A Grand Day Out – And With The Fete To Come

As Hambledon looks ahead to a summer fete on the Cricket Green, it can also reflect back on a grand day out at the same venue with the Mary Caroe Cup match and presentation to retiring parish council chairman John Anderson.

Preparations have begun for the fete which will take place at the Bank Holiday on August 28th. It will have all the elements of a traditional fete, and is a scaled-down version of the Hambledon Midsummer Festival Weekend, postponed again because of Covid restrictions.

It will feature a dog show, stalls, races and raffle and will end with a barbecue, bar and live music outside the shop.

Fortunately, the Mary Caroe Cup went ahead on Sunday June 20th, neither dampened by rain or regulations, with crowds of up to 30 able to gather outside and social distancing maintained. The same applied to the presentation to John Anderson, who has stood down after 38 years on Hambledon Parish Council, the last 17 as its chairman.

Rain was forecast, but instead the sun shone. The cricket fixture between the village club and community shop staff and volunteers – renamed the Mary Caroe Cup in honour of a much-loved village resident – produced a thrilling finish, with Hamblecon CC beating the shop by one run in the final over. Our photograph shows the Cup being presented by Martin Thompson to Hambledon CC skipper Andy Dunn.

During the tea interval, John Anderson was presented with a painting of his family home by local artist John Coleman, commission by the parish council on behalf of the village. A well-supported collection enabled his friends and colleagues to also present him with a case of wine and there was enough left over to make a donation to the Hambledon Community Fund.

John’s niece Cathy Coleman provided an excellent pencil sketch of John Anderson, which formed the cover of a card signed by many well-wishers, and there was a lovely addition of a card made by children at Hambledon Nursery School.

 

On behalf of the council, residents and the many organisations that John Anderson has been involved in helping over the years, he was thanked by Stewart Payne, who has replaced John as council chairman. The presentation was made by his clerk of many years, Jane Woolley, and a further tribute was paid by Ruth Caroe, who spoke of the great friendship over many years enjoyed by their two families.

A full report of both events appears in this month’s Hambledon Parish Magazine, and if you are not a subscriber copies are on sale at the village shop. Please see further photographs at the end of this article.

  • Preparations for the fete start this evening with a public meeting to outline plans and enlist volunteers. It will take place outside the village shop at 7.30pm, by which time it is hoped many will be celebrating an England win against Germany in the last 16 knock-out stage of the Euro2020 football championship.

The Nursery School’s Card:

The Presentation: 

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Els Trovo
Els Trovo
2 years ago

Lovely day, nice to be ‘out, out’ again (no pun intended)
Well done to the organizers.