TheTowersey Fete - it's oh-so-English dahlink

You will be pleased to hear that in amongst all the carnage that I have been dealing with the last couple of weeks, I managed to sneak an enjoyable day in.

Yep, last Sunday Sam and her husband Pete asked if I wanted to go with them and their three children to a village fete. The sun was out, and it was the perfect day to partake in something so quintessentially English. Cucumber sandwiches with Pimms, Tarquin?

[For the benefit of my overseas readers, a fete is an event organised by volunteers, generally with the intention of raising funds (in this case for the local church). The fete has games, entertainment, stalls and refreshments, and is a focal point in country life].

So, without further ado, I jumped into my car and followed Pete and Sam to the village of Towersey where the fete was being held. On the way, Pete nearly knocked down a pheasant that was in the road. "What pheasant?" asked Sam after I pointed out the bird's near demise.

"That big multi-coloured bird that you swerved to avoid," I replied.

"Nah, can't say I noticed it," she replied. Phew, good job it didn't get run over otherwise it would have died in vain. There's nothing more annoying than dying and nobody noticing.

Enough of discussing dead wildlife, let's get back to the Fete which was held in the magnificent grounds of Towersey Manor. If I was to try and recreate the atmosphere, I would say that it was like stepping back in time into a 1930s Miss Marple film; a band was playing, there were Morris Dancers jingling their bells, and there were stalls around the main lawn advertising various activities.

Because I am kind - like Ghandi, but not wearing a sheet - I am going to give you a picture tour showing some of the idiosyncracies of the English fete.  

Pic.No. 1 The fete was held in the front garden of Towersey Manor, a house owned by a jazz singer called Marie-Jane Barnet. And no, I don't know that woman who wondered into the shot and posed with her hand on her head.

 Pic.No.2 Sam (left) and Pete. No Pete wasn't stood far away, he is actually very tall. You can tell because his son in the pram comes up to his knees.

Pic.No.3 How retro is this? It is a 'coconut shy'. The aim is to knock a coconut off its perch with a ball, and the prize for doing so is........ a coconut. Not the best marketing concept in the world, but hey, it's proper English. How do you open a coconut by the way? The reason I ask is because I was faced with four tearful children who wanted to eat their winnings.

Pic.No. 4 Traditional English Morris Dancers. This form of folk dancing goes back to the 1400's and is the campest form of dancing you will ever witness. They hold little handkerchiefs and wave them around whilst doing a kind of pony trot. I defy you to find camper than that.

Pic.No.5 A Punch and Judy puppet show for the children. If you ever wanted a perfect example of an English idiosyncracy, this is it. It is downright macabre. Punch is a puppet and his wife is called Judy. Punch has a great big stick which he uses to beat all the other characters in the show, including his wife. WTF?!

Pic.No. 6 Honey and Izzy indulge in a lolly that they were given after they failed to win a coconut at the coconut shy

Pic.No. 7 This is the money shot. See that red canopy back there? It's a stall selling Pimms (an English liqueur) and lemonade. See that old granny crossing the path? Me and Sam knocked her down in our eagerness to get to the Pimms. And we weren't sorry.

 Pic.No.8. It's me! And there is something wrong with this picture......

 Pic.No.9. That's right. It was sunny and I wasn't wearing my shades.

I hope you enjoyed my guide to the quintessential English fete. It was actually last weekend that we went, so you can see how far behind I am with my postings. Also, I need to apologise for the pictures being a bit grainy. After my iPhone went down the toilet, and I lost my camera at the Cornbury Music Festival, I am now reliant on the camera built into an ancient (circa 2004) Sony P900 brick phone. It's one step above a pinhole camera.