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8 Phonebox Magazine | September 2025A few weeks of celebrationsThe 700th celebrations of St Peter and St Paul Church, Olney, were planned and organised by a committee consisting of their church members, the Cowper and Newton Museum and Olney Town Council. Assistant Warden Susan Bailey explains more.The committee reached out to the local schools, other churches in the town, local organisations and businesses. The response and commitment were impressive. This is a snapshot of the main events which took place in the weeks around our Patronal Festival of 29th June 2025.%u00a0Our starting point was the Sexcentenary 600th Anniversary Programme %u2013 St Peter and St Paul, Olney, from Liz Knight%u2019s archive. We decided not to re-enact the ride (on his horse) through the town by %u2018John Gilpin%u2019 or the Battle of Olney Bridge. Traffi c is pretty tricky through the town as it is, but we did incorporate %u2018services%u2019, %u2018fetes%u2019 and %u2018pageants%u2019 in our own style. %u00a0The young people of the town drew, painted, coloured, photographed and displayed beautiful artwork and wrote poetry. (%u2018Olney Legacy%u2019 was chosen for the Civic service). This was the fi rst time all the schools had worked together since Covid. Flower arrangers from all of the churches in Olney and our local fl orists beautifi ed the church with themed fl owers around its 700-year history.To herald in the offi cial start of the event on 28th June, a peal of 5,700 changes was rung over nearly four hours. In the evening, we had a medieval-themed %u2018Church Ale%u2019 event with our own brewed commemorative ale, themed glasses and a hog roast.Next day there was a Patronal Service outside, with Rev Adrian Low as guest preacher. Then the Flower Festival and Cherry Fair opened.It was packed with visitors who came for tea, food, entertainment, a meet up with friends and family, games, tombola and an ice cream. Children danced and sang, dogs showed off their best side, and the band played.The following weekend there was a fascinating History Day led by Professor Stephen Upex, supported by Tom Jones from the museum, and later Malcolm Jones enlightened us on Liz Knight%u2019s archives.%u00a0On 6th July the Civic Service was led by the new Bishop Dave Bull of Buckingham. We created souvenirs, cakes and 700 woolly mice for children to fi nd. We sang our new hymn %u2018Seven Hundred Years%u2019, composed and written by Jonathan and Bethany Heron.%u00a0During June and July, we had performances and concerts by local bands, groups and international singers. The sun shone, the team pulled out all the stops, and it was a resounding success. In August a new sculpture was unveiled to coincide with our 700th and John Newton%u2019s 300th birthday. On 2nd September, our new Priest in Charge, the Rev Ben Lewis, will be licensed at 7.30pm. By then the Tower and West doors will be restored %u2013 much of it funded by our other famous event, The Pancake Race.