St Mary’s Church in Bacton, near Stowmarket, launches Nativity Trail

A church community has put on a festive trail for a village’s school children and families to enjoy.

St Mary’s Church in Bacton, near Stowmarket, has hosted a Nativity Trail despite the church’s freezing cold conditions due to energy supplier issues.

The trail saw more than three hundred children from Old Newton Primary School and Bacton Primary School follow wise men, encounter real sheep, eat marshmallows by a fire while concealing their guide’s identity from Herod.

Organiser Amanda Manley said: “It was brilliant - it all went really well.

“In September, Rev Carl Melville rang me with this idea and to see if I would write a script and so I just plunged in and the main thing he wanted was for the shepherds outside to have real sheep.

“So it was all based on that really - tried to warn him that it would be a bit cold but he volunteered to be one of the shepherds in the end.”

The event saw volunteers dressing up as wise men, shepherds, angels and Mary and Joseph.

It was open for the schools during the day and then members of the public were able to come along to experience the trail in the evening.

Amanda added: “We had a wonderful team of volunteers and because of the heating issues people had to really wrap up warm - a lot of them were wearing coats under their costumes.

“Some of the children actually came back in the evening after coming with their school earlier.

“They went round and did it again so it obviously made an impression.”