An unexpected visitor in the vestry at Possett

The chapel at Possett has welcomed a good many visitors since 1878, but Sunday morning brought the first to arrive by coal hole and fall asleep on the second-best cushion.

Mrs Enid Copplestone, who unlocks on a Sunday, opened the vestry door at twenty past nine and found an otter sitting on the cushion in a manner she described as proprietorial. It had come up from the brook, along the ditch behind Station Crescent, and in through the old coal-hole hatch, which has been letting in draughts, leaves and now wildlife since roughly the Coronation. The otter had made an evening of it. There was a good deal of straw about the place, one hymn book had been rearranged, and the vestry now smelled distinctly of river.

The Rev'd Paul Thompson arrived to find three stewards in a semicircle at a respectful distance, none of them entirely sure of the correct procedure. Consultation of the church diary offered no guidance. In the end Percy Hallows walked down from the old station with a tin of sardines, and the matter resolved itself in under four minutes. The otter followed the tin out through the porch, across the grass, paused at the gate to look back at the congregation gathering for the evening service, and slid into the brook without a word of thanks.

The Wildlife Trust, telephoned afterwards out of an abundance of caution, confirmed that otters are perfectly capable of going home by themselves and are best not helped. They were pleased to hear of a healthy animal on that stretch of water, which they say is a good sign for the brook. Mrs Copplestone says she is pleased for the brook and would like her cushion looked at.

The coal-hole hatch now has a proper catch on it, fitted on Monday by the Running Repairs Group, who report that it took eleven minutes and should have been done in 1974. The hanging baskets, we are glad to say, were untouched. Evening services at Possett continue as usual at half past six, doors open to all, though the vestry window will be kept shut for the time being.