Fun and Games at the Yattendon & Frilsham Village Fete

Competing in a Christmas Tree Throwing Competition & other games at a Summer Fete in West Berkshire!

Ahead of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee extended Bank Holiday weekend I had a look online to see what events would be taking place in and around the Abingdon-on-Thames area as we’d be down that way for the Bun Throwing in Abingdon.

One of my searches found that the Yattendon & Frilsham Fete in nearby West Berkshire would be taking place on Monday 4th June and amongst the entertainment, fun and games on offer would be Crazy Golf. Amongst this and the other traditional English fete attractions such as tombolas, raffle, coconut shy and a number of stalls the news item in the Newbury Weekly News said that the fete would also be hosting a Christmas Tree Throwing Competition!?

After a few wrong turns we eventually found the Yattendon & Frilsham Fete and saw that it took over the whole of the village. Scanning the Programme of Events for the afternoon we saw that we were still in time for plenty of activities including the Welly Wanging and a chance to watch a Guinness World Record Attempt for the “Largest Synchronized Morris Dance”! We also read that the fete has been running for over 220 years!

The Kennet Morris Men at the Yattendon & Frilsham Fete

We also spotted signs directing people to the Aunt Sally game, although this was found to be a Crockery Shy, rather than the game I know as Aunt Sally that is very popular in my home town of Abingdon and involves knocking a ball off of a metal spike with wooden sticks!?

Aunt Sally poster at the Yattendon & Frilsham Fete

Emily plays "Aunt Sally"

The first thing to do was find the Crazy Golf course that was meant to be there. Unfortunately there wasn't one at the fete, so we wouldn't be adding another played Miniature Golf course to our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour list.

While looking for the Crazy Golf course we found the the Christmas Tree Throwing Competition area, which was gathering quite a crowd.

Quite a crowd for the Christmas Tree Throwing Contest

The rules of the competition were quite simple, it was £1 per go and the person who threw the furthest in their category would win. By the time I had a go there were markers out for the best man, woman, boy and girl and somehow someone had managed to lob a Christmas Tree a fair distance and we'd guesstimate it was about 12 metres.

The Christmas Tree Throwing Competition Playing Field at the Yattendon & Frilsham Fete

In total I had three goes and on each occasion I beat the distance of the first marker (best girl’s distance), but only just!

Launching a Nordman Fir in the Christmas Tree Throwing Competition at the Yattendon & Frilsham Fete

The agony of the third throw in the Christmas Tree Throwing Competition at the Yattendon & Frilsham Fete

A great new sport, although quite bizarre to play during summer!? From what I can tell, the village of Yattendon has become very well known for Christmas Trees and the Yattendon Estate is one of the largest producers of Christmas Trees in the country.

Richard and a Christmas Tree

In the other 'throwing a green thing up a field event' Emily got fairly close to the women’s best position in the Welly Wanging contest with her two throws. I once again beat the marker, but was a fair way off the men’s best.

Emily Welly Wanging

There was also an Egg Throwing arena, but seeing how messy the competitors were getting we gave this a miss, although it does make a great spectator sport. Posters for the event also called the game "Chucky Egg".
 

The Egg Throwing Arena at the Yattendon & Frilsham Fete

At 3.30pm the Kennet Morris Men congregated in the village square for their attempt at setting the record for the “Largest Synchronized Morris Dance”. We’re not sure whether they managed the feat and we wondered how many other sites were hosting Morris Dances as part of the record bid.

The Guinness World Record Attempt for the “Largest Synchronized Morris Dance”!

Before we left we sampled some local cider from the wonderfully named Tutts Clump Cider. On the drive to the fete we’d seen the name Tutts Clump on the map too and found the name amusing. We chose to buy four bottles of three varieties of cider on offer, one of which was a special edition produced for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

The Diamond Jubilee Cider from Tutts Clump

Tutts Clump Ciders

A great afternoon spent in a lovely English village.

Fete Related Blog Posts:

- Worm Charming Competition at St Mary’s Village Carnival in Edlesborough

- Three Fetes and Minigolf & Crazy Golf Re-Visits in Melbourn & Whaddon (& Royston)

- Ladies & Gentlemen, introducing your 2011 'Melbourn Village Fete Target Bowls Champion'

- Miniature Crazy Golf at Swavesey Village Fun Day - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Course Visit #180

- Miniature Crazy Golf at Melbourn Village Fete - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Course Visit #179

Other Related Blog Posts:
- All Guinness World Records-related Blog Posts at the Ham & Egger Files

Links:

- Yattendon Parish

- Yattendon Estate

- Yattendon & Frilsham Fete
- Kennet Morris Men
- Tutts Clump Cider

Congratulations to Oliver Florence & Team for winning the South of England Earthworm Charming Championships

While Emily and I were busy revisiting the 'birthplace' of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in Southsea in late and playing some new courses too, our Minigolf Rivals and fellow keen odd-sportsmen Oliver Florence, Richard Skeggs and Leamington Spa-based Robert Clarke were competing at the South of England Earthworm Charming Championships - an event they won!

We had been invited us to be a part of the team, but due to the prior booking and trip to Southsea in our calendar we were unable to be a part of the Championship-winning side. In the competition the team collected a brilliant 193 worms.

The first South of England heat for the 2012 World Worm Charming Championships was organised by the Blackwater Valley Countryside Trust and saw 16 teams in total battle it out for the Worm Charming Title.

Back in July, one week after the 2011 World Worm Charming Championships that Ollie, Richard and Leamington Spa-based Robert Clarke had competed in, we took part in the Worm Charming Competition at St Mary’s Village Carnival in Edlesborough and finished in tied third place.

Photo: The team of Ollie, me (as a Chicken) and Kallum at the Worm Charming Competition at St Mary’s Village Carnival in Edlesborough

Links:
- Ollie's Blog Post from the 2011 'Worlds' "Charming fox worms his way to success at world championship"
- Ollie's Blog Post "Mexican rejection fails to keep charming trio off screen"

Crazy Golf in Luton - Charity Fun Day at Kent Athletic Club - 9-hole Minigolf

On the 29th August 2011 we headed to the Bank Holiday Charity Fun Day organised by the Kent Athletic Club at their club grounds on Tenby Drive in Luton, Bedfordshire.

One of the activities at the fundraising event for Macmillan Cancer Support was a 9-hole Crazy Golf course. The course became the 267th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

In playing the course, Emily and I contested the Irregular Mini Golf Tour Kent(ish) Invitational Tournament title with the victory going to me with a score of 34 to Emily's 42.

At Kent Athletic Club (Luton)

The Crazy Golf course laid out on the football pitch of Kent Athletic FC

Putting on the temporary Crazy Golf course

Great to see a windmill obstacle on the Crazy Golf course

Emily plays a shot on the Minigolf layout

The holes on the course were very small indeed

I also won two prizes in three goes on the Tombola!

Winning

I have no idea why the Kent Athletic Club is so called and how it came to be in Luton!? Their website does say they have been established for over 50 years though. In competition Miniature Golf there is a Kent Minigolf Club.

Related blog posts:

- Crazy Golf & Minigolf Courses in and around Luton, Bedfordshire

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Link:

- Kent Athletic Club

Crazy Golf at Bedgrove Party in the Park in Aylesbury - course played #252 on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

On Saturday 9th July 2011 we headed to Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire and the Bedgrove Party in the Park event as we'd heard the event would have a Crazy Golf course to play!

The 9-hole portable course was the 252nd played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

In our Irregular Mini Golf Tour Match-up I defeated Emily by one-shot scoring a 20(+2) to her 21(+3).

We were planning to have a second go on the 9-hole course but the weather took a turn for the worst and there was a torrential downpour which scuppered our chances!

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Worm Charming Competition at St Mary’s Village Carnival in Edlesborough

Making our debut in a Worm Charming Contest alongside a Worlds Championship Competitor.

On Saturday 2nd July 2011 fellow Minigolfer and Blogger Oliver 'The Machine' Florence invited me to the St Mary's Village Carnival in Edlesborough to compete in their annual Worm Charming Competition. With Florence having competed in last week's World Worm Charming Championships in Cheshire it would have been rude and quite silly to turn down such an offer, so off we headed.

With Emily and I living a mere 11 miles from the village of Edlesborough (which lies in Buckinghamshire, rather than Bedfordshire as I thought), and with our nephew Kallum (a keen bug hunter) staying with us for the weekend, we arrived a good hour or so before the Walton-on-Thames based Ollie, so had a good look around the Fete/Carnival (Fetarnival?) and had a go on a lot of the games and stalls. When the announcements for the Worm Charming were being made we headed straight to the MC - St Mary's Village Carnival chairman Gordon Gray - to nab a Plot. We drew number 68.

It wasn't "the worlds" but the Worm Charming Competition at Edlesborough Carnival was brilliant fun. All 20 minutes of it.

Once Ollie arrived our team of Freebooters posed for a team photograph at our Plot.

Ollie tested the ground using his professional Worm Charming equipment.

Add caption

And then after giving the Plot a liberal dousing of water before the off, we got underway with our Worm Charming.

Add caption

With the skill and experience of one-third of the 112th Ranked Worm Charming Team in the World we began using a mixture of techniques including 'simulating the movement of a mole' using a Garden Fork, beating the ground using small bits of wood - one of which was the leg off of a small coffee table - and dressing like a Chicken. Fellow Minigolf Pro Richard 'Michael Skaggs' Skeggs, a member of Ollie's team, had dressed like a Fox in the Worlds, and with the thinking that 'the early bird gets the worm' was worth a shot. It didn't work.

Video of the team in action.

Despite our best efforts, professional equipment, enthusiasm and Chicken costume we finished in tied third place in the 12 team competition. The winners were a group of four girls who managed to get two worms. The runners-up were a team of children in Plot 67 who got one worm, which was the biggest of the three worms caught. Everyone else got none.

As an aside, Kallum became possibly the first person injured in a Worm Charming Contest! With the St John Ambulance medics being pressed into service after he either got bit by a Red Ant (we did find loads of them in our plot), or was stang off of a Wasp while fetching some water for us. This meant that for part of the 20 minute competition we were down to two players, as when Kallum returned from the First Aid Tent he decided to play his Catch a Mouse game he had won on a Tombola.

When we got home Kallum managed to 'Charm' loads of worms in our back garden!? A text from Ollie in the evening confirmed that conditions had been less than ideal in Buckinghamshire, as he'd managed to get a worm out of the ground in his garden in under a minute once he'd got home!

The St Mary's Village Carnival has a different theme each year, with 2011 being 'Pirates'. Driving into Edlesborough via Eaton Bray you could see that the villages had gone to great lengths to decorate houses, pubs and shops in the area. The event itself also saw many people dressed up as Pirates. As Freebooters from lands near and far, me, Kallum and Ollie wore Skull & Crossbones Wristbands while we were Worm Charming.

Some examples of the Pirate decorated houses are below, along with some more snaps of the Carnival itself.

A Captain Pugwash Ship

A Pirate Ship with its cannon aimed at passers-by!

One house allowed you to vote for your favourite type of Pirate!

Me and Ollie competed in the 'Chicken in a Basket' Target Game

I didn't dress as a Chicken for this game

The man stands watch over the basket, a dangerous position indeed!

Video of me and Ollie playing the Chicken in a Basket game.

Kallum on the Crockery Shy

Kallum plays Whack a Rat

Kallum lobs a wet sponge at me!

I missed spectating at the Cow Pat Bingo as I was putting the Chicken costume back in the car, but was told the event did not involve a real Cow!?

Unfortunately we all missed the much hyped "sausage eating contest for dogs and their owners" that had been mentioned in the Dunstable Today news story "Hidden treasures at village carnival carnival!" - what a spectator sport that would have been!

A great fun day out. I'm looking forward to the 2012 event!

St Mary's Village Carnival Website

St Mary's Village Carnival on Facebook

Oliver Florence's account of the day (and his report of the 2011 World Worm Charming Championships)

Three Fetes and Minigolf & Crazy Golf Re-Visits in Melbourn & Whaddon (& Royston)

On Saturday 25th June 2011 I decided to head to Melbourn in Cambridgeshire as I noticed they were holding their annual village fete (which I also attended last year).

While I was in the area it was also an opportunity to re-visit the other Minigolf, Crazy Golf and Putting courses in the vicinity.

First up, after visiting the Royton Parish Church Fete (which was winding up) and deciding to not go into the Cave at Royston, Herts, was a trip to Whaddon Golf Centre.

The 9-hole Crazy Golf course was in a playable condition (just about) on our visit in April 2010, when the course became the 165th played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. On that East & West Anglia Spring Roadtrip we played the Putting Green at the Golf Centre too. On our next visit to the area I plan to give their 9-hole Par-3 course a go too.

On the drive from Whaddon towards Melbourn there is a business called Marley Eternit, sadly they are nothing to do with Eternit-type Miniature Golf.

Passing through the village of Meldreth I noticed they were also holding a Fete, so I popped along to it.

I didn't win any of the Tombolas and there wasn't a minigolf course, but it was a bustling event. It also had a Miniature Steam Railway Line set up for the event!

The third and final Fete I headed to was the big Melbourn Village Fete, held on The Moor.

The 9-hole 'Miniature Crazy Golf' course was back again, with some new holes and a slightly different layout to the 2010 event - borrowing/swapping some holes with the course that was at the Swavesy Fete last year.

Last year I scored a 20 and an 18, but this year I could only manage a 20 and a 23! The addition of the 'Hole in the Middle of a Ramp' obstacle (from the Swavesey course) did for me.

Minigolf Fact: While Emily has never played the Melbourn Fete Miniature Crazy Golf, she has actually played minigolf in the 'other' Melbourne.

The friendly course owners have also added a Tin Can Alley stall next to the Minigolf. Unfortunately I was unable to win a Meerkat for Oliver 'The Machine' Florence on it.

With loads of other stalls, displays and attractions going on I also had a go at the Target Bowls competition from Melbourn Lawn Bowls Club. Last year I had three goes and scored a grand total of '0'!

This year was to be different though, as I hit the Bullseye '10' with my first 'Wood' and went on to win the title with a total of '13'!

Photo: Richard Gottfried - the 2011 'Melbourn Village Fete Target Bowls Champion'

The Melbourn Village Fete also had a Sheep Race!

I had a punt on the very serious looking Number 2 - Norbury's.

And it went and won it!

Video: Watch the race.


The Fete also had an Egg Throwing competition. The 34 player (17-team) field was won by two teams, as both of their eggs broke on the last throw!

After the fun of the Fetes, I headed to Kingsway Golf Centre, also in Melbourn, to have a play on their 9-hole Himalayas Minigolf Putting Course.

The course was the 196th played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in August 2010. On Saturday I had three practice rounds in the Irregular Mini Golf Tour Fake WACC competition against myself - ready for the West Anglia Challenge Cup competition, which will one-day be played on the very testing and fun course.

Prior to the building of the Himalayas Putting Course there used to be a 9-hole Crazy Golf course on the site. This was the 154th course we played on Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and was also the 200th overall course visit (played & unplayed) on the Tour!

Following the games at Kingsway Golf Centre, I headed to The Dolphin Pub in Melbourn village centre to see if the derelict 4-hole Crazy Golf course was still there.

It was.

In May 2010 we visited the course after a tip-off from fellow Minigolf Tourists - The Johnsons.

The Beer Garden has had a Boules Piste added to it by the looks of things.

So, my day of Minigolf and Fete fun in the sun ended drinking a Coke in a Pub Beer Garden sat amongst four derelict Crazy Golf holes in Melbourn. It doesn't get much better than that ha ha.

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter.