Summer in an English village

Flower festivals, garden parties and Rose Queens 

Living in a Cheshire village it is sometimes easy to think that time stands still.  Annual events such as the village garden party have been taking place for generations, the young Rose Queen attendants will probably be joining the village committees or maybe the WI (or its equivalent) twenty plus years from now and organising the same fetes and processions.  Proud mum's of our local villages' queens were themselves Rose Queens or attendants as children, and so it goes.

I was brought up in a city so this was all new to me when I embraced village life as a young mum. It seemed old fashioned and quaint, I wasn't really sure it was 'my thing' at all.  Still, the events were fun and a chance to make friends and find out about the local happenings (aka gossip).  It is lovely to see the Rose Queen procession, each village in the area has their own Rose Queen and (sometimes) Rose King and they all process together, with attendants in tow, through each village in turn as the summer progresses.  

These special people have a year to organise fund raising events to collect much needed money for maintaining the village amenities, such as our village halls.  They (and their mums, sometimes dads too) do a lot of hard work in this respect and the following year at the garden party, when they give their leaving speech the totals raised are recognised and applauded. I admire the effort done by them all.

Rose Queen and Rose King plus attendants listening to the speeches

This year we had the Rode Hall Silver Band playing delightful melodies, of course we had the raffle and the all-important bottle tombola (any ticket with a 7 in it wins a prize).  Our neighbour was clutching two bottles of wine and two bottles of bath bubbles!  we didn't win a thing...  

The bottle tombola

There is the cake stall, my favourite and first port of call, the plant stall and plenty of refreshments.  You can get afternoon tea (sandwiches and cakes) in the village hall and a bit of a cooler refreshment from the beer and Pimms stall in the garden. It is great fun for an hour or two and then the done thing seems to be to pop into the local pub as we walk back home.

Children eating cookies at the garden party

This summer we have had not only had the recent Garden Party but also a special wedding and flower festival to celebrate the village's 160th anniversary. This included a history display and photos of weddings that had been held in the village church over the years, including some actual wedding dresses on display in the church.

In the village hall we met artisans who spin silk and make lace used in wedding dresses.

Lace being made

I was engrossed watching one lady making lace with all the pins and threads laid out - she was making something beautiful out of what appeared to be a knotted mess! I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have seen this in my previous city life.

Pattern for making lace

Now I can't quite remember what's next on the village calendar, is it Race Night or a hot-pot supper get together?