Sunday 13th July was a very hot day. Despite this, and the consequent postponement of the Dog Show to protect pets from overheating, the Village Fete was well attended and enjoyed.
I was hoping to spend more time on the day, photographing events for the website. Unfortunately, I was able to be present only for the first half hour or so, and that means I have a limited set of pictures for you this year. Sorry.
The Memorial Hall and Recreation Ground Committee would like to thank our sponsors, the exhibitors, the traders, the musicians, all who volunteered and helped organise and run the event, and everyone who came along to share in the fun, contributed, and spent money: we raised in excess of £4,000 to add to the growing fund for the Children’s Play Area and Equipment.
Four-legged friends are companions, carers, guides, or simply members of the family. If you have one, does it deserve a reward? Maybe a rosette. Maybe just the fun of being there. Maybe the excitement of meeting fellow-four-legged friends. Whatever your dog, be she pretty, be he handsome, be it the scruffiest ever, be it one you couldn’t resist so you rescued it, the one that’s best at catching biscuits, or the one you put in fancy dress, you and your faithful friend are invited to enter the Dog Show at Lydbrook Fete. There are rosettes to be gained, and fun to be had, and other dog-lovers to meet. Come along and have a go. Details are all on the poster above. Last year’s show at the fete was very popular. Let’s see if we can do even better this year, shall we?
If you’re a cake maker, pop along to the fete on Sunday 13th July on the Recreation Ground in Lydbrook and enter one of your fantastic creations into the contest. You need to register at the fete itself, on the day, so get prepared, have it baked and ready for presentation, and take it along for the judges to inspect and taste! Good luck all.
It’s all happening. And we’re raising funds for play equipment for the kids here.
After last year’s great success, the fete is being run again. The date for your diaries is Sunday 13th July. Come along and have fun while raising funds for the children’s play area.
Watch this space for further information, to be posted over the next few days.
Baker? Strong-man/woman? Dog owner? If you like a challenge, you’ll find something here for you in the next few posts.
On Sunday, 2nd March, Michael Charlton-Hubble organised a party in the Memorial Hall to celebrate Alison, Simon and Phil’s long service as shop keepers for the village, in Central Stores. The event was created to thank them, and their staff, Clare, Gavin and Donna, for their unstinting great service in providing the village with a local retail outlet that acted as a hub for the community and supported many village activities.
All those present wished to express their thanks personally. And the many donations of cakes, buns and scones were welcomed by all. There was no charge made for the event, but a bowl was in place for people to donate what they felt appropriate. There were also a couple of cards to be signed by everyone present as a reminder of the afternoon. The amount raised almost covered the cost of hiring the Hall, providing free hot drinks, and allowing Michael to organise a couple of photo books to commemorate the event for Alison, Simon and Phil. Michael also presented Alison and Simon, and Phil and Jess with Champagne and flowers and the signed cards, much to the delight of all.
It was a splendid occasion with lots of chat and opportunities for people to mingle with other villagers, renew acquaintanceships and generally have a good gossip.
Our thanks to Michael for creating the event and to Sue and Roy Vincent who were tremendous in acting as a sounding board for Michael and who spent most of the day cooking batches of scones, displaying cakes, and filling the tea urns. They were a great help as were the volunteers who came forward and helped with the washing up!
Michael would like to thank the Memorial Hall Trustees and all the villagers who donated cash, cake or their time. It really is appreciated.
There were several villagers present who confessed to having never before been in our lovely old hall. Let’s hope future events will bring them back. The building was created to serve the local community, and the current trustees do their best to improve an aging facility and keep it going, often with voluntary work and sometimes even at personal expense.
This year, we have tried some new ventures in the Memorial Hall and on the Recreation Ground. On November 5th we held our first Bonfire Night event on the Recreation ground. There’s a post about that here.
On 1st December, we held our first Christmas Fair in the Memorial Hall. There were lots of full tables with gifts, skilfully crafted items, books, toys and other items for sale. The Tombola was well-received, and the Raffle was particularly popular.
Hot drinks and cakes were enjoyed by many visitors.
And the children had a chance to sit on Santa’s lap and receive a gift, and were also able to have fun making Christmas decorations.
Later the same day, our first outdoor Christmas Tree, which had been erected a few days earlier, became the centre of attention.
People from the village gathered to witness the lighting of the tree, while members of Lydbrook Band played carols and seasonal tunes, which the crowd were invited to sing-along to.
This turned out to be another event that was well-attended and enjoyed by many.
The Committee would like to take this opportunity to thank all the sponsors who made these events possible. These sponsors across all events were Central Stores Lydbrook, Gladstone Sawmills, Cafe Vanille, Lydbrook Car Body Repairs, and the people of Joys Green and Lydbrook. Numerous others helped with donations, raffle prizes, cakes etc all contributing to the total enjoyment and the raising of over £6,000 towards the children’s play equipment!! And, of course, quite a few volunteers were on hand to set up and run the events.
So, our Sincere Thanks to all involved. Thank you!!
The Fete, organised and run by a small subcommittee led by Andrew Clements on behalf of Lydbrook Memorial Hall with the invaluable help of many volunteers and organisations from across the community, proved an outstanding success. Too many people to thank individually but, our sincere thanks for everyone who set it all up, put everything down, and helped clear up afterwards; you all know who you are! A big thank you also to everyone who donated raffle and tombola prizes and to all those local businesses that supported the event by giving their time and products. Also, it was great to have so many different stalls and activities run by so many people, thank you all.
Lydbrook Training Band, Yule’s Group, Morris Men, and Ships and Giggles sea-shanty group provided musical entertainment.
At the time of writing, we’re still awaiting the total of money raised from the event. I know those responsible will announce this soon.
And it was great to see the whole event so well attended by so many local people.
There was lots of live music, a tombola, BBQ food, tea and lovely cakes, a dog show, drinks, face-painting, games, stalls, a Victoria Sponge baking contest, bric-a-brac and more! I was unable to spend as long at the event as I’d have liked, unfortunately, so I missed some of the fun. But I’ve included some photos I took on the day and hope these will act as reminders of the fun and joy all shared.
Once again, THANK YOU to all involved
Subsequent to the Fete, the group of people who run the Memorial Hall and the Recreation Ground held their Annual General Meeting on Wednesday in the Hall. There were eleven people present. 8 of those were trustees and two were trustees’ wives, the eleventh volunteered as a new trustee! It’s disappointing so few members of the local community feel they can help the charity that looks after these two assets. We need new trustees, as we’ve lost three recently, and another is probably leaving at the end of the year. So, please, come along to our next meeting, Tuesday 3rd September, in the hall at 19:00. You’ll be made welcome. Thank you.
The trustees and friends of Lydbrook Memorial Hall and Recreation Ground would like to convey their heartfelt sympathy to the family and friends of Jim Matthews, a long-standing committee member and supporter of Lydbrook Memorial Hall. Jim was instrumental in so many projects over the years. If he saw something that needed doing, he just did it. He organized materials, labour, and provided ample supervision to get the job done. His dedication to the memory of the fallen was second to none having located and visited many of the graves of the men listed on the village memorial. It is impossible to list everything he did for this organization; suffice to say he will be a hard act to follow!
Miriam Paris ran a Jumble Sale in the Memorial Hall yesterday, 6th April 2024. It was run to raise funds for Dementia and managed to gather over £1,000.00 for the fund.
The items available were all well organised and sold at bargain prices.
It was very well attended.
There was a raffle with a good range of prizes and there were cakes served with coffee or tea for anyone with £1.00 to spare. And I can tell you those cakes were really delicious!
Let’s hope we can host more of these events for the village.
Sunday 11th November 2018: a date with real significance. Not only did Armistice Day fall on a Sunday this year, but it coincided with the centenary of the formal ending of World War 1. Because of this, a special service was organised for the Memorial Hall, the establishment of which was to remember all those local people who fell in battle on our behalf.
Photo courtesy Mark Lythaby.
After the morning service at the Church of the Holy Jesus, the congregation filed out onto Church Road, where they were joined by many other people from the village. The Lydbrook Silver Band led the march down the hill and through the village to the hall, where all assembled in the narrow space permitted by the road. Made safe by the Parish Council, through Bruce Hogan who had arranged with the local police to have the road closed during the service.
The memorial had already been enhanced by the generous gift of a commemorative bench by Lydbrook Athletic Football Club; a silhouette of a WWI soldier, sponsored by the Parish Council, and placed above the hall entrance; and another WWI soldier silhouette placed within the railings, sponsored by the local Royal British Legion branch.
The Rev. Roger Minson led the religious aspect of the service with hymns and prayers.
Trevor Hek hosted the ceremony on behalf of the Royal British Legion, ensuring all went according to plan. He read out the names of those commemorated, giving details about their service. And, as the names were read, the staff and pupils of Lydbrook Primary School placed poppy crosses at the memorial, and wreaths were laid.
The Royal British Legion Standard was in the capable hands of Standard-bearer Tammie Johnstone.
Photo courtesy Mark Lythaby.
The Last Post was played, evoking that usual lump-in-the-throat response by many, by Robert Morgan, M.B.E., who also led and conducted the Lydbrook Silver Band, playing appropriate music and accompanying the hymns.
Rachael Mowatt, of the Women’s Institute, read John McCrae’s ‘In Flanders Fields’, evoking more memories and thoughts of the devastating effects of war.
The gathered crowd of attendees did the village proud; a good throng, representing all ages. Even one or two villagers in poor health managed to attend and all braved the sudden downpours without complaint. And, at least the sun emerged afterwards.
The sincere thanks of the Committee of Lydbrook Memorial Hall and Recreation Ground go to all who participated in, organised, and attended this centenary commemoration of the sacrifice of our brave local heroes.
Sorry to be late with this – I was collecting information. My photographs are a little limited, as I climbed the path opposite the hall to get an overall shot and was then trapped there for the duration. If anyone has additional pictures they’d be willing to share here, please use the ‘Contact’ tab to get in touch, and we can make arrangements. Thank you.
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