A fete better than the rest?

Countryside Column for 20 June 2014

The Fete of the Country

It’s village fete time of year again.  We visited a most singular one in Devon the other week-end. We’d gone west for the birthday of my step-grandson.  Having only just arrived in Britain from Nashville and being only three he wasn’t too sure what he wanted to do to celebrate the occasion.  So first we drove up onto Dartmoor and he played on his new scooter while his dad played with his new kite and the rest of us walked Myrtle along the South Devon Way.  Well, not all 26 miles of it, but what felt like a reasonable portion, with fabulous views out over the Lyd valley and the route of the South Devon and Launceston railway line (1859 – 1962 RIP).

But what to do next?  The choice seemed to be between a local dog show and a tractor rally. Grandma vetoed the dogs so we set off for the rally.  It wasn’t the best advertised event. In fact there was only one hand painted sign pointing towards the church at the tiny settlement of Marystow (so tiny that the last population census seems to have been in 1901, showing a mere 255 inhabitants).

Which may explain the lack of tractors.  Though it did seem curious that the headline attraction was so spectacularly missing.  But what the event lacked in agricultural equipment it made up with the fete.  Now I don’t want you to be thinking in grand terms of Maypole dancing or Morris-men. There were no children’s games, no opportunity to dunk the vicar in a tub of bubbles.  In fact there were just three stalls and a tombola.  But the church hall was open offering bacon butties and tea and coffee.  So we sat in the sun on plastic chairs and ventured to explore what was on offer.  We came away with fresh eggs, a lemon drizzle cake, a pair of nearly new Italian court shoes, and half a dozen greetings cards from a charming local artist.  Everyone was wonderfully friendly as were the local canines (of which there were at least one to a person).  And in the church itself was a stunning exhibition of photographs of Devon scenes – as if to remind that photography remains a serious art form even in the age of Photoshop and mobile-phone cameras.

I expect that the forthcoming Benenden Village Fete will be a more extensive affair, but nothing will dent the modest charm of Marystow’s.