Play.Eat.Laugh.Sleep..Pickwell: Jubilee Celebrations Part 2

Saturday, 9 June 2012

Jubilee Celebrations Part 2

A Jubilee celebration would not be complete without a good old village knees up, organised by the W.I.

There were Union Jack flags,

Union Jack bunting,

Miss Summerville (our kids school teacher) sporting a pair of Union Jack sunglasses,

A picture of our Queen,

and a giant multi-coloured parrot?! What?! I don't remember hearing about that at the coronation!

The event was supposed to be held on the village green but with the dreadful weather, plan b was the village hall. It was packed!

The lovely Sophie and her mates from our local secondary school, made this sign and gave up their afternoon to face-paint our kids.

They poured over books of various designs.

Liza decided on an angel.

I love the W.I. They put on the whole event for no charge and

worked tirelessly to ensure everyone had a good time.

They really got into the spirit..

along with my gorgeous friend Lou (of the home-made bunting fame).

'Captain Coconut' entertained us with his bubble abilities while we all trekked outside to watch our kids perform the may-pole and broom dance.

My Zac (right) had spent the last week telling us how there was 'no way' he was going to be doing the 'Maple (as in syrup) dance'.

So imagine my surprise when i suddenly saw him a hop, skipping and a jumping around that pole! Apparently Mr Thomas made him do it! Good work Mr T.

The guy holding down the pole on the left side is our netball coach. For a small village it is amazing how many girls turn up to play on a thursday.

The may-pole took up half the road so we had to stop the cars and every-so-often let them come past. It was a bit surreal.

Our Molly did a fab job thrusting each leg out in time to the music with gusto.

After the may-pole came the broom dance for class 4. I don't think i've ever seen a broom dance. It was great!

Ah, the parrot again. I can now see that I was a bit hard on this parrot. To be fair, he IS wearing a Union Jack flag as a cardi. Now that's creative.

Everyone is a bit nuts but I think thats why we love living in a village so much.

We all know each other's 'nutness' and thats what makes it real and special.

A good time was had by all!

Well, nearly all...for some it might have been a bit much?!

Thank You Georgeham W.I x

1 comment:

rachael daisyray11 June 2012 at 00:35
brilliantly summarised and captured for us all as ever xxx
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Our Story

Many people have asked what the story is, how did the Bakers and Elliotts come to be at Pickwell?

Are you sitting comfortably?

Tracey and Susannah became friends at 6th form college. Steve and Tracey lived in the same village in Sussex. Steve's dad was the vicar and Tracey's dad was Steve's scout leader. Even more wierd, Susannah's dad (also a church minister) and Steve's dad were friends, but Steve and Sus never met.

One summer Tracey took Susannah along to a youth summer camp. Steve was one of the leaders (read : heightened attraction) and a little later Steve and Sus got together. During their 6 on/off years they met Richard, a blue eyed boy from Guildford.

At a club night run by Steve, somehow through the dark and crowded room, Tracey and Richard bumped into eachother (if you have seen the shapes they pull on the dancefloor you would know how easily this happened)..

In the year 2000 they all got married. Tracey and Susannah were eachother's bridesmaids. They have remained firm friends ever since.

When Steve and Susannah came across Pickwell Manor, they knew they couldn't manage such a project on their own. They asked the Elliotts if they would give up their house, their jobs and their community to come and live and work with them and own the project together. They knew there weren't many people they could ask to do such a thing knowing they would still love each other by the end. So they all left everything in Sussex and came to Devon.

They moved on the same day in August 2008. It has been a crazy, wonderful, scary, emotional and beautiful experience so far. All of them would say they feel very ALIVE!

Since they moved they have run 51 successful and wonderful weddings (with more to come), many, many holidays, built or totally refurbished 6 apartments from scratch, updated carpets, painted white throughout, put in quite a few kitchens and bathrooms (including 2 baths on concrete plinths), changed much of the furniture, converted a laundry and have started to convert the chapel. Every year they also have a bonfire gathering in October, an Easter Eggstravaganza fundraising event, and anything else that is not-for-profit that they can fit in. Tracey has completed a dissertation and gone back to nursing for 2 days a week, Steve has started up a new company in London, Richard has mastered a lot of the running of the house as well as training as a coach, specialising in stress management, Sus has taken on the interiors and Tracey and Susannah have learnt weddings in at the deep end! All with 4 young Pickwellians by their sides.

"Our passion is for making life count. Our values lie in
friendship, celebration, valuing others, and social justice. We see Pickwell as a reflection of these things but also a place for rest, recouperation, laughter and conversation. We want to support charities and social enterprises to fufil their dreams and make a difference."

"We love Devon, we love the community here, we love seeing our children grow with nature and discovering the great outdoors. We have to pinch ourselves sometimes when we think about our life here, it is amazing".