younger and fitter than me but, for both of us, to constantly have to carefully step over everything at our feet, go down the steps, unhook the rope at the bottom, and walk into the tourists – just to get a good view of what we were doing – exhausting, time-consuming and we were running out of time.

“But, standing there, looking at what we had achieved and listening to the thanks and praise from the wonderful Abbey team, I suddenly realised the enormity of what had just happened

“It’s definitely the most prestigious venue I have ever had the privilege to work in – absolutely amazing and quite overwhelming.

“I don`t think it was the best piece of work I have ever done but, despite the hard work and challenges, I will probably never experience anything like that again.”