28 August 2016

Showtime

Should we go? Shouldn't we go?

Yesterday, the weather was a little grim UpNorth but around 1pm we thought - what the hell, let's live dangerously! We put our rain gear in the silver car (Clint) and headed out of the city. Past Dore Moor and Fox House, past Longshaw and Padley Gorge, through Grindleford village and on to Froggatt. 

We drove down Stoke Lane and turned into a big riverside meadow. This was the location of the 71st Froggatt Annual Show. Stewards in fluorescent jerkins directed us to a parking place after we had paid the requisite entrance fee. of just £3 per person. Bargain!

Froggatt Show is modest in scale and quite traditional. There were vintage cars on display, a coconut shy, a parade ground for ponies, working antique engines, the Hathersage brass band playing on the bandstand and  various refreshment stalls. But the central attraction of the show was a huge marquee in which prize flowers, fruit and vegetables were displayed along with homemade wines, preserves and crafts etcetera.

It was delightful to wander around and admire the best efforts of villagers from Froggatt and slightly further afield. In a world where earthquakes shake Italian villages to the ground, where indiscriminate Russian planes bomb Syrian freedom fighters, where French police patrol beaches looking for overdressed Muslim women, it is nice to be reminded that  there are still  people making their own wine, tending their own vegetables, making intricate flower arrangements or knitting baby clothes.

Oh, for the simple life! And you know, the heavens didn't open at Froggatt. We were glad we went.

26 comments:

  1. Grindleford and Froggatt - sounds like something from Harry Potter. Wouldn't it be wonderful to win a prize for the longest runner bean?

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    1. Yes. That would be something to have carved on one's gravestone. Who cares about a successful career? How much better to have grown the longest runner bean or the heaviest marrow.

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  2. That looks like a delightful afternoon. I like the prize for longest runner bean! :) And the (bumble bee?) girl is cute!

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    1. Yes she is a bumble bee girl. Perhaps you could wear an outfit like that for work Jennifer. It would cheer your most miserable co-workers up.

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    2. Or convince them I've finally succumbed to the pressure and gone completely insane! :)

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    3. Bees make money... or is that honey, honey?

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  3. These lovely little village shows are a delight arem't they YP? It would be a shame if they died out through lack of support, so well done you for going.

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    1. It is a shame the weather was a little iffy Mrs W. Visitor numbers were reduced but both of us loved this trip down memory lane.

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  4. A pretty little humble honey bee; and beans by any means!

    A nice day out by the looks of it!

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    1. You should have popped over for the day Lee... in your bumblebee costume of course.

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    2. I thought about flying over, but my bumblebee outfit was at the dry cleaners! Next time! Just give me the buzz when it's on!

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  5. some of the locals put on a first class show. The antique car looks like 55 chev but it's not? Oh it is a 55 chev! I went back and looked. They were certainly a classy car...this one is the hard top.

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    1. I took a photo of the chrome aeroplane insignia on the bonnet (hood). Another touch of style.

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  6. A coconut shy, a brass band AND the bumblebee girl. Sounds like the greatest show on earth to me...

    Alphie

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    1. You forgot to mention the longest runner bean competition!

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  7. The kind of outing I'd really love to be on - and will, next year when it'll be time for my Yorkshire Holiday 2017!

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    1. Village shows mainly happen towards the end of August but you and your mysterious sister prefer to visit us earlier in the summer.

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  8. I agree -- some small-town tradition is a comfort in this crazy world!

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    1. By the way I had to look up "coconut shy." Never heard of that one before!

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    2. I am surprised that you had not heard about the fun one can have at a "coconut shy" - especially if you can hurl a ball like baseball pitcher.

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  9. Nice to know that some traditions still carry on, regardless of the world outside.

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    1. At Froggatt Show, it was like entering Narnia.

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  10. Sounds like fun! I too had never heard of a coconut shy - something new I learned today! Sounds a bit like a smaller version of our county fair. My girls and I just spent a week in our 'Living Arts' department as assistant superintendents - after the previous week of accepting entries of quilts, canning, baking, crochet, knitwork, hand made clothing & crafts and then, after they were judged & be-ribboned, displaying them for the viewing pleasure of fair-goers! Good old-fashioned fun, but I still think it should be called the Dying Arts Department!

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    1. Well that's sad to call all of that "the Dying Arts Department"... but you are probably right. People are more distracted these days and patient crafts are not as celebrated as they used to be.

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  11. How typically British, enjoying ourselves in the rain! I didn't write about this, but a couple a weeks ago we went to watch a local cricket club play a 20Twenty match against some old pros. It had rained all day and again mid-evening but in between was just enough clear weather for the game to be played.

    We saw the likes of Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Simon Jones, Mark Ramprakash, Alex Tudor, Neil Fairbrother, Darren Maddy and Usman Afzaal. A fantastic time had by all and, like you, I'm glad we braved the storm.

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  12. How typically British, enjoying ourselves in the rain! I didn't write about this, but a couple a weeks ago we went to watch a local cricket club play a 20Twenty match against some old pros. It had rained all day and again mid-evening but in between was just enough clear weather for the game to be played.

    We saw the likes of Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Simon Jones, Mark Ramprakash, Alex Tudor, Neil Fairbrother, Darren Maddy and Usman Afzaal. A fantastic time had by all and, like you, I'm glad we braved the storm.

    ReplyDelete

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