What an amazing evening on Wednesday 22nd April when over 60 villagers celebrated St. George’s Day at The George, organised by the Social Group! Villagers were treated to a superb meal of roast beef and treacle sponge pudding, and a range of entertainment, all at a superb price of £13.50 per head. View the photos from the evening.
Following the success of the event last year, the Social Group decided to repeat the celebrations this year, and tickets all sold out weeks before the event. This year, we had table plans prepared by Alison Ainsworth and Alison Heath, and everyone was shown to their tables to begin a fantastic evening of conversation, singing, readings, quiz questions and banter.
Chair Lucy Frain gave an opening welcome and did an excellent job as Master of Ceremonies throughout the evening. Everyone started with a rousing performance of ‘Rule Britannia’ followed by ‘Roast Beef of Old England’, with an excellent solo from our very own vicar, Stephen Bowring.
With everyone now fully in the mood, the main meal – consisting of roast beef, swede, parsnips, roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and vegetables – was served.
Lisa Hunter gave an emotional rendition of the famous ‘Once More Into the Breach’ speech from Shakespeare’s ‘Henry V’. Following well-deserved applause, a large portion of treacle sponge with custard was served. We would like to thank Steve and the rest of the staff at The George for providing such excellent food and service throughout the evening.
Back by popular demand was Stuart Dixon with a very humorous presentation and monologue, and the amusing mention of Nicola Sturgeon was very topical with the forthcoming General Election!
The festivities continued with a quiz round on St. George and a photo montage of British Prime Ministers, provided by John Lock. Questions were challenging and everyone left the evening knowing much more about St George than when they arrived! The winning team comprised Mick and Sue Ager, Alison and Stuart Ainsworth and Alison and Mark Heath. Thanks to John Lock for organising this.
We had a bottle raffle, run by Raine Thompson and Jackie Parr, followed by a poem read by Lucy Fraine. To complete the evening, there was communal singing of ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ and ‘Jerusalem’. Lucy drew the evening to an end with a blessing to St. George. Thanks to the Spaldwick Social Group for bringing the village together in a brilliant evening.
The evening also included a presentation of flowers to June Dixon who has stepped down from the Social Group, for recognition of the service she has provided as Treasurer. Without a strong Social Group Committee, it would not be possible to provide village events and the Committee would love to see new members! To contact the Committee, email socialgroup@spaldwick.com.
