Exmouth's Crib on the Quay is blessed

EXMOUTH'S Crib on the Quay – now becoming a firm favourite in the town during the run-up to Christmas – was blessed in a short and inspiring service on the first Sunday in Advent. The Nativity Scene will be illuminated and on display during the next four weeks as a "gentle reminder" of the Christmas story. It's the fourth year that the figures have been used since they were rescued from a loft and restored by parishioners from Exmouth's Holy Ghost Catholic Church…

The charming service was held on a cold but bright day on the patio outside Betty Tansley's home at Pennant House, Marina Walkway, Exmouth. Around 40 people gathered to see Father Philip Austen bless the Nativity Scene.

"The service grows every year," said Father Philip after the blessing. "The nativity scene will be here, so people can see it as they walk past, for the next four weeks as a gentle reminder…

"The figures were in use in the church, but were a bit tatty. We had another set from the Lympstone parish church, so my first Christmas in Exmouth we used the Lympstone set. And then Betty offered to do this the following year with the older figures. A team worked on smartening up and repainting the figures to produce what you see."

Betty Tansley, a keen member of Exmouth Quay Residents' Association, first suggested the Crib in 2006.

"We also have Carols on the Quay for the RNLI," she said. "The first year I was over there, the whole place was lit up and the lifeboat was all dressed. I said to the Harbour Master, 'Do you think something's missing?', and he said, 'Yes, there's no religious scene', so that's why I said that next year I would do something. The Father said that we had these figures in the loft, so he helped me drag them out. They needed a bit of a spruce-up, some Polyfilla here and there. It's quite a community on the Quay, and it's drawn the community together…"

In addition to the Crib, this year the front of Betty's house is decorated with pictures of Biblical scenes, produced by children from St Joseph's Catholic primary school.

"They tell the story of Jesus's ancestry," said Father Philip, "from the Creation all the way through to Joseph, King David, the birth of John the Baptist, the Enunciation and Mary."

The Nativity Scene will be completed by the arrival of the Wise Men. "They're not there at the moment," said Father Philip, "they come along a bit later." The Magi are expected to be on their way to Bethlehem in the next few days, and soon you should be able to spot them in Betty's front window.