Mayor's Drive and Tea Party

It was another wet and windy day and I had forebodings that this annual event would be a very wet one, as I drove down with Edwina Cooper, my Mayoress, to Fairclose at 9.30am to assist with making the tea boxes and filling them for the afternoons tea party. It was rather like a production line, with around eight ladies and myself, all with specific duties. Firstly, we had to make the boxes from fold-flat cardboard cutouts, something like 450 of them. But with the number of people involved, the boxes were made up in a relatively short time. Then we got down to filling them. The helpers were grouped in a line down each side of the tables, and in front of each was a box of food items. As the boxes were passed down the line, they were gradually filled. I was at the end of the line and my job was to secure each box with a rubber band to prevent the contents from escaping. By 11.45 the task was completed. The reason I have described the process was to indicate the back room work needed to make the party a success.

We arrived at Mr and Mrs Spence's house, Chieveley Manor, at about 14.30 when the first cars, driven by volunteers began arriving. The route into the parking and on the paddocks was well organised with volunteer car park marshals. My Deputy, Phil Barnett and his wife Vera, were on the gate welcoming the drivers and guests while I walked around with Edwina speaking to the guests. The rain, fortunately, was very spasmodic and light so we were all fortunate. the drivers organised their chairs, tables and tea boxes which were given to the guests on arrival. It was a very English scene, with some drivers using their best chinaware to add a touch of style. The Timespanners band provided the music, which was amplified over loudspeakers which other volunteers had provided. I was very honoured to meet three centenarians, all ladies, and the oldest was 101. She was as bright as a button. The oldest man was I believe a mere 94! Although the Tea Party was for the over 75's, I met a number of volunteer drivers who exceeded that and could have been guests instead. I cannot thank all the drivers, marshalls and Fairclose volunteers enough for the enormous contribution they gave to making the afternoon so successful. Thanks also goes to Mr and Mrs Spence for allowing us to used the gorunds of their house for the afternoon. My special thanks go to Angela Spellman, who was for this, and many previous years, the overall co-ordinator for the Drive. She had to allocate hundreds of guests into appropriate vehicles and had also to cater for last minute changes. Let us hope that the sun shines on the 2008 Mayor's Drive.