All the fun of the fete

I heard a loud bang when I was lolling in the bath this morning. I remembered that Helena said there would be a gathering of the English Civil War Society at Brimscombe and Thrupp Fete today, and that there would be guns fired, so proceedings had begun.

We soon prepared ourselves with sunscreen, dodgy sun hats and sandals and set off up the Golden Valley to the site, which is very near to where Helena works on Tuesdays. The intense sun was tempered by a very strong breeze which was whipping off hats galore from the funsters.

There were the usual modern stalls and rides, as well as the arena for the Civil War demos, which we seemed to have missed. Most of the demonstrators were dressed in the sixteenth century garb of the common people, rather than the elite, and they all looked very hot in their thick woolen dressses, smocks, trousers and bonnets.

But I miss the older style roll-a-penny stalls, the skittles, lucky-dips and coconut shies. Instead there are cat rescue centre stalls, the hedgehog hospital and lots of businesses selling very tacky junk. No real jumble to sift through, and only a few books in cardboard boxes. There was a cappuccino machine in the back of a purpose built van, obviously designed to attend festivals and dish out the legal drugs.

I did like the beer tent supplied by Stroud Brewery, where Helena had a Pimms to quench her thirst and I had their local Budding ale. I bumped into several town and district councillors, said hello to the architect who we are employing for the Lansdown Hall project and saw various faces I recognise from the neighbourhood.

Best of all were the children's attractions, with a busy Punch and Judy tent, boats swinging into the air, a tea pot with cups circulating at low speed for very young ones to sit in safely, and this roundabout, which was a bit more exciting. I particularly liked the expression on this boy's face, which suggests he will remember the day for some time.

Helena told me that the boy in the background seat, wearing a blue shirt and red hat, had dropped his toy bird on the ground, when the roundabout first started up, which you can see on the ground just in front of him. He was so concerned about it that on every revolution he kept his eyes peeled, constantly twisting around in his seat to watch it. He seemed to be missing out on the fun of the movement of the roundabout, which seemed a shame. But then again everyone has their own way of doing anything, for better or worse.


A bit of local background and history:

Brimscombe is situated in a valley where the A419, the Stroudwater canal, the river Frome and the railway share the valley bottom space, which divided the residents on either side. For many years the villagers from Thrupp and Brimscombe were separate communities. Even the Youth Club had to close because of conflict between youngsters from the villages of Thrupp and Brimscombe.

In 1988, Holy Trinity Church, Brimscombe, was preparing to celebrate its 250 year anniversary which was to occur in 1989. The GRAND Church Fête took place on 27 May 1989 and was held on the Brimscombe & Thrupp Playing Fields. The Church put on a drama - the Bible in mime - and there were numerous stalls and a fun fair.

It was such a success that it was decided to have another similar event the next year. Philip Marmont, who lived at Mount Cottage, Walls Quarry, Brimscombe, stated that he had met people he hadn't seen for over 20 years, and it was because of him that the GRAND Village Fête was born!