Ah, the sound of the band, the sight of a parade of rather smartly turned out gentlemen (or ‘Odd Fellows’ take your pick…) wearing white gloves and carrying sticks, the sparkling of Lou’s jewellery stand at the ‘Market Place’, the smell of Janet and Paula’s burger stand…it could only be the start of Wakes!
As usual it was great fun for both participants and observers. I always enjoy a spot of shopping, and very much enjoyed my little spree on the green this afternoon. Two necklaces, three bracelets and one 1930’s koala bear later I then strolled over to the beautiful garden at The Fold for a quick sip of beer. The atmosphere there was fantastic! It is great to see to many Parwichians (that sounds like a Native American Tribe, doesn’t it?!) in one spot – especially loved seeing Barbara and Brian McCormack and their gorgeous grandchildren.
What’s next on the agenda? My own lovely Oddfellow (every girl should have one) coming home, full of roast beef and beer, falling asleep on the sofa.
I suppose it is only once a year…
Thank you to Deb for her perspective on the afternoon, she is joining the team for this week as one of our overworked and underpaid roving reporters.
This post is an active one and will grow throughout the day. This post is packed with photos, allwill enlarge, just click on them.
By 10am the village is alive with people, the Odd Fellows have already visited 2 venues and quickly marching up the hill for their 3rd pint whilst the Village Market stall holders are busy preparing their goods for the start of the sales at 11am.
The 3rd stop for the marchers after The Sycamore and Flaxdale House is The Hall, with the Shields family serving refreshments for the thirsty participants, it’s a long way up the hill!
Welcome to the first day of Parwich Wakes, which starts each year on the Saturday nearest to St. Peter’s Day (29th June). The Derbyshire village wakes have their roots in the celebration of each village’s patron saint, dating back to before the Reformation. So Parwich has been celebrating Wakes at this time of year for at least four hundred years; though it could be as long as nine hundred years or more.
Village wakes are a time of celebration, but also from medieval times they have been a time for fund raising for village causes, and equally importantly a time for the consumption of beer!
Saturday 27th June: Odd Fellows Parade & Carnival
9-30am Odd Fellows Parade starts from the Sycamore Inn (an earlier start than usual to fit in the popular new stop at Flaxdale) 11-am Odd Fellows Service in Parwich Church 1-15pm Odd Fellows Dinner in the Memorial Hall
11am to 4pm Village Market (with some 14 stalls) & Children’s Entertainment (including bouncy castle and face painting) & refreshments
6-00pm Fancy Dress & Carnival (parade assembles at the School) 6-15pm Fancy Dress Parade, followed on the Green by a Hog roast, the A52s (until aprox. 8-30pm) and then Chris Houlihan
Forget the Hill Race; disregard the Strongest Man; it is on Friday night when you’ll need real balls.
Buy your balls at the bargain price of £1 each (available today at Wakes market and the other events all week), and they will be set rolling on Friday evening at the start of Race Night. First prize is £50, second £25 and third £10.
Today saw the culmination of Numeracy Week, and what a day it was today. The children had the challenge of dressing up as something to do with maths.
The afternoon, with parents taking part, involved a maths relay with all the school involved. With 7 teams of mixed ages, each team had to run to collect their first of 30 questions, as each one was answered, each child taking it in turns had to return to the the teachers to have their answers checked. Once they received the OK, it was back to their group for the next one.
On Wednesday there was a crash on the back lane between Town Head and the A515, fortunately no-one, on this occasion was injured. Certainly the increase in traffic on these roads because of the closure of the B5056 is more likely to increase the chances of an accident, but are the overgrown summer verges exacerbating the problem. On both this road and the Alsop road it is extremely difficult to see vehicles coming around the bends because of the hight grasses, it may be that some of the time cars are driving to fast, but others are crawling round mindful of safety.
Would safety be improved if these verges were cut back?
Please ring Police Non Emergency 0345 1233333 or email the police and Derbyshire County Council at Call Derbyshire –08456 058 058if you have any concerns. The more phone calls, the more likely something will be done.
Weeding the vegetables. (Click on any photo to enlarge)
Harvesting the first vegetables – Red Potatoes, guess what is on the menu at school next week. Thank you to the Horticultural Society for their support.
Highways have confirmed that the B5056 is to re-open tonight (Friday 26th June) at 6pm.
Highways will let us know when the scheme of works for repairing the road has been agreed. (The two lots of temporary traffic lights will still be in place.) It is hoped that the road will stay open until until the repairs are due to start, however if there is further movement in the landslip this may not be possible.
9-30am Odd Fellows Parade starts from the Sycamore Inn (an earlier start than usual to fit in the popular new stop at Flaxdale) 11-am Odd Fellows Service in Parwich Church 1-15pm Odd Fellows Dinner in the Memorial Hall
11am to 4pm Village Market (with some 14 stalls) & Children’s Entertainment (including bouncy castle and face painting) & refreshments
6-00pm Fancy Dress & Carnival (parade assembles at the School) 6-15pm Fancy Dress Parade, followed on the Green by Hog roast, the A52s (until aprox. 8-30pm) and then Chris Houlihan
Job description: lousy pay, a sense of humour and a love of Wakes Week.
We are looking for some help to report things during Wakes Week – Interested?
Nothing too demanding: you’ve read the posts that we put on (piece of cake), and spellcheque is included in the package.
So all you have to do is email parwich@hotmail.co.uk or talk to one of the team and let us know which event you are happy to write about. It doesn’t have to be long; write it as if you were talking to a friend. You can then email it in to us, and we’ll post it on the blog.
Seriously: if you can help, we would appreciate knowing as soon as possible, so events are not duplicated – not that we expect to be overwhelmed with offers, but we are happy to be surprised..
All runners here is your chance. Competitors are invited to enter Parwich Hill Race. Registration is opposite the Sycamore Inn on the night of the races. All races start and finish in front of the Sycamore Inn. The raffle will be drawn and the trophies presented after the completion of the last race. Continue Reading »
Parents, children, governors and staff of the school – what would you like to see on your school website? It is in the process of being created but we need your input. All ideas and suggestions are welcome – sensible ones, boring ones, fun ones and whacky ones too. You can leave comments at the bottom of this article, email your ideas into us at parwich@hotmail.co.uk or give your ideas to Sally or Lynne.
Don’t forget that tomorrow (Friday) is the final days of maths week and is a mathematical fancy dress day! Parents are also invited into school from 1.30pm for team games organised by the school council.
The school is running a tombola at the Saturday Wakes market and would welcome any and all contributions. Please deliver them tomorrow or Friday either to the school or – ideally – to Denise Ball, who is running the stall. All donations are more than welcome. Little bags of sweets or chocolates are popular as they attract lots of children to the stall. Thank you very much.
A team of about 20 boys and girls went to a QEGs rounders tournament last night in the blazing hot sunshine. The highlights were beating Longford 7:3 and getting through to the quarter finals where sadly we were knocked out by Clifton. Still, the kids clobbered the ball hard a few times, made a few great catches, ran like the wind and had a blast. Continue Reading »
Available in the Sycamore or online. In this week’s edition there are only two pieces of Parwich news but hopefully we’ll create more next week with all the Wakes events:
p.20: Parwich Wakes Camping Plans – revellers attending Parwich Wakes are being urged to set up camp at official sites.
p.48: Parwich invite keen runners – competitors are invited for Parwich Wakes Hill Race on Tuesday 30th June. All races start and finish outside the Sycamore Inn and more details can be obtained on tel. 01629 732004.
Also don’t forget you can get all our previous posts listed under each category by selecting the relevant category from the drop down list halfway down the right-hand column on each page (e.g. Wakes).
For those not in the village yesterday or today, here is proof that the build up to Wakes is in full swing with the arrival of Westledine’s funfair on the Green:
Although Saturday is the official opening, let’s hope that good weather will encourage an earlier start.
You are invited to attend the Safer Neighbourhood Forum meeting to raise any concerns that you may have in your neighbourhood. Tissington area: Thursday, June 25, 7pm at Thorpe Village Hall (includes Tissington, Parwich, Fenny Bentley, Kniveton, Alsop-en-le-Dale and Thorpe) There will also be a chance to meet local officers and to get an update on what they have been targeting during previous months. To contact your team call 0345 123 33 33 or email ashbourne.neighbourhoods@derbyshire.pnn.police.uk
Click on the image below to access the 2009 Official Wakes Programme as a pdf. Please accept our apologies for the quality of reproduction, but we have not been able to obtain an electronic version of the programme so we have scanned a photocopy.
Campers looking to stay at Parwich this weekend for the last few days of the annual Wakes week (June 26, 27 and 28) are being advised to stay at authorised campsites.
Local residents have said they are concerned people may be tempted to pitch in unofficial areas such as the football pitch or in farmers’ fields.
PC Ian Cooper, of the Tissington and area Safer Neighbourhood Team said: “Please stick to authorised campsites around the village and surrounding area as no camping will be allowed on the village football field or on private farmland without permission.
“Parents should also make sure that their youngsters are camping at suitable locations and with permission if necessary.”
To contact the team call 0345 123 33 33 or email ashbourne.neighbourhoods@derbyshire.pnn.police.uk
As of today, news bulletins from the Derbyshire Constabulory can also be found via Twitter, at twitter.com/derbyspolice.
Good news in the past few days – two more grants have just been received towards the new build. One from an anonymous charitable trust was for £5,000 and a further cheque for £2,000 has come from a successful application to the Rank Foundation. A huge thank you to both of them – every cheque is a step closer to our village dream of a new hall.
Help would still be very welcome from any one that has a few hours to spare (not that anyone ever has spare time) to help fill in grant forms. The funding team have put together all the relevant information that is generally needed to fill in the applications and there is always someone on hand to help. Every time someone offers help it puts a little fresh blood and energy into the team and it’s great to be involved, so please help if you can. You can contact anyone on the blog, the committee or the secretary, Amanda on 344.
There have been delays in obtaining the cores to plan the repairs of the landslip on the B5056, so the temporary closure will extend to Friday evening (26th June).
Note: some work on the A515 just south of the Alsop turning is due today, tomorrow and Wednesday, so it looks like the Bradbourne detour will be best.
Thank you to Nia for the following write up and to Mike H and Peter for the photos:
Parwich and District Horticultural Society had a very successful day on Sunday as visitors poured into the village to take a stroll around 12 delightful gardens, rest in the memorial hall with a delicious cream tea and take a look at the exhibits in the children’s show.
The sun broke through the clouds and shone down on Parwich Open Gardens this year. Despite the closed road on the B5056, several hundred people visited the gardens this Sunday, making the event a huge success. Thank you to everyone who entered the horticultural show and well done to those who won prizes!
Members of the Horticultural Society manned the plant sale which generated much interest amongst the visitors.
Plant sale at the Memorial Hall
Cream teas were provided thanks to the hard work of the backroom staff and thanks to those who baked scones and helped prepare for the ‘hungry hoards’.
A scene from the 'engine room' of the cream tea production facility
Brisk business was done in the Memorial Hall
Thanks as well to those who opened up their gardens and provided so much inspiration to us all. It is not possible to provide photographs of every garden, but click ‘continue reading’ below to view a gallery of snaps taken during the afternoon. Each picture can be enlarged by clicking on it. Return to the gallery by pressing the ‘back’ button.
