Sibford Scene Archive

The month of June was one of the highlights of the year. Families awaited their annual Club Day which was held on the first Monday, prepared by the Sibford Friendly Society. The Sunday evening people eagerly awaited the slow approach along the lanes in Sibford of the fair, drawn by horses and caravans carrying the round-abouts, swings, coconut shies and many stalls into the Cricket field owned by Mr. Poulton, in which now stands the Village Hall and Mr. Pratts bungalow and buildings.

Monday morning the Society members were busy preparing a small lunch and drink about 10 a.m. in the Sibford Endowed Village School, before attending the Church service.

10.45 The bell at Church rang out and the local band played through the village from the Vicarage (by the pool) supporting the robed vicar and choir and two strong men carrying the Society banners down to the church. These can be seen and read to this very day in our church. The service over all the people followed the band back to the school and many entered for the traditional country dinner; beef, lamb, Yorkshire pudding, vegetables and beer or juices to drink. Back to the field to enjoy the fair throughout the afternoon, prices 6pence, 3pence, 1pence – rides and guessing. The news of the village was well circulated on this occasion as most of the houses were represented on this happy day.

8.00p.m. Supper was taken at the School, consisting of beef, ham, cheeses and vegetables for those who wished to partake.

9.00p.m. Dancing was enjoyed at the Old Village Hall (behind the Wykham Arms) to the brass band once again making the final contribution to the festival. A GREAT DAY NEVER TO BE MISSED.

Another joy of the summer months was the game of cricket where many men honoured their village with their great play and the team was greatly feared by the other villages around the. The cricket field was a great place to be on a Saturday afternoon but more of this will come in the Autumn edition.

Haymaking was a must for the families in the school holidays, helping the farmers carrying the hay in their horses and wagons, and picnicking in the fields.

Good times were had around our little homes and letting the world go by peacefully and you could hear the birds and animals giving their contribution.

Well it was Sue who wrote it in last month’s Scene and the victim was ‘Your Village Paper!’

She aked for comments and although the response was not overwhelming four suggestions were received representing 1% of 400 households!

But all four commented on one aspect, so thats 100% agreement! What the B.B.C. exit poll would make of that Heavens only knows – maybe “The Russians are Coming!”

The constructive criticism was on the three “P’s” :- Paper – Printing – Presentation.

No brickbats intended for our competent, long suffering, printer who works wonders on our old rusty, creaking duplicating machine using wax skins together with faint hope and a fervent prayer (or two or three or sometimes four on a hot day!)

Very little can be done to improve the product on existing machinery.

Your Editorial Staff (God Bless them, they’re lovely!) have, with feminine fervour, researched alternatives.

The only viable choice is to invest in a second hand photo copier. This would entail a capital cost of £800 plus 9p per copy maintenance charge which would be advisable in an old machine. Paper would be about 5p per sheet. So for a twelve sided edition the cost would be 12×9 & 5x6p or 15p round figures (the editor only works in round figures!)

Remember 400 copies – ten times a year and the total running cost for printing and paper alone would be £600 – present costs approx £400.

The questions therefore are four in number – (all questions must be attempted!)

1. Does our village wish to invest in a photocopier.
2. How to raise the £800 capital involved
3. How to raise the extra £250 per annum running costs.
4. Where to locate the new machine and how to run it on a cost effective basis- hiring it out to other users during its inactive period during the month?

Answers please on one side of foolscap exam paper!