June  19^th-27^th 2004 was Carnival Week at Great Chesterford. This event is held every two years, and this was the most successful yet, raising £9890 to be distributed to village clubs and charities as well as the church, the school and the community centre. The festivities started on the 19^th with the Carnival Ball held at the Community Centre and including an Auction.

The next day was the Family Treasure Hunt starting at Horse River Green and finishing with a barbecue at the Plough. A disco was held for the Youth Club on the Friday.

Saturday 26^th was the Open Gardens day – 15 gardens were opened in Great Chesterford, and 3 in Little Chesterford. Teas, a plant stall (with many plants donated from local nurseries and garden centres as well as from villagers), and a scarecrow competition were held in the grounds of The Delles.

That evening there was a Quiz Night at the Community Centre, the Famous Cattley Quiz.

During the week, teams had been taking part in the Chesterford Superstars Competition – many of the events for this were staged in the local pubs. The final took place on the main day – Sunday 27^th at the Fete.

Sunday started with a special service in the Church in the morning, followed at 1.45pm with the Great Chesterford Go-Kart Race.

At 2pm crowds gathered for the Carnival Parade through the village, with floats from many village organisations. The Parade started from the Plough and ended up at the Recreation Ground for the opening of the Carnival Fete. There were a variety of stalls, entertainment, competitions, raffles and refreshments.

The whole week was extremely well attended – such an event brings the whole village together, appealing as it does to all ages and circumstances (something for everyone).

Many photographs recording the events have been added to the Recorder Collection, as well as programmes and other literature.

June 19^th was also the Little Chesterford Fete which included a Fun Dog Show.

On July 7^th 2004 a team of women from The Plough walked 6 miles for Breast Cancer Research and raised £600.

A charity concert on behalf of Lifeline Romania with Chesterfords Aid was held in All Saints Church on Saturday 18^th September 2004. Music was performed by Conchordia with guest harpist Jeffrey Dyball, and conducted by Janet Wheeler.

October 10^th 2004 saw the start of the Medics Charity Bike Ride from the Plough to Saffron Walden which raised over £1000.

October 10^th was also the date of the 13^th Annual Great Chesterford Steam-Up. This was well-attended as usual with steam engines, vintage cars, fair, stalls, childrens’ entertainment and barbecue. Over £1500 was raised.

A jumble sale was held at the Community Centre on 26^th February to raise money for the Tsunami Appeal.

In February 2005 two of our villagers, Mrs Elisabeth Marshall and Mr Perry Dazey won Community Achievement Awards. Mrs Marshall for Services to the Local Community, and Mr Dazey for Services to Children and Young People.

April 2005 will see Lifeline Romania with Chesterford Aid taking another truckload of donated goods over to Romania for distribution. They take two truckloads a year filled with goods given by villagers.

Other news:-

I have recently received from the Parish Council the original artwork and construction drawings for the village sign and have added these to the collection. Hopefully the time capsule to be buried underneath the sign will soon be ready. I will be informed of the contents by the Parish Council.

The poster collection continues to grow, more by taking them off lampposts after the event than by donation unfortunately.

The village website has been taken over by the ex-clerk to the Parish Council and has been improved. The Recorder Collection Catalogue has been reproduced there for everyone to have a look at. It is purely in list form for browsing, and does not have the depth of information which will be found on the Ruth Database, on which it will hopefully appear before the next Annual Report. (www.chesterfords.info)

True to their word the Parish Council have allowed me to purchase archive quality stationery – especially photo wallets. All the photographs in the collection are now in a separate album in these wallets which should preserve them for a long time to come.

A4 pockets have also been purchased to protect letters, maps, posters etc.

During excavation work at All Saints Church prior to the construction of a new Parish Room, nothing of interest was found at all.

Finally, the latest publication from the Local History and Archaeology Society has been published as Interim Report No13 – Great Chesterford Park by Ken Kilford.

Kate McManus  

Great Chesterford Recorder    28^th April 2005