At the Open Village meeting held in the Village Hall on 11 April, the way in which the Sibfords and Burdrop wish to celebrate and mark the millennium was fully discussed.

Ideas and suggestions were received from the meeting and it was felt that in addition to any events, a permanent commemoration for the villages should be an objective. Ideas received included:- a piece of art work in the form of a sculpture, a children’s playground, a permanent site for the storage and access of village archive material and the provision of additional facilities at the Village Hall.

Chairman of the Sibfords Society, Barbara Crabtree, explained that as part of the Society’s programme, a group were researching the work of Frank Lascelles, with a view to producing a pageant in celebration of the millennium. Frank Lascelles had lived in Sibford and was pageant master to Queen Victoria.

David Ryall extended this idea by explaining that, with everyone’s support, our community could produce a performance for ourselves and a wider audience to portray the part the Sibfords have played in the life of our nation in the past 1000 years. Using the village as our stage, short scenes of village life could be re-enacted by villagers using music, light and sound.

The idea for such a pageant was well received and it was agreed to carry the idea forward. A millennium steering group was formed but it was recognised that many additional village people would be needed to utilise the many talents and skills necessary for such an undertaking. The opportunity to establish funding would be an early priority and much more research would be needed. The steering group would have to rely heavily on information and memories from the long-established village families. The support of the 2 parish councils and 2 schools would also be enlisted.

If you were unable to attend the meeting and can offer help or further suggestions please contact any member of the steering group:-

We have something special here in the Sibfords and we have four years to work together to produce a memorable event in the summer of 2000 which we hope will raise funds to provide a permanent commemoration of the millennium for the future.