Tiddles was for 17 years the tabby cat at the lovely church of St Mary the Virgin, in the Gloucestershire village of Fairford, from 1963 until her death in 1980. Having befriended the verger and his wife, she stayed on and became a firm favourite, attending services regularly and sitting on the knees of willing members of the congregation. A local stonemason, Peter Juggins, felt that when she died she deserved a memorial at least as much as some of the people who already had one ('more, in some cases', said a commentator), and so he carved the likeness that stands outside the church porch today (right).

When I visited Fairford in the summer of 2006 to photograph Tiddles' stone — now rather overgrown with lichen — there was someone at the church who remembered Tiddles, more than a quarter of a century on, so she must have made an impression. And I found she had a successor! Another tabby female was seen wandering around the village a couple of years earlier, apparently homeless; she adopted the church and was being looked after by the volunteers. My photo shows her comfortably curled up on one of the pews (left).

I asked her name, but it seems she was simply called 'the church cat'. She was not allowed to remain inside at night, but had a large and comfortable 'house' in the spacious church porch, where she was also fed; and in addition there was a basket by the church door, strategically positioned to catch the afternoon sun!

In 2007 a portrait of the church cat was taken by David Stowell, who has kindly agreed we may use it here (above right). He thinks she might have inherited the name Tiddles from her predecessor, but this is unconfirmed.