Fete Accompli

Today it was all happening.

Across the road at the Memorial Hall, was the Fancy Rat Show. In the next village it was their annual fete.

Rats / Fete? Fete / rats?

The fete had a barbeque, a bar, tombolas, a plant stall, cake stall, a raffle, tea and scones, and various games. Sorry Fancy Rats. we just didn't fancy you enough.

The fete was as all great English fetes should be. A lovely sunny day, ladies in flowery dresses and sunglasses, gentlemen in shorts and straw hats, and children wearing face paint and big smiles. A stunning garden complete with its own ha-ha, and overlooking miles of uninterrupted countryside. Glorious.

And the games!!! This is the one that had everyone in a state of frenzy as they cheered their mounts home: Maggot Racing.

I can guarantee that no maggots were harmed, and the mounts were changed regularly, and also fed, and kept in the cool. The maggots (6 to a race) were put into their starter gates, and off they went, up a slight incline, and kept in their lanes by ingenious corrugated cardboard. They were covered so no-one could see what was going on, and also to keep the maggots frisky. Then after a minute or so, the cover was removed to see who had won.

Great British fun at its best.

England may be out of the World Cup, but we certainly know how to beat the world with our maggots.

I'm waiting for the phone calls later to tell us we have won the raffle (a load of logs will come in handy this winter) and also the "Guess the name of the lamb" and "Guess how many sheep are in the next field" competitions.