Jubilee Celebrations

Jubilee Community Church Fete

Meldreth churchyard was the perfect setting for the fete on the second day of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations. What a crowd, ranging from babies to grownups all soaking up the atmosphere! Peter Allen opened proceedings and talked us through the day: thank you, Peter. Chris Elbourn and The Malfunctions band had people tapping their toes to familiar 60’s and 70’s music. Later in the afternoon, Clare Silver and the Lift Off Choir, all in good voice, sang familiar songs. Thank you Clare and Chris for entertaining us. The popular BBQ’n’beer was hugely successful along with the teas and refreshments which were on offer throughout the day. This year we introduced a card payment system which was popular and will be used again. Games provided by Messy Church, the Brownies and Wood Green Animal Shelter were fun filled - not forgetting face painting and of course, the coconut shy and tug of war provided much fun for all ages! We were delighted to have Maycroft and Aurora at the fete offering handmade crafts. Jewellery sold well and how lovely to have clothing and crafts provided by The Queen Bee, (behind the British Queen). As always homemade cakes, plants, books and the bottle stall drew the crowds. The magnificent raffle almost sold out of tickets. Competitions in the church appealed to many inspired Jubilee bakers, from young children to adults. The Platinum themed floral displays were beautiful, so thank you to all who took part. Also inside the church was a display by Joan Gane of Meldreth Local History Group.

A big thank you to Cam Valley Orchards, The British Queen, Davey’s Butchers, Etex (Exteriors) UK Ltd., Esse, Foulgers (CVS) Ltd, Tom Foulger, Phillimore Nurseries, Melbourn Co-op, Fieldgate Nurseries, The British Queen, Tescos, the Showmen and Mariah, Leech’s, Johnson Matthey and TTP for supporting us. To all who helped with advertising, social media, the PA and others who worked tirelessly behind the scenes before and on the day, thank you. We were determined to make the day an inclusive community event for all and we hope, encouraged by our contributors, a helping hand has been given to Meldreth Primary School, Home-Start and our village church, as it struggles with funding to address the serious rising damp problems.

We have received some very heartening and supportive feedback from people saying how much they enjoyed the fete and brilliant atmosphere. Thank you to everyone who helped set up before and on the day and of course the clearing up afterwards. Thank you to everyone who came too and supported us, raising the magnificent sum of just over £5000! Our County Councillor, Susan van de Ven wrote: “Can I just say what a joy it was to be at the fete yesterday, organised by you! I think it’s the best one we’ve ever attended - more people, more children, more fun and relaxed, with so many new things to enjoy. I loved the Lift Off choir! Teas and BBQ were wonderful - dogs, scarecrows, everything!! Yes, yes, all those young families and even a newborn baby or two. Just perfect! Thank you SO much for all your work to make it happen!”

Julie and Pauline

The Meldreth Big Jubilee Lunch

What a good day we had at the British Queen, celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Despite the rain we had such fun thanks to the efforts of various villagers and village businesses. The Jubilee Crew would like to thank Sue and Alan Tobin for hosting the event. Also all their staff who were kept so busy and yet were still smiling at the end of the day. Thank you also to Russell Davey for his great hog roast and barbecue and to Lyndsey Wareing for her tasty Caribbean food. Many people brought their own gazebos and in the main marquee at the BQ there was a wonderful balloon centre piece assembled by Heather Russell (House of Parties) who lives in the village. Thanks go to our ’Queen’ Wendy Braid and to Mary Holland, who was her lady in waiting. They made us feel like we really had royalty present. Even children were so sweetly asking if she was really The Queen! Thank you too, to Malcolm Woods for photographing the happy scenes on the day. The prizes for the children’s drawing competition were kindly supplied by Bury Lane Fun Barn & The Beach, Shepreth Wildlife Park and Tesco. We thank them all for supporting this village event.

The nine members of the Meldreth Jubilee Crew started planning in March and all had so many great ideas. In the end, we deliberately focussed on keeping the event simple, but nevertheless felt it was a fitting tribute, especially celebrating the Queen at The British Queen. Even an event that appears simple on the surface takes a lot of planning and organisation, most of which was contributed by Joan Gane, so particular thanks and appreciation go to her. It takes a village to ensure events like this are successful, so thank you to everyone who came for supporting us.

The Jubilee Crew

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Meldreth Scarecrow Festival

Thank you Meldreth for a fantastic Jubilee Scarecrow Festival; the village was awash with red, white and blue with queens, corgis, horses and daleks. My fellow organisers and judges were blown away with the response from the village with a wide selection of excellently crafted scarecrows, with some fantastic ingenuity. I’ll get down to it: the winner this year was Megsterminate, a truly red, white and blue dalek that was

Photograph by Roger Faires just beyond the church on North End. The judges also awarded prizes to Sponge Bob Union Pants and to Queen Elizabeth and Emma. You can view all the scarecrows if you follow this link: https://youtu.be/YfnB34FKY94. A big thank you to Meldreth Parish Council for providing funding this year and to Jo Brown for helping to organise the festival. Some people have suggested a return next year, and we are considering whether to make this an annual or biennial event. If you have an opinion or ideas on when to

Photograph by Maurice Prové run the scarecrow festival again please email Meldrethscarecrow@gmail.com. Roger Faires

Photograph by Malcolm Woods