Arnesby May Fayre 31 May 2004
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The villagers
hosted another highly successful May Fayre on Monday, 31 May. With perfect
weather during the day an estimated 6,000 people attended the event
and a record amount of over £10,000 was raised to support local
organisations.
Visitors were entertained by lots of events and activities; live music was
provided by The Lizards playing country rock music, the Arcturus string
quartet gave concerts in the Church, the Wigston Brass Band entertained
picnickers near the village hall and a street organ provided a lively
atmosphere for strollers. An exhibition of falconry attracted large
crowds, street entertainers wandered the streets and of course, there
were Punch and Judy and magic shows and a traditional maypole dance.
A
coconut shy, skittles and a football penalty spot competition tested
skills and younger children played a variety of games for prizes on
a large lawn in the village. Exhibits included flower arrangements
in the Church and Chapel, a local memorabilia display, the Peter Welton
art gallery, bee keeping and a large selection of rare breeds of poultry.
Many opportunities for eating and drinking were available and apart
from the usual refreshments there were barbeques, hot potatoes, cream
teas in the orchard and samosas and other Indian delicacies.
The population of the village was increased for the day by many scarecrows
made by residents. These showed great imagination and amused visitors
who were able to vote for the best one. A realistic bride and groom
at the Baptist Chapel was judged to be the best display in the village. Photographs
»»
The highlight of the afternoon was the fourth running of the Arnesby
Cross country run, a five mile run around local villages. This
year 58 adult runners covering the whole range of ability from serious
club runners to fun runners to joggers entered the race.
The winner was Chris Manning of the Owls club in a time of 30 minutes
44 seconds and the first lady home was Sarah Hargreaves of West End
Runners in 35:35. Des Martin won the veterans race for over 50s in
32:11 and Christine Middleton (West End Runners) was the ladies winner
in 47:35. Click here for full details.
A separate race for juniors over a shorter distance was held for
the second year and 16 youngsters took part. Sam Stabler won the boys’
race in 17:00 and Emily Hogg won the girls race in 19:13.
As always, village stalls selling cakes, plants, toys and books,
bric-a-brac, home produce and “good as new” were very popular and
visiting stallholders sold many other things, from fudge and candy
floss to tree root sculpture, cosmetics and house and garden decorations
Click here to see a selection of photographs of the day.
The organisers would like to thank all those who helped on the
day or in the preparations and clean up operation.
Jacque Shorrocks, Liza Welton, Mike Brown and Terry Emmony.
