Past Events
Harvest Supper, 9th October 2021
Very many thanks to everyone who attended the Harvest Supper on 9th October 2021.
Special thanks go to those who produced the food, helped with the set-up and smooth running of the evening and gave raffle prizes, and to the stalwarts who stayed on afterwards to wash up.
The children certainly seemed to enjoy themselves!
Round the World with Diddlebury Village Hall -
Greek Isle Evening, 7th March 2020
Diddlebury Village Hall’s Round the World supper series continued with a stop off on the Greek Island of Skopelos, home of the movie Mamma Mia. With the Greek flag and bunting proudly flying and several of the gathering sporting ABBA and Mamma Mia costumes, the scene was set for a night of fun at Nikos’ Taverna.
Plates of authentic meze on the tables got everyone in the mood before a delicious Greek buffet was served by the hardworking taverna girls – Vicky Oldhams, Sally Woodhouse, Jayne Kirk aided and abetted by Kath Worthington and Liz Jones. Finally, a masterpiece (or rather aristourgima) of Baklava, oozing with sticky syrup, proved to be the perfect end to the feast.
Replete with good food and wine (served by Stelios aka Steven Ross), everyone was hugely impressed by another excellent multimedia extravaganza and quiz from Diddlebury’s own impresario Mike Woodhouse. Questions on Greece, ABBA and Mamma Mia were illustrated on the big screen with hilarious TV and film clips. Then the hall reverberated with a mass singalong to ABBA’s greatest hits. It was only the raffle to go and as usual Kath Worthington (dressed as Bjorn from ABBA – that’s the one without the beard, in case you were wondering!) worked her magic, selling raffle tickets.
We’ve had a soiree at a French Bistro, la serata fuori at an Italian Trattoria and a night at Nikos’ Taverna and each has been a triumph. Special thanks go to Diddlebury’s extremely talented and hardworking village hall committee who have transported us on this Round the World Tour. I’m sure we’re all wondering where and when our next stopover is going to be but it’s sure to be worth waiting for!
Eis to epanideín
Kim Simm
Guess which Greek philosopher Beth Neden came as!
Kath Worthington as Bjorn from ABBA
Kim Simm and Jayne Husband in party mood
Some of the fabulous food on offer
(Beth Neden came as Socrates . . .)
Italian Evening - 16th November 2019
The Italian Evening was a roaring success, with around 60 people attending.
The evening kicked off with a slide show of the beautiful cities and landscapes of Italy to the accompaniment of a medley of Italian music played by our local troubadours, Kitty Greenwood, Gary Wiseman and Richard Coleman.
Some guests had gone to a real effort dressing up, with Geoff and Beth Neden representing our local Mafiosi – see below.
Guests enjoyed traditional Italian fare of antipasti, and lasagnes, homemade by the wonderful Sally and Jayne Kirk. A selection of Italian cheeses and puddings followed, all washed down with Italian beers and wines.
Mike was MC and devised a quiz that entertained everyone with the flavour of Italy and the Italian way of life.
We are all looking forward to the next Village Hall themed night!
Sara Thompson
Village Hall Harvest Supper, 14th October 2019
As always, the Harvest Supper was a most enjoyable evening and the committee had worked hard to ensure that everything ran smoothly. The hall had been set out so that families and friends could sit together. The buffet, as usual, was delicious and attractively presented with a varied selection of cold foods meaning that there was plenty of choice for everyone.
After we had all eaten well, there was a raffle. Village events would not be complete without one and there were many prizes to be won. This was, as is customary, followed by a musical interlude which this year was provided by the Church Stretton Accordion Band. They soon had us all singing to such well-known favourites as "Delilah" and some of the Wurzels' songs.
To round the evening off there was a disco and it was a pleasure to see several grandchildren dancing enthusiastically and energetically with their grandparents (who were not all quite so energetic!).
Liz and Martin Jones
The 62nd Corvedale & District Autumn Show - 7th September 2019
Fine weather encouraged yet another year of impressive attendance at the Corvedale & District Autumn Show, held at Diddlebury Village Hall.
More than 70 adults and over 20 children and young people entered the various categories of the show, with entries ranging across cookery, handicrafts, flowers and garden produce. Overall there were more than 450 entries with a number of ‘new faces’ who had not previously entered and, as always, it was good to welcome back those who are regular entrants.
Perhaps the biggest winner of this year’s show was Barbara Marston who won the Cyril Haydon Challenge Cup for cookery; the Handicrafts Cup and the WI Cup for the most outstanding entry. However, Rebecca Harbard Swaithe also won both the Corvedale Shield for preserves and the Lancaster Novice Trophy for flowercraft. In addition, Mark Cockburn won the Vegetable and Fruit Cup and Liz Jones won the Broncroft Bowl for flowercraft, for the fourth year running.
Other highlights included the Marvellous Mannequins competition, which was won for a second year in succession by the Corvedale Centre for Children with their entry of Bill and Ben the Recycle Men. However, for those passing through Peaton, the sight of Wendy Richards’ pirate mannequin, waiting at the bus shelter, was also a truly memorable sight!
The Children and Young People’s classes were particularly strong and. in these categories, perhaps the most striking entry was the 8ft feet tall, pot grown sunflower, which was submitted in the best flower or vegetable category by Alfie Maskell.
Finally, the ever popular ‘Spud in a Bucket’ competition was won this year by Christine Morgan. However, the drama, theatre and entertainment provided by the public weighing of the content of each bucket is such that 23 people have already entered for next year’s competition! If you would like to add your name to the list, please contact John Woodhouse on 07980 207253.
Thanks to everyone for making this year’s show a great success. We look forward to seeing you all in September 2020, for the 63rd show.
Text and photos: Laurie Robinson
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Diddlebury Open Gardens
7th July 2019
The Open Gardens event in Diddlebury on Sunday 7th July was a great success. It was the first time the event had been held since 2012. We were blessed with perfect weather and plenty of people turned out to visit the gardens. Visitors came from both the local area and further afield. To date £922 has been raised for Diddlebury Village Hall funds, with more to come.
Sara Thompson
The Diddle Brook at Jean and Peter Drakes's Willowbrook House
Sally and Mike Woodhouse's lovely garden at Milford
Wendy and Steven Ross, hosts at Delbury Farmhouse
All photos by Claire Ross
Diddlebury Church Fête and Dog Show - 29th June 2019
Diddlebury Church Fête
Our annual fête on 29th June was blessed with beautiful summer weather, and we all ba(s)ked in the glorious sunshine. The result was a grand total before expenses of £1,232, the highest amount since 2010. This was the result of a tremendous team effort by many people, those who manned the stalls, helped to erect and take down the marquee, served teas (and washed up), and particular thanks must go to Kim and Jayne for organising the dog show so professionally. Their own report of the dog show appears below. A big thank you also to their two husbands for gathering up the grass on the school field, and to Jonathan Brough for once again allowing us to use the field. The whole event had a wonderful atmosphere, and the organisers are already having ideas for next year. Finally of course, a very big thank you to all of you who came and supported us so generously.
Martin Speightt
All photos by Sara Noble
Diddlebury Dog Show
After the success of last year’s show word had spread, bringing many more dogs and owners to compete on one of the hottest, sunniest days of 2019. Among the many entries it was great to see some of our youngest parishioners taking part with their dogs and also carrying away a number of the prizes.
Judge for the day was local County Councillor Cecilia Motley who did an excellent job in judging the large numbers in each of the classes - an unenviable task with so many lovely dogs to choose from.
There was much fun and laughter watching the Best Six Legs competition as many of the handlers were men, out to show off their ‘summer legs’ in the sunshine. After much deliberation and comments from the spectators the top prize went to Oliver Tovey with the long-legged greyhound Dapper - a popular choice it would seem by the noisy cheering!
Winning the Most Handsome Dog this year was last year’s runner up, glossy-coated Border Collie Skye with his owner Tonia Greene, while Colin Porter was thrilled to accept the rosette on behalf of Rowan who was judged the Prettiest Bitch. Young Robin Hughes was thrilled when his large woolly dog Charlie won the Dog with the Waggiest Tail, and Charlie looked pretty excited too by the amount of tail wagging. Cecilia Motley thought long and hard about which dog she would like to take home with her and plumped for Tashe to the delight of her owner Priscilla Spicer.
The final judging in the ring saw the rosette for Best in Show awarded to four-month-old jet-black Labrador puppy Buddy, with his owner Jay Lewis and friend George Gilchris. The judge was really impressed with how beautifully behaved he’d been throughout the day and how well the boys had handled him, while young Robin Hughes with his dog Charlie was awarded a Special Rosette for his handling skills.
The races provided a lot of entertainment and, with the large numbers of competitors, a touch of chaos ensued. In particular, the Sausage Race, where a melee of owners careering down the field clinging onto their dogs while balancing a large banger on a small flimsy plate, was a sight to behold! With sausages flying through the air it was difficult to decide who actually crossed the line with sausage intact, but rosettes were duly awarded. Unfortunately as a result of the chaos there may be errors in the reporting of the results for this race for which we can only apologise.
Nonetheless the day was a huge success and enjoyed by everyone, competitors and spectators alike, with the added bonus of raising £107 for church funds.
Next year we look forward to doing it all again and we will be including some new classes including Best Junior Handler, so keep a look out and save the date.
Kim Simm and Jayne Husband
All photos by Sara Noble
Results
FRENCH EVENING
Saturday 30th March 2019
An extremely good time was had by all at the Soirée Française in the Hall on the day after Brexit (which turned out not to be the day after Brexit as it happened, but nobody seemed to mind).
In any case, the atmosphere was completely Europhile, with the ‘dames and messieurs’ (the latter resplendent in silly berets and elegantly crayoned moustaches) making merry to the live accompaniment of Eddie and his accordion and recordings of well-known French ballads.
The ambience was further enhanced by decorative French flags and bunting, and a slide show of various Gallic locations on the Hall’s latest acquisition, a big screen. Oh là là!
Many thanks are due to Madame Sally and Monsieur Michel Maison de Bois for the wonderful food and delightful French entertainment (le quiz, le raffle, le video car race, etc).
Thanks also to Jacques the Crȇpemeister for his yummy desserts and amazing hotplates.
Quelle soirée superbe!!
Monsieur Maison du Bois sporting his moustache du crayon . . .
Eddie and his accordion, the new big screen, and a man with a silly beret
Jack Willipotte of Le Flip Crȇperie and his amazing hotplates