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The 2004 TNRA Merrick Square Garden Fete was a
great success. TNRA and the Fete Committee would like to thank everyone who
helped, took part and attended the fete.
We would like to give special thanks to the
companies who took stalls and those who donated items to the raffle, in
particular the support from :
- Cranberry Ltd - for
their most generous donation of dry fruit, nuts & pastries.
- Waterloo Wine - for their bottles of
wine and Champagne for the raffle.
- Booths for their magnificent fruit
basket.
- Wyndeham House Poultry - for their
generous voucher for the raffle.
- Thomas Etty - for their kind
donation of seeds for the raffle.
If you have any pictures from the 2004 fete
please
let us know by email, or drop them into Tim McNally at 31 Merrick
Square. We will return any prints, CDs or storage cards.
We setup on Saturday evening. Because the Fete was so much larger than
previous years, and on occasion we have had "challenging" weather, we had
invested in a lot more marquees, tables and chairs. We are already
hiring
these out to other local community groups.
On the morning of the Fete we started at 8am as this year it was an all-day
event from 10-6. Tim Horsler stood (or rather slept) guard in one of the
marquees overnight. For the first time, Merrick Square was closed to traffic
as the stalls overflowed the square onto the street, and to make it safer
for children who were running around and who were doing chalk pictures on
the pavements.
Neal's Yard Dairy (selling cheeses and cheese
plates),
Rincon del Sur and the
Roebuck (selling
burgers and Pimms) had stalls on the street.
The stalls were stocked and readied for the flood of visitors between 8-9.30
by the bleary-eyed committee and stall-holders
Lesley Jones (of Gloucester Court) presided over the tombola and raffle.
Visitors started arriving from around 9am - getting in early for the best
plants, books and cakes. The garden stall, organised by Penny Hinves and
John Criddle (of Trinity Street) was very successful and well stocked.
Pauline ran an impromtu bric-a-brac stall
Lucy Smith - Garden Ornaments had a stall
Lesley Exton and Helen Holden ran the TNRA & Traidcraft stall and entrance
gate
Lila Bryan from Borough Market had a flower stall and did demonstrations of
how to make bouquets
The Blooms of 24 Merrick Square had a stall for their Epicerie de Provence
gourmet food from Provence
"Rosie Lee" aka Maria Linforth-Hall (of Merrick Square and Gallery 33 in
Swan Street) was very popular throughout the day reading palms.
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Jenny and Rosie looked after the trampolines and the busy children's corner.
In the morning Simon Beresford's Clink Street
Jazz Band entertained us,
and in the afternoon the Academy at Peckham school's steel band
played.
The Peckham Steel Band were a definite hit
The Punch and Judy show proved popular with children (of all ages)
Stuart Milligan (of Merrick Square) ran the childrens' face painting, and did a good sideline in various Euro Flags for the adult football supporters
Jenny Webster organised the donuts-on-string game
Over 350 visitors bought tickets, the weather was fantastic, everyone
enjoyed themselves
The TNRA cake stall was very successful and many Members cooked and brought
things for us to sell
As the day progressed the beer (from Frank at the Royal Oak) and Pimms (from
the Roebuck) flowed freely and people settled down to chat, listen to music
and enjoy the glorious weather.
The ice-cream cart was very busy as the sun beat down
Local MP Simon Hughes, tired from campaigning and the mayoral election
count, took time out to visit the fete. Stan Lody (of Falmouth Road) managed
to sell him some reading matter for the holiday he must now need.
The fete closed at 6pm following the draw for the Raffle. Even as all the
other stands were being taken down (rapidly so that everyone could go and
see the England v France football - why did we bother?) "Rosie Lee"
continued to be a popular
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